The morning sun shone through the window of the meeting room on the second floor of the mansion. I had gathered all the leaders of the base to discuss the most urgent matter: the impending nuclear attack.
I explained the situation to the leaders, who reacted with various emotions. Some were angry, some were terrified, some were speechless. They all knew what a nuke could do to the world. It could wipe out everything we had worked so hard to rebuild after the zombie apocalypse.
"Now, we have limited time. For that, I want to stop the construction and focus on stocking our supplies. This might be the last time we could find supplies this good after the nuke. Tell me, do you have any suggestions?" I asked them.
"How about splitting our group into smaller teams? But they are still part of a bigger group," Anna suggested. She was the leader of the medical team and had a lot of experience in organizing people.
"If the teams are too small, they might be vulnerable to zombies or bandits. How about 10 people per team?" Steff said.
"With 10 people per team, that would make it at least 100 to 200 teams, depending on the people who can fight. We still need to consider if they can fight or not," Jenny said.
"The people who can fight are only a third of our group, and not everyone is ready to fight," Rex said.
"How about just making a team consisting of 50 people? With a combination of the people who can't fight and those who can, to help with the looting?" Shana suggested.
"That's a good idea. With this, it will be much safer and faster," Amy said.
The rest of the group agreed. "Good. Since it consists of 50 people per team, that would be at least 20 teams. After all, we still need guards to protect our base. Leaders, I want you all to lead your teams. Make sure no one dies. That is your number one priority. Come back alive and complete. Do you understand?" I ordered them.
"Yes, sir!" They all shouted in unison.
"Good. Go and prepare yourselves and your teams," I dismissed them. When the last person left, closing the door, I was there standing, looking at the window. I could only hope that God was still with us.
"Are you stressed?" Ai, who never left my side, said, standing behind me.
"Well, of course. I can't do anything about the nukes, and I also don't know if I can continue to protect my people after the nuke. The aftermath of the nukes... it's terrifying." I sighed.
"Tell me, Ai, what should I do?" I look at her
"Souta, just be yourself. You can do this. Like in the past" she said
"But what if I can't?"
"You can"
"I'm scared"
"It's going to be okay"
"…, but—"
"Souta, we believe in you, so is the others"
"And that what makes it much harder!" I exclaimed "I'm not perfect! Even I will fail! I-If I fail here, everyone will die! And that will be my fault! Again!"
"Souta, I recommend that you should calm down first. You survived this apocalypse, so how come you doubt yourself now? You know that not many people survived the apocalypse, right?"
"You don't understand! This isn't the same!"
"It is the same. Everything is the same. It's all apocalypse where the world will end"
"Dammit! You aren't helping me"
"Should I call your girlfriends?"
"No! I don't want them to see me with my state right now… I don't want them to see me weak, I should be strong for them not to be worried"
"But you know that asking for help won't hurt, right?"
"I want some space, can you leave?"
"Is that an order?"
"It's a request"
"Then I shall not"
"How persistent"
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Walking around the base for some fresh air while Ai is following me behind. The people greeted me with smile on their faces, and I could only smile back, uncertain of the future.