Noah and his warriors waited for Thomas to strike after Okada's fall, but nothing came. Thomas and his group only watched. That was enough for Noah to realize Thomas was never one of Kuroda's men.
After the battle, Okada's forces moved quickly. They seized Kuroda's meteor fragment and merged it with their own. The moment the two touched, the Safe Zone barrier expanded and stretched twice as far.
Everything that once belonged to Kuroda, the walls, the streets, the homes, was swallowed by the Pink Fog.
The survivors scattered. Some bent the knee to Okada, pledging loyalty to Noah's family. Others grabbed what they could and fled into the fog, gambling on survival elsewhere.
Earlier, Thomas and his crew had agreed to join Kuroda's fighters on a spider hunt. The timing and location felt off to Thomas, so they scouted first. Before dawn, they went out again, pretending to hunt stray Fades before the real spider hunt scheduled for tomorrow. They knew Kuroda had eyes on them, so Thomas made a show of it, swinging wide with his attacks and exaggerating every move. The watchers stayed locked on him, the strongest of the group. All four of them joined in at first, keeping the act alive, but Bryan's part grew smaller each time until his movements barely registered. That was when he slipped away. In his Celestial Tiger form he soared above the fog with his wings spread and scouted their real target, the spider pack's territory. From a distance the fog blurred everything, making it hard for their watchers to notice his absence.
That was when they discovered another Safe Zone nearby. The spider pack's nest sat right in the middle of the two territories. It became clear what was really happening. Kuroda might have already planned to invade the other Safe Zone, but the spiders kept them in check. Before the world ended, the Kuroda family was already known as an underground land grabbing group. Even now, in the middle of the apocalypse, nothing had changed.
Thomas still gave them the benefit of the doubt. If Kuroda only wanted the spiders gone, the timing would not matter. Sooner or later the pack would still be there. But Kuroda showed their hand. They had used the spider pack to strike Okada instead. That was all Thomas needed to see. His crew chose to finish the hunt as promised and, at the same time, help Okada. The rest followed.
Later, Noah explained the history between Okada and Kuroda. The two had once worked together, but Kuroda betrayed them at a critical moment, and Okada lost nearly half their fighters. From then on, Kuroda hounded them. Okada could no longer scavenge far from home without being hunted down. With fewer numbers it was only a matter of time before Kuroda crushed them completely.
Then the spider pack appeared and took over the middle ground. It gave Okada breathing room. Without it, they would have been finished.
After hearing the full story, Thomas and his crew were welcomed as guests into Okada's Safe Zone.
Just before they entered the Safe Zone, Iris was still doing some last-minute shopping. Once inside, the interface would be locked.
"Huh? I got a discount for a week?" Iris muttered, tilting her head.
"You got what?" Nevin asked. He had already heard her but pulled up his own interface anyway.
"I don't have it," he said a moment later.
"I don't have it either," Bryan added.
"Mine's still twice as expensive." Thomas shrugged and closed his interface right away. He didn't care.
Inside the Okada Safe Zone, repairs were already underway. With the fragment enlarged, the walls had to be extended, and new shelters built for those who had come from Kuroda's destroyed Safe Zone. It was a lot of work, but spirits were high. For the first time in a long while, the people looked happier.
That night the survivors gathered in the market square. Okada's people, a few from Kuroda, and Thomas's crew sat wherever they could, passing around food. It wasn't much, but after everything they had survived, it felt like a feast.
Thomas stretched out on a bench at the edge of the square, arms folded, eyes closed.
Bryan perched on the roof of an old shop, watching the crowd with his usual unreadable stare. "We shouldn't get comfortable. Places like this don't stay quiet for long."
"Dude, way to kill the mood," Nevin called up. He slipped another bread roll into his coat when he thought no one was looking. "Can't you just let people enjoy the night for once?"
"I saw that," Iris said without even turning her head.
"I'm keeping it safe for later," Nevin grinned.
For a little while, it felt normal.
No Fades. No packs. Just people talking in low voices, someone laughing, fires burning low, plates scraped clean. Even a few beers being passed around.
Thomas dozed off with all the noise. Iris leaned on him, using his shoulder as a pillow.
Bryan and Nevin caught each other's eyes. They started grinning, teasing each other without a word, both thinking the same thing. To them, Thomas and Iris leaning on each other already looked like a pair of lovers. The joke stayed between the two of them, but it showed on their faces.
The calm broke when static crackled from a satellite phone inside the base. One of Okada's men quickly hooked it to a speaker.
Every conversation stopped. A cup slipped from someone's hand. Chairs scraped as people straightened, all ears on the sound.
Everyone in the Safe Zone turned toward the old speaker systems mounted along the walls.
The static cleared.
A voice came through, steady and commanding.
"To all active Safe Zones and combat forces. This is a priority broadcast from central command. A Caller Fade has been confirmed near District 8. The number of Fades is still growing. If left unchecked, it will spread beyond containment."
A pause. The voice sharpened.
Thomas stirred awake, Iris lifting her head from his shoulder as the whole crowd leaned in to listen.
"This is a call to arms. All capable forces are ordered to mobilize. We cannot afford hesitation. We cannot afford retreat. Stand ready. Join the assault. For the safety of your Zones. For the future of us all... fight."
The transmission cut off.
Silence swept through the Safe Zone.
District 8 was close. Too close. Okada's territory sat right next door in District 7.
And just like that, the brief peace was over.
The calm broke when the comms team picked up a signal on the satellite phone and hooked it to the speaker. Static burst out as soon as the line went through, drawing everyone's attention.
Every conversation stopped. A cup slipped from someone's hand. Chairs scraped as people straightened, all ears on the sound.
Everyone in the Safe Zone turned toward the old speaker systems mounted along the walls.
The static cleared.
A voice came through, steady and commanding.
"To all active Safe Zones and combat forces. This is a priority broadcast from central command. A Caller Fade has been confirmed near District 8. The number of Fades is still growing. If left unchecked, it will spread beyond containment."
A pause. The voice sharpened.
Thomas stirred awake, Iris lifting her head from his shoulder as the whole crowd leaned in to listen.
"This is a call to arms. All capable forces are ordered to mobilize. We cannot afford hesitation. We cannot afford retreat. Stand ready. Join the assault. For the safety of your Zones. For the future of us all... fight."
The transmission cut off.
Silence swept through the Safe Zone.
District 8 was close. Too close. Okada's territory sat right next door in District 7.
And just like that, the brief peace was over.
"I knew it." Bryan shook his head.
"Did you have the devil's tongue or something?" Nevin shot back.
"We barely made it through two packs," Iris said quietly. She leaned against the bench with her arms crossed, her eyes fixed on the ground. "And now they want us to fight a Caller?"
Thomas sat up slowly, rolling his shoulders with a grunt. "Yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck.
Iris gave him a sideways glance. "You worried?"
Thomas yawned. "Nah. Just annoyed."
Nevin, still sitting near the food table with crumbs on his shirt, looked around the square. "Uh… hey. What's a Caller Fade again?"
Bryan stayed on the roof, eyes shifting from the fog beyond the walls to Nevin below. "Twice, maybe even three times as strong as a normal Fade," he said flatly. "It's the leader of a pack. The difference is that a Caller can pull in more, leading two or even three full packs at once."
Somewhere far away, not on Earth.
"Transformed beings called Callers by humans have been awakened all over the world as instructed," a robotic voice reported through a massive monitor.
"Great! Now that our hero is on the right track, let's make sure he gets proper training," Argus replied.
"I guess giving a discount to his companion wasn't a bad move after all. She pushed him to travel, now they fought packs. Excellent work! He still needs more pushing, and awakening the Callers now is the right move." Argus puffed up with pride.
If Iris could have heard that, she would have realized her decision to drag Thomas out of the Safe Zone was what earned her that week-long discount from the System.
Moments later, the robotic voice spoke again.
"I can now confirm that our hero candidate is heading toward a Caller location."
"See! That's it!" Argus cheered, breaking into another round of ridiculous dancing.