Annie spoke evenly, already turning away. "I’ll have the nine hundred kilograms delivered today."
She guided her brother forward. "We already have a place to stay. We’ll go there."
Her mother’s voice rose sharply behind them. "Since when did you rent a house without telling ?"
Annie didn’t stop walking. "I’ll beg my friends to take us in."
That answer seed to soothe her mother’s suspicions. ’So she’s penniless after all,’ the woman thought, finally relaxing.
Annie led her brother onward, her steps steady, until the looming structures of the SiIvy Base ca into view.
He froze, eyes widening.
"Why are we going into the SiIvy Base?" His voice trembled with disbelief. "Do you know soone here?"
Relief washed over him as hope blood.
’Maybe she can start over here. Even after I’m gone.’
He had heard the rumors... cheap food, stable facilities, jobs that kept people alive. Zombies rarely breached it. Heat didn’t suffocate it. Clean buildings, real apartnts.
’Freedom,’ he dread, picturing his sister smiling without fear.
Annie’s expression didn’t change. "You’ll find out in a few minutes."
She dragged him forward, keys cold and solid in her hand. When they reached the apartnt, she unlocked the door and slowly showed him around.
He stared, stunned, then finally found his voice. "Why isn’t your friend here? And why do you have the key?"
Annie laughed softly, tapping his nose. "Because this place is mine."
His shock was almost comical. She continued gently, eyes glinting with sothing unreadable.
"There’s sothing I never told you."
She paused, letting the weight of it settle.
"I caught the eye of the representative of this place. As a result, she was provided with proper food, a steady salary, and even a house of her own."
Initially, she had planned to bring him here in secret, hiding him away while she searched for a way to completely escape that woman’s reach.
’I’ll endure a little longer,’ she had thought back then, ’as long as he’s safe.’
But now, fate had handed her a clean blade. A single chance to cut everything off at once.
Here, they could live freely. No more sches in dark corners, no more bargaining with hunger, no more asuring every breath in fear of being exploited.
Her younger brother stood frozen, staring at her as if she had just rewritten the world in front of him.
"Are you serious...?" His voice wavered, thick with disbelief, fingers unconsciously tightening around the hem of her sleeve.
Annie nodded without hesitation.
He swallowed hard, then blurted out the question burning in his chest.
"Then... how much do you earn?"
Annie’s lips curved upward. "Three thousand kilograms of rice every month."
He sucked in a sharp breath. Before he could recover, she continued, her tone casual, almost teasing.
"If I don’t take it in rice, I can convert it into one hundred thousand zombie crystals instead."
The words hit him like a shockwave.
His mind went blank as he stared at her, eyes wide, heart pounding.
’Three thousand... one hundred thousand...’ The numbers refused to settle, floating unreal in his head.
Annie watched his reaction, then chuckled softly.
"So you see," she continued, warmth seeping into her voice, "we have a good place to live, enough to eat, and more than enough to survive comfortably."
She reached out, resting her hand on his shoulder.
"You don’t need to worry about being a burden anymore."
His throat tightened as she went on, every word steady and unwavering.
"I can afford your treatnt. I can afford your living expenses. And not just barely... we can live better than before. Much better."
For the first ti since the apocalypse began, the crushing weight on his chest loosened.
He lowered his head slightly, hiding the sting in his eyes, while a single thought echoed again and again in his mind.
’I’m safe... and so is my sister.’
Military Base.
The fragile peace was shattered almost overnight, dissolving into chaos as zombie attacks grew so frequent that even Frank, backed by his army and soldiers, could no longer hold the line.
In truth, part of this disaster rested squarely on Frank’s shoulders. His selfish policies had driven prices sky-high, leaving many soldiers unable to afford even the most basic food.
Hunger hollowed them out from the inside. Their arms trembled when they lifted weapons, their vision blurred in the middle of battle, and they simply could not fight properly against the endless zombie hordes pressing toward the base.
What finally crushed their will was not just starvation, but evolution. The zombies had changed.
Among the soldiers was a young man nad Mika.
Before heading out, he had crouched in front of his mother, forcing a gentle smile onto his pale face despite the exhaustion.
"Don’t worry," he told her softly. "I’ll definitely co back after this battle."
His mother clutched the edge of her worn shawl, her fingers trembling.
"I have a bad feeling," she replied, her voice shaky. "This ti... it doesn’t feel easy at all."
Mika let out a small laugh.
"You’re overthinking again," he said lightly. "Just like you always do."
Before his mother could respond, his sister Greta stepped forward and tugged hard on his sleeve, her grip stubborn.
"You have to co back," she declared. "If you don’t, I’ll marry so random thug and ruin my life on purpose."
Mika’s eyes widened in fury. "You wouldn’t dare."
Greta t his gaze without flinching, her expression so serious it sent a chill down his spine, as if she truly ant every word.
Mika could only sigh, rubbing his temple.
"I’m not even going to think about that," he muttered, turning away as he headed out.
The mont he stepped outside, a wave of dizziness washed over him, the world tilting slightly.
’I’m fine,’ he told himself, though his stomach cramped painfully.
"Mika!"
He turned to see Greta rushing toward him. She shoved a small bun into his hands, still warm, the faint sll of yeast and grain teasing his empty stomach.
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