Chapter 311: The People Left Behind

Evan could hear the crowd before he reached the entry hall.

The sound came from a viewing room beyond the courtyard, where an earlier attempt was playing. He could not make out words. Someone cheered, others joined, and then the sound faded as the official closed the door behind the next team.

Nella handed him a cup of water.

"Drink before we go."

He drank. Jory and Kelan were arguing quietly about whether the sling belonged at the top of the pack or tied outside it. Bram ended the discussion by putting it where either could reach it without opening the bag. Their registration receipt lay on the official’s table, dry and slightly worn at the corners.

The official checked their names and asked whether they understood the withdrawal rule. Evan answered for himself, then waited while each companion did the same. He liked that more than being allowed to speak for all five. Everyone had chosen to stand here.

Beyond the gate, the ruined settlement waited.

They had not watched completed attempts or received descriptions of the course. Their appointment instructions had made that restriction clear, and the public views were delayed until the relevant entrants had finished. They had the same booklet, supplied map, and starting information as the morning teams.

Evan read the survivor count once more. Eight. Six needed.

When the gate opened, he stepped through beside Bram.

Their first mistake was walking toward the obvious voice without checking the side lane. A creature burst from behind a broken fence and struck Evan’s shield hard enough to drive him into the wall. He held, but Kelan had already turned toward the window. Bram pulled him back before the second attacker reached them.

The fight was short and untidy. They won it together, using more room than the narrow lane offered and discovering that a pack could catch on a doorframe at exactly the wrong moment. Nella checked Evan’s shoulder while Jory freed the trapped strap.

"We move when everyone is ready." Bram said.

Nobody argued.

The woman inside could walk. Her injured arm needed binding, and she wanted news of her brother. Nella asked questions while working. Jory wrote the answers on the supplied map: bakery, cellar, wagons. He marked a small circle beside each uncertain location rather than treating everything they heard as confirmed.

They took her back at once. It felt slow, escorting one person such a short distance, but Evan watched the receiving attendant count her and understood why the credit came here. Finding someone and walking away was not a rescue.

At the bakery, Bram noticed the damaged stair before stepping onto it. They had no easy way to lift a man through a window from above. Instead, Jory and Kelan braced a board across the weak landing while Evan supported the man down the safe side. Nella guided his injured ankle past the broken step.

They reached the lower room with everyone breathing hard. Six minutes of careful work had prevented a fall that would have cost far more. The man asked about his sister, and Evan could give him a definite answer.

"She’s at the shelter."

That changed the man’s face. Evan would remember it later, although he knew Max had created the course. In the moment, the relief belonged to someone he was helping move.

Two received. More than half an hour gone.

They reached the cellar by a passage Jory found behind a house. It was awkward but quiet. Nella examined both people inside and made the same hard distinction she had practiced with the dummy: one could be helped along, and one needed a level board. They could not carry both through the narrow passage without opening more space.

"We open the wall." Bram said.

He pointed to loose infill beneath a window. It was not a main support. Kelan checked the other side, Jory passed him tools, and they worked while Evan held the cellar approach. The creatures did not attack all at once. They tested the street, withdrew when he faced them, and returned when he looked away.

Evan kept his shield steady and called what he saw. Bram did not leave the wall at every warning. That trust let the work continue. When a pair finally rushed, Jory joined Evan long enough to drive them back. The opening was ready before a larger group gathered.

They took the walking survivor first, using the inside passage. Then all five returned for the board. Moving it through the new gap took less than a minute. Nella watched the injured man’s breathing while they carried him, and Evan stayed behind the others until the last corner was clear.

Four received. Fifty-three minutes remained.

Bram put a mark beside the wall they had opened. It looked different now, with the carrying board no longer filling the gap. Jory added an arrow toward the shelter so they could find it from either direction. He drew it on their own map rather than the building; nobody wanted to rely on a mark a creature might cover or a falling shutter might hide. Evan watched them and realized how much of their remaining chance depended on remembering work they had already done. He checked the corner once more before following Nella back to reception.

At the shelter, Nella made them eat a little and refill their flasks. Jory wanted to keep moving. She pointed out that he had begun missing simple words when writing the map. He ate while looking irritated, then corrected bakery into a word that actually looked like bakery.

The fifth survivor sat behind a jammed door. While Bram and Kelan cleared it, Evan heard distant shouting from the north row. He resisted leaving to investigate. They had agreed on how far anyone could separate, and he could not hold a street he had not even seen.

The woman told them about the pinned man and the two beyond the square. Jory marked both. She could walk without support, so he escorted her back while the rest secured the next house. They stayed within calling distance and waited for his return before lifting the beam.

The pinned man’s leg was badly hurt. Nella needed time to prepare him. Evan and Bram held the weight while Kelan slid a support beneath it. Jory watched the entrance. This was close enough to their practice that their hands knew where to go before anyone finished giving instructions.

They brought him out with thirty-one minutes remaining.

Six received. Qualified.

Evan set his shield beside the bench and flexed his fingers. They had a place in the next round if they stopped. The official did not urge them onward. Nella checked the trapped man’s dressing while Jory read their notes.

"The north pair were shouting after a roof fell." He said. "And the man in the cellar said one had been repairing a chimney."

Evan looked at the map. They had written that detail down without knowing it would matter. A fallen roof and a chimney gave them a better starting point than searching the whole row.

"Can we get there?" He asked.

Bram considered the supplies and remaining light. "We can look. Decide when we see it."

They took the brace they had used in the cellar. Kelan complained about the weight, then carried it without asking someone else to. The north street had more creatures than their first approach, and Evan could not simply run through them. They used the houses, opened a second shutter, and reached the chimney building with twenty-three minutes left.

One survivor called from above. Another answered weakly from below. Nella looked through the collapsed floor and told everyone to stop walking until she understood where the weight rested.

The upper survivor could reach a neighboring roof if given a secure line. The lower one needed the chimney supported before his arm could be freed. Evan saw both tasks competing for the same people and felt the clock in his throat.

"Bram and Kelan, brace below." Nella said. "Jory, line with me. Evan, keep this room clear."

He wanted to help with the weight. His place was the doorway. He set his shield, listened to the work behind him, and faced the creatures entering the lane.

They came in scattered rushes. Evan did not chase the ones that withdrew. He saved his strength for holding ground and called before he needed help. Jory left the line just long enough to stop a creature climbing through the window, then returned when Nella said the upper survivor was ready.

The brace below slipped once. Bram stopped, reset the foot on a solid board, and tested it again. They lost precious time and kept the chimney standing. Kelan fed a second support through the gap. The injured man cried out as the beam moved, then Nella was beside him, freeing the arm and checking that nothing else had been trapped.

Twelve minutes remained when the upper survivor reached the neighboring room.

Nine when the lower man lay on the board.

They could not use the shortest lane. Creatures blocked it, and Evan’s shield arm trembled every time he raised it. Jory pointed toward the opening they had made earlier. They had left it clear. The route was longer, but they knew every turn.

Bram and Kelan carried the board. Nella helped the woman. Evan guarded the rear with Jory close enough to cover his blind side. They moved at the best pace they could keep without jarring the injured man. Evan stopped checking the time because each glance cost attention he needed for the next corner.

At the shelter, the attendant stepped forward before they called. Hands took the board. Nella guided the woman past the line, then turned to count her own companions.

The clock stopped with two minutes and a few seconds left.

"Eight survivors received." The official said.

Kelan sat down exactly where he stood. Jory tried to sit beside him and discovered a water flask beneath his coat. Bram leaned against the shelter post. Evan lowered his shield, missed the bench, and placed it carefully on the ground instead.

Nella finished checking their hands before reading the result.

"All eight." Jory said.

"I heard."

She sat beside him and held out her own flask. It was empty. Jory passed her his without comment.

Through the receiving room window, Evan could see the siblings sitting together. The man whose arm they had freed had his eyes closed, but the attendant was speaking to him and he answered. Evan let his head rest against the wall until Bram nudged his boot.

"Come on. We need to return the board."

Evan looked down at the borrowed carrying board, still beside the doorway. He and Bram lifted it together, set it on the storage rack, and checked that its straps had not been damaged. Only then did he take the folded result from the official.