The mission had changed.

For over a year they had fought to survive.

To reclaim territory.

To rescue survivors.

To hold back the infected.

For the first time, they finally knew who they were fighting.

And soon enough, they would be coming for him.

Several hours later.

The briefing had finally ended.

The intelligence teams continued working around the clock analyzing the data recovered from Beijing while naval officers coordinated reconnaissance plans around Project Eden.

The ship itself remained busy.

The war never really stopped.

Not anymore.

But for the first time in a long while, Adrian found himself with absolutely nothing to do.

At least for tonight.

The young commander stood alone on one of the observation decks near the side of the LHD.

The ocean stretched endlessly beneath the moonlight.

Dark waves rolled against the hull while distant destroyers maintained their escort positions around the carrier group.

Their navigation lights glowed softly against the night.

The sea looked peaceful.

Almost normal.

Which felt strange.

The world had ended over a year ago.

Yet moments like this still existed.

Adrian leaned against the railing while quietly staring across the water.

Then a familiar voice appeared behind him.

"There you are."

Adrian didn’t even need to turn around.

"Ryan."

"Who else?"

The older operator walked over carrying two bottles.

One immediately found its way into Adrian’s hand.

Ryan opened his own.

"To not dying."

Adrian smirked slightly.

"That’s your toast?"

Ryan raised his bottle.

"It’s worked so far."

Honestly, fair enough.

The bottles clinked together.

The two men took a drink afterward while staring out toward the ocean.

For several minutes neither said anything.

Not because it was awkward.

Just comfortable.

They had been through enough together that silence didn’t need filling.

Eventually Ryan spoke first.

"You know, when we started this whole apocalypse thing..."

Adrian looked toward him.

"We started this apocalypse thing?"

"You know what I mean."

Ryan waved dismissively.

"When all this happened, I honestly thought we’d die in the first month."

Adrian chuckled quietly.

"That’s reassuring."

"I’m serious."

Ryan pointed toward the surrounding fleet.

"You’ve got destroyers."

Another point.

"Submarines."

Another.

"A freaking carrier group."

Another.

"Fighter jets."

He took another drink.

"At this point I’m honestly surprised we don’t have a battleship."

Adrian laughed quietly.

The sound surprised even himself.

Because moments like this had become rare.

Very rare.

Ryan smiled slightly seeing it.

"There it is."

"What?"

"You laughing."

Adrian rolled his eyes.

"I’m not that serious."

Ryan stared at him.

The look alone said otherwise.

Adrian sighed.

"Fine."

"Exactly."

The older operator leaned against the railing beside him.

"You spend too much time worrying."

"We’re fighting the end of the world."

"Yeah."

Ryan took another drink.

"Which means if you spend all your time stressed you’ll probably go insane before the zombies kill you."

The ocean wind swept across the deck.

For a moment neither spoke.

Then Ryan looked toward him again.

"You know what your problem is?"

Adrian immediately regretted asking.

"What?"

"You act like you’re fifty."

Adrian nearly choked on his drink.

"What?"

"I’m serious."

Ryan pointed directly at him.

"You’re what? Twenty-three?"

"Twenty-two."

"Exactly."

Ryan looked offended.

"Do you know what I was doing at twenty-two?"

Adrian already knew this was going somewhere stupid.

"I don’t want to know."

"I was dating."

"I definitely don’t want to know."

Ryan ignored him.

"I had hobbies."

"I have hobbies."

Ryan stared.

The silence stretched.

Adrian sighed.

"Okay maybe not many hobbies."

"Exactly."

Ryan pointed triumphantly.

"See?"

The older operator shook his head dramatically.

"You’re young."

"The world’s ending."

"You’re rich."

Adrian immediately interrupted.

"I’m not rich."

Ryan looked toward the carrier group surrounding them.

Then toward the destroyers.

Then toward the helicopters.

Then back toward Adrian.

"...Okay."

Adrian couldn’t help laughing again.

The logic was difficult to argue with.

Ryan took another drink afterward.

"You know what you need?"

"No."

"A girlfriend."

Adrian groaned immediately.

"There it is."

"There it is."

Ryan pointed toward him.

"I’ve been waiting to say it all mission."

Adrian rubbed his forehead. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"We literally just discovered who caused the apocalypse."

"Exactly."

Ryan nodded enthusiastically.

"Great time to celebrate."

"By finding a girlfriend?"

"Why not?"

Adrian looked genuinely confused.

"The world is ending."

Ryan immediately pointed toward the sea.

"And yet the ocean is still there."

Another point.

"The fleet is still here."

Another.

"Humanity is still here."

Then he looked directly at Adrian.

"So why the hell are you acting like life stopped?"

The question lingered briefly.

Because underneath the jokes—

Ryan actually meant it.

The older operator slowly leaned back against the railing.

"You know something?"

"What?"

"We spent the last year fighting."

His voice had become quieter now.

More serious.

"We lost people."

Adrian nodded.

They had.

Far too many.

Ryan continued.

"We’ve buried friends."

"We’ve watched cities fall."

"We’ve seen things nobody should ever see."

The smile faded slightly from his face.

"But if all we do is survive..."

He looked toward Adrian.

"...then eventually we’re no different from the zombies."

The ocean remained quiet around them.

Only the distant hum of engines echoed across the fleet.

Adrian remained silent.

Because Ryan wasn’t wrong.

For over a year his entire life had become one mission after another.

One battle after another.

One crisis after another.

There had never really been time to stop.

To breathe.

To simply live.

Ryan finally smiled again.

"So yes."

He raised his bottle.

"You need a girlfriend."

Adrian groaned.

"There goes the serious moment."

"I’m serious."

"You’re impossible."

Ryan grinned.

"I know."

The two men continued drinking quietly afterward.

The carrier group cut steadily through the dark Pacific while the moon reflected across the water.

For the first time in a long time—

The future felt different.

Not safer.

Not easier.

But clearer.

They had a target now.

A real target.

Akira Tomoyasu.

Project Eden.

The man responsible for ending the world.

Soon enough they would begin preparing for that mission.

Reconnaissance.

Planning.

Logistics.

Everything necessary to strike at the heart of the apocalypse itself.

But not tonight.

Tonight—

For a few precious hours—

There was no fighting.

No infected.

No gunfire.

No death.

Just two men standing beneath the stars sharing a drink aboard a carrier in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

And for now—

That was enough.