As the man finished making his final request, his eyes closed, and his grip on Samuel's arm slackened. The room was silent except for the distant hum of the city. The weight of the request hung in the air, thick and suffocating.
Samuel sat there for a long moment, the notebook and flash drive heavy in his hands. His heart hammered in his chest as he tried to come to terms with everything that had just been revealed. The room seemed to close in around him, the tension so thick that it felt like he could hardly breathe.
But before he could make any decisions, the man—No. 13—was gone, the light fading from his eyes.
Samuel stood there, motionless, for what felt like an eternity. The silence in the room was deafening, broken only by the occasional, distant sound of cars passing by. When he finally moved, his legs felt heavy, as if every step was weighed down by the gravity of what he now knew.