My point hasn't gone up, which means that just beating them isn't enough. So I go to the restroom.
There is a staff card right outside the door. It should belong to the guy hiding inside, so I take it. I remember the door is locked from the inside, so I don't bother knocking and just kick the door open.
"Terrace cadet on site! We are rescuing the workers! Is there anyone here?!" I shouted.
There is no answer, but I know he's in one of the stalls. So I shout again.
"Is there anyone in this restroom?! Please answer me!"
Still, no answer. Alright, last straw.
"Terrace, come in. Cadet reporting. There is no one in the 5th floor—"
"I'M HERE!!" The last stall suddenly slammed open and a man comes out of it. "I-I'm here…"
I smile and show him his Staff ID card. "Mr. Shawn?"
The man nods. "Are you really from the Orion Terrace?"
When I show him my Arrow and uniform, he's finally convinced. We exit the restroom and this Mr. Shawn almost didn't want to go because he's too afraid of stepping over the bad guy in the hallway. I assured him it's fine, and I bring him to the emergency stairs. I immediately report via Arrow, for real this time.
"Rescue Team reporting. I have one survivor waiting in 5th floor, emergency stairs. Over."
Three seconds later, I receive a reply. But I wasn't expecting this one to be so loud. "TERRENCE! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING THERE?!"
Yup, it's Natalie.
"Um… Backup? I found a survivor in 5th—"
"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT—"
I cut her. "Go Team needs backup. I'm not gonna stay calm in the entrance like a duck. I'll stay calm while actually doing something. Now send someone to pick up this gentleman, I'm going up." Then I end the conversation. My Arrow is blinking and there is also blip sounds spamming, which obviously comes from her, but I ignore it.
I reject it twice but answer on the third one. The other line is silent for a second before I hear her voice saying, "We'll send backup. Over."
I smile triumphantly and look over to the man I just saved. He's looking at me rather worriedly. "A-Are you not supposed to be here, son?"
I smile at him. "It's okay, Mr. Shawn. Like I told my Captain, I can't just sit around. If I did, you wouldn't be here." I return his staff ID.
The man pockets his ID and smile back at me. "You're a good kid. Thanks."
I hear a ding and my point goes up. My smile widens. "You're welcome, sir."
"This area is safe, and I've also locked the emergency door behind us. The bad guys won't get you here. I have to go up and help my friends. Will you be okay waiting here?" I ask the man.
The man nods. "If you say it's safe, I will."
Thankfully, the man understands. But as I'm about to leave, I hear something from below. It's not footsteps, but something else. This emergency stairs is designed to have a hole in the center where you can see downward. Something is going up very quickly, and in no time, reached our floor. It turns out to be some kind of levitating platform, and Senior Jake and a male senior are standing on it.
"Good job, Gunner." Jake said as he and his friend jump off the platform.
As his friend checks the staff, I point at the platform he was on and ask. "What is that?"
"Oh. That's a hoverboard." He answers calmly.
"YOU HAVE A HOVERBOARD?"
He frowns. "No, stupid. See that logo in the center? It's Terrace property. Emergency use only."
I look at the hoverboard in awe. Man, I know the Terrace have hoverboards, but I thought that's only possible in the later events because the academy has to—I shake my head. That's not important right now.
If I can get my hands on one of these, I can cut the time shorter and catch up to Rean sooner. Not to mention I don't have to use this rope to do what I planned to do. It'll save so much time and energy. So, knowing how much opportunities this thing can offer, I ask Jake. "Can I borrow one to get up there?"
He then answers with a—"No."
My dream shatters immediately.
"What? Why?" I frown at him.
"Because there's not enough space."
I look at the hole. Well, he's right, it can't fit two hoverboards. But the stairs aren't, and I point that at him.
He sighs. "This one is for vertical use. You can't use it to move forward like the horizontal one. And before you ask why, no, we don't bring horizontal ones with us."
"Whhyy—" He covers my mouth and leans in. "Stop questioning, we're in front of a citizen."
It disappoints me they didn't bring the horizontal ones. If they have, trekking these stairs would be a breeze.
I pull away from him. "This is a waste of time. I'm going up!" Then I run upstairs.
"Wait! Gunner!" Jake yells at me, but I don't listen. He turns to his friend. "Take the citizen to safety. I'm going after him."
His friend nods. "Take care, you two."
Jake nods and goes after me. "Oi! Gunner! Damn you, rookie!"
I can hear everything since this their voice literally echoes and I'm not that far from them. But I still hate the fact that Jake is going with me now, and there's nothing I can do about it. I can't just tell him to come down and stop following me. This is a serious mission and he's my senior. Legally speaking, he can be here. I just don't want him here.
"Oi! Gunner! Slow down! You'll gonna miss the floor!" Jake reminds me from behind.
That is why I don't want him here. I know exactly where the trapped people are, but I can't immediately go there to help them if he's tagging along. That would be suspicious. But how can I get rid of him this time?
I stop on the 6th floor and go through the emergency door. There is no one here, but I have to assure him somehow. So I pull my gun and tell him to wait by the door. I go inside and pretend to check the office floor, then I run back to him. "Clear."
"Are you sure?" He asks.
"Yeah, no one in the restroom either." Damn, please believe me.
"Okay. Next floor." He climbs up the stairs. He's on the lead now.
'Oh God… This is gonna take forever…' I lament my fate. Can't this get any better? Don't I have tremendous luck? What the hell happened to that?!
As if God heard my silent prayer/protest, our Arrows light up at the same time. It's from the Captain's Base.
"Senior Jake and Junior Terrence, confirm you are with each other. Over." It's a different voice, it's not Natalie.
"He's with me, Sheena. What is it? Over." Jake answers for the two of us.
"We receive an update on a survivor on floor 9th and 12th. Can you make your way there? Over."
I rejoice. Those floors are exactly where the next survivors are. 'Thank you, God.'
"Negative. We haven't checked 7th and 8th. Over."
'What the f*ck?!' I glare at the guy in front of me and try hard not to kick his behind.
"More backups are coming your way. Proceed to 9th and 12th floor immediately. Over."
I gasp softly and hope big. 'Please move on. Move on!'
"Alright. We'll go to 9th and 12th floor right away. Over." Jake closes the call.
I run past him at once. 'Thank you God, this world deities and guardian angels! Hurrah!'
"Oi! Gunner! Don't trip!" I ignore him and just keep running.
We eventually reach the 9th floor.
Before we even open the emergency door, we can hear gunshots inside. It makes me hesitate when I touch the door handle.
One might think it's strange because I'm also a gunner and I use gun. Logically thinking I shouldn't be scared of other gun users. But I've only practiced with dummies and monsters in the training center. Dummies cannot fight back and the monsters I've encountered are not long ranged attackers. So I don't really have many experience in fighting a shooter.
I've fought shooters only twice. One was when I sparred with one of my classmates who is an archer, and the second one is with that enemy in the field when I was with Natalie. Those two times are not enough to increase my experience in predicting when they're gonna shoot. And besides, that one with the bad guy is pretty easy since he's practically in front of me and I came so suddenly. Of course, I can predict when he's going to shoot. But I might not have the same opportunity this time.
Jake seems to have sensed my hesitation, because he taps my shoulder and said. "Hey, take it easy. I'll be with you."
Well, it's not really helpful since we haven't fought together and I don't know his fighting style. But I think I can do it as long as I stay calm. I'm more surprised that he has some compassion despite being only a flat character.
"Alright."
"I'll open the door. You aim from behind." Jake said.
I listen to him since it's actually a good idea. In case one enemy is right in front of that door, he's going to be my meat shield.
I step aside and ready my gun, then he opens the door.