Xavier stood before her, his expression grim as he relayed the latest news. The zombies had nearly breached the base.
The walls had held, but barely. Everyone inside was working tirelessly to reinforce the barricades, their bodies pushed to exhaustion.
Supplies were running low, and desperation was beginning to set in.
He spoke with the authority of a leader, soone who commanded both respect and fear, but Athena couldn't shake the strange feeling creeping up her spine.
Even as he wore the uniform of a military man, sothing about him didn't fit.
It was subtle, but undeniable, like a mask worn too loosely, a role he was rely playing rather than embodying.
His posture was too casual, too assured, as if he wasn't bound by the sa rigid discipline the soldiers lived by.
There was a controlled recklessness about him, a quiet but unmistakable dominance that made her wonder if he was truly a part of the military at all.
Athena didn't ask. She kept her thoughts to herself, carefully observing him as he spoke.
There was sothing untad about him, sothing that didn't belong in the structured world of ranks and orders.
He carried himself like a man accustod to power, not the kind given by status or uniform, but the kind taken by force, earned through blood and fire.
It reminded her of the dark corners of the world, where the black market thrived, where deals determined the rise and fall of nations.
A man who didn't just follow orders but made them. She studied his sharp profile, his unreadable gaze, the way he never seed fazed by anything.
If he truly was a soldier, he wasn't just any soldier. But what was he? A rcenary? A warlord disguised as a savior? Or sothing far more dangerous?
Xavier must have noticed her silence because his gaze flickered to hers. "You're unusually quiet today."
She shrugged. "Just thinking."
"About?"
She hesitated before replying. "The base. The situation."
Xavier didn't press further, but she could tell he wasn't fooled. He saw too much, understood too much.
But instead of probing, he rely nodded and leaned against the edge of the table. "That's why I'll be accompanying you today."
She blinked. "What?"
"You heard ." He crossed his arms. "With everything going on, I don't want you wandering around alone. I don't trust the current state of the base. It's better if I'm with you."
Athena wasn't sure how to feel about that.
Having him around would undoubtedly provide protection, but it also ant she'd have to be even more careful with what she said, what she did.
It would be harder to slip away unnoticed, harder to gather the pieces of the puzzle that surrounded him.
But she also knew better than to argue. Xavier wasn't the type to change his mind once it was made up.
"Fine," she said, standing. "Let's go."
They walked through the halls of the villa, stepping past guards who nodded in acknowledgnt at Xavier but eyed Athena with subtle curiosity.
She didn't belong here, that much was clear, but no one questioned her presence. Not when she was under Xavier's watch.
As they stepped outside, the dull gray sky lood overhead, thick with the scent of rain and decay. The air felt heavy, charged with an unspoken tension.
The base was a ss. Barricades had been hastily reinforced with whatever materials they could find, wood, tal, even sandbags.
Soldiers moved in tense, hurried strides, their faces lined with exhaustion. The sound of gunfire echoed in the distance, a reminder that the walls wouldn't hold forever.
Athena scanned the area, taking in the layout, the defenses, the state of the people inside. Xavier walked beside her, his presence a silent shield against prying eyes.
"How bad is it, really?" she asked, her voice low.
Xavier exhaled through his nose. "Worse than it looks."
She frowned. "And yet you're here with instead of helping them?"
His lips quirked into a smirk, but there was no humor in it. "They can handle it. I have other priorities."
She didn't need to ask what he ant. The weight of his gaze made it clear.
As they walked through the base, she felt eyes on her. Soldiers, refugees, survivors, so filled with curiosity, others with suspicion.
She wasn't one of them. She was an outsider. And yet, with Xavier by her side, no one dared approach her.
They passed a group of soldiers sharpening their weapons, their movents tired but thodical.
Further ahead, a dic station was overcrowded with the wounded, n and won moaning in pain, their bodies wrapped in bloodied bandages.
Athena's chest tightened at the sight. This wasn't just a temporary problem. The base was crumbling, and if sothing didn't change soon, it wouldn't survive.
A commotion near the gates caught her attention. A group of civilians was arguing with a soldier, their voices rising in desperation.
She couldn't hear the exact words, but she understood the aning well enough. They wanted in.
The soldier, however, stood firm, shaking his head. The gates weren't opening for them. Athena's fists clenched.
"They won't let them in?" she asked, her voice sharp.
Xavier glanced at the scene but didn't seem surprised. "The base is at capacity. If they let more people in, resources will run out faster."
She turned to face him. "So they're just left to die?"
His expression remained unreadable. "Survival has its costs."
Sothing in his tone made her stomach churn. It wasn't that he was indifferent, no, there was sothing far more calculated in his words.
As if he understood the cruelty of the decision, but accepted it as necessary.
"You don't agree with it," she noted.
Xavier didn't respond imdiately. Then, he said, "It doesn't matter what I think. This isn't my call to make."
Athena studied him, but he didn't offer anything more.
They continued walking, but her mind remained fixated on what she had just seen. The people outside the gates, the hopelessness in their eyes. The cold reality of this new world.
As they rounded a corner, Xavier suddenly stopped, his body going rigid. Athena barely had ti to react before he pushed her behind him. A second later, a gunshot rang out.
Xavier's head tilted slightly, his eyes scanning the rooftops. Athena's pulse pounded. She followed his gaze but saw nothing.
"Sniper," he muttered.
Her breath hitched. "Are they aiming at you or ?"
Xavier smirked. "Does it matter?"
The next shot ca faster. Xavier grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the shadows. "Stay close."
Athena's heart raced as they moved swiftly through the alleys, avoiding open spaces. Whoever was targeting them wasn't just taking random shots. They were hunting.
And for the first ti since waking up in this new world, Athena realized sothing. Xavier wasn't just so military figure.
He was sothing far more dangerous. And she had just stepped deeper into his world.
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