His word took a second to actually sink into my head.
"Run."
The first time, it was almost like I'd heard it wrong, or like it was just one more word thrown into the middle of the chaos.
But it kept echoing, repeating, slipping through the cracks of my exhausted mind.
"Run."
Such a simple, short word and, here, it sounded like a divine sentence.
It wasn't just advice. It wasn't just a request.
It was an order.
For a moment, I couldn't move.
I just stood there, frozen, my hands locked around the notebook, like someone had hit pause on my body while reality kept playing.
The Counselor was still standing, bluish sword in hand, his old, lined face turned toward me, dark eyes fixed on mine.
He looked… smaller than before.
But at the same time, bigger than any creature I'd seen out there.
"Run."
I wanted to say no.
I wanted to say I could stay, that I could fight, that I wasn't just dead weight but… the truth was I didn't even know how to hold a weapon properly.
Before I could react, Mei was already at my side.
She appeared like a flash of lightning, breathing too fast, her chest rising and falling under the torn vest, but her eyes were steady… steadier than they'd ever been since I met her.
The distant coldness was gone.
So was the tiredness mixed with the sadness of saying goodbye. Her gaze had something different now.
Determination tangled with fear.
But it wasn't fear for herself.
She put a hand on my shoulder and said, her voice hoarse:
"Let's go…"
"Now."
Her voice felt like it was hanging on by threads, and there was no room for arguing.
"But what about him…"
I tried to start, my eyes darting back to the Counselor.
"Now, Noah."
she repeated, cutting my words clean in half like a blade.
"If you stand there, everyone here dies for nothing."
Her hand shoved me firmly, turning me toward the secret door.
I stumbled, almost tripped, my mind trying to run faster than my legs.
The notebook felt like it weighed ten kilos.
But still, I hugged it to my chest so hard my fingers started to hurt.
I should say something.
I should ask what's going to happen to him.
I should understand what's going on.
I should… do anything…
I opened my mouth, and nothing came out.
My throat felt full of sand. My thoughts were running, but the words were too scared to leave.
Since I couldn't speak, I did the only thing left:
I obeyed.
I let her shove guide me, while the noise outside grew louder.
It wasn't just sounds of fighting or metal clashing anymore.
It was bones breaking.
You could hear the dry crack, hollow and sharp, like thick branches snapping.
Metal twisting.
The scrape of structures giving way, iron wrenching, like someone was trying to tear the city itself apart.
People screaming… screams cut short, like someone had stolen the air from their lungs.
There was also a sound I'd recognize anywhere:
The sound of flesh being ripped and chewed.
A wet tearing, followed by something heavy hitting the floor.
I could almost smell it just from the sound.
My stomach clenched.
I shouldn't just be walking away.
I shouldn't…
My chest tightened.
But if I don't go, what do I do? Grab a sword, pretend I know how to use it and die in five seconds?
Raul was standing there, looking at the Counselor and at the group getting ready to fight.
He didn't look like the same mocking man who kept calling me "church dog."
His face had hardened in a different way, almost locked in place.
His fingers gripped his weapon so tightly his knuckles were white.
He didn't blink.
For a second, I thought he'd stay.
That he'd stand as part of that last human wall.
That he'd throw himself between the Counselor and whatever was coming, like that could somehow pay for all the crap he'd said till now.
Part of me…
Part of me respected him for like two whole seconds because of that.
But when Mei called, he gritted his teeth, yanked his weapon up in anger, and turned his back without looking at anyone.
It was a small movement, but final.
You could almost hear the decision snapping something inside him.
"Let's move already, damn it!"
he yelled, calling whoever was left.
"If you still got legs, use 'em!"
His voice came out dripping with hatred, but I knew the target wasn't just me, or Mei, or the Counselor.
It was the whole world.
Only one answered.
Josh.
The skinny old man showed up limping, but determined, holding a crossbow in one hand and a tactical backpack in the other.
The hem of his pants was torn, his knee stained with dried blood, and his breathing was ragged, but he still wore that half-smile—just with nothing happy in it this time.
"You really thought you'd run off without me?"
he said, with a tired grin.
Raul snorted and growled, but there was a weird respect in his voice.
"Stubborn old bastard…"
"Somebody's gotta stop you from doing something stupid."
Josh added, swinging the backpack onto his shoulder with extra force.
"And besides the Captain, I don't trust a single one of you for that."
He glanced at me.
"And you, kid, hold on to that book. If you lose it, I'll crawl back from hell just to haunt you."
I almost said something—"I'll try", or "You don't even know my name properly", any stupid thing that might smooth out my panic a little—but my voice just wouldn't come.
And then… the strong woman, Sofia, didn't move.
She was still there, a bit further back, watching the Counselor.
Her hand clenched around the axe, the muscles in her arm standing out under skin smeared with blood and soot, but her face was… calm.
Unfairly calm.
Mei frowned and called out in a warning tone:
"Sofia…"
Sofia didn't react—not right away.
Raul snapped, furious:
"Sofia! Move your ass! You lost it or what?!"
She didn't even turn her head.
She spun the axe once in her hand, like she was testing its weight.
The metal sliced the air with a low sound, almost elegant, completely out of place in that hell.
Then she took a few steps toward the Counselor and the rest of the soldiers.
Each step felt final.
I could almost hear her decision in every footfall.
She smiled.
It was a small, peaceful smile.
Almost… relieved.
The kind I hadn't seen since…
Well… I don't remember since when, but I knew that kind of smile. A smile that didn't belong next to blood, monstrosities, or that twisted world.
A smile that said:
"This is it. I end here."
Raul half-stepped forward to go after her.
"Sofia, don't you dare, damn it!"
His voice cracked in the middle of the sentence, and when he was about to run to her, Mei grabbed his arm.
"Let her."
she said, firm.
He turned on the Captain like she'd just stabbed him in the back.
"Are you out of your mind? She's gonna get eaten alive!"
He spat, eyes glassy without him noticing.
Mei answered, exhausted:
"She chose… And you already know I don't waste anyone's choice. Not hers. Not yours. Move."
He stood there shaking for a second, wanting to argue, wanting to scream… wanting to smash something.
But he obeyed.
I don't think it was because he agreed, but because deep down, he must've known that's exactly what she wanted.
The Counselor watched Sofia join the group and gave her a nod of respect.
It was a minimal movement, almost discreet, but heavy with… recognition.
She answered the nod and didn't look like someone walking to her death… she looked like someone walking home.
Then she took her place at his side.
I knew.
I knew in that instant I'd never see either of them again.
That certainty didn't come like a hunch. It came like I'd already lived through it… or dreamed it… or read it somewhere.
They don't get out of here.
My chest tightened so hard it physically hurt.
For a moment, I wanted to scream.
I wanted to turn to the Counselor and say:
"You said I could choose. So I choose to stay."
"I choose to die with you."
But my legs kept moving toward the secret door. My fingers kept squeezing the notebook, and the only thought I could hold on to was:
"I can't. Not now."
I didn't know what I was in this story.
I didn't know if I was the protagonist, an extra, a plot mistake, or something else.
But for some reason I'd never asked for, people were betting everything on me.
And as much as it hurt to admit it…
I ran.
Or at least, I started running—pushed forward by the hands of those who'd decided to die in the place I was abandoning.