The glow of the moonlight seeped onto a downward staircase and receded as the hatch slowly slid to a close. The whirring of the machine stopped when the hatch had sealed close.
The figures descending the dark stairway were finally seen as an automatic door slid open, revealing powerful artificial rays.
They each stepped in, their battered and worn equipment spoke of their recent struggles. Not to talk of their pitiful bodies, prudently embellished with both grave and inconsequential wounds.
They slumped onto the ground. The tension in their joints finally relaxed after their frightening exchange.
They were received by a group of similarly armoured men and women, all wearing a mask of concern and relief for their returning comrades, though it was simply a farce to hide the hateful thoughts deep within.
" That was so scary guys, you almost didn't make it."
A blonde excitedly welcomed them, a sheepish smile plastered across her face, yet her true thoughts held great discrepancies from her words.
'Useless, a bunch of failures, they barely managed to kill a few zombies.'
" We're fine, Margaret, thanks. Anthony will need a bit of bandaging so if you could please see to it. Diego, any reports while we were out?"
Even John, a charismatic leader with a usually confident gait, sounded defeated as he addressed his fellow group mates and his untrustworthy subordinates.
'Nothing is going right. Right after 'that' everything became an impossible nightmare.'
His eyes drifted to his men. They were shaking. Evan's hands occasionally rubbed against his now empty eyehole. Aoki's once bright eyes had paled considerably. He clutched his sword as though it were his only lifeline.
A despondent, tired look was common among these warriors. Hopelessness morphed their youthful features. Many of them had returned without their weapons, choosing to sacrifice them and gain a moment of respite. Well, most could not properly wield their weapons anyway.
'This… It's entirely her fault. She caused all this. If only she had stayed everything would be better. Now we're probably going to die, protecting these selfish little-'
"Sir! Sir!"
Seeing that his leader had finally looked his way, Diego released a sigh of relief.
" Are you okay sir? Should I report after you have rested?"
"No. Proceed now." John's face was back to its undisturbed state, steeling his resolve for what was to come.
"Well sir, umm, the progressive movement- PM, as they call themselves - decided that you are not fit to be a leader and should, well um, hand over the position immediately after a proper election."
Diego hesitantly peeked up from his report sheet to see John nodding at him, so Diego continued his report.
" Right, umm, some food has gone missing. Cassandra, the one who last counted our stock reported ten missing nutrient shakes. That's not all, currently, the PM claims the food they receive is insufficient as well as the electricity provided each day. They claim the facilities are not being used efficiently under your guidance." He looked up gauging John's reaction, unfortunately, there was not much for him to work it out.
" They'll start a protest if you don't agree to a vote. A protest in the sense that they will raid our supplies during your next battle. That's all for the interior affairs report. Now, as for the map development, Alex left the maze icon before heading to the edge of the map. We couldn't track her movements from that point onwards. Her green dot moves at amazing speeds I suspect her weapon's ability gives her an amazing speed boost."
"Should I buy the map update? Maybe we'll be able to see what she's up to."
Aoki spoke before Alex could, stunning everyone in the room. He hadn't said a word since they first lost someone, so this was a shock to them.
" No way!" This time Evan spoke, his eyes glazed with fury. "You have enough for a healing potion that I could use and dare to think of spending it on something else? I'll kill you." Evan rushed up to Aoki, thankfully, they were a large distance away from each other.
John intercepted the fuming Evan before turning to Aoki.
" Aoki, you can do whatever you'd like with your shards, but she's bound to return to where we can see soon enough. She needs food and other things. There's no need to endure a loss due to her. Besides, there's no assurance that even with the map update you'll be able to see her. " He turned back to Evan his detached gaze softening slightly.
" I'll get you the healing potion myself, so calm down, yeah?"
Like that John had bought a few more hours of peace. He only wondered what he would do when the bomb finally explodes and he would be unable to handle the aftermath.
Hundreds of kilometres away from the festering issues in the bunker, a far more grotesque scene could be witnessed.
The serene moonlight perfectly highlighted the gritty details. A lone girl with short brown hair stood amidst a sea of corpses, undead turned dead. She smirked wickedly at the twenty-four in the distance before turning around, directing her feet to carry her to a familiar place.
An amalgam of fresh decomposing flesh bled incessantly on the sand where the girl once stood. Their bodies showed only a single slash upon each body. A single slash was enough to decimate her foes. If one had arrived earlier and had taken a closer look, they would see that her weapons, glittering wakizashi, were strange. They each had not only a buzzing green hue coating every part of their blade but also a complete lack of dirt.
Her blades remained clean regardless of how many times she plunged them into her foes. In the same way, she remained unfeeling no matter how many kills she amassed.