"Haha."
…
…
"Hahahahahaha…."
…
A laughter echoed through the corridor. It wasn't particularly loud. It wasn't even genuine laughter, not really, it sounded more like someone trying to convince themselves that something was funny. That there was still something worth laughing about.
"Eve-?"
"It's no use." Her voice was quieter than usual.
"We're not getting out of here alive, are we-?" The last few words her voice cracked.
…
Thud.
Eve's knees gave way as she dropped onto the floor.
For a moment, nobody said anything. In my time working as a cleaner had seen her angry, frustrated, exhausted, and even frightened.
But this?
This was the first time I'd seen her simply give up.
Her head remained lowered. The reflective surface of her helmet caught the dim corridor lights, hiding whatever expression lay behind it. One gloved hand rested against the floor while the other remained near her chest, rising and falling with each breath.
Hssss—Kshhhh
The familiar sound of our SCBAs filled the silence. It had been following us for hours now.
At first, I'd barely noticed it. It was simply part of the job, like the weight of the equipment on our backs or the constant fog gathering at the edges of our visors.
Now, I couldn't stop hearing it.
Every breath was a reminder.
Every hiss was a countdown.
"I don't even think we'll have enough air…"
Eve's voice came out even more muffled then before.
"Heh. Isn't that funny?"
"…"
"There's no alarm system when you're low on air."
…
Wait, what?
I looked at her.
"I checked," she continued, her voice carrying that same bitter tone. "I know these kinds of things, after all."
She tapped the side of her equipment with a gloved finger.
Tap Tap
"Nothing. No warning. No alarm telling you to get the hell out before you run out of air."
Another laugh escaped her.
This time, it barely lasted a second.
"It's almost as if they don't want us to survive."
…
Hssss—Kshhhh…
I lowered my gaze. For some reason, I found myself staring at the floor. looking at Eve suddenly felt too uncomfortable.
Perhaps because I didn't know what to say.
Or perhaps because, deep down, I knew she wasn't wrong.
We had survived the infected.
We had made it through the horde.
We had reached the exit.
And yet, here we were.
Trapped behind a sealed door, waiting for an organization that apparently considered our lives less urgent than its own procedures.
We had done everything right.
At least, I thought we had.
"Eve…"
"Don't."
Her response came almost immediately.
"Please. Just… don't."
I closed my mouth.
…
Hss—Ksshhhhhh Hss—Kshhhhh
The sound came from beside us.
Amanda.
She was still standing, though barely. One hand clutched the wall while the other remained pressed against her chest. Her breathing had become uneven, the usual rhythm of her SCBA interrupted by short, hurried pulls.
She hadn't said anything for a while.
I wasn't sure whether she was trying to conserve her air or simply didn't have the strength to speak.
Eve heard it too. Her helmet lifted slightly. For a second, I thought she was about to stand.
But she didn't.
Instead, her gloved fingers curled against the floor.
"I'm tired."
The words were barely audible.
I couldn't tell whether Eve was talking about the situation, the work, or everything that had led us here.
Maybe she didn't know either.
"I'm tired of this."
…
Nobody spoke.
Not Jeremy.
Not me.
Not even Old Man Randy.
We were all tired.
Tired of the heat trapped inside our protective suits.
Tired of the stale, recycled air.
Tired of wondering whether the next corridor would be our last.
And now, tired of hoping.
"Well…"
Randy finally spoke.
His voice was rough, as usual, though I noticed that he took a moment before continuing.
"Just like what Old Man Randy said." Jeremy continued his words.
Hssss—Kshhhhhh
"We're not dead." He spoke as he snorted
…
"Yet," Jeremy muttered.
"Shut it, kid."
"Just stating the facts."
"Tsk. Then state something useful."
…
Maybe if this was a routine clean up session, I might have laughed.
If this was a routine clean up session, Randy might have grumbled a little more, and Jeremy might have fired back.
If this was a routine clean up session, this would have been nothing more than another pointless argument between coworkers.
But nobody laughed.
Because we all knew what Randy meant.
We weren't dead.
Yet
And as long as we weren't dead, we still had something we could do.
Eve's shoulders moved.
Once
Twice
Then she slowly planted both hands against the floor.
Her arms trembled as she pushed herself upright. for a moment to steady her balance, and when she finally stood, she didn't look at any of us, the silhouette from her visor conveniently blocked her face.
I couldn't tell whether she was crying, grimacing, or simply staring at the floor.
All I could see was her reflection in the curved surface of her visor.
A distorted figure standing in a corridor that had nearly become our grave.
"…"
She took a breath.
Hssss—Kshhhh
Then another.
Hssss—Kshhhh
Sighhhhhhh
"Fuck it." she spoke.
Her voice still unsteady.
"We fight till our last breath."
…
"…"
"Tsk."
Randy clicked his tongue.
"First time I've seen you be weak in forever."
For the first time in what felt like forever, there was something almost familiar in his voice.
Not happiness
Not reassurance
"Fuck it."
He pushed himself away from the wall.
"We're all in this together, aren't we?"
Nobody answered immediately.
Then Jeremy gave a tired nod.
I followed.
Eve said nothing, but she remained standing beside us.
That was enough.
For now, that was enough.
…
"When this is all over…"
Eve's voice came from behind her visor.
She sounded calmer now, although the exhaustion hadn't left her.
"Let's quit and find another job." her arms folded across her chest, her helmet tilted slightly in Randy's direction.
…
I couldn't see her expression. But for the first time since she'd fallen, she sounded as though she was thinking about something beyond the next few minutes. Something beyond the sealed door. Something beyond this place.
"Somewhere without all this bullshit," she added. "Somewhere we don't have to risk our lives just to earn a living."
…
Randy remained silent. For a moment, I thought he wasn't going to answer. Then—
"Heh."
A familiar, rough laugh escaped him.
"Yeah. Sounds good."
He adjusted the straps of his equipment.
"Maybe I'll finally find a job where I don't have to deal with a bunch of idiots."
"Then you'll have to find somewhere that doesn't hire you," Jeremy replied.
"Tsk. You little—"
His voice trailed off into another grumble, I couldn't help but laugh—Well almost.
Because for a brief moment, we weren't cleaners trapped inside a contaminated facility.
We weren't people clawing our way to survive
We were just a group of exhausted coworkers talking about what we would do after work.
A future that, until a few moments ago, none of us had dared to imagine.
We weren't dead.
Not yet.
And when this was all over…
We were going to find another job.
"Let's go" I spoke as I look ahead.
"KrrrrKrrrKrrrKrrr…"
The hundreds of Remnants up ahead looked like a menacingly tall and impenetrable wall, yet… We push forward.
To survive this cruel world.
Step
Hssssss—Kshhhhh
Step
Twitch
…
…
Nobody moved.
Not even a finger.
Not even a single muscle
The hundreds of Remnants standing ahead of us seemed to have stopped whatever they were doing. Their bodies twitched.
Once
Twice
Then, as though connected by some invisible thread, their heads began turning in our direction.
KrKrKrKrKrKrKr…
A chorus of clicking and scraping filled the corridor. I couldn't see their faces clearly through the fog gathering around my visor, but I didn't need to. I knew they were looking at us—Every single one of them.
…
Hssss—Kshhhh
My breathing suddenly sounded far too loud.
Shit.
Shit, shit, shit.
Did one of us made a mistake?
Was there something wrong with our SCBAs?
I wanted to check
I wanted to turn around, run back the way we'd come, and never look at another Remnant again.
But I couldn't.
Because if I made even the slightest mistake—
…
Twitch
One of them jerked its head to the side.
Twitch
Twitch
KrKrKrKr…
Then—
The sound grew louder for a moment before gradually fading.
Hsssss—Kshhhhhhh
They returned to what they had been doing, I could see them through my visor as one shuffled forward, another dragged itself along the wall, a third bent down over something I couldn't quite make out. Just like that, the entire corridor returned to its previous state.
As if nothing had happened
…
"…"
I waited.
One second.
Two
Three
Nothing
"They didn't notice us," Jeremy whispered.
"Don't jinx it, kid," Randy muttered.
"Wasn't planning to."
"Then shut up."
I couldn't help but thought to myself.
I swear to God if we die…
…
"I'm gonna curse you."
"Wha—Whatever well think about that later" Jeremy continued, one hand had pointed ahead.
The exit was still somewhere beyond this nightmare.
And between us and it—Hundreds of Remnants.
…
Step.
Jeremy moved first.
Slowly
Carefully
He placed each foot as though the floor might collapse beneath him if he put too much weight on it and soon… We followed.
Step
Hssss—Kshhhh
Step
Every movement felt deliberate. Every breath felt borrowed.
I kept my eyes fixed ahead, refusing to look too closely at the things surrounding us.
Some were slumped against the walls.
Some crawled across the floor.
Others stood motionless, their bodies twitching at irregular intervals.
I could hear them.
The dragging of limbs.
The wet scraping of something against concrete.
The constant, uneven clicking that seemed to come from everywhere at once.
And beneath it all, the hiss of our breathing apparatus.
Hssss—Kshhhh.
Don't think about it.
Step
Just keep walking.
Step
Don't look at them.
…
Thud
!!!
By accident I had bumped against something. That something was a Remnant that stood barely an arm's length away. Its bod hunched forward, its head tilted at an unnatural angle. One of its limbs twitched repeatedly as it scraped against the wall.
I could almost feel it
The distance between us
The space separating my living body from whatever remained of the thing standing beside me.
"KrKrKrKr"
Yet—It didn't react
It didn't even turn toward me
I swallowed
Right
They can't smell us
As long as our equipment holds, we're fine.
That was the theory, anyway.
As long as it works. then… It'll work out
I continued forward.
…
Step
Step
Step
My legs were beginning to feel numb.
The equipment on my back seemed heavier with every passing minute, and the sweat trapped beneath my clothes made my skin itch.
I wanted to hurry.
God, I wanted to hurry.
But every time I glanced at the Remnants surrounding us, my body refused to cooperate.
One wrong move.
One loose strap.
One crack in the visor.