As everyone sat in a standard row before her, Emma pulled out a mobile whiteboard while everyone watched in awe. Sitting in the front, Xavier wondered how big Emma’s inner storage was. While the people from their base only had a bit of space in their storage, around a few feet, he had seen Emma pile loads of things into hers.

Emma stood next to the whiteboard, clipping the papers she found inside the observation room onto the board. Some papers were yellowed and frayed at the edges, but the writing was still legible. Diagrams and charts detailed the horrifying experiments conducted on humans turning them into zombies.

“So, your base is connected with the government, right?” Emma asked.

Cassidy nodded her head, looking slightly uneasy. “Yeah, we were all set up by the government to create the Aries Base, but then we lost contact with the upper commander, so my dad just took control.”

Emma let out a sigh, her eyes narrowing. “Then do you know what research they were doing?”

Cassidy looked back, confused and a bit defensive. “What research? Our base only fights. We were never told about any research.”

Emma tapped one of the papers on the board with a pointed finger. “But according to these papers, this research has been going on for five whole years. They were experimenting on humans, trying to “improve” our genes and turning people into zombies.”

Cassidy stood up immediately and looked at the paper on the board. Her eyes scanned the documents, and her face turned pale as she realized the implications. Diagrams of brain scans, chemical formulas, and detailed logs of experiments conducted on both zombies and human subjects filled the pages.

“Five years...” Cassidy whispered, her voice trembling. “We had no idea.”

The group murmured among themselves, the gravity of the situation sinking in. Dean and Xavier exchanged worried glances, while Mark and Xyla looked horrified at the revelations.

Emma let out a sigh. She had fought against the zombies relentlessly since her past life, believing that each one she destroyed meant one less threat to humanity, as long as no one else got bitten. But now, a realization came to her: people might be actively creating more zombies even as she fought to eliminate them. The thought was sickening.

“So, what do we do now?” Mark asked quietly. He had been part of the government army from a young age, following in his father's footsteps. His dad had been a soldier who died in a war, and Mark had taken up his path, fighting for the right things he believed in. But now, with evidence suggesting he might have been fighting for the wrong things, he felt lost and betrayed.

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Emma took out the Emergency Protocol papers, unfolding them onto the board. “We’ll need to bomb the place with the zombies over there, of course,” she began. “All we have to do is make sure all the doors are locked. Once we press the alarm button, the building will start with a small fire in the research room, which should kill all the zombies. After that, the building itself will automatically explode based on the system that was put into the building.”

She paused, looking around at the group, and observing their reactions. Fear and uncertainty flickered across their faces.

“Xavier’s group has already made sure that everything is locked up,” Emma continued, glancing over at Xavier, who gave a small nod of confirmation. “So now, all we need to do is press the buttons and drive off.”

Cassidy, standing next to Emma, looked down at the papers, her brow furrowing. “We need to be precise about this. Any mistake and we will be like that other group with zombies chasing after us.”

Emma nodded, understanding her worry. “That’s why we’ll do it step by step. First, we’ll press the alarm button in the control room up there. That will trigger the fire. Then, we’ll have a five-minute window to get to our vehicles and put as much distance between us and the buildings as possible before the main explosion.”

Emma turned to the group, her eyes firm. “ We need to be ready to move quickly. Gather your things, and let’s get into position. Xyla came with me to the control room. The rest of you, get to your vehicles and be prepared to drive as soon as we give the signal.”

The group scattered. Emma led Xyla back upstairs. As they entered the control room, Emma took a deep breath, steadying herself. She found the button with the alarm symbol, its surface still marked with fingerprints.

After making sure everyone was back in the vehicles, Emma put her hands over the button, “Here we go,” she said, pressing the button firmly. An alarm blared, echoing through the halls. The control panel lit up, showing the countdown had begun.

“Go!” Emma shouted, sprinting out of the building with Xyla in front of her. They reached their vehicles, engines already running, as Xyla ran into her vehicle, Emma climbed into the RV, signaling for Amy to start driving. The RV roared to life, dragging the two vehicles behind them.

In the rearview mirror, Emma saw the buildings in the distance. Smoke began to puff out from building three, followed by a series of explosions that rocked the desert landscape. A massive fireball erupted, swallowing the buildings and turning them into a smoldering heap of rubble.

The ride home was quiet in the back of two vehicles, but not in Emma and Amy's. The hum of the engine filled the RV as Emma pulled out a notebook and pencil, her mind racing with calculations. She hasn’t forgotten about her asking for more plans. “Okay, so five more percent for taking them out of the zombie rush. What else, Amy? Think. We’re only at thirty so far,” she said, tapping the pencil against the paper.

Amy stared ahead, her brows furrowed in concentration. “Ummm… I don’t know… Oh, wait! I know, the small zombies!” she exclaimed, her eyes lighting up.

Emma nodded, her hand moving quickly to jot it down. “Okay, that’s another five percent. We’re at thirty-five percent now.” She then turned around and looked at the two vehicles following them, their headlights cutting through the growing darkness. “Oh yeah, and us dragging them with us, so they don’t need to use their oil. That’s another five percent,” she added, writing furiously.

“Forty percent now. We’ll keep it at that for the time being,” she concluded, closing the notebook with a satisfied nod.