Chapter 85

“Where do you think you’re going?” Frank called out as Archie began to walk away.

“I’m leaving,” Archie replied without even glancing back.

“You can’t just walk out,” Frank snapped, his anger escalating.

“Try and stop me,” Archie retorted.

“I command you to come back this instant!”

“Screw you,” Archie shot back.

The leader was so taken aback by his sudden burst of defiance he fell silent for a second or two. Archie reached the exit of the room. Realizing Archie was about to leave, Frank hastily exclaimed, “I’m your boss, damn it! You hafta listen to me!”

Frank tried to sound threatening, but for the first time Jake had ever known him, his voice lacked confidence.

The leader’s words must have struck Archie as funny because he burst into a brief laugh. He paused in the doorway, turned around to face Frank, and let out another chuckle.

“Don’t kid yourself,” he stated firmly. “You’re not my boss, and you never were. So you can go fuck yourself.”

Frank’s face flushed bright red with anger. “So you’ve grown a pair all of a sudden, huh? Well, I’ll tell you this: if you walk out now, I’ll make sure you never join Los Demonios.”

“I don’t care anymore,” Archie retorted. “Your promise to persuade your superiors to take us in without any conditions was the only reason Rick and I put up with you. But I’m done. Come to think of it, you’re just a soldier in that organization, aren’t you? You said it yourself, remember? So you probably don’t even have a say in anything.”

“You don’t know shit,” Frank said, trying to sound confident but failing. “I have a good relationship with one of their leaders. He listens to me. If I put in a good word for you guys, they’ll accept you into their organization. I did mention that to you as well, didn’t I?”

Archie’s skepticism came through in his words. “Now that I think of it, you may have been lying all along,” he said accusingly. “Maybe you aren’t even in their organization. Maybe you came up with this story only so you could boss someone like us around.”

Frank’s face flushed with anger as his confidence surged back. “I wasn’t lying, you blockhead!” he barked, jabbing a finger at the red scarf wrapped around his neck. “See this? It’s a symbol of my affiliation with the organization. Only the members of Los Demonios wear this.”

“Or so you say,” Archie shot back. “But honestly, I couldn’t care less anymore. I wasn’t all that keen on joining your fishy gang in the first place. I only agreed because Rick wanted to.”

Jake was unsure of how close Archie and Rick had been, but they seemed to have been very good friends. Rick’s death had deeply shaken Archie.

The guy was done talking to Frank. He was about to turn around and leave the room when Isra spoke up. “Where are you going? You can’t go down. It’s impossible. We searched the floor below, remember? There are no other ways to move up or down besides using the platform, which operates automatically, only going up and only when Jake steps onto it. It doesn’t respond to anyone else.”

Archie glanced at her briefly before fixing his gaze on Jake.

“Really?” he said. “If the platform is designed to only go up, how come it was on the first floor when we entered the building?”

Isra opened her mouth to respond when she realized Archie had a valid point. All of the survivors looked at Jake thoughtfully. They had already known that each floor of the building needed to be cleared of mutants. Jake had taken them to the eighth floor, which meant he had already cleared the previous floors on his own. Then he descended to the first floor, which suggested that he could either manually operate the platform or knew how to make it go down. That was likely what they were thinking.

“So the platform can be controlled after all,” Archie concluded. “Either by anyone or just by him. I’m gonna find out.”

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After uttering those words, Archie turned around to exit the room. Jake spotted Frank tense, his grip on his assault rifle tightening. For a moment, it seemed like the leader was going to open fire on Archie as he left. He braced himself to intervene and disarm Frank if needed. However, the situation didn’t escalate. Frank remained motionless, gazing at the now vacant doorway.

Jake wasn’t surprised that the survivors hadn’t considered why the platform was on the first floor until now. Even though they had previously discussed the situation among themselves, the strange and dangerous predicament they had suddenly found themselves in left them confused and anxious, making it hard to process everything at once. It was understandable that some details slipped their minds in such a tense situation.

Isra turned her head to look at him. “Is this true? Can you operate the platform?”

Jake shook his head.

“Then how did it end up on the first floor?” she pressed.

Jake simply stared at her. Realizing that gesturing might only lead to more confusion, he opted not to even try. Moreover, he wasn’t even sure if he should try to reveal the truth to her.

“Is there a way to operate the platform?” Isra posed another question, effectively cornering Jake with her tricky question.

He didn’t know how to reply. He did have a way to operate the platform actually. If he descended the empty staircase, the platform in the elevator shaft would follow suit and descend to the same floor he traveled to. But he couldn’t admit it. Her question really made him wrestle with the dilemma in his mind. Nodding wouldn’t be wise, because if they learned he knew how to operate the platform, Isra and Archie might ask him to let them go, because, unlike Frank, they weren’t eager to continue the challenge. So Jake couldn’t nod, and he couldn’t shake his head either, because it would make him a liar in their eyes as they already knew the platform could go down. Having remembered it had been on the first floor when they entered the building, they were now aware that he knew how to make it move down. Given they already harbored some doubts about him, lying would only further complicate the situation.

For a moment, Jake entertained the thought of letting Archie and Isra board the platform and then using the disintegrated staircase to descend to the first floor, causing the platform with the two survivors to follow suit. However, he almost immediately dismissed the idea. He hadn’t gone through all the trouble of bringing them here just to let them go. With one person already lost, the team was now down to three survivors, reducing their manpower somewhat. He couldn’t afford to lose any more of his temporary teammates, especially when he was so close to completing the challenge. Only one floor was left, but it was the most difficult one, so he couldn’t just let Archie and Isra leave. After the tenth floor, he would also have to defeat the boss on the rooftop. Jake was sure it wouldn’t pose much of a problem to him. The tower-climbing challenge wasn’t overly difficult for him, but it had to be completed within a specific time frame. That’s why he needed as many survivors as possible to help him finish on time.

At the back of his mind, a chilling realization crept in—he didn’t truly care about these people, and he was simply using them for his own benefit. He felt bad about Rick’s death, but only because his team was now weaker and clearing the final floor would be more difficult with reduced manpower. He realized the transformation into a mutant not only altered his appearance but also changed his mindset and way of thinking. It turned him into a cold-blooded monster, devoid of any feelings or care for anyone except himself.

The realization hit him hard, prompting him to consider letting the remaining survivors go one more time. But when he checked the time remaining and saw less than thirty minutes were left to complete the challenge, he quickly refocused his mind. Without a word, he pivoted and headed for the exit, aware of Isra and Frank following behind. Upon reaching the elevator shaft, he heard cursing and stomping sounds from inside. Peering in, he saw Archie attempting to activate the glowing sigils by stomping on them to make the platform move, to no avail.

Spotting Jake, Archie turned toward him, his face a mask of anger. He began to walk over, saying, “It won’t budge. Now I abso-fucking-lutely sure that only you can control it. Make it transport me down to the first floor right now!”

Jake remained in the doorway, unmoving. Seeing that Jake wasn’t cooperating, Archie charged toward him with closed fists, as if preparing to throw a punch. Once within striking range, Jake forcefully pushed Archie, propelling him backward and causing him to tumble down at the center of the platform. Isra and Frank, who lagged behind in the corridor, having struggled to keep up with Jake, witnessed the commotion.

Isra dashed toward him, shouting, “What on earth are you doing? Don’t touch him!”

However, upon reaching the entrance to the elevator shaft and seeing that Archie was mostly unharmed and that Jake had no intention of attacking him again, Isra relaxed slightly. Jake stepped back and gestured for her to enter, prepared to push Archie back if he attempted to escape once more. Fortunately, Archie stood up but made no move to leave the elevator.

“He’s right,” the group leader interjected as he arrived at the entrance to the elevator shaft. “We can’t afford to waste any more time. Come on. Let’s finish what we started here. No need for drama.”

Frank proceeded to enter the elevator shaft. For the first time since meeting him, Jake felt thankful that the group leader possessed such a demeanor. Isra stood still for a moment, her gaze fixed on Jake. Initially, she had been the only one to show him some sympathy, but now she viewed him as an enemy. The expression in Isra’s eyes conveyed all the disdain she felt toward him. Despite this, she knew she had no choice in the matter. If she didn’t join her companions in the elevator, she’d be left stranded on the ninth floor. Also, she knew Jake could easily force her to enter the shaft if he chose to.

Without uttering another word, she stepped into the elevator shaft. With the three survivors now inside, Jake followed suit. As soon as his weight fully settled on the platform, it began to ascend, carrying them up to the final and most dangerous floor.