Survival II – The Plan

Mark was thrown aback after Damian explained everything that happened after he shot the other officer.

It was already 3:45 a.m. by the time Damian finished interrogating Mark thoroughly, but it seemed he actually didn't remember anything that happened.

Damian even went further to show Mark the dead bodies of the people he killed on the first floor.

Damian just wanted to see the expression on Mark's face when he realised that he whose job was to protect the people was the one who killed them.

And as expected, Mark broke down into tears. He cried bitterly for staining his hands with the blood of innocent people.

Damian resented Mark and believed his tears were fake. In Damian's eyes, Mark was just another one of those filthy humans that act like they are saints but in the end, commit the most atrocities.

Arthur was asleep, while Damian was just sitting quietly and watching every minute expression Mark made.

Damian believed that if Mark was putting up a facade he wouldn't be able to hold it up for too long and he might just slip a bit in the acting. Damian just waited for his chance so he would have a logical reason to slit Mark's throat when he's asleep.

Mark stopped crying after some time and only sobbed.

All three of them were in Damian's room. Mark was kneeling on the ground directly in front of Damian, who was sitting on the bed.

"So tell me… what happened?"

Damian asked. His elbows rested on his legs and his fingertips touching each other.

Mark was silent and didn't dare look Damian in the eye. Damian wore a grave expression.

"... After I shot my colleague… I don't know what came over me but I started hearing someone speak to me…"

Unbeknownst to Mark… Damian can 'feel' it when someone lies. It's like a sophisticated intuition that he never gets wrong when he hears lies. That's why he really hates associating himself with many people unless it's needed; for example: at work.

"You heard someone… speak to you?"

"... Well not... exactly."

"Does this look like some joke to you?"

Damian carried the knife from before and branded it before Mark. Although Mark was a police officer and had trained his body to the extent Damian wouldn't be a threat, this time it was different because he was tied up and was previously stabbed at his side.

"... Curtis… my partner... was a racist. He assaulted black people without reasons. He had the favour of my superiors and had countlessly been trying to get me to lose my job.

"I despised him... greatly… and that woman he shot was black. I grew furious and decided to use the chance to end his life. After that, I heard a voice speak to me, but I can't remember what it said. Please believe me!"

"So you killed him for some stupid grudge, then went on a rampage?"

Mark's eyes were swollen and his countenance broken. He couldn't even look Damian in the eye, because following his logic Damian should avenge all those people he killed.

Damian just sighed and told Mark he'll figure out what to do with him after he got some rest.

Truth be told, Damian didn't feel any anger towards Mark for killing innocent people, honestly, he didn't even care. Damian just acted like how he felt a normal human would.

* * *

Damian woke up earlier than Mark and Arthur. Mark was still tied up and was sleeping on the same spot where he was kneeling before Damian.

Damian was busy sending messages to the anonymous user, hoping to get a reply. But all to no avail.

He looked out the window and saw that the giant holographic screen with a red background was still there.

The area was so quiet unlike the day before. People weren't moving around and the streets were empty. Only those horned-winged creatures were flying around.

Dead bodies were lying here and there, things were on fire and those portals still filled the sky.

Damian wondered why there weren't people moving about but concluded that maybe they were just hiding.

He stared at the giant holographic screen some more and muttered to himself, "Why is it titled 'Choose a side' while the objective only said to kill?"

At the same time, Mark woke up and stared at Damian's back before speaking, "How long do you plan to stay here?"

"I mustn't answer that."

Mark became saddened once again. He was their enemy and his life was at Damian's mercy.

Damian just sighed, then said, "We need to go underground. I feel it'll be safer."

"You mean to hide in a subway station?"

"Yes."

Damian never turned his head away from the window, and that is why he couldn't see the doubt written all over Mark's face.

"Going underground is smart, but I feel it should be an abandoned station."

Damian was a little bit annoyed as to why he didn't think of that first but he didn't show it, neither did he ponder on that too much.

An awkward silence filled the room, but Mark broke it by asking: "So who's the kid?"

"He's none of your business"

Damian replied coldly. In his eyes, Mark was just a ticking time bomb that could go off at any moment.

Mark suspected that to be Damian's problem and spoke.

"I somehow lost all my rings. I'm only seeing 10 on my hand now."

Damian remembered the 210 that he saw on Mark's hand the night before and was a bit perplexed.

"How? You killed more than 1 person, didn't you?"

"I also don't know what happened. So apparently, I'm not a threat to you any longer."

Damian paused for a bit, then proceeded to untie Mark. He warned Mark with a stern look that he shouldn't try anything stupid.

After getting untied, Mark looked at the back of his right hand where the number was, repeatedly. He wasn't sure how 200 was minused from his original amount but he knew it had something to do with Damian.

They laid out their plan, which was to get to the nearest subway station then use that to get to an abandoned station.

Failure in the first phase would only warrant 'elimination', not certain death and they sought to use that to their advantage.

Arthur woke up soon after then they had their breakfast.

After they were done eating, Mark suggested that they should check the floors above for any possible survivors and Damian agreed.

They prepared themselves for the worst. Damian helped look for a phone for Arthur since they weren't going to take him along.

So they set off for their journey using the stairs.

As they were climbing, Damian heard a notification sound from his phone. It was TheGingerbreadFriend.