Chapter 261: Evacuation

Kilian had already divided his men before he reached the western side of Climber Rift.

The settlement was not built like a normal town where streets ran neatly between rows of houses; most of the buildings clung to the canyon walls, connected by narrow paths, staircases, bridges, and old platforms that had been built wherever the rock allowed.

Evacuating everyone from one side therefore meant more than simply telling people to leave.

Someone had to knock on every door, guide them toward the safer routes, and make sure nobody decided to stay behind because they were too frightened to leave their home.

"If anything changes, one of you goes straight for the siren," Kilian instructed while looking over his men.

"Don’t wait for me to tell you twice. If this gets worse, I want the whole settlement moving before we lose the chance."

One of them nodded. "Even if Jade hasn’t given the order?"

Kilian hesitated for a moment before answering, "If it reaches that point, I’ll take responsibility for it. Until then, follow the plan and keep people calm."

He hated saying that because it meant he was already preparing to disobey Jade if necessary.

She had good reasons for avoiding a full evacuation, but fifteen minutes had already passed, and every minute they spent waiting made him more uncomfortable.

He was still considering whether to send another message when someone approached from the direction of the mine.

The man was wearing unfamiliar equipment, but Kilian immediately recognized the insignia of the personnel Gideon had in his territory.

"You’re Kilian?"

"Yes. What happened?"

The soldier looked exhausted. There was blood dried along one side of his coat, and his breathing was still uneven as though he had been running for a long time.

"The situation underground is worse than we thought. The hive mind is inside the mine."

Kilian’s expression tightened. "How bad?"

"It can imitate voices. Commander Gideon thought the walkie-talkie was malfunctioning, but it wasn’t. Something on the other end was answering us using voices we recognized."

The soldier swallowed before continuing. "It can also affect what you see. Visual hallucinations. People, places, things that aren’t really there."

Kilian’s narrowed his eyes, it wasn’t something new. But still the way he addressed the message made his grip tightened around his rifle.

"Anything else?"

The soldier looked toward the western buildings before lowering his voice. "It can mimic aberrants too. Not just people. The infected seem to carry information back to it, and it uses that information to create something similar."

"I fought one on the way here... its body was completely covered in that white parasite growth."

Now, that information is new. It means they need more men. If the hivemind was able to mimic aberrants, it could send the army of monsters to attack Climber Rift.

Kilian stared at him for several seconds before finally nodding.

"Go find Jade."

"Where and her appearance?"

"She might be at the market. If you don’t find her there, keep looking until someone can tell you where she went... she has long bright red hair, hazel eyes, wearing our uniform. You know when you see her."

The soldier nodded.

"And tell her I need authorization to activate the siren."

He hesitated.

"Don’t argue with her," Kilian added. "Just give her the message exactly as I said it. If she still refuses, then come back and tell me."

The soldier saluted quickly before running off.

Kilian watched him disappear between the buildings before turning back toward his men.

"Enough waiting. Move."

The teams separated almost immediately, each taking a different section of the western settlement.

Kilian moved with his men, knocking hard on every door and repeating the same order until his voice began to grow hoarse.

"Everyone out! Take only what you can carry and follow the marked route toward the eastern platforms. Keep moving and don’t stop on the stairs!"

Some doors opened immediately, with frightened faces appearing behind them, while others took several knocks before anyone answered.

Questions came from almost every direction.

"What’s happening?"

"Why do we have to leave?"

"Is there another attack?"

"Where are we supposed to go?"

Kilian barely had time to answer them. "We’re checking the western side because of the recent attacks. Just leave the building and follow the others. We’ll explain everything once you’re somewhere safe."

The evacuation quickly became chaotic.

The narrow platforms could barely accommodate two or three people walking beside each other, and once dozens of residents began moving through them at once, everyone started getting in everyone else’s way.

Parents dragged their children along while carrying bags over their shoulders, elderly residents struggled down the stairs, and people who had never used the evacuation route before kept stopping to ask where they were supposed to go.

Then the snow started coming down harder.

The wind swept through the canyon and threw snow across the platforms, covering the already slippery wooden boards and stone steps.

People slipped, shouted, and grabbed whatever railing they could find. A woman screamed when someone behind her nearly knocked her child over, and another voice immediately shouted for everyone to stop pushing.

"Keep moving!" Kilian yelled over them. "Don’t stop on the stairs! Move toward the eastern platform!"

His men tried to maintain some order, but they were fighting the same conditions as everyone else.

One soldier had to help an old man down three flights of stairs while another held back a group that had started moving against the flow because they had forgotten something inside their homes.

Kilian kept looking at the time.

Every minute felt heavier than the last.

They were evacuating people, but they were doing it too slowly.

The settlement’s strange construction, which had once protected them from the wilderness below, was now working against them.

Every staircase became a bottleneck. Every narrow bridge forced people to move one after another.

Every frightened resident who stopped to ask a question cost them another few precious seconds.

"Come on," Kilian muttered under his breath as he watched another group struggle through the snow. "Move, move..."

He hated himself for thinking it, but he wanted to grab them all and throw them toward safety himself.

There simply wasn’t enough time.

By the time Kilian reached the last section assigned to his team, most of the houses were finally empty.

The residents were still moving toward the eastern side in a disorganized stream, some crying, some arguing, and others simply staring around in confusion as though they still couldn’t understand why they had been forced out of their homes.

Kilian watched them disappear into the snowfall before finally letting out a breath.

At least they were moving. For now, that had to be enough.

Kilian finally allowed himself to breathe once the last group from his section disappeared into the snowfall.

He looked over the list again, then toward the empty houses behind him, making sure there wasn’t anyone still waiting inside before asking, "How many left?"

His nearest man checked the names one more time. "None in this section, sir. Everyone has been accounted for."

"Good. Contact the others and see how far they’ve gotten."

The soldier raised his walkie-talkie while Kilian waited, but instead of an answer, only static came through the speaker.

"West Three, report," Kilian said, taking the radio from him. He waited several seconds before trying again. "West Three, this is Kilian. What’s your situation?"

Nothing came back.

His uneasiness immediately returned. He changed the channel and tried another group, but West Four answered with the same silence.

Kilian stared at the walkie-talkie for a moment, his fingers tightening around it as the possibility he had been trying not to consider began taking shape.

"Everyone, we’re going down. Stay together."

They started descending through the narrow platforms, but the evacuation had made the route even more difficult to navigate.

People were still moving through the snow, some carrying children while others struggled with bags, and Kilian’s men had to squeeze against the walls to let them pass.

He kept urging everyone forward while trying to descend quickly himself, but the crowd and slippery steps made every movement slower than he wanted.

They had barely reached the next platform when a woman suddenly rushed toward them, almost colliding with one of Kilian’s men.

"Wait!" Kilian caught her by the arm before she could stumble over the edge. "What’s wrong? Why are you running?"

"I don’t know!" she cried, pointing toward one of the nearby houses. "There was screaming inside. Something was breaking things. I heard someone calling for help!"

Kilian followed her trembling finger and immediately noticed the thin trail of blood running from beneath the doorway.

His stomach tightened.

"Stay here. Get the others moving."

He drew his rifle and approached the house with two of his men behind him. The door was already half-open, and the moment Kilian pushed it wider, the metallic smell of blood reached him through the cold air.

One of his soldiers was lying inside.

Kilian recognized him immediately.

The man had been assigned to another section only minutes earlier, yet now his body lay twisted against the wall, his weapon still hanging from his hand as though he had never even had the chance to use it.

Nobody spoke behind Kilian.

He slowly lowered his gaze toward the floor.

Something white had begun spreading between the wooden boards, thin strands slipping through the cracks and curling across the room like roots searching for something.

Kilian’s face went pale as the pieces finally connected.

Whatever was inside that mine was already climbing upward.

Kilian turned to the men behind him and giving order silently and sharp, "both of you, go down as fast as possible. Don’t stop, don’t try to help. If you suspect infected trying to sabotage your movement, shoot them." He paused, "move silently to the siren. Do you understand?"