Chapter 8 - Unlocked

I don't know how long we ran but by the time we reached the clearing of the forest, the stars above us had already begun to fade.

In a few moments, the entire base and its inhabitants would wake up and the risk of exposure would dangerously increase.

"If you get caught on camera or if someone sees you, it will be over.”

Our caretaker insisted extremely on this. "Do not get caught!"

She had repeated it to me so often that I began to hear it in my dreams. And of course, she couldn't have been more right about her warnings.

The moment someone sees us, there will be no more freedom, no more new smells and sensations. No more new sincere smiles and bright faces full of hope and happiness. No, only a cold and harsh reality would remain.

Fortunately, thanks to some extraordinary luck, nobody followed us since our escaped from the lab. And that's saying something giving we were more than two hundred children running barefoot across twigs and leaves...not an incredibly quiet combination, I assure you.

Anyway, thanks to that stroke of luck - that certainly didn't come from me - we managed to arrive safely and undisturbed at the border between the forest and the inhabited region.

Remaining underneath the foliage of the trees, seeking cover and protection from their shadows, we looked around for an old building. Our caretaker had said that the orphanage should be just outside the forest.

The first rays of sunlight were already starting to illuminate the skies and the shadows cast by the trees took on a darker shade.

Shit.

Finally, I heard Big Bro's voice coming from my left.

"I think I've found it!!"

Hurrying to his side, I looked at the house he was pointing at...or what remained of it.

It was made entirely out of wood, which was, to say the least, unusual and extremely rare. Nowadays, bases only offer housing built out of concrete and, occasionally, bricks.

The roof was covered with grass and wild plants. I didn't really know if it was part of the style or if wilderness had somehow managed to grow up there.

The few windows that could be seen were mostly broken. Wooden planks seemed to have been hastily screwed in to patch up and mend the holes in the best way they possibly could with the little material at their disposition.

All in all, the supposed orphanage looked no less than an abandoned house. The haunted kind.

As I was still closely observing the exterior of the building, a few kids had already begun running towards it, failing to contain their excitement any longer.

Before I had the time to call them back, a little girl was already walking on the streets, heading straight to the orphanage's doors.

No, no, no, why must this happen now? We are so close, SO close to everything we ever wished for.

I turned around, whispering as loudly as I could.

"Listen, the kid who dares to take a single step outside the forest will have me to deal with later. Big Bro, I'm counting on you to keep them all here. Do not come out until I say so. I'll try getting those runaway kids back before they get spotted by unwelcome eyes."

I dashed after them and managed to reach the first two kids. I grabbed them by their ears and immediately sent them back to the others. The three remaining kids were already out in the open.

I couldn't scream, couldn't make a sound. If someone heard me and saw them..."it will be over." Fortunately, it was still early, so most of the inhabitants should be fast asleep.

As soon as I began to think about the next step to take, an elder woman with a little chihuahua on a leash came out of her apartment's door. From where she stood, she couldn't yet see them but as soon as she turned the corner, "it will be over."

I could never make it in time. I should have sent a kid with higher stats after them.

I am so stupid. I am so useless. I should have never taken them with me and risked their lives. Now their deaths and sufferings will be on me.

I felt like I was falling into an endless abyss. My vision began to blur, my conscience slowly leaving me.

What does all this matter anyway. Useless ones are meant to be used and discarded. We shouldn't even have been born to start with. It is better to end this suffering as quickly as possible.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my head. I closed my eyes and covered my head with my hands, but the pain didn't seem to subside.

A scene flashed before my eyes.

It was foggy, as if I were looking at it through a blurred lens. But it felt strangely familiar, nostalgic even. The feeling of warm hands gently caressing my cheeks, a blurred figure bending down on me, placing a feather-like kiss on my forehead. And a voice. A voice so sweet and loving that it immediately brought tears to my eyes.

"We need to go now my babies but do not worry. We will be back before you can say the word "protoceratops"."

The figure's sparkling laughter echoed in my ears as the voices of two young girls had attempted, and failed miserably, to repeat the challenging word.

"Now remember my loves\, especially you ****\, whatever may happen in the future\, whatever anyone may say\, nobody deserves to be treated as anything less than a person in their own rights. Because worth cannot be measured with numbers and scales. Worth\, my little ones\, worth comes from within."

I felt the ghost of a hand placing itself on my heart. I lifted my head, hoping to finally be able to discern the features of the owner of that heart wrenchingly loving voice, but to my great chagrin, nobody was there. I could only see three children walking towards an old building and an elderly woman with a chihuahua on a leash about to turn the corner of her street.

Children. Woman. Chihuahua.

I hate chihuahuas-- BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT NOW IS IT?!?

I could feel my own consciousness beating my thoughts to a pulp. Yeah, I should focus on the crisis ahead...which is to make sure that chihuahua doesn't bite my ass off with his scary little teeth----- errrr, I mean, making sure my little brothers and sister do not get caught by the woman AND her creepy chihuahua. Yes, that was it.

Worth comes from within. I'm not useless.

Worth comes from within. We should never have been treated like tools and lab rats just to satisfy the twisted desires of those disgusting humans.

Worth comes from within. I'm going to destroy them, from Father down to the very last cook.

Worth comes from within. I'm going to protect everything I hold dear.

Worth comes from within. Never again shall I let my loved ones and myself suffer. Who cares about stats and skills. I'm me and nobody can take that away from me. I'll show them all what a 0 stats sixteen-year-old loser girl can do.

Prepare to burn in the deepest depths of hell you f*ckers.

CLICK

[CONGRATULATION ON THE AWAKENING OF YOUR FIRST SKILL "DESTROYER OF WORLDS". YOU HAVE OBTAINED THE NEW TITLE "CANDIDATE OF MOONS SOVEREIGN" AND GAIGNED ONE LEVEL.

YOU HAVE TEMPORARILY OBTAINED THE NAME OF "SELENA".

AS A NAME HOLDER, YOU ARE EXPECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE NEXT EXPEDITION.

GOOD LUCK BRAVE CHALLENGER, MAY YOUR PATH BE FILLED WITH NOTHING BUT TRIOMPHS.]

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