"Your parents would have been proud of you If they were here" She held his hand tightly, her face and voice full of sad emotions, he swallowed the tears building up in his throat and replied

"You always told me they're watching over me."

"Of course, they are... I converted all the assets belonging to myself and your parents to money, you'll probably not need them during this time, but you'll need them once all this is over. The base can house ten thousand people at most, it has farmland for raw food and life stocks, and there are people there who have been taking care of everything; leave Nina to supervise them once you move in. I talked to Becca; she'll move into the base as a doctor, and one last thing. Nina isn't human; she's an AI."

Eagan looked surprised; the lady he had lived with all these years wasn't human. Is this a joke, or was he just not attentive enough to notice?

" Are you being serious? You told me she was an orphan you picked up!"

The grandmother sighed and shook her head " it was also a cover story; Nina is one of your mother's many works, programmed to be your assistant ... I'm sorry we kept a lot from you. Please forgive me."

All the information he got tonight was too much for him to process at the time. He nodded and urged his grandmother to continue without knowing how to respond.

" I have ordered some long-lasting food for the base. Make sure to manage it well; in situations like this, humans can be more dangerous than the virus, so be extra careful."

"Glam," his face was grim, and he felt anguished; his parents hadn't died of the accident as he thought; their close friend had assassinated them. His grandmother is about to leave him, and the world is facing a devastating fate due to some idiot's greed.

" You have a long way ahead of you, Eagan ... That was the name your father gave you, and it means "Fire " Flames" he hoped that one day you'd be able to complete what they couldn't, that you'll be strong enough to burn down the organization to its roots; please don't disappoint him."

" I promise to do my best."

" That's all we want."

That night Eagan lost his grandmother; she died holding his hands with a smile on her face; Nina and Becca stood behind him as he sat beside her bed, silently crying his heart out. All through his life, when he never knew his parents, his grandmother's mother had been his shield; she had always been there for him and everything he kneeled on, which made her death painful despite knowing she was old enough.

That night despite the looming doom, Silver came to him after receiving the news of his grandmother's death from Nina; he comforted his best friend and said goodbye to her, to the woman he always treated him like her own grandchild. The memories of her playing with them and giving them sweets when they were younger flashed through his mind as he sat beside Eagan.

She was a great woman, and she'll be missed dearly.

She was cremated the following morning, as that was her final wish, and took her ashes to the sea. Once the burial was done, Eagan informed Silver about the shelter, instructed him to bring his family there, sent out a message to his boss and co-workers about the top, and gave them the address.

They drove Becca to her place to get her things and went to the base afterward. Nina Showed him around the floor and took him to the quarters specifically built for him and his grandmother, but since she's no more, he'll be staying there alone with Nina. Being an AI made to be his assistant, she was programmed with all the information in the base.

The base living quarters are like a college dormitory where Four people share a room with a washroom. After seeing the setup, he thought to himself.

A lot of money was spent on this.'

The base has farmland, as his grandmother had said, and medical facilities. The warehouse is on the top floor of the living quarters, and no one can go in there except Nina and Eagan. The topmost floor only has Eagan's quarter want the warehouse.

The kitchen is separate from the living quarters; it was built at the back of the houses with an open field in its front; on the kitchen door, a note was placed that reads.

TWO MEALS PER DAY

'That's reasonable given how difficult it'll be to get food for a while,' Eagan thought and moved along to the following location.

The security building was built close to the Shelter's gates, and the iron gates are sturdy and rugged to break as they have sharp spikes on the surface.

According to Nina, the people in charge of the security are his grandmother's most trusted people and are well-trained in combat by his uncle, Festus.

Later that day, the government announced a state of emergency, and the news about the Virus spread like wildfire. It was seen over the information how people rushed to shopping malls to get their necessities and the fights that broke out among the shoppers; some had even resorted to looting the malls.

The news about it being in their city was also announced, and Eagan subconsciously thanked the system for giving him a heads-up.

His boss and coworker rushed to the shelter immediately after the announcement was made and soon after, silver and his mother and sister joined. They all came with their food and everything they had prepared to stay safe from the virus; Bar even came with his shotgun.

" Where is your dad?" Eagan asked Silver seeing that he didn't come with them.

" You know him... Honestly, I thought he'd at least come home due to the spread of the virus, but he only called to tell us to stay safe, " Silver explained.

" Let's hope he's the safe place ... Go settle in with your family. It's four people in a room, but you can stay with me, silver, while your mum and Sister stay together."

" Thanks, man"

Eagan faced everyone " I'm glad everyone could make it ... the coming days will be hard, we don't know what the government plans are, but we'll have to go out to rescue as many people as we can."

" How? It's dangerous out here!"

" I've got no problems with that."

" It should be the same way as bashing a Zombies head in a game. Don't worry; I'll protect you all."

" Are you kidding?"

" I'm aware not all of us can do it, so don't worry; we'll all go through some combat training before we go out. After all, we can't rely on the government to save everyone."

A makeshift registration platform was made, and everyone registered at the base and was assigned to a room. They all got a tag that showed they were sheltered members.

Approximately forty people were registered in the base, both old and new members.