Apocalypse Villainess? Nah, I'm Nice

Meanwhile, Marcus was wondering how to break the news to Paige.

When he returned to their quarters, it was already late, but Paige wasn’t asleep yet.

Seeing him enter, she smiled. "Perfect timing. Come have something to eat."

Rice and two dishes had just been set on the table: stir-fried cabbage and a potato stew with meat. Before the apocalypse, it would have been the simplest of home-cooked meals, but now, it was a rare delicacy.

Marcus wiped his hands, sat down at the table, and smiled. "This smells amazing. I can tell it’s not from the main mess hall. It has to be your mom’s cooking."

Paige smiled too. "You’ve got a good nose! Mom thought I didn’t eat enough for dinner and insisted I have an extra meal. You just happened to show up in time for it. Go on, eat!"

"Alright!"

The two of them picked up their chopsticks and began to eat slowly.

Paige chewed her rice and glanced at the distracted Marcus. Finally, she put down her bowl. "There’s trouble in the south, isn’t there?"

Marcus’s hand, poised to pick up some food, froze. It was a long moment before he spoke. "Yeah, that’s right. The number of mutant Zombies has suddenly surged. The Southern Army can’t hold them back, so Maisie Joyce decided to send reinforcements..."

Paige nodded, not particularly surprised. "So that’s why you’ve been in frequent contact with the other bases. How many people are you planning to send?"

"Around a hundred people."

A hundred people wasn’t many. The base’s Guard had four hundred members in total, and he was only taking one hundred. Paige understood. He was still worried about her. After a moment of silence, she asked, "When do you plan to leave?"

"...First thing tomorrow morning."

Paige sighed. "You should have told me sooner."

After waking up, she’d been thinking about Claire Chapman. The more she thought about it, the more she felt something was off, and it was only then that she realized there might be this hidden reason. Marcus must have noticed the signs long ago but had deliberately kept it from her.

She didn’t have to ask to know that he had to go this time.

"We could have been better prepared if you’d told me sooner."

Marcus shook his head. "Everything’s ready. You don’t need to worry about a thing. I’ve already spoken with the members of The Guard who are staying behind. I’ve given Sean Raines a heads-up, too. And among the captains, Mason Hayes is the most dependable; he’ll stay here to help you." He looked at her. "There might be some minor trouble after I’m gone. I’ll be counting on you to handle it!"

’Even though he had sounded so confident when talking to Claire Chapman, how could he not be worried? Even now, all he could do was hide his concern behind a look of absolute trust.’

’Ever since he’d gotten the news, he sometimes wondered if things would be better without this child.’

’If Paige’s combat strength were what it used to be, she could defend the base with ease, even if he left.’

’But things were different now.’

’She usually acted like nothing was wrong, but her energy was clearly depleted—she had even less than an ordinary person.’

’He’d only realized after she became pregnant what a grueling experience it truly was.’

’She was constantly getting up during the night, and with her belly growing larger, she couldn’t get any proper rest.’

’Even if she managed to catch up on sleep during the day, it was barely better than nothing.’

’It made his heart ache just to watch her.’

’Her mother had said it would only get more uncomfortable as time went on. Her legs might swell, making it even harder for her to move...’

’He wanted to stay with every fiber of his being.’

’But he couldn’t.’

’Just as he’d told Claire Chapman, he truly didn’t trust the Southern Army’s capabilities.’

’It wasn’t that he’d never seen them in action; their skills were mediocre at best.’

’They could handle ordinary Zombies without much trouble, but once all sorts of mutant Zombies appeared, they would be completely overwhelmed.’

’And if they ended up with an arrogant, stubborn commander...’

’They’d be nothing but cannon fodder.’

’He didn’t care if those soldiers lived or died, but if the Zombies broke through their defensive line and flooded into Southreach, it would be a catastrophe.’

’Bloodfall Base was the home she’d talked about, the one they had both poured so much of themselves into building.’

’He had to do everything in his power to eliminate any potential threats!’

Without him realizing it, his gaze grew heavy with worry.

Paige suddenly stood up and scoffed, "Look at you! I’m just pregnant, not made of glass. Do you really think I can’t hold down the base? Besides, I’m not alone. I have so many of our people here with me. You’re being ridiculous!"

Marcus stood, put an arm around her, and guided her further into the room, sitting her down on the bed.

He raised an eyebrow. "I’m not worried about you defending the base. It’s just... I have some good news, but I’m not sure if I should tell you."

"You have good news and you’re not going to tell me?!"

Marcus feigned a worried expression. "I’m just afraid you’ll get too excited! You have to promise me you’ll control your emotions!"

Paige pinched his arm. "Okay, okay, stop building the suspense and just tell me!"

"Well, you know that batch of seeds you sent back to Central City? We got a message back from Nadia. She said the seeds are incredible—they actually improve the quality of the soil! She’s asking where we found them, if we have any more, and if possible, she’d like to get more for further experiments."

Paige smiled and nodded. "I knew it. I had a feeling the soil was different after we’d grown crops in it. This is fantastic! If she can really figure it out, there’s hope of improving the soil quality across all of Astoria!"

"Yeah! And everything’s going smoothly in Norgate, too. Sylas’s negotiations with the Governor of Norgate went very well. They’ve already started planting on large-scale experimental fields. The only thing is, those Eldorians are being a little shifty, but Sylas is sharp as a tack. They won’t be able to pull a fast one on him."

"Is that so... Heh, this really is all good news! By the way, did Nadia mention anything about her own experiments?"

Marcus thought for a moment. "She didn’t say so directly, probably because she has her reservations. But she did make a point of mentioning that she’s had people capture a lot of Mutant Beasts recently... I’m guessing her research on that reproduction-control drug has progressed, and she’s conducting more tests."

Paige nodded in agreement. "She made a point of mentioning it? Then that’s very likely." But then her expression hardened. "There’s no way you just found out about all this good news today! You’ve been holding out on me. That’s just mean!"

Marcus quickly threw his hands up in surrender. "I swear it wasn’t on purpose! You were already asleep every time I got back!"

Paige glared at him.

...and continued to glare.

Then, in the middle of her glaring, she couldn’t stop herself from wrapping her arms around him.

’He was worried about her, but wasn’t she just as worried about him?’

’You have to... you have to come back safe.’

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