Major Harris walked briskly through the narrow corridors of the base, her mind racing. She had been pushing this theory for weeks now, and no one wanted to believe it—zombies were behind the vanishing supplies. It sounded ridiculous. But the facts were staring them in the face.
She turned a corner and entered the armory, where Sergeant Park was preparing a small scouting unit for the next mission. "Sergeant, I need to speak with you."
Park, a grizzled man in his mid-forties, stopped checking his rifle and turned to face her. "Major."
"We're sending another team out, but this one's recon only. We can't afford to lose them. I want them to head to Sector 7—where the last supply convoy went missing."
Park frowned. "Recon? No offense, ma'am, but every time we send people into those zones, they don't come back."
"That's why we need to be smarter this time. Smaller teams, more stealth. We need to find out who—or what—is behind this. And we need answers fast."
Park rubbed his jaw. "I've heard rumors, you know. People talking about ghosts out there. Whole towns, completely cleared out. No sign of life—human or otherwise."
Harris nodded. "The disappearances are spreading. If this keeps up, even the larger military bases will start to feel the pressure. We're already rationing food, but we can't hold out forever."
"What do you think it is?" Park asked, his voice low.
"I think," Harris began, choosing her words carefully, "that the zombies have a plan. Or at least, some of them do. The mutants aren't like the ones we used to fight. They're organized, and they've figured out that we need supplies to survive."
Park let out a slow breath. "Zombies aren't smart enough for that."
"Not all of them," she agreed. "But I've seen mutants that show signs of higher intelligence. They can plan. They can coordinate. If we don't figure out what's going on soon, we're going to be fighting a losing battle."
Park tightened his grip on his rifle. "So, what's the plan?"
Harris glanced around, making sure they were alone. "Get your team ready for a recon mission. And keep your eyes open for anything strange. If the rumors are true, we're not just dealing with random zombies. We're dealing with something far more dangerous."
Park nodded grimly. "Understood."
As Harris left the armory, she couldn't shake the feeling that they were running out of time. Supplies were vanishing faster than they could restock. People were getting desperate. And if they didn't find the source soon, the base might collapse from within.
The pressure on the military was mounting, and whispers of rebellion were already starting to surface among the civilians. Fights had broken out over food rations, and some had even started speculating about who was behind the missing supplies.
Harris knew it wouldn't be long before chaos erupted. The only question was, when?