City J final part

That night, while the children slept, Marcus, Alicia, and Carlos gathered to make a decision. They knew that soon they would have to take a risk and find a way out of the city or face the reality that hunger and isolation would consume them.

"We can do it," Carlos said, looking at his siblings with determination. "If we plan it right, we can leave without being detected. We just need to coordinate the exits and make sure not to take the younger ones until it's safe."

Alicia frowned as she looked at the map in front of them, dimly lit by a flashlight. She had spent hours studying every possible route.

"There's a way through the sewers. It's dangerous, but it'll get us out of the city without drawing attention," she said, pointing to a line on the map with her finger. "We could try to leave at dawn; I've seen that's when those things are less active."

Marcus nodded. He knew it was a risky gamble, but they had no other choice. They were at their limit, and the children wouldn't survive much longer under these conditions.

"Alright," he finally said. "We'll prepare and move at dawn."

With the decision made, they prepared to rest for a few hours before the move.

---

The next day, after descending into the sewers and moving in complete silence, Marcus, Alicia, and Carlos moved quickly. The stench of the place was suffocating, and the echo of their steps resounded in the damp darkness. The children, following them with fear in their eyes, barely contained their sobs.

Suddenly, an unmistakable sound reached their ears: a metallic screech, as if something sharp was scraping against the concrete. Alicia stopped dead in her tracks and turned to Marcus, her eyes wide.

"Did you hear that?" she whispered.

Marcus nodded, his muscles tense. He had heard it. It was those things. They were close.

The children began to cry softly, and fear overtook them. Carlos tried to calm them, but his attempts were in vain. The screeches grew louder, closer.

"Run!" Marcus ordered without thinking twice, his voice firm but loaded with urgency.

The group began to run through the sewers, water splashing beneath their feet, and the children's cries and screams echoed in the tunnel. The echo amplified the chaos, and behind them, the screeches turned into hungry roars. The creatures were getting closer, and they were fast.

Alicia glanced back and saw deformed shadows moving in the darkness. Panic gripped her chest.

"They're right behind us!" Marcus shouted, grabbing one of the children's hands to quicken the pace.

The roars of the Scavengers echoed closer and closer, a guttural sound reverberating through the narrow walls of the sewers. The frantic footsteps of the siblings and the children splashed through dirty water, mixed with their ragged, stifled breaths.

Carlos barely had time to react when one of the creatures lunged at him from the darkness, its sharp teeth inches from his face. Before he could move, a gunshot echoed through the tunnel, bouncing off the damp walls.

The creature collapsed to the ground, motionless. Marcus, with the gun still in hand, was breathing heavily. The barrel of the weapon was smoking, and his face was covered in sweat, reflecting the nervousness and tension of the moment. It was the gun he had bought long ago, just in case of an emergency, though he never imagined he would actually use it.

"Come on, don't stop!" he shouted at Carlos, as he grabbed the hand of one of the children and pushed them forward to keep running.

Carlos, still shaking from the scare, turned abruptly and urged the nearest child to keep moving. Their footsteps continued to splash through the dirty water, while the roars of the Scavengers thundered in the distance.

Alicia could feel her legs burning, the weight of each step becoming more unbearable, but she didn't stop. Her breathing was labored, and the sound of her heartbeat pounded in her ears, as if it would fail her at any moment. She looked at the children, their pale faces filled with terror, and it gave her the strength to keep going.

The tunnel seemed endless, the damp walls closing in around them, and each step felt slower than the last. Suddenly, in the distance, they saw a faint light. The exit.

"There!" Marcus shouted, drenched in sweat, his voice a mix of relief and desperation.

Marcus quickened his pace, and in a final burst of effort, they all emerged to the surface, panting and trembling.

But they weren't safe. Barely moments after they climbed up, the Scavengers were already emerging from the sewers behind them. One of the children let out a sharp scream of terror, attracting the attention of the creature that was quickly closing in.

Then, out of nowhere, gunshots rang out. The creatures began to fall one by one, and the shadows of the Scavengers crumbled under the gunfire.

Marcus looked up, breathing heavily, and saw a group of people approaching. Jhon was at the front, with a cold, calculating look, while Oliv, Enrique, and Alejandra maintained defensive positions, firing without hesitation.

Jhon lowered his weapon slowly, watching the group of Marcus, Alicia, and Carlos. The creatures chasing them had been eliminated, and silence returned to the scene.

Marcus, still agitated from the chase, stepped forward, instinctively placing himself in front of his group.

"Who are you?" he asked tensely, his hand ready to grab his knife.

Jhon looked at him calmly, without lowering his guard.

"I should be asking you the same thing," he replied in a firm tone, his serious gaze steady as the smoke from the guns still lingered in the air.

Carlos, trembling from the closeness of death, raised his hands in a gesture of peace.

"We're just looking for a way out... and a safe place for the children," he said, his voice breaking.

Oliv, who had remained silent until then, glanced at Jhon.

"We can handle this without problems," he said quietly. "They don't seem to be a threat."

Alicia, who had been observing each member of Jhon's team, intervened.

"We don't want trouble," she said firmly. "We're just looking for help for the children."

Jhon slightly relaxed his posture, though his seriousness didn't fade.

"If you're really taking care of children, you might need more help than you think," he responded, pointing toward the nearby ruins. "The city is in worse shape than you realize, and those things are getting closer."

The small confrontation quickly dissolved when Marcus realized they had no other choice. Jhon and his group weren't there to fight; they were there to survive, too.

"Take us to a safe place," Marcus finally said, lowering his guard. "I don't want to put the children in more danger."

Jhon nodded, and his team began to move.

"There's someone who can help you," Jhon said. "Her name is Cecilia; she's the leader of a containment squad on the outskirts."

---

Hours later, the group arrived at the Containment Squad's camp, where Cecilia was waiting for them. Tall and imposing, she calmly observed the group as Jhon motioned for them to approach.

Cecilia's gaze shifted to the children. Her expression, which had been unperturbed until then, softened slightly, but not enough to hide the hardness in her words.

"You're safe now," she said, her voice firm but leaving little room for questioning. "However, taking care of them won't be easy. Here, we face more than just the Scavengers. This place is full of dangers. We need all the help we can get."

Marcus, Alicia, and Carlos exchanged nervous glances. They knew Cecilia wasn't someone to mess with.

Cecilia stepped forward, her gaze fixed on Marcus.

"Let's be clear," she said, her voice adopting a lower, more threatening tone. "You don't have many options. I could take the children and leave you to your fate. Or worse, ensure the little ones survive without your involvement." The threat hung in the air, and although Cecilia didn't raise her voice, the weight of her words was palpable.

Marcus' face hardened, but before he could respond, Cecilia's tone shifted, as if suddenly offering a way out.

"But I don't want to go that far," her voice softened, though not enough to be friendly. "If you help us take care of the children, submit to our training, and follow my orders to the letter, the three of you can join us. You can contribute to sealing the portals and protecting more survivors. In exchange, the children will be well taken care of. They'll have food, shelter, and education."

The room fell silent, and the three siblings remained still, processing what they had just heard. The offer sounded fair, but Marcus knew Cecilia was playing a carrot-and-stick game. She had made it clear that if they didn't accept, things could get complicated.

"Think it over," Cecilia added, crossing her arms with an air of impatience. "You don't have to decide immediately, but remember, time isn't on our side. Out here, every minute you waste means more danger for everyone, including those children you want to protect so much."

Marcus clenched his fists, biting his tongue. He knew Cecilia was setting a trap. But he also knew he couldn't afford to risk the children's lives.

After a moment of tension, Cecilia turned away, giving them a momentary reprieve.

"I expect your answer before the day is over," she said without looking back, before leaving the room, leaving Marcus, Alicia, and Carlos facing a difficult decision.

---

Later, Marcus, Carlos, and Alicia sat in a corner of the camp, discussing the offer under the constant pressure of Cecilia's implicit threat.

"I don't know if I want to get involved in this," said Carlos, his voice trembling slightly from the mix of fear and doubt. "We've barely managed to survive so far. How can we help contain portals? We're not ready for this."

Alicia was looking at the children sleeping nearby, under the watchful eyes of the squad members. The youngest still silently cried from time to time, remembering the danger that had almost reached them.

"We can't just sit back and do nothing," she said, her voice firm, though her eyes reflected concern. "If we don't accept, what options do we have left? Cecilia was clear. If we don't cooperate, the children are in danger. They need a place where they can be safe, and we need protection. We can't keep running forever."

Marcus remained silent, his gaze fixed on the ground, reflecting. He knew they weren't just deciding for themselves, but for the children they had sworn to protect. While Cecilia offered them a way out, the reality was that the offer came with a pressure they couldn't ignore. Cecilia had made it clear that without their cooperation, the consequences would be devastating.

Finally, Marcus stood up, his thoughts still tangled, and walked toward the edge of the camp. There, he found Jhon standing, staring at the horizon as if he could see beyond the destroyed city borders.

"Why did you join this?" Marcus asked, crossing his arms. His tone was challenging, but he also sought understanding.

Jhon didn't turn, but his shoulders tensed. After a few seconds of silence, his voice, laden with deep weariness and sadness he hadn't shown before, broke the quiet.

"I lost my family because of the Scavengers," Jhon murmured, his voice resonating in the darkness. "My parents, my sister… I couldn't do anything to save them. Right in front of..."

Jhon couldn't finish. He just turned to silently look at the ruined city.

Marcus listened in silence, but he could feel the pain in every word. Jhon paused, taking a deep breath before continuing.

"If joining this squad means I can save other families, prevent someone else from losing everything like I did, then it's worth it." Finally, Jhon turned to look at him, his eyes hard but sincere. "You don't always have the option to fight just to protect your own. Sometimes, you have to join something bigger because alone, it's not enough. Believe me, I learned it the hard way."

Marcus pressed his lips together, processing Jhon's words. He, too, had lost too much, but the children from the orphanage still had him, Alicia, and Carlos. If they didn't accept Cecilia's offer, they couldn't guarantee their safety. He didn't want those children to experience the same despair that Jhon had lived through.

"I understand," Marcus finally said, looking down at the ground. "I can't let the same thing happen to them."

He turned and walked back to Carlos and Alicia.

"We'll accept Cecilia's offer," Marcus said with determination. "It's the only way to guarantee the children's safety, and we can't take any more risks."

Carlos and Alicia exchanged glances, still full of doubt.

The responsibility weighed heavily on Marcus's shoulders. Cecilia's words echoed loudly in his mind: "I could take the children and leave you to your fate." He knew that despite the implied threat, they had no other choice if they wanted to keep the children safe.

"Cecilia is backing us into a corner," Marcus finally said, his voice more controlled than he expected, "but she's right about one thing: there's no place for the weak out here. We've already risked too much. If we submit to her training, at least we'll have a chance to protect them in the long run. Besides, if what she says about the portals is true, we need to understand it to survive."

Carlos sighed, defeated. He knew his older brother was right, though the idea of submitting to that kind of life scared him.

"So… we accept?" Alicia asked, though she already knew the answer.

"Yes," Marcus responded with determination. "It's not just for us. It's for them."

The decision was made. There was no turning back.

Together, they walked toward Cecilia to inform her of their decision. They knew they were entering a dangerous game, but they also knew that if they didn't, the risk would be much greater.