Once the others had left, Mia turned to Zach again, her tone more serious.
"When you take control of the Safe Zone, you need to start planning an evacuation from Starlight City as soon as possible. Ethan reminded me of something we were already worried about—he's right. The number of zombies here is insane. If a higher-tier zombie shows up and rallies them, we could be looking at hundreds of thousands swarming the city. There's no way we'd be able to hold it."
Zach nodded. "I've thought about that too. I'll start making arrangements."
Then he gave her a strange look. "From the way you're talking… you're not planning to come with us, are you?"
Mia smiled faintly. "Mayor Marks is dead. Uncle Reyes has been avenged. And now that Captain Ethan's here… it's time for me to return to the squad."
"You're really planning to join them?" Zach asked, clearly puzzled. "You think they're safer than the military?"
