"W-Wait, Thino… are you really sure this is a good idea? W-Wait, c-can we stop for a second? P-Please…"
Ella's voice came out between ragged breaths, her lungs burning from the sprint they had just made—from the first floor all the way down to the basement.
Thino glanced back at her, his own breath still uneven. He paused for a moment, scanning their surroundings for any sign of movement. No monsters in sight—at least, not yet.
"What are you saying, Ella?" he asked, confused. "Is there some other way to get to the auto service other than the one we just passed?"
"I-I don't know," she stammered, shaking her head. "N-Not really. But as I said... are we really sure this is a good idea? Going to the auto service?"
The question made the other two—Thino and their companion Summer—exchange glances. Neither of them fully grasped what Ella was trying to say. They were standing in the middle of an exposed corridor, dangerously open to any monster roaming nearby.
The three of them had just managed to escape the ruins of the school, thanks to Summer's guidance. It was she who had led them to this temporary refuge, a narrow point between buildings near the service sector.
"What's wrong with heading there?" Thino asked. "Didn't we go through all that trouble getting the key from the security room for that exact reason? To access the vehicle?"
"Yes, we did," Ella replied quickly. "But something feels… off. I mean, sure, we have the key. But are we even certain that the vehicle is still there? That it's even functional?"
Her voice was filled with uncertainty now, her eyes flicking from Thino to Summer. Thino found himself really listening to her. Summer, on the other hand, remained quiet—observing the two without a word.
"Y-You have a point," Thino admitted. "But what about those screams we heard earlier? Aren't we going to help them?"
"Help them—of course," Ella said firmly. "But not like this. Even Summer agrees to leave that area to look for weapons. Think about it—do you really think we can help anyone with the gear we're carrying now? Especially if there's a whole group of people trapped there?"
She then turned to Summer. "Am I right?"
Elaine gave a silent nod. Her expression remained unreadable, but the gesture was enough to make Thino reconsider their original plan.
He didn't argue this time. A few seconds passed in tense silence before he finally asked the question that hung heavy between them.
"Then… what's your plan?" he murmured.
Ella didn't answer right away. Her eyes drifted, deep in thought—lost somewhere between fear and strategy. Then, without realizing it, she began to walk.
Thino and Summer instinctively followed.
"If we really want to get their attention…" Ella began, halting at a dim corner of the basement corridor. She slowly turned, scanning their surroundings, as though searching for something specific.
"We really need to create a distract—"
She suddenly cut herself off mid-sentence, her gaze freezing at something just beyond the hallway's edge.
Thino frowned, stepping up beside her. "We really need to create what, Ella?"
She didn't turn to him. Her voice came low, a breath barely louder than a whisper.
"A distraction..."
Elaine answered quickly, snapping Thino's attention toward her. It was only then that he noticed—she, too, was staring off to the side.
"The generator room..." she added.
"Yes!" Ella exclaimed, her voice almost triumphant. Without wasting another second, she sprinted toward the generator room she had just spotted, and the two others quickly followed.
"This is it, Thino! If we can manage to power this thing up, there's a chance it'll make a lot of noise!"
Thino glanced around nervously."And how many kilometers do you think that noise could reach?"
Ella didn't hesitate. "As far as I remember, it should carry all the way to the maybe even past the main atrium."
BLAG—
A loud clatter interrupted them. All three ducked instinctively behind the nearest row of metal cabinets. For a second, no one dared breathe.
But as the noise faded, they peeked out cautiously—only to see a lone rat scurrying across the floor, knocking over a loose pipe.
Thino sighed under his breath, then whispered, "Do you think the noise will be enough to reach the auto service area?"
Ella hesitated, then turned toward Summer. "What do you think?"
Elaine shook her head gently. "I'm afraid not, Ella. Especially we'd still have to cross a tunnel to reach the auto service. The sound might not travel that far."
Her calm honesty made the room fall silent again. Ella bit her lip. Thino glanced at the ground. The plan suddenly felt like it was crumbling.
But then Thino looked up again, a new idea forming behind his eyes.
"Even so," he said, "maybe it doesn't matter anymore. If every creature inside the school gets distracted by the generator's noise, then maybe—we could take the inner route."
"You're… right!" Ella agreed, her eyes lighting up. "There's also a chance that no monsters will be waiting for us on that path anymore."
For the first time in minutes, they all looked at each other and silently nodded. A fragile, unspoken agreement passed between them.
"But before anything else," Thino added, already unzipping his bag, "we need to lay out a proper plan."
He pulled out a small piece of white chalk, worn down from use. Then he knelt on the dusty floor, cleared a patch with his sleeve, and began sketching. Simple lines became hallways. X's marked danger zones. Arrows pointed to their objectives. The crude map came to life in seconds, the outline of their mission finally taking shape.
....
Meanwhile…
"Move faster!! What the hell is taking you all so long? Get inside—NOW!"
Rian's furious voice rang out over the chaos. His group was struggling to board the shuttle bus, panic slowing their steps as the air around them filled with winged screeches and monstrous howls.
"G-Go ahead and get inside! I'll hold them off!"
Light shouted over the clamor, still fiercely battling off the flying Lurkins that swooped down from above like demons.
"Ahhh! AAHGH! Help me, hel—ACKG!!"
"F*ck!!!"
Despite Light's efforts, another of their teammates was snatched by the creatures. He couldn't protect them all—there were just too many. And with every scream that tore through the air, his helplessness cut deeper.
"These f*cking creatures!" Rian snarled, his grip tightening on his hammer as he slammed it into the skull of a monster that had nearly grabbed one of their own.
"Come on! Get on the bus! What are you waiting for—a personal invitation or to be eaten alive? And YOU—!"
He stormed toward Light, yanking him roughly by the arm. The sudden motion made Light snap his head toward Rian, startled.
"How long are you planning to play like a hero?! Can't you see they're surrounding you too?!"
"Wh-What do you—hey! Let go of me!" Light protested, trying to wrench his arm free.
"Give me a damn reason why I should—unless you're really just trying to die out here!"
Rian barked at him, dragging him toward the bus with force. But Light resisted, his voice desperate now.
"S-She's not here yet! We have to wait for her!"
"What the hell?! Do you really think the monsters in front of us will wait just because you want them to?!"
"But we have to! We have to wait for her—!"
"For what? So the last thing she sees is our corpses being devoured in front of her?! Is that what you want?!"
Rian cut him off, gripping Light by the collar, eyes burning with fury and urgency.
"You're willing to trade everyone's lives for that girl? If you want to die, fine—but not in front of me. Got it?"
And with that, he shoved Light hard into the bus. Light stumbled inside, stunned into silence—his heart pounding, his mind spiraling in conflict.
Rian knew he had been too harsh. The tension in his grip, the rage in his words—it had gone too far. But in a moment like this, he believed it was necessary. They couldn't afford another delay. Not when every second out there risked another life.
"Driver! Start the bus—NOW!"
Rian's command was sharp. The driver didn't hesitate. The engine growled to life, and the shuttle bus began to move.
....
….
"The area's clear."
Thino's voice dropped to a cautious whisper as he scanned the generator room, sweeping his eyes across the dim, cluttered space. The low thrum of silence hummed in the background, broken only by the creak of old metal and distant echoes from above. After a final check, he motioned for the others to come in.
Ella stepped inside slowly, her eyes wide as the flickering emergency light cast long shadows on the floor. Her breath caught for a second when she took in the sheer size of the equipment before them.
"T-This generator... it's huge," she murmured, her voice filled with awe.
The faint glow from the overhead bulb illuminated a row of industrial machines—three massive generators, each one anchored into the floor and lined with rusted pipes. Their dark metal shells looked like sleeping beasts, ancient and powerful.
"Indeed," Thino replied, flipping through a laminated manual he had found displayed near the door. His eyes moved quickly down the faded print. "According to this, it's a 1000-kilowatt unit. It can power up to one or two buildings with four floors each."
He looked up from the manual, eyes locking with the others. His expression was now tinged with hope.
"Then that means this is more than enough to get the attention of every monster inside this building other than the atrium," Summer added, her voice calm but resolute.
Both Thino and Ella nodded in agreement.
"Then we need to move—fast," Ella said, approaching one of the generators and running her hands lightly along its side. "There should be a switch somewhere... No, wait. I don't see one. It's not that simple—this thing's way more complicated than I thought. Is there any mention of instructions in the manual?"
Her fingers kept searching along the surface, feeling for any kind of interface.
"There is," Thino answered, flipping the manual again. "But not on the generator itself. According to this, the control is located on a separate panel board. We need to find it first."
"Like this?"
Summer's voice cut in smoothly. She was standing by the wall now, pointing toward a black box mounted beside a rusted conduit pipe. It looked like a circuit breaker—weathered, but intact.
Thino's eyes lit up as he rushed over. Ella followed closely behind.
"Yes! That's it!"
He pulled the panel open, revealing a series of small labeled switches, buttons, and a dial. Ella leaned over his shoulder, but quickly frowned.
"Why are there so many switches? What do all of these even do?"
Before either of them could panic, Thino's eyes suddenly widened—not with confusion, but with delight.
"This is great..." he muttered, a grin forming on his face.
Ella and Elaine exchanged puzzled looks.
"Huh? What do you mean?" they asked in near unison.
Thino turned to them with excitement gleaming in his eyes. He pointed to a specific section on the panel—where a dial and timer mechanism were marked clearly in small text.
"This generator has a built-in time switch," he explained, barely able to contain his enthusiasm. "It's like a giant alarm clock. We can set it to activate at a specific time."
That piece of information changed everything.
Ella's tense shoulders loosened immediately. Summer nodded, impressed. No more scrambling. No more risking exposure trying to start it manually and flee in time.
They had just found their advantage.
"That means we don't have to gamble our lives staying here once it's on," Ella whispered, the relief finally softening her tone.
In that moment, all three of them stared at the control panel—not with fear, but with something rare in this nightmare they'd been living through: a sliver of control.