The Broadcast
Chapter 11
It was later that evening, once the worst of it had settled into something quieter — not better, just quieter — when the rest of the hotel finally sat down to figure out what came next.
"Where do you think we should head next?" one of the residents asked. Even without setting foot outside, they could tell the situation was shifting.
Once Chase and his men made it back, they filled everyone in. The freaks posed a much bigger threat than anyone had realized, but nobody had the first idea what to actually do about it. They went back and forth arguing — until Kaito burst out laughing, which shocked the whole room.
Especially Lana, who'd hated him from the moment she laid eyes on him.
"Is our safety a joke to you?" she snapped, closing in fast enough that Cinna had to step between them to keep her from another episode.
Whether Lana realized it or not, most people could tell she had terrible luck with men. She never talked about her personal life beyond her job — a receptionist at a successful car dealership, good at what she did — but her taste in men left a lot to be desired.
The cafeteria was packed, close to forty people, the rest of the group among them.
"I have a plan," Lana said. "Why don't we just leave this piece of trash outside while we escape? At least he'd make a decent decoy."
That shocked Cinna and everyone around her. They knew her malice ran deep, but this was different — no restraint, no remorse, just cold calculation. That kind of thinking got people killed, one way or another.
"Shh, I said stop it," one of the residents muttered to his friend. The two of them looked rough — lonely men in their late twenties who clearly didn't take care of themselves, reeking of cheap gas-station cigarettes. Nobody would've been surprised to learn they still lived with their parents.
"If you've got something to share, spit it out," Chase barked.
Feeling cornered, and wanting to play the hero for once, they spilled everything.
"Last week, while you all were dealing with the accident, we caught a broadcast on one of the police walkie-talkies you brought back."
The message described the state of the country and what to do about the chaos. Two things stood out.
First: the virus was never contagious. That left everyone stunned. The damage was already done, choices made that could never be undone. It hit Fred hardest of all — he'd left Tyler behind out of fear of infection, and now it turned out that fear had cost Tyler his life for nothing. He didn't say a word for the rest of the meeting.
Second: there was no help coming.
"What do you mean, no help's coming? What are we supposed to do?" Doria screamed, her voice cracking, panic rising fast.
"Let me finish," the man said. "Right before it cut out, the broadcast said any survivors should head to a subway station and make their way to Quan City. That's where the government and military relocated. That's where they'd find help. And safety."
As good as that sounded, not everyone was relieved.
"Why didn't you tell us sooner? We could've left already — we'd be halfway to Quan City by now!" the crowd shouted, furious.
"We forgot," the man said, which only fed the anger louder.
"Then why don't you leave?" Kaito asked, cutting straight through the noise and splitting the room's attention. "If you think what they did was wrong, then go. There's no police, no lawyers, nobody holding you back. You're all free to do whatever you want. So why dump all the blame on them? We all saw what the world turned into these past few weeks."
"Personally, I'm not expecting some Prince Charming to sweep in and save me from the demons and give me my happily ever after," Kaito said, and the room went quiet listening to him. What he said carried real weight, even if nobody wanted to admit it. The truth stung.
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