(Viewpoint: Chetan)
I can feel it before I hear it.
Roum hardly moves, but something in his posture has become tense.
His chin lifts a millimeter. His shoulders freeze. Like an animal detecting a vibration too subtle.
I stop breathing and become defensive.
The wind doesn't pass through here.
The leaves are not moving.
Even the dust seems suspended.
And yet
A rubbing sound.
Far.
Very far away.
Like a stone that one drags.
I slowly move towards the opening, without making a sound. My fingers brush against the barrier I have placed.
Eugene no longer speaks and I follow.
I don't even need to look at him to know that he understood.
Roum, for his part… has already turned his head.
Not towards us.
He takes a few more steps forward.
Its dark veins are pulsing faster now. Barely visible. But I see it. I see it very clearly.
– …
Another noise.
Closer.
One step.
All my fatigue was hidden
I squint, trying to pierce the darkness between the broken structures.
Nothing.
Then-
This madman ran, between two collapsed sections of wall, and disappeared.
I'm not moving.
I don't even blink.
The noises stop.
Next to me, Eugène is breathing too deeply and staring into my eyes.
I crush his shoulder with one hand.
He freezes.
I push him away slightly and walk backwards, even controlling my breathing.
Roum has disappeared.
– Non…
I barely whisper.
Preventing Eugene from saying anything
And I continue slowly backwards
I find myself face to face with him.
Silence.
Thick.
CRACK! –
A cracking sound.
His head tilts.
I grit my teeth.
– Back off…
My voice is a breath.
Useless.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
…
Have I attracted anything else?
Is it going to get worse?
Is that it?
Damn, since when do I panic this much?
I've seen worse
Probably
In my head.
I take a step back without realizing it.
Eugene is looking at me.
– You…?
I shake my head.
Shut up.
Silence.
Perhaps I enjoyed the good life a little too much.
I ducked down onto Eugene, hiding in the corner,
CRACK ! CRACKS! CRACKS ! CRACKS!
I stared at the entrance and finally crossed paths with them.
Her red eyes
They are no more...
They are completely empty.
Something happens.
A glimmer.
Brief.
Unstable.
I don't know what it was.
But it was there.
Then it disappears.
He looks away, lowers his head, and returns to the same distance as before, as if nothing had happened.
I raised my head.
Slowly.
– …
I run a hand over my face.
I breathe.
Finally.
– …ok…
My voice is low.
Grater.
I'm looking at the opening.
Then Roum.
Then Eugene.
– Ok…
I get up completely.
My legs feel heavy.
But they hold.
I am leaving the shelter.
One step.
Then another one.
I approach Roum
– You scared me…
– What did you do… Why did you start running?
Silence.
Obviously.
I chuckled slightly.
No humor.
– You hate me…
But he simply stepped back to maintain the same distance between us.
I breathe a sigh of relief and head back towards the shelter.
Eugene (beta-1) sat up slightly.
He's looking at me.
– Do they know where we are…?
I'm not answering right away.
I look at Roum one last time.
Then the horizon.
Then the ground.
– …no.
Silence.
Long.
I crouch down.
Run a hand through the soil.
– they will definitely come looking for him
I look up.
My jaw clenches.
Something has gone wrong.
Everything's gone off the rails.
I straighten up.
– We're moving at dawn.
Even now.
I haven't changed.
I will complete the mission and then we can leave.