The daily strategic meeting was always full of bureaucratic nonsense. Chanda hated the talking. She liked getting her hands dirty but here she was, stuck in a role that involved passing information around and letting others do their thing. 

When the meeting finally ended, she stood up and let out a short breath. Chairs scraped the marble floor as people got to their feet. Low murmurs filled the drab gray room. With new threats and crises cropping up every day, there was always something to be done but even that became monotonous after a while. The chair of Zone 0, a middle-aged woman with freckles and a hard, squarish face, stayed back as her two assistants briefed her in a hushed, urgent tone. Chanda’s curiosity was piqued but with everyone else filing out the door, she couldn’t remain in the room any longer.

Forced to leave, she lingered near the back of the group but couldn’t catch any snippets from the low exchange with the zone’s chair. She would have to find that out some other way. Meanwhile, her ears tuned into the conversation around her.

The whiny old man she hated who was in charge of logistics murmured to the young head of the Protector Corps in front of her, “We need to schedule more supply runs. Maybe if we can get our hands on more rare materials, that will get Eden off our backs.”

Chanda’s gaze shifted to the right where a woman muttered to her companion, “The way forward is to reduce reliance on Eden. We shouldn’t be threatened by them all the time.”

She had heard enough. She dug her hands into her sports jacket. Her deep-set eyes framed by thick, painted eyebrows averted contact with anyone as she stalked down the long corridor, away from the departing crowd, her high ponytail swishing from side to side.

Turning down the corridor, she ducked into the stairwell. Her hand rummaged for the burner PalmComm she had kept hidden from the border guards when she first entered Zone 0. As the autodial called the one number programmed into it, she made haste to the ground floor. When she burst out of the emergency exit, the call got through after clearing several security encryption protocols.

“Identify yourself.”

“Agent C12. Code Sierra Alpha Foxtrot. Delivering urgent report.”

A click came over the line as the call was transferred to her superior.

“Status report, Agent C12.”

Her back stiffened into a military ramrod position. Old habits die hard. 

“Zone 0 is aiming to end their contract soon,” she said curtly as she dashed a quick glance around her.

The road was quiet. Supply runners had already left Zone 0, the rest of the residents were hard at their jobs. She hated the enforced silence. It was like the calm before the storm. She missed the sounds of nature, the lively chatter of friends, the roar of the crowd at sports events. Perhaps there was still a chance she could experience that once again when her job ended.

“That’s disappointing news.”

Her superior’s edgy tone filtered down the line, reminding her of her duty. She heard him sigh.

“Any reason as to why they would want to do that?” he said.

“They invited the ZBot founder here.”

A lengthy pause followed. She tensed. Cutting through to the factories sector, she made a beeline for the base station. The network connection was clearer there. In the distance, she could see the power engineers scurrying around as they maintained the plasma shields that protected the zone. All of the technology, the materials, and the know-how of creating plasma shields came from Eden - the one and only company left active on Earth actively defending humanity from the threat of zombies.

Developed in Norway, one of the few sanctuaries safe from the zombies due to its natural isolation, the company had already been working on plasma shields long before the apocalypse began. Preliminary plasma field generators had made their way across the world for developed nations, Singapore being one of the first to test out the technology for air space protection. 

When the Z-virus made its way through normal barricades and fortified cities, nations with Eden’s technology had a survival edge over those without. Eden quickly became the most important company in the world with its plasma field technology being a critical commodity. They expanded their operations, seeking to deliver expertise and materials to safe zones around the world. To do that, they needed resources. 

Manpower, supplies, rare materials, equipment. The list went on. Thus, the contract was formed. 

Eden delivered the plasma shields. The safe zones supplied Eden with whatever the company needed. Luckily, Norway had access to an arsenal of transport carriers, which took care of the need to move the supplies and the required equipment anywhere they wanted.

“Why did you not inform me of this development earlier?” her superior’s angry voice cut through her thoughts.

Chanda’s lips pursed into a thin line. Her hands balled into fists. “I’m not involved in all the meetings that go on here. Obviously, the chair still doesn’t trust me.”

“That’s your problem. Your one job in Zone 0 is to be on top of everything that’s going on there.”

Bristling, Chanda forced her frustration down. She would give anything to see that arrogant, pigheaded superior of hers try his hand at her job just for one day. She bet he wouldn't even last three hours.

A rattling sigh drifted down her ear. “Anyway, how’s the security like around her? I expect the ZBot founder should have a contingent of bodyguards.”

“She only has one bodyguard with her. I heard she’s traveling light.”

“Good. Get rid of her.”

Chanda sucked in a breath. She had a feeling this was coming. And she knew her superior would hate what she was about to say next.

“She’s gone.”

“What do you mean gone?”

“I checked her room. She’s not there. The hotel manager told me she was on her way to the heli. The air space records show one heli has already left.”

As she waited for her superior to explode in fury over the line, the speakers around her crackled. She gave a start, whirling around. 

“Holland Zone is down” came the announcement.

She huffed in annoyance. Another day, another safe zone had fallen. This wouldn't have happened if Holland Zone had taken Eden’s offer. The problem was not many zones had the resources to sustain their contract. So the weak ones would eventually bleed to death, leaving only the strongest to survive. Evolution at its finest.

“So you’re telling me that you found out too late that our rival was in Zone 0 and that you couldn’t even secure her before she left?”

Her teeth ground together. “Yes.”

“I expected more from you, Agent C12.”

She remained silent.

“Anyway, are you certain Zone 0 plans to terminate their contract?”

She nodded. “The consensus between different factions is that they do not want to rely on Eden's technology any longer. So it’s only a matter of time before they end the contract.”

“What a shame. Zone 0 has been quite generous with their supplies. Their last batch had more materials than we anticipated.”

“I could try to convince them to reconsider-”

“Didn’t you mention in your last report that they’re also trying to reverse-engineer our technology?”

“Yes. They have a few power and electromagnetic experts.”

“And how close are they to reverse engineering everything?”

Chanda mulled over the question. “It’ll take them a few more months. But if they invited ZBot down here, then that may be their interim solution.”

“And we can’t have that, can we?”

“No.”

“Well then.” Another sigh. She could hear the squeak of his chair as he leaned back. “We have no choice then.”

“Sorry, sir?”

“I suggest you leave Zone 0 as soon as possible.”

“Why?”

A pause. “We’re going to make an example of Zone 0. Show the world what happens when you no longer rely on Eden.”

A chill ran down Chanda’s spine. She darted a glance at the plasma shield shimmering above her. Her mind ran through all the emergency procedures drilled into her during her training. She started back toward the block of apartments further down the road where she lived.

“I’ll get the team to initiate disconnecting procedures now.”

“Now?!”

“Yes. So you’d better get running.”

Chanda’s eyes widened in disbelief. 

“We’ll arrange an evacuation for you after that and send the location coordinates to you as soon as we scramble a heli. We'll transport you back here until we decide where to send you next. Please survive until then. I expect as much from an ex-military commander. I would hate to lose your services, even if you have been a disappointment so far.”

The call ended with a click. Chanda stared at the PalmComm in her hand. Her fingers tightened around the thin screen as she resisted the urge to fling it away. They couldn’t even give her an hour’s notice before all hell broke loose?

She broke out in a jog. Her stash of emergency supplies was on the far side of the zone, near the food supplies. If she had time, she would grab some of those too. Who knew how long it would take before she could be evacuated? She prayed to the gods above that her stolen and modified electric scout car had not been found yet. Heavens knew she didn’t want to be here when the zombies arrived.