Escape Options

Date: Friday, July 25th

1h past CLAIM DAY Transmission

Time: 18:35 - 18:55

Locations: Coastal Road; Residential District

The silver SUV tore away from the university gates, the engine a persistent, high-pitched whine as Alex pushed the vehicle toward the commercial district. Inside the cabin, the atmosphere was thick and stifling, heavy with the cloying sweetness of Jen's floral perfume and the sharp, metallic tang of her adrenaline-drenched sweat. She was curled into a tight ball in the passenger seat, her knees pulled up to her chest as she shook with a violent, rhythmic intensity that Alex could feel through the center console.

"I do not understand," Jen whispered, her voice sounding small and fragile against the roar of the wind. She stared out the side window at the blurring stucco buildings, her hazel eyes wide and unfocused. "It was so quiet, Alex. One minute the music was playing and then everyone was just... looking at their screens. A hundred, maybe two hundred people on the green, but nobody was talking. We were all just reading that text."

A fresh shudder wracked her frame, and she reached up to grip her own shoulders. "Then a senior I recognized from the orientation tour - a guy near the Founder's Fountain - just reached out. He touched a girl's neck, just a simple, firm grip. She didn't scream. She didn't even look surprised. She just let out this long, soft sigh and leaned her head into his chest like she had been waiting for him her entire life."

Jen turned her head, looking at Alex with a ****, searching expression. "That was when the sound started. The guys... they just started laughing. Not a normal laugh, but something hungry. They started grabbing at girls' arms, their shoulders. It was like a switch had been flipped in the middle of the quad, turning everyone I knew into something else."

"And Deon?" Alex asked, his fingers tightening on the leather-wrapped wheel until his knuckles stood out in sharp, bloodless relief.

"He was right there with me," Jen replied, her breath hitching. "He had been being so nice, Alex. He was asking me about my schedule, telling me which Psych professors were the easiest. Then he saw that girl at the fountain get taken. He looked down at his own phone, then he looked at me... and his eyes just went totally dark. No more smiling, no more talking. He didn't even say a word. He just lunged for me," Jen continued, her voice trembling as she wiped a stray tear with her sleeve. "But I did not just stand there, Alex. My reflexes kicked in - I dropped low and swung my leg as hard as I could. I caught him right between the legs, a solid, heavy-booted kick. I heard the air leave his lungs in this horrible, wet wheeze, and he curled up holding his balls."

She took a shaky breath, her eyes wide and fixed on the dashboard as the memory replayed in high-definition horror. "I turned and started running toward the library, but the North Green was... it was a nightmare. I almost tripped over these two guys near the edge of the lawn. They were right there on the grass, totally exposed. They were stripping the clothes off this girl from my Psych seminar - the quiet one, Sarah. They were just... they were tearing at her shirt, and she wasn't even fighting back. She just had this blank, serene smile on her face while they worked. I had to stop and swerve to avoid stepping on them, and that pause gave Deon just enough time to get back on his feet and start the chase again. That was when you leaned on the horn."

Alex’s jaw tightened until the muscles throbbed. "Listen to me. We might not be able to go back to the flat."

"Why?" Jen asked, her head snapping toward him as their building appeared a few blocks ahead. "You showed me that baseball bat leaning next to the front door, Alex. We can lock the deadbolts and push the dresser in front of the door too. You could hold that entrance against anyone."

"I actually, well... vaguely know Deon, Jen. Jogged with him two or three times," Alex admitted, his eyes scanning the parked cars along the street for any sign of a massive Black man in a white tank top. "Usually from the gym, but we met up right in front of our building two weeks ago because I was running late. He might not have been paying attention to the specific unit number, but he is a smart guy. If he remembers that street corner, he is going to find the building. And if he finds the building, he will find the Taylor name on the directory."

"But he is just one guy," Jen countered, her voice carrying a **** edge as she looked for a reason to return to their sanctuary. "You are fit, you have been training with Brennan. You can handle one frat guy with the bat."

"I can," Alex agreed, but there was still some uncertainty inside him. "If he shows up alone, I can take him. But it is a gamble. If he remembers the address, we are basically setting ourselves up to be cornered in a third-floor box with no secondary exit."

Alex eased the SUV to a halt at a quiet intersection three blocks away from their apartment. He let the engine idle, the low, steady vibration of the machine the only sound in the darkening cabin. He pulled his phone from the cup holder, checking the screen one last time. Still no service. The world was still silent, the digital grid remaining a hollow, unresponsive ghost.

He stared through the windshield at the road ahead. The apartment building sat to the left, a weathered cream structure that represented everything they had worked for. It was home, it was a fortress they knew, but it was also a known coordinate. To the right, the coastal highway led toward the high-tech commercial district and straight ahead... the fitness studio, and another 5 minute drive or so further behind that, Brennan's place.

His engineering mind began to work, frantically calculating their survival probabilities. Every second they sat idling, the 'buffet' was growing. The city was a grid of potential encounters, and while he felt confident he could defend their door against a single intruder like Deon, the uncertainty of the landlord, Daniel, and the predatory groups he'd seen on the quad weighed heavily on his mind.

"There are three ways this goes," Alex laid out, his pulse finally beginning to level out as a cold, tactical clarity settled over him. "We hide in the flat and hope Deon doesn't remember the address. We run for the hills. Or we find someone who can help us hold a real line. Could go to my best bud Brennan. He's solid."

He looked over at Jen. She was watching him, her hazel eyes filled with a ****, unspoken question, her fingers still digging into the fabric of her jeans. "I'll trust you to pick what's best. You've always kept me safe," she said, her voice a little shaken despite her best attempt to sound confident.