Chapter 37: Suspicion and Secrets
"That was... absolutely incredible, man," Christopher said as we descended the stairs to the fourth floor of the main building, his voice filled with genuine awe and excitement. "I mean, seriously incredible."
"You think so?" I asked, attempting to sound casual while internally cringing at how unconvincing I probably sounded.
"Are you kidding me? I swear I’ve only seen moves like that in action movies!" Christopher’s enthusiasm was infectious, and I could see the others nodding in agreement. "Do you have some kind of martial arts background? Maybe gymnastics? That flying kick was something else entirely."
I scrambled for a plausible explanation, my mind racing through possible responses that wouldn’t reveal the truth. "Not really, but I’ve watched a ton of action films over the years. You know how it is—you start to pick up on the movements, the timing. I guess I just got lucky with the execution."
The excuse felt flimsy even as I said it, but it seemed to partially satisfy Christopher’s curiosity. However, I could tell that except for Elena, the others were clearly beginning to suspect I had some kind of athletic training they didn’t know about. Their impressed glances made me uncomfortable in ways I wasn’t prepared to deal with.
My gaze drifted to Sydney, who had remained unusually quiet throughout our descent. Normally, she’d be the first to offer a sarcastic or teasing comment but she’d barely said a word since the rooftop incident.
"Are you okay?" I asked her directly.
"Y...yeah, I’m fine," she replied, a delicate flush coloring her cheeks as she avoided direct eye contact. "Thanks for... you know, saving my life back there."
It was the first time I’d ever seen Sydney act genuinely shy, and the transformation was startling. Gone was her usual confident demeanor, replaced by something softer and more vulnerable. The change made her even more beautiful, if that was possible, highlighting features I’d never really noticed before.
"You’re very welcome," I smiled.
The journey back to the library proved surprisingly peaceful. We’d developed an almost instinctive understanding of the infected’s movement patterns, allowing us to navigate the corridors with practiced stealth. Most of the creatures seemed to have gravitated toward the lower floors of the building, drawn by sounds or scents we couldn’t perceive, leaving our path relatively clear.
When we finally reached the library, Christopher knocked on the barricaded entrance with our pre-arranged signal. The response came after a tense minute of muffled voices and scraping furniture as the people inside began partially dismantling their defensive barriers.