The sun began to rise, painting all of Raila in shades of orange.
Mike and the others had been running all night to escape. Eventually, they reached a point just beyond where the harbor ended.
When they arrived, the others were already there—waiting at the spot Mike had told Kelly about earlier.
"What happened?"
someone asked.
Mike tried to catch his breath so he could speak…
…but what was he even supposed to say?
Liam answered instead.
"That girl… Samantha… she betrayed us."
"What? Why would she do that?"
People started murmuring, asking questions—until it turned into complete chaos.
Mike didn't know what to do.
Many had been killed. Others had been captured by the guards.
The only ones left were those who had barely managed to escape—and those who had stayed behind at the abandoned building.
By now, most of them had probably lost their trust in him.
And worst of all…
Mike had lied to them about what existed beyond the ruins.
If they found out the truth, they would probably kill him after everything that had happened.
But he remembered the promise he had made to James.
That day… James hadn't just told him to take the others and live free.
He had said something more—something that still sent chills down Mike's spine.
Because of that, Mike couldn't break his promise.
Even if it meant he might die…
He had to do everything he could to get the others out of here.
Kelly gently touched his shoulder.
The small gesture brought Mike back to reality, helping him calm down and think clearly.
"So… what do we do now?"
Mike took a deep breath.
"We continue with the plan. But we need to leave as fast as possible. Otherwise, they'll catch us."
One of the slaves stepped forward angrily and grabbed Mike by the collar.
"Are you serious? After everything that just happened, you still want us to follow you like nothing happened?"
"And what else do you want us to do?" Mike shot back.
"If we stay here any longer, we'll die."
The man opened his mouth to respond…
…but stayed silent.
Because he knew Mike was right, and he let him go.
"And what about the others?"
someone else shouted.
"If they've been captured, they'll die!"
A knot formed in Mike's throat.
Then the shouting started again—
"012 is still there!"
"And 246!"
"034—"
"832—"
"351—"
One after another, they called out numbers.
Mike felt the guilt crushing him.
He knew what he was about to say was cruel.
But it was the truth.
"Listen to me."
he said.
"I know what Samantha did was unforgivable. But we have to leave—"
A voice cut him off.
"So we're just going to abandon them?!"
"Yes."
Silence fell.
"Because we're slaves—not heroes. Remember?"
Mike continued.
"I want to go back for them too and want to destroy the Elxis with my own hands."
His voice hardened.
"But I can't… because I'm just a slave who has nothing. The only thing I can do is keep my promise to my friend and get us out of here."
He looked at all of them.
"And to do that, I have to be realistic. Otherwise… we all die. So please… trust me one last time."
No one spoke.
Mike was sure this was the end.
That everyone would leave.
But then, one of them finally said—
"Samantha knows where we're going. She'll tell them about the ruins. They'll be waiting for us."
"We're still going to the ruins… but we'll take a different route."