Today I would see if I could convince Jorge not to accompany him, but it wouldn't be easy without raising suspicions as Mike was probably looking for. Although first, I had to know what it was about. Why lie to Jorge?

"Mike needs to communicate some words to me and I am willing to listen." I said.

"Yes, no problem, come with me." Jorge replied.

We went out into the hallway of the apartment.

"Well, any doubts you have?" Mike asked, checking that Jorge or Oxana were not spying on the other side of the corner.

"What do you need to show me? I wouldn't want to miss my daily ration."

"You will miss it, but you won't go hungry. I have food for you, and I'm sure you'll go unnoticed. Listen to me, you must convince Jorge not to accompany me. This is very important, and they require more like you. These have been difficult days, but this will give you faith. I don't know if you know what faith means."

"It's a synonym for hope, among other things. What about it?"

"With the suppression field, we won't last two years. We have less time than I thought, and we're on borrowed time."

"If hope is what you want to convey to me, you should show it to others, not to me."

His face changed to one of disappointment.

"I would like to explain everything now, but the walls aren't that thick, if you know what I mean." Mike said.

"No, I don't understand."

"The combines, you know, they always listen."

"I doubt there's anything that can change that."

"There's a place, believe me. That's where I want to take you. Now go in and tell Jorge, but don't let him suspect that you're going with me to the place I go when I 'walk'. Do you understand? Please don't disappoint me."

As we re-entered the room, we began to hear the voice of the overwatch voice system speaking:

"Attention residents: Viral infection in this community. Isolation now in effect, a control group is on its way to confine the sick. Please stay in your location. Code: Block, cauterize, stabilize."

Jorge and Oxana looked up at the ceiling to listen better.

"Citizen notice: Priority identification check in progress. Rebellion against confinement will result in permanent off-world relocation. Please obey the instructions of civil protection team."

"Have you heard that nonsense?! It's just to see what to do with us! Not to mention disappearing us or...something worse. We have to act now!" Jorge exclaimed, worriedly looking out the windows.

"If they wanted to find suspects, they would do it directly. They don't need to make up that. I've seen how they do it." Mike replied.

"What have you seen? Living in obedience without questioning anything? You know what? I'm not debating with you right now. It's obvious that they know not everyone has a lack of common sense like you do." Jorge retorted.

"With all the portals that brought extraterrestrial life, the truth is that it wouldn't be impossible for several diseases that we didn't know about to appear." Oxana said.

"Are you serious? What makes you think that 'the benefactors' are not hiding something from us? How do you think viruses will survive in our world, and how do you know if the methods they use are not placebos to experiment on us?" Jorge asked.

"Jorge, I studied..."

In that moment, the creaking of the front door being forced open could be heard, one of the few that were still intact.

"Don't tell me it's this building!" Oxana pleaded, trembling with fear.

"There's no way to know, but it seems like it is." Jorge replied.

The sound of boots filling the room started to be heard, it wasn't just one, it was several.

"Everyone, stay calm!" Mike ordered as he searched for something in the drawers.

Tuck tuck tuck, the door was being knocked on.

"Should we open it?" Oxana asked.

"Give me a second!" Mike shouted.

"It's civil protection themselves, I don't think they're just here to..."

Oxana's analysis of the situation was interrupted by the sound of the door starting to be kicked.

Being silent was bad.

Screaming was worse.

"I'll open the door! If they keep doing that they'll break it down!" Jorge said alerted.

As he opened the door, civil protection charged in with brutal force, hitting Jorge who fell to the ground while covering his face. Oxana tried to surrender, raising her hands and kneeling before receiving an electric shock to the temple.

Mike and I kept going.

There were too many of them and I believed that resisting could be harmful to me and others.

"Zzzt!" was the last sound I heard, accompanied by a buzzing that didn't stop as the current moved through my entire body and my ears only heard a prolonged ringing.

I lost control of my limbs and fell unconscious.