Annie spoke evenly, already turning away. "I'll have the nine hundred kilograms delivered today."
She guided her brother forward. "We already have a place to stay. We'll go there."
Her mother's voice rose sharply behind them. "Since when did you rent a house without telling me?"
Annie didn't stop walking. "I'll beg my friends to take us in."
That answer seemed to soothe her mother's suspicions. 'So she's penniless after all,' the woman thought, finally relaxing.
Annie led her brother onward, her steps steady, until the looming structures of the SiIvy Base came into view.
He froze, eyes widening.
"Why are we going into the SiIvy Base?" His voice trembled with disbelief. "Do you know someone here?"
Relief washed over him as hope bloomed.
'Maybe she can start over here. Even after I'm gone.'
He had heard the rumors... cheap food, stable facilities, jobs that kept people alive. Zombies rarely breached it. Heat didn't suffocate it. Clean buildings, real apartments.
