The Endgame Chronicles (by Hugh White) novel Chapter 70

Hayley waved the group over, and they all crowded around.

“Will I get to eat meat every day if I join you guys?” she asked.

They all put on serious faces, thought about it for a second, and shook their heads. “Then can I go wherever I want? Be free every day?” she asked again.

They shook their heads again.

“If I join you, and someone pisses me off, can I just kill them?” she asked bluntly.

They shook their heads like a set of maracas.

Hayley smiled at them. “Then why would I join you?”

The question left everyone speechless.

“For honor!” Derek jumped up and said, chest puffed out.

“Honor, my foot!” Hayley kicked him and sent him sprawling.

“Honor is you out there risking your neck, and then nobody even rescues you!

“Honor is you crawling back here with your tail between your legs, begging me to take you in!

“Honor is wanting everything yet having nothing, but being first to charge into danger!

“I’m telling you, your so–called honor is already gone. Once order falls apart, there’s no going back. From now on, every base will just get more divided. The Base K1 that you’re loyal to can’t give you anything not safety, not stability, nothing at all.”

She told them, flat and cold, about what she’d seen over the last ten years, 1

The apocalypse wasn’t some short chapter that ended with order restored. Everything changed. Old systems collapsed, and while some groups tried to patch things back together, the currents of this new era were way too big for them to steer.

New bases or camps rose everywhere. A camp–based civilization was becoming the norm. Anyone trying to bring back the old pre–apocalypse order was just stuck in the past.

So nobody should expect the apocalypse to end. That would be a pipe dream. Things would only go back to normal when the virus was totally gone, if that was even possible.

The future would be built around bases, and glory would only revolve around camps.

Hayley knew they were just small fries back at Base K1, the kind the base wouldn’t bother sending rescue teams for. They weren’t worth the risk.

“But you can work with me,” she said, smiling as she ramped up the pitch. “Work with me, and you’ll get meat to eat. No one will boss you around. If someone crosses you, you can just kill them. All my lands will be your free territory.”

Derek and the others stared at her, eyes wide.

Just then, the shelter entrance behind them opened, and a calm, pleasant male voice rang out.

+26 Bonus

“Ms. Reid, thanks for the kind offer.”

Hayley turned and saw a young man wrapped in bandages, clothes ragged, walking out of the camp. The moment the rugged men saw him, they jumped and rushed forward.

“Captain Caldwell!” they shouted in a chorus.

Only Leonard stayed where he was.

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