Frank's eyes slowly opened, finding himself in the corridor he had been in the night prior. As he observed his surroundings, he realized that he was currently nestled into the bosom of a familiar face.
Elara lay beside him on the floor with her arms gently wrapped around him, completely out cold. Turning beet red, he shifted slightly, trying not to wake her, but she was wrapped around him, and his movements caused her to stir.
Her eyelids fluttered open slowly, as she blinked her vision into focus. When she could see clearly, her complexion slowly began to match Frank's, becoming a dark shade of red. Realizing how close they were, she let go of him and stood up hastily.
"Oh, uh, Frank, good morning," she stumbled, unable to meet his gaze.
Frank rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, unsure how to respond. "Uh... hey there."
Elara's face only grew more red as she tried to make polite conversation. "Did you, uh, sleep well?"
"Better than I thought," Frank admitted, fidgeting slightly, "and you?"
Elara turned away as she answered, "Very well, thank you."
"You were quite comfortable..." she added under her breath.
"What was that?" Frank questioned, not hearing her.
"Oh, nothing, nothing at all," she replied with a nervous laugh before remembering what had happened last night. "Are you..."
"I've calmed down, yes," he said, standing up from the floor before dusting himself off. "Uh, about what I told you last night..."
"Don't worry, I already know," she insisted, already understanding his meaning. "That stays between you and me. You can share with everyone else when you feel ready. It's your story to share, not mine."
"Thanks," he said, relieved. He wasn't ready for that kind of commotion. At least not yet.
"Anyways, we should probably get g—" Before Elara could finish, she was pulled into an embrace.
"I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't followed me. Thank you, Elara, I owe you one," he whispered, holding her close.
She was surprised at first but slowly embraced him back, nestling her face into his wide chest. "You don't owe me anything, I was happy to help."
The tension was thick as Elara looked up at Frank, both of them lost in the moment.
That was until they were interrupted.
"Well, well, what's this? A cozy little love nest? I didn't know we had a romantic rendezvous happening right here first thing in the morning," Max teased, winking at them.
Frank and Elara's faces flushed crimson as they stepped away from each other. Elara quickly tried to explain herself. "It's not like that—"
Max just chuckled before cutting her off. "Relax, it was a joke. I saw you two lying here last night, clearly something big happened for you two to end up sleeping on the floor. Don't worry, I won't pry. Besides, that's not why I'm here. Arlo asked me to bring you to the briefing room, something about urgent news," he explained, already heading towards their destination.
"Oh, yeah... okay," Frank muttered, trying to shake off his embarrassment. Elara seemed just as flustered, and the two shared a brief moment of silence before they followed Max.
The walk there was dead quiet, neither one having much to say. When they arrived, they took their seats and waited for the meeting to start.
"Thank you all for coming," Arlo began, his tone serious. "I won't leave you all in suspense. We've received vital information regarding the situation at Ravenswood Penitentiary."
There was a slight mumble in the room.
"Really? So fast?"
"What kind of lazy reporting did the scouts do?"
"So we're basically going in blind?"
The mumbling continued until Arlo raised his hand, silencing the group.
"Our scouts reported back: as of last night, there is no longer a prison to protect. We found the location completely reduced to rubble, and were unable to find any survivors."
Gasps were heard throughout the gathering as they received the news. Nobody knew what to make of the new development. Nobody except the system that was.
[Change in status!
As there is no longer a Ravenswood Penitentiary to liberate, the promise cannot be fulfilled. Since this is not the fault of the user, the promise will be lifted without penalty.]
Frank breathed out a sigh of relief. He had immediately wondered what the news meant for him.
'The system is showing me mercy?' Frank was shocked and immediately looked to the sky to see if he could spot any flying pigs.
"Do you think the zombies were finally able to break in?" Max probed, clearly rattled.
"No, the destruction was far too extensive. Although there were clear signs of conflict, the corpses of both the survivors and the zombies showed similar injuries, suggesting that the assailant or assailants were human," Arlo revealed, his voice cold.
Frank felt a chill after hearing the news. Did somebody within the prison do this? Was it a riot? Why now?
"What?! You're suggesting there are people doing this?" Max's hands tightened into fists. "In the middle of this nightmare, they dare to kill their fellow man?"
"That's our theory," Arlo nodded, his expression grave. "However, it gets worse, I'm afraid. The injuries the deceased received seemed to indicate the attack originated from the center of the group. This isn't something we can confirm, but generally, this would indicate a single assailant."
The room immediately went into an uproar.
"What kind of maniac could do something like this?" Leo's voice shook slightly, clearly in disbelief. "What was their goal? Just to kill? And how strong do you have to be to take down hundreds of survivors all on your own?!"
"Everybody calm down," Arlo ordered, his voice steady. "This is something we have already prepared for. Until such a time that the person or persons responsible are found, we will be putting this complex on lockdown."
This was a massive bombshell, and everyone there knew it. The complex already accepted tens of new survivors each day, all desperate to seek shelter from the threats outside. That number was even higher after a rescue mission, often reaching the hundreds.
It didn't sit right with Frank, and so he spoke up. "Commander Arlo, are you telling us that the military is comfortable turning people away who need sanctuary? Some of these survivors traveled miles, and the news that we had a safe place waiting for them was all that kept them going. What do you think they will do when they're told they aren't welcome?"
Arlo hesitated but steeled his resolve. "Whatever the case, Mr. Gunn, we have to prioritize the safety of the people already here. We can't allow whoever the culprit or culprits are to make it inside. We will still send out scouting parties to try and make sense of what happened, and our goal is to resolve this as quickly as possible, but this may be bigger than we realized."
Frank wanted to argue, but he couldn't. He thought about Ana and how whoever destroyed the prison might be able to pull off the same here. If that happened, he might not be able to keep her safe.
"I-I understand, thank you for your hard work." He conceded before taking a seat.
The meeting ended without much more fanfare, and everyone returned to their day-to-day lives. Normally for Frank, this would have meant spending time playing with Ana, but the report bothered him.
'A single assailant, huh?' He thought about all the people that were inside that prison. Not only were many of them seasoned killers before the "Breach," but if they had survived this long, there was no doubt at least some of them were formidable.
'How strong would you have to be to pull that off?' Frank wondered. He wasn't even sure that was a feat he could manage, not that he'd ever want to. The thought of somebody that strong, who was twisted enough to massacre an entire group of survivors, sickened him. But more than anything, it worried him.
If that was what they were up against, he would need to find a way to get stronger.