The Unyielding Light

Rejoicing at the success of their mission, they flew back to the base and were welcomed with open arms by everyone. It was thrilling to suddenly succeed in clearing such a difficult goal.

"Attention, everyone!" A voice roared. When Raymond looked around, he saw Calvin holding a megaphone while standing on an improvised platform. "With this, the majority of the zombies in the city have been eliminated. We have defeated this threat and ensured our opportunity to recover our everyday lives. We shall always remember this victory as the day we stood up for the power of mankind.

Despite being brief, his address caused the audience to become very excited. Raymond could see the happiness on their faces, the relief of leaving a nightmare behind and going back to their quiet lives before the turmoil struck. He couldn't blame them; after experiencing a calm life with loved ones, you want those times would never stop.

In the midst of the celebration, Raymond saw Calvin descend from his vantage point, his expression lacking the joy Raymond had anticipated. Raymond hadn't expected much from a man so mysterious, but his subdued response suggested something wasn't right. Someone interrupted Raymond as he scuttled toward him amid the riotous crowd, hoping to strike up a discussion.

"We did it, Raymond!" A voice cried out as powerful arms encircled him in a hug from behind.

"Who are you?" Startled by this strange outpouring of love, which he had seldom ever seen, much less felt, Raymond inquired.

Then he released Raymond and said, "Don’t you remember me?" in a voice that was shaking with emotion. "I’m Martin, the helicopter pilot."

"Oh, I see. When I woke up, you greeted me. You haven't been around much these days."

That's because, while you were with the army, I was in charge of helicopter routes and maintenance, in addition to training a few backup pilots. However, that doesn't imply you can ignore me. Tears filled his eyes as he spoke.

Raymond apologized while clumsily trying to calm him. "So much has been happening—I haven’t had the chance to get to know everyone better."

"Well, you’ve been helping us ever since you woke up from that brutal ordeal…" He stopped and thought. "I’m sorry!"

"What—wait? "Now what?"

"While you have had far more important tasks, I have been troubling you about insignificant things like my name. I'm really self-centered.

"You’re not helping me right now either."

"I’m sorry!"

Raymond gripped his shoulders to stop his apology. "Please, stop that," he pleaded. "I just need to speak with Calvin."

"Oh! Apologies. He's right there. He indicated the location behind the stand where Raymond had last seen Calvin, but he was no longer there.

"I guess I’ll have to track him down again."

"Hold on! Since I'm the one who caused you to miss him, I could assist you in finding him."

Raymond came up with an explanation since he couldn't bring himself to admit that he wanted to do it alone. "Don’t worry," he claimed. "I need to speak with him in private for a while since it's regarding the HHD. You've been putting in a lot of work recently; take a break."

"Oh, hehe," he said, flushing a little as he laughed. "I have been busy."

"Then I’ll go look for him."

"Yeah!"

Raymond skirted him and left the landing area, which was now a hall of celebration. The building felt deserted beyond it. The solution came to him as he paused to think about where Calvin might be. He made his way along the hallways to a door.

From within, Calvin's voice welcomed him, "You're the one who knows me best here."

"Well, this is our command room, isn’t it?" As he moved boxes around in the storage area, Raymond answered.

Calvin typed on a laptop resting on a crate and remarked, "Yeah, amid all the mission planning, I haven't had time to set up a proper space." "Sorry about that."

"Calvin…" Raymond's voice was as solemn as he could manage. "Is something wrong?"

"What are you talking about?" he asked in his normally composed voice.

"You've shown an uncommon level of analysis today, not only here but also at Sakura Central Mall. Have you discovered anything that we ought to be aware of?

He answered in a casual tone, "Not much, honestly," but Raymond felt that he was hiding something important. "I was just devising a counterstrategy for the Sakura Central Mall zombies, and now I’m wondering if we truly cleared all the zombies in the city."

"If?" Raymond pushed.

"If you consider it, it's clear. Without a perfect plan, we couldn't hope to destroy every target inside the city's fortifications, which is why I created the Scent Emitter. I think we eliminated all major threats based on mission data and test results.

"How can you be so certain?"

"I believe we got rid of the dangerous zombies because of the gas's ability to attract them to the building, the amount of time we spent there, and their speed. If they didn't make it to the danger zone of Sakura Central Mall, any disabled people who were left shouldn't be a major threat.

"I'm having trouble believing that," Raymond retorted. "There might be a million possibilities, but I know you well enough to know that you only have faith in careful planning. I apologize, but it's difficult to accept that this is your current level of satisfaction."

Calvin stopped typing. He was obviously concealing something.

"Maybe I accounted for all this before the mission, but I still need more data," he said.

Raymond was aware that he was hiding something, yet his candor seemed sincere. Raymond chose to ignore it for the time being because it was crucial to their existence.

"I see," answered Raymond. "So, what’s our next step?"

"There is one," he said in response. "In the upcoming days, we must retake the city. Everyone will do their utmost to restore it. You soldiers will be escorts, but rest for the moment. Even though you might not notice it, your body is worn out from yet another change. When we go, I'll assign the others to escort duty."

After all this chaos, a lull felt unnerving, but Raymond needed time to think things out. He resigned from his position after accepting his offer. It was only then that he became aware of the glaring advancements all around him. Even though he had previously passed through these hallways, he had not noticed how much nicer they looked—far better than when they were first constructed. What a small team with few tools and beaten souls could accomplish was astounding.

Raymond went back to his room and took a seat to relax. For hours, he slept soundly and without dreams. He was awakened by a whisper. His eyes opened to reveal a young woman murmuring to herself. When she saw him stirring, she froze.

"Uh…" Raymond started, trying to start a conversation. "Who are you?"

She didn't answer. Raymond thought she was a timid young woman who had heard stories about him.

"I’m Raymond," he tried once more, getting up slowly and coming toward her. "Nice to meet you."

She said nothing, though.

"Hey, I don’t know you, but I’m not fond of being watched by a stranger."

She yelled, "I’m not a small girl!" and then paused once more, shocked by her own declaration.

"Come on, you can converse normally, I know that. Simply say something.

"…I’m Helena," she answered. "And for your information, I’m seventeen!"

"Seventeen?" Her age startled Raymond, who hadn't had much experience with women in the military outside of seasoned adults. "So, Helena, why have you been here?"

She said, "I wanted to thank you."

"I couldn’t hear you."

With her cheeks flushed, she exclaimed, "I wanted to thank you!"

"For what?"

She blushed even more as she continued, "You've been helping us all this time." "But I never got the chance to thank you in person."

He teased her lightly because he found her modest appreciation charming. Raymond patted Helena's head and said, "Well, thanks, Helena," She flinched at once.

Her face red, she cried, "W-what are you doing!" "Don’t do that!"

Her outrage was only heightened when he laughed at her response.

"Well, whatever! If you're going to be like that, I'll let you be alone." Furious, she stormed out.

Raymond felt a wave of relief; after what had happened, it felt freeing to be anything other than a vicious soldier, even for a little time. Though sleep quickly took him back, he wished she had stayed to help him get out of his thoughts.

Days passed while he slept. He felt better than he had in a long time when he woke up. He noticed a note on the little desk in his room as he rose gingerly to prevent vertigo. It came from Calvin:

"Hi there. I'll make it brief because you've probably just woken up. We've come a long way since moving to the city. You were asleep, so we haven't completely moved out yet. Please report to the training room when you're up.

Clearly his respite was ended. The hallways were almost empty when Raymond arrived in the training room; most people were now preparing the city for their departure. The crew was mid-drill when he opened the door.

"Hey! Someone cried, "It's Raymond!" and looked away. All of them gathered around him.

Raymond said, "Hey, everyone," looking uncomfortable in their presence.

Someone inquired, "How are the bite marks?"

Raymond checked his shoulders, remembering the bites from the previous trip that caused his metamorphosis. "No worries," he was sure to tell them.

They were clearly excited to see him again. It was amazing how something that had caused terror when the building was cleared suddenly sparked wonder.

A recognizable voice reprimanded, "So, yet again, you’ve disrupted practice, Raymond," Raymond looked around and saw Leopold coming. "Everyone, back to the drill!"

"Yes, sir!" They scattered.

"Now then," remarked a voice that was familiar. When Raymond glanced around, he saw Calvin getting up from a little table with a laptop. "We can discuss the next clear-out mission."

"What are you talking about?" Raymond enquired. "We just neutralized a major threat, and you want us fighting nonstop?"

Calvin answered sharply, "The thing is, while you were asleep, we discovered something," "We did clear the city, but though our food supply is adequate, we need an independent source."

"More independent?"

"Yes. We're going back to our origins in agriculture because of this. Our current resources will last us for some time, but a self-sufficient planet is necessary to guarantee humanity's survival.

Leopold said, "We've located the closest river to the west of the city." "We need to clear another barricade like the one around here to live more peacefully for a time."

"So, what’s the plan?" Raymond enquired.

Calvin declared, "We'll repeat the last mission." "We have enough components to make a second, weaker bomb. We'll target and blow up a building in the business center rather than the enormous Sakura Central Mall."

Raymond replied, "Once again, you've thought of everything, Calvin," with a tinge of humor.

"We’d have completed this already with this team," Leopold complained, "but Calvin insisted on waiting for you."

"So," said Raymond, "when do we start?"

"Tomorrow," replied Calvin. "We depart for the building then."

Because of their past achievements, none of them felt pressured despite the short timeline. Raymond's HHD and their cooperation had proven to be invincible. However, nothing they had anticipated could prepare them for what was to come.