Chapter 1119: Hope Is a Dangerous Thing

Early the next morning, Director Michael arrived at the mansion where Ethan and his team were staying.

But he didn’t come with good news.

Henry’s parents weren’t in the compound.

There were a few people with the same names, but none matched the age or appearance Henry had described.

Michael had even gone through the compound’s full entry and exit logs.

The result was clear—Henry’s parents had never made it inside.

The moment he heard that, Henry felt his heart plummet.

Outside of this compound, the rest of Clearford City had long since fallen to the undead.

If they weren’t here... then the answer was obvious.

Two silent tears slid down Henry’s face. He didn’t say a word. Just turned and walked out into the yard, standing there quietly.

He’d tried to prepare himself for this outcome.

A 10% survival rate—what were the odds?

But seeing how massive and well-organized the compound was had sparked a flicker of hope.

And the bigger the hope, the harder the fall.

Ethan and Chris walked out to join him, neither of them saying anything.

Ethan pulled three cans of beer from his spatial ring and handed one to each of them.

No speeches. No comforting words.

Just quiet company and cold beer.

After a while, Ethan finally spoke. "Henry, didn’t you say you had an older sister?"

"Yeah," Henry said softly. "But she wasn’t in Clearford. She was working in Nova City."

"That’s not too far from here. Want us to go with you? Maybe she’s still alive."

Henry hesitated. "Maybe... in a few days."

He let out a long breath.

Truth was, he was scared.

Scared of hearing bad news again.

Sometimes, it was easier to hold onto a sliver of hope than to face the truth.

"Alright," Ethan nodded. He didn’t push.

The three of them kept drinking in silence.

No one else came over to interrupt. They knew this wasn’t the time.

Too many people crowding around would only make it worse.

Watching Henry like this, the rest of the team couldn’t help feeling heavy too.

In Fallen Star Squad, Ethan had no family—he’d been an orphan from the start.

Chris had lost his mom on the third day of the apocalypse, but he’d been lucky enough to find his dad.

Mia’s father had died before the outbreak, and her mother had turned into a zombie on day one. She had no one left to miss.

As for the others, none of them knew what had happened to their families yet.

They all wanted to go back to their hometowns and check.

But they were afraid.

Afraid of what they might find.

Watching Henry now, they couldn’t help but feel torn.

In one of the buildings in Compound District 9...

A woman in her twenties stared at a photo on her phone, her face lighting up with excitement.

The image showed several people—Ethan and his team.

Even though phones had no signal and couldn’t make calls, the camera still worked. The compound had long since restored electricity, so charging devices wasn’t an issue.

Most people still carried their phones around, using them to watch downloaded movies, listen to music, or just kill time. And when something major happened, someone was always there to snap a picture.

These photos had quickly made their way into the hands of every squad captain, serving as a warning: if you see these people, steer clear.

"Emily, what’s going on?" asked Sophia, captain of the Silverfox Squad, noticing the look on her teammate’s face.

Emily pointed at the photo, her voice trembling with emotion. "Captain... that’s my brother!"

"...What?"

"I’m serious! That’s Henry—my little brother! I’d recognize him anywhere!"

Sophia’s eyes widened. "You’re sure?"

"He’s my blood brother. I couldn’t possibly be wrong!" Emily’s voice was urgent now. "Captain, where are they? Please, take me to him!"

Sophia’s expression stiffened for a second, but she forced a smile. "They’re probably not around right now. The military moved them to the central district."

"Oh, that’s fine! We can just talk to the military, right? You said they’re really powerful—if that’s true, the military will definitely help us get in touch."

"Yeah... I’ll have someone reach out and see if we can arrange a meeting soon," Sophia said, trying to sound reassuring.

"Thank you, Captain! Really!"

"No need to thank me. Just wait here for now—I’ll go make the arrangements."

"Okay!"

Sophia left with a few of her squad members. Emily stayed behind, still buzzing with hope. She did feel like something was off with the captain, but her mind was too full of Henry to dwell on it.

Outside...

"What do we do?" the man to Sophia’s left asked, his face grim.

"Maybe we should just..." The guy on the right made a throat-slitting gesture.

"Don’t be stupid," Sophia snapped. "You kill someone inside the compound, the military will find out. There are cameras and surveillance everywhere. If they trace it back to us, we’re all dead."

"I mean... do we really need to panic?" said the man on her right. "She doesn’t know we had anything to do with it. We’ve treated her well. She’s always been grateful to you."

He leaned in slightly. "Why not just take her to see her brother? Be upfront. With how strong those people are, they’re probably sitting on a pile of Tier 6 crystal cores. Might even earn us a reward."

Sophia looked tempted for a moment, but then shook her head. "She’s definitely going to tell her brother about what happened to their parents. And even though everyone involved in that is already dead, people like them won’t let it go. They’ll push the military to investigate."

"And with the military’s resources, they’ll find out those people were from Direclaw Squad. And when that happens, I guarantee you—Vince will throw us under the bus to save his own skin."

"Shit... so what now?" the man on the left muttered. "We can’t exactly wipe out Direclaw Squad. They’re too strong."

Sophia’s brow furrowed deeply.

Back then, she’d targeted Emily because of her ability. To make sure Emily would follow her loyally, she’d gone to extreme lengths—cut a deal with the Direclaw Squad’s captain and staged an entire scene.

They killed Emily’s parents and tried to assault her.

Then, right on cue, Sophia had shown up with her squad and "rescued" her.

No more deadweight parents. And Emily, traumatized and desperate, had clung to Sophia like a lifeline.

It worked perfectly.

She’d watched her parents die. Nearly got raped by a group of Enhanced. Her world had collapsed.

And then Sophia appeared—like a savior pulling her out of the abyss.

Emily’s gratitude had been absolute.

Later, Sophia even staged a revenge mission, killing the ones who’d "hurt" her family right in front of her.

From that moment on, Emily had been completely loyal to Silverfox Squad.

And with her on board, their strength skyrocketed. It wasn’t long before Silverfox became the second most powerful squad in the entire Clearford compound.

Why?

Because Emily’s ability was a Recovery-type.

She could restore her teammates’ stamina and mental energy mid-fight.

There were several times when Silverfox Squad had been surrounded by zombies, with no way out. But thanks to Emily, they’d held on—fought through impossible odds—and wiped out hordes that should’ve overwhelmed them.

That’s why Sophia had gone to such lengths to recruit her.

Because she knew—if Emily ever made it into the compound and the military found out about her ability, they’d snatch her up in a heartbeat. She’d be a top-priority asset.

And Sophia would be left with nothing.

She’d thought the plan had gone off without a hitch.

But now, out of nowhere, the brother shows up.