What… are you doing?

Adam's fingers were still deep inside Susan's throat when she collapsed, her dead weight pulling him down with her. He let himself be dragged to the stone floor, his hand sliding free from her mouth with a wet sound that echoed through the dungeon.

He stared at her unconscious form sprawled beneath him. Blood trickled from her damaged eye, mixing with saliva and vomit around her mouth.

Adam really only looked away when he saw her chest rise and fall in shallow, ragged breaths.

What are you doing?!

A hundred thoughts crashed through Adam's mind at once. The women chained in the cells. The smugglers who brought the eggs. The Hospital hunting him. The rest of Susan's gang surely waiting somewhere above.

How many people she'd tortured. How many she'd killed before.

But as soon as he finally pulled his mangled fingers free, wiping them on his torn shirt, only a single thought remained burning in his skull. Burning, because the thought had been running in his mind non-stop.

She's still alive, Adam! What are you doing?!

He glanced at Susan, and a rough, gurgling breath escaped his throat. Her chest heaved as her body fought to recover from being deprived of one of life's basic necessities.

Adam! This is your only chance to—

He didn't finish his thoughts at all. When he saw the slight movement on her lips, he took and a step back, and then with force, connected his boot straight toward her chin.

The impact rocked her head to the side, and along with it, her brain. She was still alive, of course, but her lips were no longer moving and her breaths were shallower now.

Kill her, Adam! The voice screamed inside his head again. You will save more lives by killing her! How many people has she tortured? How many more innocents will die because you chose to show mercy?

Adam shook his head violently, pressing his palms against his temples. The voice continued its relentless assault, but he forced himself to focus on something else. Anything else.

He grabbed Susan by the ankles and began dragging her across the cold stone floor. He didn't even care as her head bounced against the uneven surface as he pulled her limp body out of the destroyed cell.

Her body scraped lazily across the corridor, leaving a thin trail of blood from her damaged eye. Adam's own wounds had already healed, but exhaustion weighed on him like chains. Each step felt heavier than the last.

When he reached the cell where the trafficked women were kept, all of them immediately whimpered and backed away as far as their chains would allow. The metal clanged against stone as they pressed themselves into the farthest corners.

How could they not, when Adam looked the way he did and was carelessly carrying a woman inside their cell?

They all flinched when Adam dropped Susan's feet. The unconscious woman's legs hit the ground with a dull thud that made the women gasp.

They were about to cry out in terror, thinking this blood-covered boy had come to hurt them too. But then they finally realized who he was dragging. Another gasp escaped their lips—it was the woman who had tortured them, who had laughed at their suffering as she ordered her men to violate them.

The woman who didn't allow them to just die and put them in a fate worse than death.

And slowly, light began to return to their eyes.

The women looked at each other, their faces flushing with emotions they'd thought were dead. Hope. Relief. Something that might have been joy, if they could remember what that felt like.

Eventually, they did cry and wail. But these tears were different.

Adam knelt beside the unconscious Susan, patting down her clothes carefully. He searched her jacket pockets, her pants, anywhere she might keep keys. He stopped from time to time, breathing heavily as he wiped the drying blood from his face.

It was obvious to the woman that he was tired, but when Adam caught the eye of the young girl, he continued to search Susan for a key.

But alas, he found nothing.

"Great…" He groaned, standing up slowly as she glanced at the women. His body had already fully recovered, and he wasn't even tired at all, at least physically. His mind, however, was a different matter altogether.

…Or perhaps it was the halothane. But it didn't matter now.

He kicked Suan in the head again, keeping her brain rattled and concussed so that she wouldn't wake up anytime soon for good measure. The women in chains watched this with satisfaction burning in their eyes. They strained against their bonds, wanting to strike her themselves, but couldn't reach her.

Adam sighed and turned toward the exit. The women's eyes widened in panic that Adam would leave them there.

"Wh—" one of them started to call out.

But Adam looked back at them and quietly pressed a finger to his lips. His eyes were gentle despite the blood covering his face. He shushed them, not saying a word at all as he walked away.

The women watched his shadow grow longer across the corridor as he climbed the stone steps. They looked at each other, fear creeping back into their expressions.

They couldn't hear anything anymore, and when they glanced at Susan, they worried she might wake up. And right when they began to wonder if they'd been left behind after all, they heard the first gunshot.

It was a little quiet, but they were sure it was a gunshot.

No—several gunshots, echoing from the steps. Muffled screaming followed, then more gunshots.

They had no idea what was happening, but soon, dust began falling from the ceiling as the entire structure shook.

What… exactly was happening up there?

This continued for what felt like an eternity but was probably only a minute. Then everything went silent.

More seconds passed. And soon, footsteps echoed down the corridor, growing closer.

The women huddled together as much as their chains allowed, terrified of who might appear. When the owner of those footsteps finally showed himself, their fear transformed into something deeper.

It was Adam. But now, once again covered with fresh blood, and his right hand was pressed against his eye. Not over it—inside it.

The women gasped as they watched Adam move his finger inside his eye. The sound it made made them… squirm. He pulled his finger out, and something small clinked against the stone floor.

The women looked down, only to see a bullet spinning on the ground.

That wasn't the clanging that caught most of their attention, however. It was the clanging whispering from his other hand—a set of keys.

Adam didn't waste any more time; he approached the woman closest to him, practically dropping from exhaustion. Still, he looked at her with those same gentle eyes and asked,

"Is it okay if I hold your hand?"

The woman gasped at this question, lightly biting her lip as she nodded several times. Adam knew exactly what this woman had gone through, and even with her permission, he was extremely careful as he held her hand.

He didn't say anything else and inserted the key into the large lock attached to the cuffs around her wrist.

The woman let out a high-pitched yelp as the metal cuffs came free. Parts of her skin had grown attached to the iron, tearing away in small patches that began to bleed.

Adam looked at the wounds, closed his eyes, and sighed deeply. He didn't lament long. He started unbinding her completely—ankles and even the chain around her neck.

He was about to move to the next woman, but the one he had just freed grabbed his hand.

"I'll do it," she whispered, her voice hoarse. "Please… let me do it."

Adam only looked at her for a moment before nodding. He handed the keys and then walked toward Susan and sat on her back. He was going to kick her again, but there was probably no need to… for now.

A few minutes passed, and the women were all free. They hugged and cried for a full minute. When the oldest of them finally calmed down, she stood before Adam, completely naked. None of them seemed embarrassed by their nakedness—such concerns had been beaten out of them long ago.

"What… do we need to do?" she asked with a firm look in her eyes.

Adam looked only at her face.

"Go up with the others, there are clothes there ready for all of you," he said. "It should be safe, but don't go too far."

"Go… go up?" The woman hesitated, but when she saw how gently Adam was looking at her, what other choice did she have but to trust him?

She gathered the others, making sure to help the youngest ones who could barely stand.

As soon as the women disappeared up the stairs, Adam groaned and stood up. He grabbed one of the heavy chains they'd been freed from, feeling the warm metal.

And, with empty eyes, he slowly stared down at the unconscious Susan.

There's still a chance she might free herself with her strength. You know what she'll do if she escapes.

But Adam shook his head.

"I have a way to tie her up where she won't be able to exert that much force."

He began wrapping the chains around her wrists, positioning her arms above her head, and her back lay flat on the floor.

"Let the police find her," he whispered to himself as he grabbed another cuff for her legs.

The police?! You think that's enough to—

"Or if she's unlucky…

…the Hospital will find her first."

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