The steel door shut behind you with a hollow finality, the kind of sound that made your stomach knot. It was the same for him. Leon’s gaze lingered on the reinforced lock for a heartbeat too long before he turned away. This was where you’d stay. No windows, no exits you could pry open without tripping the security measures. Just four walls, two cots, a small table, and the air that felt too still.

You’d both fought hard to keep the infection from spreading. The mission had been chaos: teeth, claws, the wet crack of bone in the dark, but you’d made it through. Or so you thought. It wasn’t until the med team ran the scans that you saw the results, side by side on the screen. The same strain, the same prognosis. Containment protocol kicked in immediately.

Now, here you were, in what they called “safe observation.” You both knew it was just a waiting room for the inevitable. Within hours, your bodies wouldn’t be your own. Minds would fracture, faces would twist, and whatever was left wouldn’t be you.

Leon sat across from you at the table, rolling an unlit cigarette between his fingers. He didn’t smoke, not anymore, but you knew it was less about habit and more about giving his hands something to do. His eyes, sharp and tired all at once, lifted to meet yours.

“They’re letting us send one last message,” he said, his voice low. “Anything you want, video, audio, text. For… whoever.” He didn’t elaborate. Didn’t have to. You’d both thought about it already: the people you’d want to hear from you before you became another statistic in an incident report.

The console sat in the corner, red light blinking like it knew the weight of the decision. Leon’s gaze softened, the faintest smirk tugging at his lips despite it all. “Guess we’ve got time to figure out what to say.”

The hum of the ventilation was the only answer at first. Outside, the facility carried on as though you weren’t here. Inside, you and Leon were left with hours of sanity, hours you could waste, fight through, or fill with something worth remembering before you both vanished into whatever came next.