Meanwhile, elsewhere in the base, Ophelia and the kitchen staff, who were secretly escorting the first group of children to safety, winced as the piercing screech blasted through the speakers. They barely had time to recover before a voice echoed across the entire compound.

Ophelia didn’t need to guess who it was.

Ashley.

Everyone instinctively looked up at the speakers, listening as Ashley ranted as though she were finally venting every grievance she’d bottled up for years. It was the last thing anyone expected, yet her voice carried through every corner of the base.

"Ophelia..." one of the kitchen staff whispered. "Who... is that?"

Before she could continue, one of the children spoke.

"Ophelia... was that Super B?"

Ophelia swallowed hard, forcing down the dread threatening to overwhelm her. She looked at the women, then at the frightened children. After taking a deep breath, she said,

"Take the children. I’m going back for the others."

"But Ophelia, if you do that, we’ll get noticed! This is already dangerous as it is!"

If not for Ophelia, they wouldn’t even risk their lives like this.

"We don’t have time!" Ophelia exclaimed, gripping the woman’s arm. She lowered her voice, urgency replacing panic. "We don’t have time. Just—just don’t get caught."

She paused, her gaze sweeping across every face before declaring with a shaky breath,

"It’s starting!"

*****

[Women’s Dormitory]

The women gathered quietly in the hallway after hearing what the recruits had said.

Ashley had spoken to them earlier, but she hadn’t lingered. She had simply walked past them and said one thing before leaving the building.

"Change of plans — you guys should leave as soon as you can. Go take the route Ophelia takes. Don’t wait until dinner."

The words had stayed with them ever since.

"Why would we listen to her?" one of the women muttered. "She just got here. We’ll get ourselves killed by trusting someone who’s only been here for a day."

"Not even for a day, actually."

"She’s right. Every newcomer thinks they can escape."

Silence settled over them because they had all thought the same thing when they first arrived.

They had all dreamed of escaping, even planned for it.

Then reality crushed those dreams.

"But she said Ophelia would come... didn’t she?"

"She also said she couldn’t wait until dinner."

The women continued whispering among themselves, careful to keep their voices low.

Then one of them frowned.

"Hey... have any of you noticed something?"

Everyone looked at her.

"I haven’t seen a single guard around here."

The others instinctively peered through the windows.

She was right.

The women’s quarters had never been heavily guarded, but patrols routinely passed through the area or watched them from outside.

Now... there was nothing for a while now.

The place felt unnaturally empty.

Just as unease began settling over them, hurried footsteps echoed from the entrance.

"Everyone! Everyone!"

Everyone turned.

One of the younger women came sprinting toward them, breathing so hard she nearly stumbled. When she reached them, she braced one hand against the wall while the other rested on her knee.

"Why are you running like that?" one of the women asked. "Is everything okay?"

"Did that newbie get caught?"

The younger woman struggled to catch her breath. Her pale lips trembled as she shakily pointed outside.

"Outside..." she stammered. "She... she... that woman..."

Another woman stepped forward and grabbed her shoulders.

"Slow down. We can’t understand you."

The younger woman’s face twisted with fear.

"We have to go," she gasped. "That woman... she just killed all the guards around here."

Earlier, she had secretly followed Ashley, hoping to ask more questions—or perhaps confirm whether the mysterious woman had been telling the truth.

Unlike most of the others, she was still relatively new. The desire to escape hadn’t been beaten out of her yet.

So when Ashley said she had a plan, that tiny spark of hope inside her flared back to life.

Ashley never answered a single question.

Instead, as they approached a patrol heading toward the women’s dormitory, Ashley calmly stepped forward.

Within seconds, all three guards were dead.

That had been Ashley’s answer.

The women exchanged confused looks.

Before anyone could ask another question, the speakers shrieked, making everyone flinch. Then Ashley’s voice echoed throughout the building.

One by one, the women slowly lifted their heads.

Before Ashley could even finish speaking, the younger woman grabbed the one beside her.

"We have to leave!" she urged, her voice trembling as she looked around at everyone. "I don’t know who that woman is, but after watching her kill three armed men by herself... this isn’t going to end quietly."

She didn’t need to know Ashley’s identity.

Not anymore.

In a place like this, it wasn’t difficult to put the pieces together.

What mattered was only one thing.

"That woman came here to destroy this place," she whispered, finally steadying herself. A sliver of hope flickered in her eyes.

"Let’s... get out of here."

Silence filled the hallway.

The women exchanged uncertain glances. Then one of them spoke.

"I know the route Ophelia uses," she said. "We’ll take that way."

"Grab anything!" another woman shouted. "Anything we can use as a weapon!"

The women immediately scattered. No one bothered collecting personal belongings. Only whatever they could use to defend themselves.

Moments later, they regrouped and rushed out together.

Were they terrified?

More than words could ever describe.

But the thought of spending even one more day in this living hell terrified them even more.

As they fled the dormitory, only one thought echoed through every mind.

There was no turning back.

If they were caught... that would be the end of them.

"This way!" one of the women shouted, no longer caring whether anyone heard them.

The moment they stepped outside, several distant gunshots rang through the compound. The sound was faint. But after living here for so long, they knew exactly what it meant.

Something had happened in the men’s sector.

The women looked at one another.

"RUN!!"

The woman leading them roared.

The instant everyone broke into a sprint, gunfire erupted from multiple directions, echoing throughout the base.