“You have arrived at your destination. Car doors are now unlocked.”

The trio got out of the car and walked slowly towards the entrance of the naval base. Two huge metal doors stood imposingly in front of them. Its plain steel exterior stared down at them coldly despite the sweltering heat from the tropical sun, as if warning them to back off. A lonely sign read “Sector 161 East Naval Base”. But it was quiet, too quiet.

“Hey Masako, I’m not picking up any live water bodies nearby. How about you?” William asked.

“No bio-electric fields on my side either. Maybe this base has been abandoned,” Masako replied hopefully.

“Or maybe we’re just out of range.” William slowly walked towards the doors barring their entry and frowned. “It looks like the base is still in lockdown. How do we get in?”

“The same way we entered your area.” Marianne placed her hands in the centre of one of the doors. They started to glow red and smoke poured out from between the metal and her hands. William and Masako quickly stepped back as pieces of the door started to melt and drip onto the pavement, sizzling as they met the ground. William looked in both awe and revelation at the man-sized hole Marianne had created. He stepped carefully over the molten metal and walked into the naval base.

Marianne stared at the board showing the layout of the entire base and scratched her head. “So… we take a left here and then go straight… no, we go right, and then-”

“It’s pretty simple, no?” William said. “The boats are towards the extreme north here so we just have to follow the road from here and cut through this path.” He bounced forward excitedly, walking back to the main road. “Come, I’ll lead the- WOAH!”

William quickly stepped back as large metal spikes protruded from a covered hole in the ground, narrowly missing him. More spikes poked out from the ground in front of them, blocking their path forward.

“What’s going on?” Masako exclaimed, looking around frantically.

William slowly put his hands up in the air. “End of the world and we’re still getting arrested for trespassing. This is off to a good start.”

Footsteps sounded urgently around the corner as ten young soldiers rushed out, pointing their rifles at them. “S- Stop! Or we will shoot you!” one of them yelled and adjusted his helmet nervously.

“Geez calm down, we’re not even doing anything,” Marianne muttered under her breath as the soldiers pinned them against the wall and handcuffed them roughly.

“Who are you and how did you get in here?” a soldier questioned hostilely, jabbing William in the ribs with his rifle.

“We scratched a lottery ticket and won a day tour of the naval base,” William snapped defiantly before a malicious grin formed on his face. “Are you the tour guide?”

The soldier’s nostrils flared as he raised his rifle to hit William.

“We’re just civilians and we got in by the front gate!” Marianne quickly interjected before the situation got any worse. “We only wish to leave this place by the yacht club.”

“Front… gate? Impossible! The base is under lockdown. Nothing can get in or out! Tell me the truth!” The soldier pointed his rifle at Marianne, but hidden beneath his eyes was a slight sense of hope and hesitation.

Marianne stole a quick glance at his nametag. “It’s true, Lieutenant Daniel. The doors are open now. You are free.”

A wave of murmuring spread among the group of soldiers as they lowered their weapons slightly. “We’re free? It’s over…?”

“What is it like outside? Is my family safe?” one of the soldiers blurted out. William looked at the young corporal. He looked no older than twenty.

A conscript, probably. William conjectured, feeling a sense of pity for these unfortunate soldiers.

“I’m sure they are,” he lied, dropping his sense of sarcasm. “You can go home now.”

Dull thuds were heard as the soldiers threw down their weapons one by one, except for the lieutenant who kept his rifle up.

“How can the doors be open when nobody deactivated the lockdown? Don’t… don’t give us false hope,” he said behind gritted teeth. “I’ve been listening to the news. The government has taken their elites on a cruise while they construct a new island just for them. They locked this base down before we could get out and left the rest of us to die!” His hands trembled and his knuckles turned white as he clutched the rifle tighter. “My family…”

“But we’re not dead, aren’t we?” Masako piped. “If we survived, there’s a chance your family did too. You can still see them.”

The lieutenant stared at her for a while, and let out a sigh. “Even if we let you pass, there’s no way you’d make it to the yacht club.” He shook his head. “You think you’re the only ones who thought of escaping via sea? There are hundreds of zombies stuck there; every one of them once a hopeful personnel who thought they could make it out. We’re only alive because we did not join the mad rush. We got food and water from the submarines, so we’ll live, thank you very much. This is the safest place we’ll ever be, and we’d appreciate it if you don’t stir up that hornet’s nest.”

William swiped the magazine from the lieutenant’s rifle before he could react. “You’re only saying this because you don’t have the means to fight back,” he said, dropping the dummy magazine onto the ground. “Did you really think you could fool the guy who manufactured your weapons?”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

The lieutenant lowered his rifle in defeat. “It’s not like we didn’t try. You have no idea what it's like when half of your platoon suddenly turns rabid in your quarters. But we still stayed behind. We fought, and fought, and fought. Until we were out of ammo, out of men. Out of hope.” He lowered his head and closed his eyes painfully. “Help never came. We got locked in like a bunch of wild beasts left to fight amongst ourselves. And we’re all that’s left.”

“So that’s it, then? Are you really content with spending the rest of your lives in this prison? How’re you going to save your family if you're not even choosing to save yourselves?” William fought to keep his emotions in control.

“I saw the layout of the base. There’s an armoury right before the yacht club, right?” he continued. “We can help you get the guns and ammo to save yourselves, and in return, you can help us clear out the zombies.”

The lieutenant lifted up his head, but quickly tilted it down again and furrowed his eyebrows. “The weapons are locked behind a fifteen inch steel door, and the key holder is now a zombie. How do you even plan to get it?”

“Shouldn’t take more than ten minutes.”

The ground sizzled as the liquified handcuff dripped onto the floor. The soldiers let out a collective gasp of shock as Marianne rubbed her wrists tenderly, her hands still glowing slightly from the heat she had just produced.

“W- what the hell are you?” The lieutenant reeled back in shock.

“It doesn’t matter. All you need to know is that I can destroy the locking mechanism for you and grant you access to the means to actually defend yourselves. But with those weapons, you will help us clear a path to the yacht club. Once we leave, you can leave this base and find your families. Win-win situation.” She smiled confidently.

Lieutenant Daniel stared at the ground for a few seconds with an intense expression before turning to one of his soldiers.

“Uncuff them.”

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William waited restlessly behind the wheel of the military jeep. Unlike most other vehicles, military vehicles were never equipped with an auto drive function, which meant only designated military drivers or vehicle enthusiasts who bothered to get a driving licence could drive them. And in this case, that meant William only.

“Hey Marianne, how long more?” he asked impatiently. “I thought you said it wasn’t going to take more than ten minutes.”

“How long until what? Until I fry that goatee off your face?” Marianne snapped back. “I’m done when I say I’m done. Just keep looking out for zombies.”

Masako giggled. “Just chill, dude. It’s not like we’re doing the hard work.” She stretched and plopped herself onto the backseat. William rolled his eyes and continued looking out of the window.

“I’m done!”

“Finally!” William jumped out of the car and broke into a slow jog towards Marianne.

A horribly familiar sensation set off warning bells in his head as he raised a hand in warning. “Marianne, wait-”

A zombie leapt out as soon as Marianne opened the door. She stepped nimbly to the side and sent it flying several metres with a spinning back kick. The zombie screeched as it crashed into a bush.

But it was not alone.

Another zombie lunged from her blindspot and tackled her to the ground, snarling as she struggled to hold its head away from her. Marianne shrieked in pain as the stronger zombie sank its teeth into her shoulder.

“No!” William yelled instinctively and unscrewed a bottle at his waist. A pressurised jet of water shot out at high speed and went straight through the side of the zombie’s head. It collapsed onto Marianne and she pushed its motionless body away.

The other zombie rushed at her as she barely staggered to her feet, but she was prepared this time. Marianne ducked underneath the zombie and jumped up, delivering an elbow strike to the back of its head. She swept its feet while it was still off balance, sending it crashing hard onto the ground. Marianne raised her feet up and stomped hard on its head before it could get up. A sickening crunch was heard.

William rushed over to Marianne’s side. He focused his mind on the blood spurting out of her shoulder and slowed the bleeding.

“Thanks.” She winced. “Don’t worry. I’m not gonna turn.”

“I know. It only takes about ten seconds to turn, but you can still bleed out. You’re immune, not invincible.” William took out a first aid kit from the pocket of his trousers to bandage her wound. “This looks pretty bad; I think it bit into an artery.”

“Oh great! The door’s open.” Masako popped her head out of the window.

“No thanks to you,” William said angrily.

“Meh… There were only two of them; you guys didn’t need my help anyway.”

William glared at Masako. Static cackled from the radio before he could say anything further. “You got zombies inbound. I repeat, you got zombies inbound. ETA about five minutes. Whatever you’re doing, hurry it up. Over.”

“I’m beginning to suspect that the universe doesn’t like us very much,” William grumbled. “Roger that. We’re on the way back. Out,” he barked into the radio. “Masako, please make yourself useful and help me load the weapons, will ya?”

“Um guys? I don’t think we have five minutes.” Marianne pointed ahead. A stampede of zombies were sprinting towards them from far and were closing in fast on them.

“Ah crap. Alright new plan, guys. I’m gonna lure them away with this jeep. You two hide in the armoury until all the zombies are gone. Load up whatever you can for ourselves and head to the yacht club. Untie a boat and get ready to leave. I’ll make a round and meet you there.” William tossed the radio to Marianne. “Tell the soldiers their weapons are free for the taking.”

William sounded the horn loudly and drove towards the zombies.

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“Do you have to take so many magazines?” Masako asked as Marianne furiously stuffed ammunition into her bag. “You do know they can reload themselves until they run out of material to generate bullets, right?”

“I just… feel safer having more things,” Marianne mumbled.

“I’m not helping you carry all that,” Masako tutted. “C’mon, let’s go already. We don’t have all day.”

“Alright, alright. Let me just take these too.” Marianne swept the remaining contents on the shelf into her bag.

The afternoon sun blazed down on the duo as they slowly jogged towards the pier.

“Have you ever held a gun before?” Marianne raised her eyebrow at Masako.

“No…? Why?”

“Because you’re pointing the shotgun at yourself.” Marianne sighed and turned the weapon the right way down. “Why’d you even choose this?”

“I’ve heard that shotguns are easy to use.”

“From who?! Wait- you do know how to get to the yacht club, right?”

“Huh? I was following you.”

“What?! I was following you!” Marianne stopped in her tracks and looked around.

“Oh crap.”