The Safe Zone - Ascension (Book 4)

Chapter 13: The Overseer's Ultimatum

Lena:

The air inside the makeshift command room was thick with tension. I could feel it pressing down on me like a suffocating weight, as if the very walls were closing in, threatening to crush me under the enormity of what was coming. Outside, the camp buzzed with frantic activity as what remained of the resistance prepared for the inevitable—the Directive's next move. We had been hit hard in the last assault, our forces scattered, and our numbers dwindled, but we were still standing—barely.

And now, we had a decision to make.

I stared at the cracked screen before me, my mind racing as the Directive's message replayed in my head. The request had come through only moments ago, delivered in that cold, clinical voice that I had come to associate with the Overseer's iron will. His words echoed in my mind, each a dagger that twisted deeper into my fragile resolve.

Join us or face total annihilation.

It was as simple as that. The Overseer had laid his cards on the table, and now we were left with a choice—surrender and join the very force that had torn our world apart, or fight to the bitter end and risk being wiped off the face of the earth.

I ran a hand through my hair, my fingers trembling as I tried to process what we were supposed to do now. The others were gathered around me—Zara, Ethan, and the handful of commanders who had survived the last battle. Their faces were grim, drawn tight with fear and uncertainty. They were looking to me for answers, for some plan, but all I felt was the weight of failure pressing down on my shoulders.

"We can't seriously be considering this," Zara said, breaking the silence. Her voice was sharp, tinged with anger. "We've fought too hard, lost too many people, to even think about surrendering to those bastards."

Ethan shifted beside me, his jaw clenched. "It's not about surrender, Zara. It's about survival. The Directive's forces outnumber us a hundred to one. If we keep fighting, we'll be crushed."

"And you think joining them will save us?" Zara shot back, her eyes blazing with fury. "You think the Overseer will welcome us with open arms and let us live? They'll brainwash us, turn us into their puppets, just like they did to the others."

I could feel the tension rising like a storm building beneath the surface. They had been at each other's throats ever since we lost the camp, carrying the weight of the losses in different ways. Zara's anger had turned into a weapon she wielded to keep herself going, while Ethan's fear gnawed at him, making him cautious and hesitant.

"We're not surrendering," I said, quiet but firm. "That's not an option."

Zara exhaled sharply, crossing her arms over her chest as she glared at the floor. Ethan's shoulders relaxed slightly, but I could still see the doubt in his eyes.

"Then what are we going to do?" he asked, his voice heavy with exhaustion. "If we don't accept their terms, they'll come at us with everything they've got."

"They will," I agreed, my mind working overtime to formulate a plan. The problem was, there wasn't much of one. We were out of options. Out of resources. And out of time. The Directive's forces had grown stronger with every defeat we suffered while running on fumes. Every battle left us with fewer fighters and fewer supplies. We were a ragtag group of survivors, barely holding on by a thread.

I turned back to the screen, my eyes narrowing as the Overseer's message flickered in the background, taunting me. His voice had been calm, collected, almost benevolent in its offer. But I knew better. I knew what lay behind that mask of civility. He wanted us broken, compliant. He tried to control us.

But he would never get that.

"We need to outsmart them," I said finally, looking up at the others. "We can't face them head-on. Not anymore. But we can lure them into a trap."