Charles paused at the threshold.
He looked back.
The woman was still there.
Holding her child close, her body shaking, eyes wide and unfocused from everything she had just seen.
He gestured.
"Inside. Hurry"
She didn't move at first.
Then—
She looked at the officer beside her.
Then back at Charles.
And ran.
Her steps were uneven, but she made it, clutching the child tightly as she crossed the distance and entered the elevator cautiously.
As she passed him, her voice broke.
"…Thank you…"
Charles didn't respond.
He stepped in after her.
Pressed the button.
The doors began to close—
SSHHK—~
Don stood at the front, eyes forward, jaw set.
Time was gone.
Whatever was coming—
They were about to meet it head-on.
—
The elevator rose.
Smooth.
Controlled.
Too controlled for what was happening outside.
For a few seconds—
No one spoke.
But the quiet didn't hold.
It seeped in through the walls anyway.
Distant—
Faint—
But there.
A scream—
Far off.
Another—
