The convoy arrived at dawn.
Twelve Overwatch JLTVs rolled in from the southern ridge, followed by a fleet of armored construction trucks, bulldozers, and supply carriers. Above them, cargo drones buzzed low like worker bees, towing suspended crates of steel plates, modular shelters, and food canisters. The sun glinted off their hulls as they soared past the edge of the former blast radius.
Calamba City no longer stank of rot. The Bloom was gone, and in its place was a scorched landscape of ghostly silence. Tower skeletons still stood, windows gone, facades melted from nuclear heat. Blackened cars littered the streets like burnt bones. But the roads were clear of flesh. No movement. No screams. No nest matter.
Just dust, ash, and silence.
But for Thomas, it was the perfect blank slate.
"Bring out the drones," he ordered over comms.
