"We need two High Human. One with Transcendence and other with telepathy who can report in real time, both floors are less than 100 meters apart so it should be fine. Lastly, we need someone with strong mutation."
"I will be the one going aswell since I only have Transcendence ability."
"We leave in ten minutes. Volunteers only."
It's same, all fucking same, if nothing different happens, then everything will happen as it happened yesterday but no one beside me how's this decision gonna affect us.
Those who go down, will bring back the monster up here...
Silence filled the room as I kept looking at Ethan, every word matched my memory, even the way he rolled his shoulders before speaking.
But my silence wasn't indecisive silence. It was the kind where everyone waits for someone braver to move first.
If nothing changes, Ethan and 2 other will go down to get food for everyone... They will think it's manageable that everything around is in control and then, they will encounter it.
They will retreat but not fast enough and when they return- They won't come back alone.
The monster will follow them up here, It won't attack immediately, no.
It will stalk them, follow them where everyone is gathered. It will wait for the corridor. For the narrow space. For the moment when we think we can shut it out and then everything will collapse.
I could see it clearly, as if it were already happening in front of me. Mr. Carter shouting, someone fumbling with the door.
The sudden crushing pressure in the air.
The way my body refused to move when it mattered most. The memory made my breathing uneven.
Should I go? If I volunteer, maybe I can change something. Maybe I can warn them at the exact second. Maybe I can prevent them from making the mistake of letting that thing follow us.
But another thought followed immediately.
What if I fail again? What if knowing isn't enough if you simply ain't strong enough to defeat it?
The fear of that final moment came rushing back- the suffocating weight, the helplessness, the realization that no matter what I did, it wasn't enough.
I remembered how small I felt. How powerless I was against it with no ability to fight back.
My hands began to tremble slightly. This isn't just about courage. This is about dying again.
Just the thought of dying is something which many never want to think about and I have already died once, there's no way I would want that to happen again.
Who is to say I would be lucky enough to be given a third chance at life aswell?
That's why, even though I wanted to warn them all about what might happen but the fear rooted me in place.
Even if I tell them about the monster, what excuse would I give? That hI died and came back to life? Would they believe me? What if a difference decision still leads to the same ending?
The thought broke whatever resolve I had started to build.
So, before I know it, I have taken a step back instead.
"I'm not going," I said quietly.
No one reacted strongly. A few people avoided eye contact. It wasn't strange for someone to stay behind. Not everyone was built for scouting unknown danger.
Ethan nodded and began confirming the volunteers.
And just like that, the decision was made.
The same team.
The same plan.
The same ten-minute countdown.
I stood there, watching it unfold exactly as it had before, feeling the weight of knowledge press against my chest. I wasn't ignorant this time. I wasn't clueless.
I knew what was coming.
And I was still too afraid to step into it.
As the volunteers began preparing to head downstairs, a quiet realization settled in my mind.
I had just allowed the day to continue.
.
.
.
"Hey Sarah, you remember our promise right?" I asked Sarah, as I sat beside here.
Mike was standing at a distance, talking with the fish guy, I guess both being the only aquatic mutated ones do brought them closer.
I also spotted John, my desk mate, it seems he ate a dear as his last meal, that's some wild mutation he got there.
"Our promise?" She asked as she tilted her head before msking an 'ahh' sound as if remembering something.
"The one we made on our very first day here."
"That we will leave behind this place together."
"Yea," I said and looked around at our other colleagues, "I think it's time for that." I said and looked at her.
"What are you talking about Adrian? What about Mike and others? We can't just leave like this. We have to stand here guard till those who went down came back with food. They can be back any minute now."
With a sigh, I shook my head slowly. "No. They're going to be gone for about an hour."
She frowned. "How do you know that?"
I didn't answer that directly.
"Sarah, listen to me carefully," I said, leaning slightly closer. "The group what went down won't come back immediately. They'll take time scouting, arguing about what they saw, deciding whether to push further. It will take roughly an hour before they return and it's been only 15 minutes."
Her eyes narrowed slightly with every word as, "You're talking like you've already seen it." she said, questioning me but I ignored that and continued.
"I don't care about this office," I continued quietly but firmly. "I don't care about this building. I don't even care about most of the people here."
She stiffened at that.
"I'm not saying I want them to die," I added quickly, "But they're not my responsibility. Mike is… fine. He's a good guy. But he's not family. He's not someone I would risk everything for."
She was silent now.
"But you... You are," I said.
Her feathers shifted again, this time not from discomfort but from something else... it was uncertainty.
"You're the only one here I actually care about," I continued. "When we made that promise, I meant it. We said we'd leave this place together one day. I don't want that 'one day' to turn into 'never.'"
She looked toward Mike, who was still laughing at something the fish guy said. Then she looked back at me.
"We can't just abandon them," she whispered.
"We're not abandoning them," I said. "We're choosing not to tie our survival to their decision. There's a difference. Just think of it as leaving the company, we going freelancer now, that's it."
I leaned back slightly and checked the time.
"We have around 40 minutes before they came back. We need to prepare and leave in thi forty odd minutes before that thing reaches this floor."
Her eyes widened again. "That thing?"
I met her gaze calmly. "You don't want to be here when they come back." I said, knowing fully well that she would argue on staying or leaving with everyone if she knows what's gonna happen here soon.
The silence between us stretched as I could see the conflict in her expression. There were all kinds of emotions, Loyalty, Fear, Logic and others... They were all fighting inside her.
"Fifteen minutes," I said finally. "Take fifteen minutes and gather whatever you absolutely need. Essentials only. No emotional baggage. Water, anything sharp or useful, maybe a change of clothes. We leave as soon as you done."
She searched my face for hesitation... There was none.
Of course not, staying here means certain death,how could one hesitate when you knows this? Only a fool would hesitate leave this place.
"You're serious," she said quietly as I nods, "I've never been more serious." I said.
She looked around the room one last time... At Mike and at the others.
At the fragile illusion of safety they were trying to build which even got me last time, death for sure is a lesson bigger than any.
Finally, she nodded slowly and looked at me, "Fifteen minutes," she agreed.
Without another word, she stood up and walked away to gather her things, her wings brushing lightly against desks as she moved to pack up for things.