It was nine and it was surprisingly peaceful compared to the chaos earlier. Except for Zach and Kristina, we huddled in the middle of the field. Some were asleep, curled into the space they claimed, most probably exhausted. We didn't need a bonfire. Why would we when there was a huge fire in front of us?
Then there was Chad, sharpening a knife, a little further to the group. I approached him.
"Would you mind me sitting beside you?"
He side eyed me and went back to sharpening his knife. "Go ahead." And with his permission, I sat beside him.
I was silent for a while. I was trying to weigh what I was about to say. "How long do you think it would last?" I finally asked. "The food, I mean. For all of us."
"I just checked. And probably two days if we rationed them properly. The electricity was cut off a little after that dome thing appeared. The meat wouldn't last."
"You're… surprisingly calm, Chad."
"I trained as a scout ranger in my country. T'was tough. I thought I would die. Got eliminated though. Swimming with seventy pounds on you, staying afloat in free— ah! Sorry. I'm oversharing"
"No. I don't mind, really." I told him. "So, Chad. Can I ask you a hypothetical question?"
"Go ahead."
"If there is a chance for us to get out of here but that chance wouldn't be able to save us all. Only a few of us. What will you do?"
He stabbed the knife to the ground and leaned back. "I thought about that already. If possible I'd like to save everyone here but if that's out of the question then I will try to save myself and go back to my country. My wife was seven months pregnant when I was assigned to Mindanao. Ah! Mindanao is the second largest island in my country." He paused for a while. "I'd like to see my boy."
I made up my mind after hearing his answer.
"I see. Nice talking to you, Chad. I'll walk around for a while."
"Okay. Be careful."
I stood up and stretched a bit. And I can't believe I'll say this but I was kinda thankful for the fire. Without the moon and electricity, the whole place would have been pitch black. I headed to the makeshift classroom.
I knocked lightly on the door two times and it opened with a creak. It was Zach who opened it for me. Inside was Kristina who being a bit fidgety and tied on a chair was a little boy named Andy. A cloth was tied around his mouth to avoid him from screaming. And yes, it may seem a cruel thing to do for a kid but he ain't a simple kid and we know that.
And if you're wondering how we got in this situation, it was in the midst of the chaos at the mess hall earlier.
While Chad was lecturing everyone about how immature they were for doing such a thing in our situation, the boy, Andy was peeking his head out the shrubs. His stealth was basically nonexistent so we caught him. Kamil tried to get in between us, wondering why we're attacking a 7-year-old boy but I signaled Zach and he, having understood what I meant, leapt into action by hitting Kamil at the back of his head, knocking him unconscious. Last thing I wanted was people getting a whiff of the boy before I confirmed something from him. Kamil was also with us in that makeshift classroom, knocked out and laying on the floor.
"Can you hear me, Andy? Please nod your head if you do." I told the kid. "We won't hurt you, I promise. But please answer my questions honestly, okay?"
He nodded. Surprisingly though, despite being tied in a dark room surrounded by adults, he didn't seem to be scared. I could see a misplaced trust in his eyes as he stared at me.
"Okay. I'll remove the cloth but please don't scream. Do you understand?"
He nodded again.
He actually didn't scream when I removed the cloth but before I could ask anything to him, he said something that brought shivers down our spine.
"Please escape. Go away. The mother is coming. All of you will become food if you stay here any longer. Please." Andy pleaded, there were tears in his eyes. "Especially you, mom and dad. Please—"
"I know the way out," the boy added.
I was confused while I could feel Zach observing me from behind. Kristina has also been acting weird since a while ago.
"What do you mean by that, Andy?" I asked him.
I didn't hear his response. There was a huge explosion from the dormitory followed by the screams of everyone who remained in the field. A tentacle, huge and slimy, deep purple with button-like suckers running its length. One swing was all it took to tear the camp in half.