The Safe Zone - Ascension (Book 4)

Chapter 6: Gathering Allies

Lena:

The room fell into an uneasy silence after the decision was made. We were going after the Directive, launching a mission against Phase Three, and it wasn't just an attack—it was all or nothing. I could see the tension in every face around the table. They were committed but scared, and I couldn't blame them. I felt the fear coiled tight in my chest like a viper, ready to strike any moment. But I couldn't show it. Not now.

Not when they needed me to lead.

I took a deep breath, trying to steady the tremble in my hands as I placed them on the table before me. My gaze swept over the group: Carter, his jaw set in that familiar way that said he was ready for anything, even if he was terrified inside; Zara, her face hard, stubborn, but with a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes. The rest of the resistance fighters sat quietly, grim but determined. They were ready to fight but didn't know how to fight something as insidious as Phase Three.

None of us did.

"We need to start planning," I said, my voice steady even though my heart was racing. "This isn't going to be a straightforward mission. We can't just enter Directive territory and blow up their control center. We'll need allies. Resources. Intelligence."

"We barely have enough people to hold this bunker," Zara muttered, her arms crossed over her chest. "How do you expect us to gather allies? Most of the resistance groups have either scattered or gone dark."

She wasn't wrong. After the last few months of brutal Directive assaults, most resistance had been shattered. Communication lines were down, and supply routes were destroyed. We'd been cut off from nearly everyone. After the failure of the last offensive, many groups had vanished, too battered and broken to continue the fight.

But that didn't mean they were gone. Not entirely.

"We know there are still groups out there," I said firmly. "They're lying low, but they're still alive. And they hate the Directive as much as we do. If we can rally them, we'll have a fighting chance."

Carter leaned forward, his brow furrowed in thought. "We'll need to convince them that we can win this. Most of them don't even know about Phase Three. As far as they're concerned, it's just another Directive attack."

"That's why we need to spread the word," I said, meeting his gaze. "If they understand what's at stake, they'll fight. We must show them that this isn't just about taking down the Directive—it's about saving humanity from complete domination."

The room went quiet again, the weight of my words settling heavily over the group. They all knew what the Directive was capable of, but Phase Three... was beyond anything we'd ever faced. Mind control, the eradication of free will—it wasn't just about survival anymore. It was about stopping something far worse than death.

"So where do we start?" Zara asked, her voice low but steady.

I pulled out the worn map we'd used a hundred times before. It showed the scattered remnants of the old world—pockets of civilization, crumbling cities, and the locations of known resistance groups. It was faded and torn, a relic of a time before everything went to hell, but it was all we had.

"There are a few groups we know about," I said, tracing my finger across the map. "The Western Front, hiding out near the mountains. They've been quiet lately, but they're still operational. The Northern Coalition holed up in the ruins of a city. And there's a group down south... we've only heard whispers, but they're rumored to be heavily armed. We need to make contact with all of them."

Carter studied the map, his brow furrowing. "If they're still out there, they'll be cautious. They won't trust us immediately after everything that's happened."