“Enough.” Yuri said and the air tightened. Everyone froze. Rafa’s short, quick breaths were all that could be heard. Everyone turned to face where the sound of Yuri’s voice came from. All they could see was the end of his cigarette glowing bright red.

  Even when Yuri’s body was still cloaked in the darkness everyone could feel his unmistakable glare. Their chests began to tighten as if to guard Yuri from seeing their hearts.

  As Yuri emerged from the darkness he took one last inhale of his cigarette before crushing what was left between his index finger and thumb. The ashes and unburnt bit of paper fell freely to the floor. “You two. Come with me.” He said pointing at Michael and Zadkiel. Gab felt the room shift after realizing Yuri only called out the angels.

  Michael grunted until Rafa placed his hand on the angel’s shoulder. “We should probably do as he says.” Rafa whispered, trying desperately to keep the peace.

  Zadkiel hummed with curiosity as he floated over to Yuri and the three of them began to walk towards a set of doors.

  “Now I’m sure you’re all tired. Why don’t I show you to the barracks.” Mr. Hugo said. Levi noticed that Mr. Hugo wasn’t meeting anyones gaze anymore.

  Mr. Hugo stared at his watch as he walked towards the door. “It’s either we go and rest or keep sparing.” Levi said to Scarlet noticing she didn’t want to budge.

  Scarlet agreed and jogged to catch up with Mr. Hugo since he had already made it out of the room. She paused when the double door creaked open and she saw one of the bodies dead in the hallway. The unblinking eyes of the corpse stared her down.

  “Why must you keep the dead out in the open like this?” Scarlet sheepishly asked Mr. Hugo who stopped where he was in the hall and turned to one of the bodies and knelt down in front of it.

  “The red moss seems to feed off the living. It can only grow and expand its boundaries once it consumes and adds more members to its ranks.” Scarlet realized Mr. Hugo’s voice was exceptionally soft.

  The red moss on all the bodies in the hall began to synchronize. It was as if the beat they performed was rehearsed and with the pulse the moss spread across its next meal.

  “Yuri wanders the red zone for poor souls like these. The ones caught between death and rebirth. We find this a better death for them… Because after the red zone consumes you it spits an abomination out.” Mr. Hugo said and just like it was planned the hall was filled with the sound of each bodies bones being shattered by the moss.

  Gab saw Mr. Hugo’s hand tremble with the sound. The rest just saw him standing there for a moment before he cleared his throat and began to walk down the hall once more.

  “Fredrick!” Someone screamed from the back of the group. When they began to push past Rafa and Levi that’s when Gab recognized them as the person that was sparring with Mr. Hugo, the only person who was drafted that she knew nothing about.

  “I told you Emilio. You must refer to me as Mr. Hugo while we are here. Why don’t we remain in silence until we are at the barracks to show respect for these soldiers.” Mr. Hugo calmly explained. Emilio looked as if he had a thousand questions he still needed to ask but he took a deep breath and looked at the floor.

  Rafa began to feel as if the rest of the walk seemed to go on for an hour. An endless hallway that was lined with bodies. The sound of the red moss began to drain out any other sound for him.

  Rafa could’ve sworn he saw one of the bodies further down the hall twitch sending shivers through him. The body groaned as it slowly lifted itself off of the ground. It was a little girl who had red mist completely covering her face. Rafa could’ve sworn he had seen them before but knew that couldn’t be true considering where he was.

  “Mr. Hugo, look out!” Rafa screamed pulling Mr. Hugo behind him just to realize the body was not there.

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  “What has gotten into you!” Mr. Hugo said as he tugged his body from Rafa.

  “I… I saw one of the bodies get up.” Rafa tried to explain pointing at the body that did so. Mr. Hugo’s face said it all, that it hadn’t happened. Rafa looked to where he was pointing and it was the only spot along the wall that didn’t have a body.

  “Don’t say things like that! That couldn’t happen… right Mr. Hugo?” Scarlet tucked her arms close to her chest and covered her face not wanting to see the bodies anymore.

  “We should keep going.” Mr. Hugo pretended not to hear Scarlet’s question but kept his hand on his hip next to his holstered pistol.

  Rafa wanted to argue the fact that he was not crazy but Gab gently tugged at one of his hands which caused every thought to all of a sudden not matter anymore.

  Mr. Hugo stopped before a rusty door. A sign next to the door read ‘Room 428 - Science Lab.’ “Here we are. For the next few days this will be where you sleep. Cry. Pray. You should try and make yourselves at home.” He said swinging the door open.

  The lights in the room worked surprisingly well considering they weren’t flickering. There were several chairs and tables pushed together in the center of the room where several incomplete stacks of playing cards laid. Bunk beds that were neatly made lined the walls. A radio on the other side of the room, on-top of the old teachers desk, was playing some classical music.

  “You expect us to be able to sleep here? Won’t the girls get a different room?” Scarlet sighed refusing to step into the room.

  Rafa was the first to separate from the crowd. As he entered the room the lights began to flicker slightly and the radio cut out for a few moments before continuing. He could feel the room shift like a presence took a seat at the head of the classroom.

  “You should at least try to rest and no there is only this room.” Mr. Hugo sighed. He continued to look at his watch.

  “We can just run you know? There’s nothing holding us here. As soon as you turn your back I’ll be out those doors.” Scarlet threatened. Hugo laughed.

  “If you leave it won’t be us who will chase you down. Once the red moon lays its eyes on you there is no escape.” Mr. Hugo stuck his hand in his pocket and chuckled softly to himself some more as if he was now just getting a joke he had been trying to understand for some time now.

  Before Scarlet could argue more with him, Mr. Hugo pulled out a key chain that was full. “Now if you were to try and escape you should really have a plan to do so. Like if you go to the end of the hall, back the way we came. Take a left. Go to the courtyard where we park our vehicles. Maybe then you could take one of those and have a chance to run fast enough.” He said flipping through the keys on the ring. He began mouthing what number he was at which was 47 he then checked his watch one more time before the key ring slipped from his fingers and smacked the ground.

  Mr. Hugo picked up the key ring and that was when Scarlet was the first and only to realize he had left a key that had white tape around with the numbers ‘117’ written on it.

  “They give me so many keys to look after, it would be so easy to lose one. It’s a good thing we numbered them to understand what car they go to. Now if you’ll excuse me there’s a site wide meeting I must attend.” Mr. Hugo smiled after looking at his watch one last time.

  “Uncle… thank you.” Emilio called but Mr. Hugo kept his stride down the hall.

  “Please refer to me as Mr. Hugo.” He called back while wagging his finger.

  “Hey, what’s that!” Levi called out only after he saw Scarlet rushing to the entrance of the hall. She picked up the key and quickly put it in her pocket.

  “Be quiet and get over here!” Scarlet whispered back. She hurried in the classroom and took a seat at the table.

  Levi was taken away by the curiosity so he obeyed. Gab and Rafa stood on the other end of the table.

  “Didn’t you catch it? He is trying to help us escape. We just have to follow the route he explained.” Scarlet smiled. The only person in the room who had a disapproving look was Rafa.

  “You can’t be serious? You think breaking orders is the way to survive? You think Mr. Hugo would risk his job and life to do so?” Rafa argued. Gab noticed his voice rising slightly in pitch and his breaths grew shorter and more rapid.

  “For me he would. And by extension you four as well.” Emilio said as he joined them at the table. Rafa heard the uncle comment but could never have guessed it would’ve lead to something like this.

  The room grew silent. Everyone was too afraid to admit they wanted to escape. They knew that even if they made it back home they were already considered dead. But they also knew they would die if they stayed.

  “You’ll have to think your uncle for us. Now we should go while they are all occupied right?” Gab smiled at Emilio. Rafa’s breath paused for just a moment.

  “We should go, right? I do want to see my family again.” Levi looked softly at the table.

  Rafa’s chest tightened. He stumbled backwards a few steps as the room begun to spin. “Who…” The word barely formed. At once everyone looked up at Rafa except their eyes were missing.

  He dropped to his knees. The radio began to distort and spout out static. The light in the room began to shatter one at a time until the one above Rafa was left.

  “Who are you?” Rafa gasped for air. The darkness that surrounded him swallowed his voice. Only a little girls laughter was returned.

  Her bones began to snap as Scarlet moved her head slightly. “Rafael Morales.” Instead of the voice he expected he heard his father’s.

  “I taught you better than this. You know you can’t break the rules.” Scarlet’s mouth remained open but still refused to move with the words.

  “Yes. I… I know that dad.” Rafa stammered, his words were working against his.

  “You remember rules are there for a reason right? They are there to protect you.” The father’s voice grew stern. The flames began to crawl around the room but nothing caught fire. The flames caused Rafa to sweat.

  Tears ran down Rafa’s face. “I remember!” He pleaded. The flames began to surround Rafa.

  “You know if you break the rules someone could even die.” Rafa already had those words burned into his mind. The fire grew in size. The flames shifted, forming into a smile that was replaced by the smile of the little girl Rafa saw before.

  “I won’t!” Rafa screamed. The room grew silent. A pair of hands held onto Rafa tightly. But instead of pain they caused him comfort once he saw they were Gab’s.

  “You’re ok. Breath.” Gab said. Her eyes were filled with tears and worry but she smiled for him. Rafa matched his breathing with hers.