“The queen?” I mumbled. I thought that I must have heard wrong, so I asked him again.

“Yes, the queen. Who else is there?”

And I couldn’t believe myself! He was saying such a thing after having actually seen the zombie. He behaved as if that had never happened at all.

“Wait- what? But then what about the zombies and the invasion? Who’s going to stop them?”

I cried out because even though there was the mind control and everything, the commander didn’t have his priorities straight at all.

“Pssh… don’t you see? This is the best time to deal with the queen and help the colony. Once we deal what that spineless mind controlling freak, we’ll have much more chances and ideas to hunt that infectious worm down.”

“But-…” I wanted to retort but I couldn’t do so, because even I believed that this chaos was the best time to help her and the colony.

“Well… if the worm gained control over the queen, then even it will get control over the whole colony, and I don’t think that’s the result we are aiming for.”

I understood, I understood everything that he was saying, but weren’t the life of the commoners and the civilians important? Wouldn’t the zombies kill everyone in the time we defeated the queen.

“But won’t the zombies kill everyone in the mean time? Seeing how the guard was actively transforming; if I am right, then all who are infected must be changing too. And with us trying to create chaos in the middle of the chaos wont it see this as an opportunity and try to eat the whole colony?” I asked the commander thinking his care for the colony would grew a new, but instead he nodded his head and said,

“Right… and will come out of hiding in its overconfidence and then die as a worm that it is. Okay get ready now. Me the captains and the others will try to create a diversion for you and…”

There really was something wrong with the commander. It was as if he had bird brain and could only see the shining queen in front of him and nothing else mattered to him.

*Sigh*

I could only sigh and give up to his antics.

“But why a diversion can’t we just work altogether and waltz in her room, then there is hi-?”

He didn’t listen to me completely and started walking toward out of the room.

“Really do you want to take on the whole colony and only reach the queen after killing every single one of our brother and sisters?” he spoke as he continued to move away from me.

“…..”

That, I hadn’t thought about.

“Do you want to free the colony from the mind control or destroy it? Anyways, just disable the queen while I and the others will try to hold the whole colony which will coming for our ass right after we leave this room. The rest we’ll handle after taking care of this.”

That was his plan. Was it a good plan or not, I didn’t knew. I didn’t know whether handling the queen would be a greater choice or finding the worm in the mess of zombies and everything. But there was one question, a single doubt that I couldn’t find the answer to no matter how much I thought about it.

“That’s good and all but why me? What was the reason for involving me into this mess?” and then I remember him asking me about my resistances and it suddenly clicked inside my mind, “Don’t tell me because of my resistances?”

He looked back at me and grinned.

“I have said this before and I’ll say it again, you are wiser than you look. And as for the answer your question, yes, it is because of your resistances. Especially all the resistances related to the mind. You see, at this moment, no one except you…” he emphasized on the last part to show how valuable I was to his plan and carried on with, “… can handle the charm of our queen. If I go in front of her right now, forget about stopping her, she’ll probably control my body in return and made me slit my own throat.”

“That’s…”

*Gulp*

I didn’t know mind control could be used in such a way.

“Killing without lifting a single finger, such is the power bestowed upon every…” he stopped in the middle of his sentence and looked outside the room and a smile appeared on his face.

“Looks like our team is already here.”

And following that one by one the last hope of our colony entered the room, looking poised full of grandeur and…

No, there was nothing praise worthy about them, other than the power they held in their hands.

“Fuck, finally the time is neigh. Let’s save the princess and kill that fucking rat.” Entered Martin ‘The Brute’ king and his loud mouth, followed by his best friend John ‘Fire breather’ Davis, who tried to calm our war machine on his period down, or it could also be interpreted as him talking to himself, as his friend wasn’t listening to him at all.

“Easy there ‘Brute’ you don’t want to tell the whole colony about our little plan right, or if I think once more we are actually going to tell the whole colony our plan tonight. Silly me.”

Everyone whom I already knew entered the room and acted like they weren’t going to liberate the colony, but instead going on a vacation.

Even my vice team leader Genma arrived huffing and puffing as if he had just come directly from a marathon.

They were strong, it could be said that they were the strongest ants in colony, but they weren’t enough to handle the whole colony on their own.

The tens of thousands of civilians would have owned their asses before they had even get to do anything. But thankfully, the team was bigger than I thought it was.

Following them, five more captains entered the room and saluted the commander. I looked like a kid in the middle of grownups trying to rise up in world.

From the lot I only knew two of them. One was the destroyer who had participated in the last war with leaders two uncles, and the second one was surprisingly the aide of queen who was there on the day of my reward ceremony.

I couldn’t believe that an ant from the royal household would be working with the commander to arrange a coupe.

It wasn’t actually a coupe though. The word Assassination could be used to explain it, but it wasn’t that either.

The captains got busy with the commander whole the queen’s aide spoke to me.

“So you really are our colonies last hope, huh. Who thought that the little ant who was able to resist queens charm just two weeks ago, would be the pivot of our seven year old operation. Fate… is a funny thing. Don’t you think so too?”

Thankfully, I also had charm at the highest level and was able to resist his charming smile. Who would want to get smitten by an old man after all? But, if it was the…

Commander came and placed his arm across the old man’s shoulder. While I thought what kind of relation two handsome and charming middle aged men could have, commander told me that it was him who told them what was going on behind the scenes.

“If it wasn’t for him then everyone present here would also have become part of the corrupt mind controlling freak and this colony would have lost its will and the spark of life.”

Queen’s former aide, the double agent, nodded his head two times before he bowed slightly.

“Actually, I would like to apologize for behaving irrationally at your reward ceremony. I beg your benevolent self to forgive this butler’s thoughtless behavior.”

My mouth twitched hearing his alien way of talking, and the captains giggled looking at the spectacle.

“Anyways, this foolish old man’s name is David Knight. I am also called the Wall.”

I stutteringly introduced myself as a lowly novice who didn’t understand the ways of the world.

*Pfft*

Someone from the crowd laughed out and ‘Brute’ helped me out of the awkward situating I was in.

“Oh come on~! Stop pestering the runt! He doesn’t know shit and you…” He pointed at David as if he knew him and called him.

“Stop acting and come here. The kid already has quite a difficult job to do. Let him free. You all don’t want him to get the shivers on the way now do you?”

“Yeah, yeah, I was just playing you know.” And David changed his colors so fasts that even chameleons would be calling him their grandpa, if they knew something like him existed in the world. The way he talked changed, the way he walked changed. It was as if he had become a totally different ant.

“Anyways, good luck kid. You’ll need it, and try to defeat her before some obstructions appears, okay.”

And the captains giggled like little fairies once more.

“Okay ladies, if you are ready then we have a diversion to create.” Commander’s one line changed the atmosphere of the room from lenient to cold again.

He faced me and told me to stay vigilant on the road. “And try not to create any commotion on the way.” And then he told others what they would be facing.

“So, I would like to remind everyone once again what we are trying to do here. So let’s start with the obstacles we will be facing in about fifteen minutes.”

And everyone perked their antennae’s to hear all that he had to say.

Currently our colony houses about thirty thousand soldiers, which make thirty divisions and about half a million workers. And according to our hope…” He pointed at me, “One third of them have already turned into zombies.”

I could see all the captain’s antennae’s getting stiff in the room and most of them sighed.

So there are at least twenty captains and 500 squad leaders, we’d be facing in the upcoming… skirmish, I suppose.”

And while I thought, ‘why aren’t they accounting the workers and the soldiers in their plan?’, The commander continued explaining the plan or the belief that he had.

“So, if our target is stable in the mind, then he wouldn’t send the whole colony to stop us and arrange some of his forces to face the zombies too. If we subtract the numbers with the number of zombies we already have and the number of ants who are currently fighting, dying or dead…”

Many squinted at the numbers and the dangerous plan that the commander was playing with. Divide and conquer. He was hoping that the instigator would divide the captains and soldiers into two forces one that would stop them from reaching the queen and second that would be fighting the zombies. And he hoped that the fighting forces would be able to deal with the zombies until we completed our mission and came back with the rest of the soldiers to deal with the zombies once and for all.

“Our target knows that the civilians or common soldiers can’t hurt the captains, so most of the crowd will probably be sent to battle the zombies and we will only be facing the 2nd rankers and above. So be ready for that. Moreover because we only have to buy time and not actually kill anyone, I think this will be a lot easier than the war we just went through.”

All nodded their heads and he followed through.

“So if everyone understands then let’s do it.”

“LETS GO~!”

And all of them looked at Martin who was alone roaring at the top of his voice.

“Stop being childish martin, there are no kids here. Do you think we need to hear your loud voice to get motivated? We are already motivated enough.”

“Heehe…” He scratched his head in embarrassment and replied with giddy voice, “I’m sorry I’ve become addicted to the roaring and yelling... Hahaa…”

“Anyways…” Commander turned to face me and asked, “Do you know the route to the queen’s quarters?”

“Huh… ah…” I checked with my map and saw that I knew of only one such route which was a very long route going through the commercial sector and passing by the nursery.

I told him the route and the commander nodded his head.

“So you know the long route. That’s good. Everyone, we’ll take the shortcut. That way no one will get suspicious and he’ll get the time too.”

I didn’t know there was a shortcut. But I wasn’t given the time to raise my voice.

“Okay everyone, let’s move out.”

And three seconds later I was the only one left in the room thinking why didn’t they just let me get to the queens quarter first.

But no, they had to make things complicated by going out before me and turning the colony into a goddamn mess.

I activated haste and hoping that I would be able to get there on time, and I ran out of the room.