Only a select few were aware of Jade’s tale. Hailey called for a staff meeting immediately with one agenda: how to deal with the said threat.
The San Diego zoo was four and a half miles away from the base. As such, the massive number of civilians would attract the undead’s attention towards them.
It was probable that their leader, called Blaze, was already aware of them. Hence, he sent a severed head to warn them.
"From the woman’s retelling, we can infer this Blaze isn’t like other undead," Hailey said, addressing the staff. "An evolved zombie, capable of crafting strategies and outwitting a human."
Murmurs ripped through the room. The zombies were so easy to handle because of their lacking intelligence. Otherwise, with their sheer numbers, they could have easily overwhelmed the base’s defenses.
No one even wanted to imagine what would happen then.
Commander Hailey raised his hand, silencing the crowd.
"As per our information, there aren’t too many undead in the zoo. It seems Blaze cannot maintain a massive horde."
Everyone understood the meaning behind those words. A small group, no matter how strong, could be overwhelmed with firepower.
Suddenly, the situation didn’t seem so dire anymore.
Hailey nodded, and a lieutenant spread a physical map before them. Two locations were marked on the map, with half a dozen paths connecting them.
The lower mark was their base, and the upper one was the zoo.
"Our patrols have marked these six paths as the safest way to infiltrate the zoo," Hailey continued. "In my opinion, the path through the golden hill would be the shortest and safest."
The staff agreed. It was the straightest path, so even if the zombies planned to ambush them, they could defend themselves with ease.
However, there was one thing bothering everyone.
The zig-zag hitch in the path, just before entering the main road to the zoo. It was the perfect spot for an ambush, and to make things worse, their formation wouldn’t hold there.
Hailey knew it too, but they didn’t have a choice. The other route was safe from ambushes, but was swarmed with zombies. If they took that path, not even half of them would reach the zoo alive.
No matter how strong they were, or how many chosen they had among themselves, the soldiers couldn’t survive thousands of zombies attacking them. Especially when they would be in open space.
The tactical thing to do would be to gather more information before attacking. But time was one luxury they couldn’t afford. Hailey had a feeling Blaze needed to be eliminated as soon as possible.
In just three days of the apocalypse, that one undead had assembled quite a force. He didn’t even want to imagine what a zombie like that would be capable of if given more time.
However, he couldn’t deny one thing.
There was a greedy part of him that wanted Blaze to evolve further. Just so he could claim his nucleus and evolve himself, but it was just a fleeting thought.
As much as he wanted to evolve, he didn’t want to take a risk.
Eliminating the threat is more important.
Besides, he did not lack soldiers.
Prior to the outbreak, the base had over fourteen thousand servicepeople. Most of the zombies inside the base had been civilians, so dealing with them wasn’t an issue.
Even now, they had around twelve thousand active personnel in the base, excluding the thousand Chosen they had recruited.
With such numbers, sacrificing a few wouldn’t even put a dent in their total numbers.
Even so, Hailey didn’t want to fully commit to it. Not because Blaze was full of surprises, but because he was afraid of a coup.
It only took three days for their morals to disappear. The soldiers and the chosen had begun treating the civilians as slaves. The sponsorship program was established so the soldiers could enjoy themselves even more.
Was it disgusting? Yes.
Did everyone take part in it? No.
There were people like Hailey who didn’t treat those without power as dirt. Still, as the base’s supreme commander, he allowed such protocols to exist.
All because he was afraid of a coup.
As united as they seemed from the outside, the truth was, everyone wanted to covet the other’s position. Hailey didn’t want to upset the delicate balance between the various factions within the base, so he allowed them a certain degree of freedom.
Besides, the civilians weren’t useful for much. At most, they could be used as free labor or to indulge those with power.
Only a fool would openly support them against those with the power to shape the future.
But what if their number dwindled?
That’s what Hailey hoped for.
He wanted to send most of the opposing factions into war with Blaze. They’d kill the undead in the zoo and lose their people while at it.
It would strengthen Hailey’s position within the base. He would be hailed as a savior, and isn’t that what every man wanted?
He wanted the glory, building upon the corpses of his enemies.
"I suggest an all-out march to the zoo," Hailey said, clearing his throat. "We’ll squash their ambush and their base with our sheer numbers!"
Everyone’s head turned towards Michael Bayman, the Lieutenant Commander, the second in the chain of command after Hailey.
"This plan reeks of recklessness," he said, his sharp blue eyes staring at Hailey. "Crush them with numbers? What are we? Brutes? What will be the difference between us humans and those rotting bastards if we resort to their level of intelligence?"
People nodded in agreement. While they understood the urgency of the situation, Hailey’s plan was ridiculous.
They wouldn’t be so opposed if he were throwing away the civilian lives, but his plan involved soldiers and the chosen. They were assets, not casualties.
"Do you have any other plan in mind?" Hailey asked.
He was polite on the surface, but inside he wanted nothing more than to feed Michael to the undead.
"A small elite squad," Michael replied. "Ten personnel should be enough for the task. They would scout the enemies, judge their capabilities, and report back.
"Then we can form a more detailed plan of action, rather than throwing everything against the undead and hope for the best."
Once again, the staff members nodded in agreement. Michael’s plan was certainly more viable than Hailey’s brute tactics.
However, Michael wasn’t done yet.
"I vote for Commander Hailey to lead this operation as he has had a career built on covert operations. In my eyes, there’s no one more qualified for this mission!"
Hailey went wide-eyed at the blatant targeting. He looked around, hoping someone would stand for him, but no one did.
Only then did it dawn on him.
Michael had already turned all the factions against him.
They weren’t sending him on a scouting operation, but into exile, and perhaps... his death.