LOGIN"What do you mean?" Hayley looked at Maisie.Maisie held the communicator with the blinking red light and slowly walked over to her."I'm really worried about Josh. We've never been apart this long since we got together."Hayley raised a brow. "How long has it been?""Almost 15 years." Maisie let out a faint smile. "We started dating back in high school. It was kind of a big deal back then. I was the top student in school, and he was at the very bottom. He ranked dead last every year. But when he decided to pursue me, he worked like crazy. By the time we took our SAT, he actually scored one point higher than me."Hayley's eyes lit up slightly. "That's impressive.""Yeah. He told me back then that he'd handle all the storms in life so I could just be happy every day." Maisie let out a soft breath, her grip tightening around the communicator. "We got into the same college, graduated together, and got married right after."He really kept every promise he made. After graduat
When Maisie heard Hayley's terms, she froze for a split second.All the crystal cores in their base…A trace of hesitation crossed her otherwise composed face, but it vanished just as quickly."I agree."One hour later, several large crates of crystal cores were delivered.Like many places, they used crystal cores to produce evolution serums. The extraction process itself wasn't complicated. With the right equipment and a few skilled technicians, it could be done.The real challenge was removing impurities.Because of that, their production was limited. The yield was low, the loss was high, and the serum still contained a lot of impurities. Most of their Gifted only reached level 2 or 3.They weren't even on par with how Scott and the others used to consume raw cores.Over the years, they had accumulated more cores than they could use. A rough estimate put it at over 30 thousand.Hayley had Griffin store all of them in his inventory. That would count as the upfront payment.
Their base director, Josh Willis, had led a group of their strongest people into the underground parts depot and gotten trapped inside.They hadn't even managed to bring out the canned meat or hard tack.Josh was Maisie's husband. The base had been built by the two of them from the ground up. Normally, Josh handled everything outside while Maisie managed things inside the base. After something happened to him, Maisie had been frantic. She sent out rescue teams, but quickly realized that all the remaining fighters combined could barely handle a single high-level zombie. They couldn't even make it inside.After exhausting every option, she finally sent a distress call to Haylight League. As long as Hayley could bring Josh and the others back, she was willing to agree to any condition."Why ten people? Wouldn't more make it easier?"After hearing her out, Hayley asked the question calmly."No. It's an underground tunnel. The oxygen is thin. We tested it. If more than 15 people go
The moment the young woman stepped out, every eye turned toward her.Up on the northwest wall, the exhausted female soldier forced herself up from the ground. Limping, she made her way toward them step by step."I'm Maisie Willis, deputy director of West Sea Base. And you are…?"Hayley's gaze settled on her. "Hayley Reid of Haylight League."The name hit like a spark. Everyone around them lit up instantly.Haylight League.She was the leader they had only heard about in stories.Ten minutes later, Hayley followed Maisie into the central area of the base.West Sea Base was much smaller than Clark Base. Clark Base had over 8,000 people, while West Sea Base had just over 2,000.Still, that counted as a mid-sized base.Especially considering its location.They were out in the middle of open plains, surrounded on all sides by zombies. There were no mountains, no natural barriers, and nowhere to fall back to.Building a base for 2,000 people in a place like this wasn't easy.Aft
Bang!Bang!Heavy fire poured down from the helicopter overhead.Fully armed soldiers hung from both sides of the aircraft, bracing themselves as they unleashed a storm of gunfire into the horde below.Boom!A single-operator missile struck dead center into the pyramid of zombies stacked at the northwest corner.The explosion ripped through the middle of the pile. Bodies and limbs flew into the air. The towering mass collapsed with a thunderous crash, and waves of zombies tumbled down from the top in a chaotic cascade.The blast drew the attention of zombies from every direction."Raaah!""Raaah!"They broke off from other areas and charged over without hesitation.The helicopter banked sharply and pulled away, heading about half a mile beyond the base. As it flew, it dropped explosives in steady succession.The rolling blasts echoed across the field, luring the majority of the zombies away to the open plain.Up on the walls, the defenders saw their chance."Now! Pour the
Up to now, the number of high-level zombies Hayley had encountered was extremely small. There were usually fewer than three in one place.Even in Fairfield, where toxic gas had spread everywhere, there hadn't been many level 5 zombies. Most were only level 3 or 4.A place like this…"Alright. I'll go."Hayley was interested now. She wanted to see what kind of place could produce so many high-level zombies.When Alex heard her agree, even he couldn't hide the smile on his usually cold face.The next second, Hayley added, "While I'm gone, write another 100 reports. If even one's missing, I'll deal with you when I get back."Alex froze, completely speechless.Hayley gathered a team and headed out.This time, she brought Leonard and Griffin. She also had Liam send over Derek and a few special ops members under him. That made a team of ten.Thomas stayed behind at the league, sticking close to Ruby at all times.Before leaving, Hayley set Hayz's system to the highest priority lev
This was the first time Hayley had ever talked to Thomas, and she honestly didn't expect that he didn't smoke at all.Everything she knew about him came from what people in the base said. They claimed Thomas had gotten into trouble as a teenager and spent years in a juvenile facility. After he go
Bang!A massive explosion ripped through the snowy night.The entire mall shuddered beneath Hayley's feet.Hayley and Thomas rushed to the window at the same time.Outside, under the orange glow of the falling snow, a perfectly organized convoy burst out from the residential blocks.Rocket laun
After Scarlett's message, Hayley received another one."My dear Ms. Reid, you have an incoming call from your devoted Liam. Would you like to answer the call?""Yes.""Hey, there. I sent out your plan about forming a league and recapturing the cities. Other than Ember Base, no one else responded.
Hayley was only halfway through her cigarette when she heard footsteps outside."Who the hell is that woman, anyway? Why is everyone from Base K1 so polite to her? Why are they spoiling her so much?""No idea. Wallace said she's some small base leader.""So what if she is? She's just a woman. Wha







