Jake dashed toward the elevator entrance, taking wide steps and hardly making any noise. When he stood up and quickly darted forward, Isra caught sight of him out of the corner of her eye. She cried out a warning to her companions as she started turning toward the fast-approaching threat. However, Jake moved so fast he reached her way before she could even complete her turn. He rammed into the woman, making her stumble into the elevator shaft. If it weren’t for Frank catching her when she bumped into him, she would have lost her balance completely and collapsed. With his left hand, Jake shoved Archie with great force, causing the man to stumble into the elevator shaft too.
Jake then stood at the entrance to the elevator shaft, his figure effectively blocking their only escape route. He finally had them right where he wanted them. All four survivors were now inside, standing on the magically enhanced platform, but as he had predicted, it stayed still. The symbols carved into the platform’s corners glowed softly, showing that the platform was still imbued with magical power. Jake knew that it would only respond to him since he was the one undertaking the tower-climb challenge.
Jake actually preferred the platform to ascend without him because he was unsure how the survivors would react to having him so close to them in the confined space of the elevator shaft. They might freak out when he joined them on the platform. Unlike the four survivors, he could effortlessly ascend to higher floors, relying on his incredible agility and acrobatic skills. However, the platform stayed motionless, waiting for him to step onto it.
He stood still at the entrance to the elevator shaft, not in a hurry to step inside. Isra had already disentangled herself from Frank’s embrace, and now all four of them stood rooted to the spot, with their eyes fixed on him. The tension in the elevator shaft was so thick it could be cut with a knife. Nobody spoke. Even Frank was quiet, gazing at him with uncertainty. Jake was confident that entering the elevator shaft would trigger a chaotic reaction from the survivors, possibly leading them to grab their weapons and shoot at him. He needed to find a way to put them at ease.
Slowly, he raised his right hand, still clutching Isra’s PDA. When her gaze shifted to the device, he extended it toward her. But she remained motionless, like a statue. For a few seconds, nothing changed.
“I think it wants you to take it,” Rick pointed out the obvious.
Isra remained frozen in place. Jake kept his hand outstretched, holding the device toward her.
“Take your PDA back, dammit,” Frank urged in a hoarse voice. “Maybe then the freak will leave us alone.”
Reluctantly, Isra took a few hesitant steps toward Jake, stopping just within arm’s reach. She extended her left hand toward her PDA, making sure to avoid touching his black, textured skin as she grasped the edge of the device. As soon as she had a hold of it, Jake let go, and Isra quickly pulled her hand back, clutching her PDA, and hurried back to the far side of the elevator shaft.
She kept her gaze fixed on him, refusing to glance at the screen of the device. Jake, moving slowly and deliberately, pointed at her, then at his eyes, and then at the device she held. After a brief pause, Isra lifted the PDA to her eyes and read the text displayed on the screen with a perplexed expression. Gradually, her face changed as realization struck her.
“Did the freak write something else?” Frank asked.
By way of replying, Isra showed the screen of her PDA to her companions, starting with Frank to her left, and then Archie and Rick on her right. The leader of the group furrowed his brow as he read the information on the screen.
“Jake Turner?” he grumbled. “What the hell is going on? What does this even mean?”
“He used the AskMeAnything app to search for this name,” Isra explained, having comprehended the situation.
“He?” Frank interjected sharply. “It’s ‘it’, not ‘he’.”
“No,” Isra shook her head. “I think this creature… this person was a survivor once, just like us.”
“What?” Frank blurted out, staring at her in utter disbelief. “What the fuck are you even talking about?”
“I think… I think something happened to him, and he got turned into a mutant,” Isra said before turning her head to look at Jake for confirmation.
Jake nodded once. Isra’s companions just stared at him for a second or two in silence, their faces reflecting their puzzlement.
Then Archie spoke up in a hesitant voice, “So your name’s Jake? Jake Turner? And you were once a human being, huh?”
Jake nodded again, a sense of relief washing over him. He had successfully communicated to Isra that he was not the mindless monster her companions had initially thought him to be. Although that wasn’t the primary purpose of bringing them to this place, now that they understood he was sentient, interacting with them should be smoother. They would recognize him as a living being capable of rational thought, just like themselves.
Now was the time to finally proceed with executing the main part of his plan.
Jake slowly raised his hands to show the four survivors that he meant no harm to them. They had seemed to relax slightly over the past few minutes, but as he lifted his hands in the air, they tensed up once more, unsure of what was happening and what was on his mind. Being cautious not to make any sudden movements, he stepped into the elevator shaft. Once he stood fully on the platform, the four sigils etched into the corners lit up as the magic the platform was infused with kicked in.
Without any sound, the platform began to ascend, causing the four survivors to tense up at this unexpected, at least for them, turn of events.
“What the fuck is happening,” the leader of the group growled, glancing at his companions briefly before fixing his glare on Jake. “Are you fucking with us, you freak?”
And he went for his gun.