At that moment, horror swept through everyone's hearts.
The monsters surged from the upper floors like a flood, their voices mangled, their movements uncoordinated, yet swift and lethal.
There was no time to think.
The residents began to scream; some ran aimlessly, while others fell before taking a single step.
Blood was being shed, bodies were thrown to the ground, and screams were stifled in the air.
Sam retreated quickly, pulling Layla back by her hand.
His face was cold… but inside, he was screaming.
His heart was pounding violently, and his breath was disturbed, yet he did not allow anything to appear on his features.
Nicholas shouted at the top of his lungs: — Everyone to the ground floor! Quickly!
Sam did not wait for anyone.
He grabbed Layla's hand and rushed with her through the corridors until they reached the guard's room.
Victor entered with them, along with a pregnant woman named Sasa, a boy named Neil, old Nicholas, Saz, a girl named Emma, and Park.
Sam closed the door forcefully, turned the lock, then pushed a metal cabinet in front of it.
Outside… the screams continued.
Some residents fell, their lives violated, while the door remained closed.
A heavy silence prevailed inside the room.
Nicholas said in a trembling voice: — My God… their number is so large.
Park replied, panting: — Yes… more than the government expected.
Victor suddenly turned to Sam, his voice trembling with anger and fear together: — Aside from all this… you, boy.
— How did you get this weapon?
— And how are you still alive?
Sam looked at him calmly: — Do you mean me?
Victor shouted: — And who else?
— Who else survived death here?
— And who else… besides Nicholas, carries a weapon?
Sam said coldly: — Oh, this weapon?
— A resident gave it to me from his apartment.
— As for my survival… I escaped in the last seconds.
Victor exploded in anger: — You are a bastard!
Saz tried to intervene: — Stop! This is not the time for fighting—
But Victor pushed him violently and took a step toward Sam.
Emma said suddenly, in a cold and firm tone: — Enough, both of you.
— We have an injured person here.
She pointed to Layla.
Then she added: — And we have a pregnant woman there.
— So do not let your manhood go to waste… especially since there are only four men here.
A short silence followed.
Sasa said calmly while looking at Layla: — I can treat this wound, or at least examine it.
Layla said tensely: — No… I don't want to, thank you.
Then she turned to Sam: — Thank you, Sam… if it weren't for you, I wouldn't be alive now.
Sam said coldly: — Just returning the favor.
Then he raised his gaze to Emma and said: — You are almost the only conscious one here.
She looked at him in surprise.
He continued: — I noticed that the monsters move according to the Neutral Organic Network strategy.
Park asked anxiously: — What do you mean?
Sam said, his voice calm but sharp: — This is a strategy that does not fight the enemy directly, nor does it clash with its center of power.
— Rather, it transforms the entire conflict environment into a living system…
— Like a forest, or coral reefs.
Everyone looked at him in astonishment.
He followed: — You do not try to destroy the enemy, but you surround it like a connective tissue.
— You drain its morale and make it feel that victory… is empty, meaningless.
He said in a more dangerous tone: — It is one of the most dangerous known strategies.
Nicholas asked anxiously: — And how do we create a strategy like this?
Sam raised his head, his eyes shining: — We do not create it.
He paused for a moment.
Then he said: — Rather… we reverse it.
A heavy silence prevailed inside the room.
And outside, the monsters were drawing closer.