The 'safe zone' was flourishing, well no it really wasn't.
In this apocalypse having the ability to control only four city blocks, and housing less than 1% of what used to be the cities population was a poor figure if ever there was one.
Sure the reclamation had gone fairly well up till now, and yes we had managed to increase our living space as well as secure some other survivors who joined our community, along with finding greater means to defend ourselves as the looting of these new blocks yielded a supply of food, clothing, and best of all weapons.
But reality was still taking its sweet time to sink in for most people, the militia still only comprised of less than fifty of the survivors while the majority were just holding themselves up in their homes, taking handouts from those of us actually going out and risking our lives to fight the undead.
That doesn't mean of course this was true of all of them.
A group of local housewives had started working with the summoned laborers to begin tilling the grounds and creating some simple gardens using the seeds from fruits to plant and in time grow trees to feed our ever growing numbers with sustainable resources.
The better option would be to also plant vegetable seeds to get more immediate results but we'd first need the seed.
But thankfully that wasn't to hard to achieve, though limited in what it could provide, the system allowed me to purchase support good alongside food, mainly seed crops.
Such as Wheat, Barley, Beans, Lentils, and even some root vegetables, lettuce, and parsley.
Though I decided to hold off on providing Olives and grapes since these would be more water-intensive and we were only a few days away from losing access to our running water and would need to start sending supply missions to ferry water from the river back to the fort.
The greatest advantage to clearing out these four blocks beyond the system rewards was the fact that the provided experience from the mission and slain zombie push me over the edge.
📢 System Notification 📢
Level Up!
🆙 You have reached Level 7!
💰 New Balance: 4,050,000 Dollars
While my overall funds were still dropping and fast the thought that in just a few more weeks time I could spin the wheel once more and possibly replenish or even exceed the dollars I had spent thus far was enough to raise my own personal hope.
But of course the system was ever the taskmaster.
As soon as we compiled one mission a new one appeared.
The golden popup gleaming before my eyes.
New Mission: Expand the Safe Zone
🚨Mission Briefing:
Four city blocks have been secured—but survival demands more.
Your growing population needs room to breathe, and the undead still infest the ruins beyond your borders.
Your task is simple:
🔳 Expand the safe zone by an additional ten city blocks.
🔳 Establish permanent defences to prevent reinfection of these areas.
🔳 Secure new key resources for long-term survival.
⚠ WARNING: New threats are emerging. The more you reclaim, the harder the undead will push back, as they are drawn to the living.
Mission Rewards:
🏆 75,000 Experience Points
💰 150,000 Dollars
Carter exhaled sharply as he read the mission details.
It made sense.
They were outgrowing their current space faster than anticipated.
With over 500 survivors now in their ranks—including the people rescued from the university—the need for more food, living space, and infrastructure was rapidly increasing.
Not to mention, the undead would not remain passive forever.
"If we wait too long, they'll come for us first."
Carter knew this was only the beginning.
All the time since the apocalypse had started had shown one very important thing to the survivors and that was, the undead needed to be killed... and fast, there were some videos coming up on YTube that showed what the system reported to be Tier V creatures appearing but the videos only ever showed these higher tiers in larger cites, so the conclusion was clear, if you let the undead gather higher tiers would be born as a result.
Meanwhile a simple online network had started to form from the various survivor camps that had started to pop up, smaller towns and cities managed to fend off the zombies when they first appeared and some ever took the initiative to start sending excursions into the larger cities to look for survivors or start the war against the undead to reclaim the lost territory.
~
Despite their growing stores thanks to the new territory lootings, and scavenging missions I the immediate area, one problem remained constant—food.
The reclamation teams had gathered weeks' worth of rations from homes, buildings, and abandoned kitchens, but long-term survival meant thinking ahead.
And Carter already knew where to find more.
The North End Industrial District—a sprawling collection of warehouses and distribution centers—held massive reserves of canned goods, bottled water, and non-perishable supplies.
Before the world fell, these warehouses supplied the city's grocery stores, restaurants, and markets.
And now?
Now they were a goldmine waiting to be claimed by someone.
If they could reach them, they could solve their food problem for months—maybe even years, giving them ample opportunity to rebuild fields and bring about self-sufficiency once again.
But Carter wasn't naive.
Compared to downtown the northend would be an easier mission since the population would be lower, only needing to deal with those who were present at the onset of the apocalypse.
While the majority of the people would be downtown, or in the south or west ends.
~
Carter called together his war council—Atem, Marcus, Sam, and several other Medjay captains.
He laid out the plan.
"We've secured four blocks, and we'll keep pushing outward,"
Carter said.
"But food security is just as important. We need to hit the warehouses in the North End and take everything we can carry."
Atem nodded approvingly.
"The Medjay are ready. The chariots will ride in formation, and our archers can also ride atop the vehicles to provide additional coverage."
Marcus leaned over the makeshift map of the city spread across the table.
"The North End is an unknown. It's an industrial zone, which means large open spaces and plenty of blind spots. So the undead could be lurking anywhere, but at least we can assume their numbers will be less than what we've been facing downtown here so far."
Sam crossed his arms, glancing between them.
"We can't risk all of our forces. If something goes wrong, we need to make sure the current territory stays protected."
The opinion was a bit defensive but Carter agreed, at best they could send out around half their force, unless he was to summon a brand new army to head out while the veterans maintained the defenses here.
"We'll take a strike team—not the full army. Enough to fight our way in and out, but not so many that we leave ourselves exposed."
In the end after more discussions what was decided was that a strike team was assembled composed of only around 1/5 of the current army created by my system.
Selected Strike Team:
🔺 Carter – Expedition Commander
🔺 Atem – Medjay Captain
🔺 Solomon – Medjay Captain
🔺 40 Medjay Warriors – Mix of Melee and Ranged Fighters
🔺 10 Engineers – To break into warehouses and secure transport
🔺 10 Laborers – To help load and transport supplies
🔺 15 Volunteer Survivors – Skilled drivers and scavengers
🔺 10 Chariots – Fast mobility and supply transport
🔺 4 Trucks & SUVs – To haul supplies
🔺 1 Semi-Truck+Trailer – To haul supplies
Total Expedition Force size: 83 personnel
Their goal was simple:
Get in.
Get the food.
Get out.
They would be using the largest of the recovered vehicles for the new convoy allowing for the largest number of supplies to be taken back with them, meanwhile a second strike force would be working on the system provided mission as they tried to expand the safe zone territory specifically in the direction of the river, since the council agreed that the current situation would not last for long and even if they were to stockpile as much water as they can from the taps before they go out, it would not last for long.
~
By midday, the convoy was ready and began to roll out.
Having loaded up and set off from the underground parking complex heading straight out into the unclaimed city.
The chariots led the way, warriors scanning the streets for threats.
The trucks followed close behind, packed with scavengers, laborers and engineers.
While the Medjay archers were positioned as passengers on the chariots, while a hand full were riding atop the flat roofs of the semi trailer, and the other large delivery vans they were using.
Carter stood tall in his lead chariot, rifle in hand with spare magazines in his tactical vest, not abandoning his melee weapon as his own khopesh lay on his waist, while a spear was strapped to the side of the chariot, his eyes sharp and watchful.
They had cleared a path like this before, but he knew better than to expect an easy trip, just crossing 5km downtown nearly wiped them out numerous time, this journey would be over twice that distance.
And sure enough—
Even after dealing with the occasional undead along the main road.
The moment they neared the industrial district, his system flashed a warning to him.
🚨 WARNING: HIGH UNDEAD DENSITY DETECTED 🚨
Carter's grip tightened.
This wasn't going to be easy.
He turned to his warriors riding alongside him.
"Stay sharp. We're riding into the lion's den."
Atem raised his khopesh.
"We fear no lions, my Pharaoh. Only that our blades may dull before the battle is won."
Carter smirked.
"Then let's see whose blades last the longest."
With that, they pressed forward—into the unknown.