“That’s because you never fucking listen,” Kieran grunts, a lot calmer than I expected him to be after what I’ve just told him.

“I lost them in a matter of seconds, okay? It’s not like they’re gonna barge in here…”

“That’s not the point, Sayah,” he cuts me off, “you went rogue. You left your team behind.”

“I…”

He’s right. I did go rogue on our scouting mission today.

We were checking out an abandoned ranger’s hut at the edge of the forest. But the hut was small. There were five of us, and no ilks in sight.

So when I heard a man’s voice a few yards away, I couldn’t resist seeing who he was and what he was doing outside on a day with 75% spore infestation.

I thought I’d be gone for just a minute, but then someone noticed I wasn’t in the hut. She alerted the others.

And, well… now I’m here, in the grim office of our community leader.

“So?” Kieran asks, leaning back into his chair and crossing his legs, “Did you at least find anything worth reporting?”

His question takes me aback. He’s curious. That’s good.

Maybe I’ll get away with today’s ‘crime’ without having my rations reduced for the week ahead.

The thought makes my anguish dissipate and brings a faint smile to the corner of my mouth.

“There were two men,” I tell him, “using bows and arrows…”

“Quite primitive.”

“I thought so too, but it felt like… they knew what they were doing. They were in sync. They had these signals…”

“Any notable tech?”

I shake my head.

“None. Not even proper face masks. And when I checked my suit for the level of spores infestation, it was way above the safe metrics.”

“Numbers, Sayah.”

“It was above 75%,” I tell him, setting my palms down flat on his office desk. “They should’ve been dead.”

But Kieran isn’t looking at me anymore. He’s turned his office chair around to oversee the underground city through the tall window.

“I see,” he finally says, “Close the door behind you, will ya?”

“But…”

No buts. Kieran is waving me away. I didn’t get my rations reduced. So I suppose I should be happy.

And yet, something rubs me the wrong way. Why isn’t he asking me to go back? Why isn’t he willing to investigate?

The fact that there are two people out there whose bodies haven’t been turned upside down by the spores infestation should give us hope. It should help us dis--

“Sayah?” Kieran asks, interrupting my rapid stream of thoughts, “Are you going to disobey orders again?”

I bite my lip. I want to tell him what he wants to hear. But what comes out of my mouth is the exact opposite.

“Probably.”

Kieran leaves out a loud, exhausted sigh.

“What am I going to do with you…?”

***

When I leave Kieran’s office, I take the left corner and reach the rations station.

It’s 8 am in the morning, which means most people have already cued up to get their share for the day. I, however, don’t have time for this.

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I need to figure out when the next convoy from my group goes scouting later today. And I need to make sure they take me with them.

“Hey,” I whisper next to someone I saw last night in the black market, “If you give me half of your share today, I’ll get you whatever it is you can’t find in the underground.”

The boy narrows his eyes, probably trying to figure out if I’m full of crap.

Not a lot of women sign up for scouting missions. So I give him the benefit of the doubt.

“You’ll get me… weed?”

Oh, God. Of course he was going to ask for that…

Where do you even find weed during an alien invasion, anyway?

“I’ll find some, alright?” I lie, “Do we have a deal?”

It’s his turn in line, so he crosses his name off the list and shoves some of the food in his scruffy backpack. He then hands me a can of fish and half of his loaf of bread.

“I hate fish,” I tell him, even though I’ve already put it in my backpack.

“I hate not having weed,” he shrugs.

I give him a gentle pat on the back and set out to the exit tunnels, where the convoys prepare for all scouting missions.

Getting into the tunnels is easy when you’re scheduled to go out that day. But once you finish your shift, it’s practically impossible to get outside without a very good reason.

Or a very good bribe, I think to myself.

My next shift isn’t for another three days. In theory, I could wait that long before I go out again and try to relocate the two men.

But I know that the longer I wait, the less likely it is that they’ll survive out there.

And I can’t let that happen. Not when the clinic is filled with people on the verge of death from spores infestation.

So whatever it is that’s keeping these men alive without even wearing a proper mouth mask… I need to have it.

We need to have it.

I make my way through the crowded alleys where some people have already started their daily chores: keeping the streets clean, making bread, or sewing clothes.

You’d think that, in a world like this, you’d be free of responsibilities from before the invasion. But that’s not the case.

We don’t get any sunlight in the underground city. And work is the only thing that separates the days from nights and keeps us sane.

I walk past the screens in the city center. They’re showing footage of the latest scouting mission.

Gray skies, spores all around the soldiers’ suits, and a small group of ilks coming towards them from afar.

Kieran thinks that showing people the horrors of the aboveground will instigate fear and keep them from wandering into the exit tunnels.

As if anyone would do it. As if we’re not already terrified.

Finally, I cross the wide bridge connecting the underground city to the exit tunnels.

Behind me, the entire city is buzzing. We’ve got street lights, houses, shops, churches, and of course, a lab.

About 400.000 people reside here, beneath the Earth’s protective crust. And 30.000 more spread across our other outposts.

Still, it’s nowhere near enough to face the millions of ilks that have taken over our Planet.

If there are other people out there, there’s no way for us to find out.

At the entrance of the main exit tunnel is a bald guy, dressed in his scouting suit, minus his face mask. He’s holding an acusensor gun in his arms, the same kind I also carry with me on my scouting missions.

This guy, however, is not part of my group.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asks, stepping towards me.

“I need to see the commander.”

“What for?”

“I’m not authorized to tell you,” I tell him. Technically, that’s true. I’m also not authorized to enter the tunnel, but that’s not what he asked me about.

He lets out a grunt and asks for my scouting papers. Luckily, I’ve just returned from my mission earlier today, so I have them with me.

“It says here you’ve already been out today.”

“Right. That’s true. But then I spoke with Kieran. He wants me to… investigate something.”

Now that was a lie. I’ll be the first to admit it. But if lying is going to give me a chance to save the world, so be it.

“Unless you can prove that, I’m not letting you out,” he says, handing back my papers.

That’s when I pull out the canned fish and the loaf of bread from my backpack. The bread is still warm, and the aroma instantly goes up his nostrils. I can tell by his subtle eyebrow movement, no longer tensed up.

“I can’t prove it. It’s a classified mission. But I’m sure your family would appreciate some extra food today…”

He tugs my arm and drags me inside the tunnel before I even finish my sentence.

“The fuck is wrong with you? You can’t just pull out a bribe out there, in front of the whole city. I could lose my job.”

I withdraw my arm from his tight grip and raise one eyebrow, as to enquire if he wants my bribe or not.

But he doesn’t answer. Instead, he looks around, making sure nobody sees him, and shoves the food into the inner pockets of his suit.

“If I find out you’ve got no authorization for this, I’m reporting you.”

He jerks his head towards the tunnel and I don’t think twice.

I’m in.