Chapter 45: Leaving The Cottage

“This can’t happen,” the first officer said again, his tone firmer now. “Step aside and let them return to their quarters.”

Ethan didn’t move.

“I said we’re leaving,” he repeated.

The atmosphere shifted instantly.

Both officers raised their rifles, pointing them directly at Ethan, their fingers resting dangerously close to the triggers, and several of the girls gasped, instinctively stepping back.

“Ethan,” Helen whispered urgently. “Stop.”

Before anything could escalate further, a familiar voice cut through the tension.

“That’s enough.”

Mister Fred stepped forward from behind the officers, his expression serious but controlled as he positioned himself between them and Ethan.

“What’s going on here?” he asked calmly.

The officers lowered their rifles slightly but didn’t fully relax.

“He’s trying to leave the refuge with the girls,” one of them said. “Against the rules.”

Mister Fred turned to Ethan. “Is that true?”

Ethan didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

“Why?” Mister Fred asked, studying his face carefully.

Ethan took a slow breath. “This place isn’t safe for them anymore. I have to get them somewhere safer.”

Mister Fred frowned. “This is the safest place left in the state.”

Ethan shook his head. “I don’t believe that.”

There was something unshakable in his voice, something that made Mister Fred pause.

Before he could respond, footsteps approached again, heavier this time, and the Commander appeared with two officers trailing behind him, his expression already dark as he took in the scene.

“What’s happening?” the Commander asked.

The situation was explained quickly, and when the Commander turned to Ethan, his gaze was sharp but not angry.

“Why are you doing this?” he asked. “You’re a Raid Leader now. One of our strongest members.”

Ethan met his eyes. “I don’t trust leaving them here.”

The Commander narrowed his eyes slightly. “You don’t trust us?”

Ethan chose his words carefully. “I don’t trust the situation.”

There was a long silence.

The Commander studied him for several seconds, clearly weighing his options, and finally spoke again.

“You’re asking me to bend rules I don’t bend easily.”

“I know,” Ethan replied. “But if anything happens to them while I’m out on a raid, I won’t forgive myself.”

The Commander exhaled slowly. “We’ll move them closer to the executive compound. Near my office. Security is tighter there.”

Ethan felt the weight on his chest ease slightly.

That was when the system notification appeared.

[Normal Mission 11 completed.]

[Rewards: Boyfriend Credits +2000. Intelligence +5.]

Ethan trusted the system.

But even as relief settled in, one thought lingered in his mind, heavy and unsettling.

If the Commander wasn’t the danger, then someone else was.

And Ethan was going to find out who.

******

Nina stood there with her back straight even though her wrists still carried the faint sting from where the ropes had been earlier, her eyes moving slowly between the two young women standing in front of her and the older man who leaned against the far wall of the cottage, his presence calm but heavy, like someone who had already decided how things would end long before the conversation even began.

The words she had spoken hung in the air longer than she expected them to, and for a moment, no one said anything at all, as if each of them was measuring the weight of what she had just asked and wondering whether it was worth carrying.

“I need your help,” Nina repeated, her voice quieter this time but firmer, like she was anchoring herself to those words so they would not be brushed aside too easily. “My friends are in danger, and if I leave now without doing something, they will die.”

The daughter dressed in white turned slightly, her expression tightening as she glanced toward her father, as though she already knew what his response would be even before he opened his mouth, while the one dressed in black crossed her arms, her jaw clenched, her gaze sharp and openly suspicious, as if Nina’s words only confirmed what she had feared from the start.

The man finally straightened himself, pushing away from the wall slowly, his movements measured and careful, like someone who had learned long ago that rushing decisions in this world only led to regret. He looked at Nina for a long moment, his eyes calm but distant, and when he spoke, his voice was low and firm.

“No,” he said simply. “We will not help you.”

The word landed hard.

Nina felt her chest tighten, but she didn’t let it show on her face. She had expected resistance. She had prepared herself for rejection. Still, hearing it spoken so plainly stung more than she wanted to admit.

“Please,” she said after a brief pause, stepping forward just slightly. “You don’t understand. The Special Force is involved, and whatever they are planning, it’s going to end badly for the people I care about. I’m not asking you to fight them head-on. I’m just asking for help. Information. A warning. Anything.”

The man shook his head slowly. “My decision is final.”

The daughter in white turned fully toward Nina now, her expression conflicted but restrained, as if she was torn between sympathy and loyalty. “You heard him,” she said softly. “Our father has already decided.”

Nina looked at her directly. “Then you decide,” she said. “You saw what they did. You know what they are capable of.”

The girl in white hesitated, her lips parting slightly as if she wanted to say something else, but she stopped herself, her gaze dropping to the floor for a moment before lifting again.

“My father’s words are final,” she repeated, this time with more resolve, though her eyes betrayed the doubt she was trying so hard to bury.

The daughter in black scoffed quietly, turning her head away, clearly frustrated but unwilling to openly challenge her father yet.

Nina let out a slow breath, realizing that no matter how long she stayed here, no matter how much she explained, she was not going to get the help she needed from them. The silence that followed felt heavy and suffocating, and she knew that staying any longer would only waste precious time.

“Then I’ll leave,” Nina said suddenly.

All three of them looked at her.

“I won’t force you to do anything,” she continued, her voice steady. “But I won’t stay here either. If you won’t help me save my friends, then I’ll do it myself.”

The father watched her closely. “Leaving now is dangerous.”

“So is staying,” Nina replied.

She turned and walked toward the door without waiting for permission, her steps firm even though her mind was racing, and when she pushed the door open, the cool air outside hit her face like a reminder that the world beyond this cottage was still very much broken and unforgiving.

The two daughters followed her with their eyes as she stepped out, neither of them moving to stop her, neither of them looking comfortable with letting her go. The girl in white bit her lower lip slightly, while the one in black clenched her fists, her frustration obvious.

When the door finally closed behind Nina, silence filled the cottage again.

The father exhaled slowly, rubbing his temples as if the weight of the past had suddenly grown heavier. “You two need to forget about the Special Force,” he said firmly. “We have nothing to do with them anymore.”

The daughter in black snapped her head toward him. “How can you say that?” she demanded. “They killed our mother.”

The words came out sharp and raw, slicing through the calm atmosphere he was trying to maintain.

“They hunted us like animals,” she continued, her voice trembling with anger she had kept buried for too long. “They almost killed us too, and you expect us to just stay hidden forever?”

The father’s expression darkened. “I expect you to survive.”

“Survive for what?” the daughter in white asked quietly, stepping forward now, her calm exterior finally cracking. “To keep hiding while they play soldiers and decide who lives and who dies?”

“They aren’t saviors,” the one in black said bitterly. “They are just another group with guns.”

The father sighed deeply. “They might already be looking for us,” he said. “Every move we make risks exposing ourselves.”

“We don’t care,” the daughter in black snapped. “Let them come.”

The girl in white nodded slowly, her eyes burning with resolve now. “We escaped once. We can do it again.”

The father looked at both of them, seeing the fire in their eyes, the same fire their mother once had, and for a moment, his resolve wavered.

“The apocalypse doesn’t need more blood,” he said quietly. “People don’t deserve more suffering.”

“People don’t deserve what they did to her either,” the one in black replied, her voice low and deadly calm.

She turned away from him, walking toward the back of the cottage without another word, and after a brief hesitation, the daughter in white followed, leaving the father standing alone in the dim room, surrounded by memories he could no longer outrun.

Outside, Nina walked steadily into the trees, unaware that the choice she had made was already setting several paths into motion, paths that would soon collide with the Special Force, with Ethan, and with the truth behind who was truly making the apocalypse worse.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep