Read Novel Full Chapter 456: Evacuation
Chapter 456: Chapter 456: Evacuation
"I saw you skipping dinner again," she said quietly. "Do you really think I don’t notice how much you’re suffering?"
Mika froze, words stuck in his throat.
Greta pressed the bun closer.
"Eat it," she insisted. "And when this battle ends, resign from the military."
He hesitated, then nodded slowly.
Once, he had wanted to defend the military, to stay loyal and protect the base.
But as time passed, he finally understood the truth.
By continuing to serve, he was nothing more than a fool.
The military didn’t value their sacrifices at all; they only knew how to exploit them.
"This is the last time," he replied quietly, turning his back.
Watching him walk away, Greta murmured under her breath, her voice bitter,
"These leaders don’t deserve your dedication."
She remembered too clearly how the military had gradually worsened their treatment of soldiers.
When Mika had been gravely injured in a previous battle, they hadn’t even bothered to send proper medicine.
She returned home to find her mother slumped against the wall, pale and on the verge of fainting.
Greta felt exhaustion seep into her bones.
The bun she had given Mika was the last piece of bread in the house. With it gone, there was nothing left to eat.
Her thoughts drifted unwillingly to the black market, where spoiled food was being sold for gold bars.
The temptation clawed at her mind.
Their family had never been wealthy, but through years of scraping and saving, they had managed to accumulate two gold bars.
They had preserved them carefully, hoping to use them in a true emergency.
’Maybe this is that emergency,’ she thought bitterly.
Still, she clenched her fists. ’I’ll wait until he comes back.’
The black market was no longer safe. Recently, people had been smuggled out of the base, disappearing without a trace.
Thinking about it made her head throb.
Zombies, human trafficking, hunger... fear piled on fear until she felt close to breaking.
She endured only because of one belief. When Mika returns, we’ll go to SiIvy Base. Things will change there.
With that fragile hope, she waited.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Mika fought desperately against the zombies, death looming closer with every second.
It wasn’t instinct that warned him... it was reality. The situation was hopeless.
High-ranking officers had thrown lower-ranked soldiers straight to the front lines, using them as living shields.
The zombie hordes surged relentlessly, claws scraping against the walls, already on the verge of breaking through and flooding the base.
Mika understood clearly that if the lower-ranked soldiers refused to act as shields, the zombies would be able to enter the base easily.
At last, the higher-ranking officers grasped the gravity of the situation. Without hesitation, they issued a long-delayed order.
"All personnel within the military base are to evacuate immediately."
This command had been withheld for three or four days.
They had hoped the hordes would retreat or that they could somehow suppress them.
Now, reality had stripped away that illusion.
Escape itself was dangerous, and many wouldn’t make it without being turned into zombies.
Still, they had no choice. Even as some believed these soldiers were destined to die anyway, a faint shred of humanity remained.
Fulfilling their duty as soldiers, they chose to issue the evacuation order, preparing a exit route for the citizens to leave first, while chaos swallowed everything behind them.
When Greta received the evacuation notice at the military post, her mind went blank.
The words on the loudspeaker echoed harshly.
For a moment, she genuinely thought she had misheard. ’Evacuate? Now?’
She shook her head stubbornly, nails digging into her palms. ’No. I’ll wait for Mika.’
Her mother, however, reacted instantly.
"We’re leaving."
Greta spun around, staring at her in disbelief.
"How can you say that?" Her voice trembled. "How can you abandon him?"
Her mother clenched her fists so tightly that her knuckles turned white, but she did not answer right away.
In her heart, she already knew the truth.
’My son... he’s probably already turned,’ she admitted silently, the thought ripping through her chest like a blade.
She wanted to run out there, to search for him, to drag him back even if he had already become a zombie.
’Even if he’s lost... he’s still my son.’ But another truth followed just as mercilessly. ’If I take Mika with me now, I’ll be killing my daughter.’
She had already lost her husband and son. She could not... would not... lose Greta too.
Forcing herself to appear cold and ruthless, she lifted her head and stared at Greta sternly.
"We can stop along the way to look for Mika. If he truly wants to find us, we’ll leave our address behind. He’ll come to us someday." Her voice lowered, heavy with finality. "But right now, we have to leave."
Greta shook her head violently. "No. That doesn’t make any sense."
She was about to argue again when she noticed the disappointment in her mother’s eyes.
The look made her chest tighten. Before Greta could question it, her mother spoke again, this time calmly, almost gently.
"Do you think Mika would turn back if he truly had the chance?"
Greta hesitated, then nodded. "He would."
Her mother continued without raising her voice.
"Then if he hasn’t returned... doesn’t that mean he never had the opportunity? Doesn’t that mean he was surrounded?"
She paused. "He had every right and reason to come back. If he didn’t, what do you think that means?"
Greta’s fists clenched as realization crept in, slow and cruel.
’He stayed behind... because of us.’
Her mother wasn’t saying Mika had abandoned them.
She was saying he chose not to return because he knew it would put them in danger.
He had kept fighting, knowing exactly what it would cost him.
Tears spilled from Greta’s eyes as she shook her head desperately.
"He’s alive," she insisted. "He has to be. I’ll go see."
She turned to run, but her mother grabbed her wrist with surprising strength.
"You can’t," she said sharply.