Survivors of Alterna: Final Run

Chapter 28: Aku

Despite the sudden change in their situation, nobody freaked out.

Ok—that was a lie. Pearl was the first to completely lose her cool. "Trapped? In here?! That's really bad, ain't it?!" she panicked, looking up to Marina. "There's gotta be something we can do!" Her feet bounced in short hops; A worried look stuck on her face. Pearl's panicky movements would've been cute had it not been for their current predicament.

Marina, while acknowledging Pearl's statement, didn't respond. Instead, she took her laptop back from Eight and typed crazily fast. She never took her eyes away from the screen; she didn't even blink, not once. Her face was more serious than Coral's, which was scary to look at.

Speaking of, the captain was staring up at the ceiling of Atlantis with crossed arms. Her emotionless expression never changed, so it was anyone's guess as to what she was thinking.

The other agents, with the exception of Eight, were being calmed by Callie. Well, attempted. There wasn't much success since, despite her best efforts to hide it, Callie was clearly just as afraid as the others, which did not ease their worries.

While Callie attempted to calm them, Marie tried to reel the members of Deep Cut back to reality. The trio were not thrilled about their new situation and nearly threw a full-fledged tantrum.

Eight stood next to Ricky and Rick, staring at the floor with furrowed brows. Was she angry? Terrified? Deep in thought? Probably all of the above.

The two salmonids beside her mumbled thousands of words incoherently in rapid succession, not giving anyone a chance to hear what they were saying.

That left Akikta, Nakji, and Inka standing off to the side, observing the shitshow in front of them.

Nakji and Inka huddled to either side of Akikta, occasionally looking between him and the panicked Splatoon.

Then, Nakji spoke. "Aki?" she said in a concerned tone. Akikta didn't reply or even react to Nakji calling him. He just continued to stare.

Akikta hadn't responded to the situation in any of the ways the others did. He just stared; with his partially fixed mask covering his face, the only thing anyone could see was his heavy frown.

Truthfully, he wanted to scream, shout, panic, and contemplate the situation like everyone else. But what good would that do? Screaming would just add to the already dreadful atmosphere, and shouting wouldn't help in the slightest. Panicking was the most appropriate response, but that wouldn't solve anything either.

He could think about what to do next—but what was the point? If the New Squidbeak Splatoon and their affiliates, who've most likely experienced multiple life-or-death situations like this, couldn't figure out a solution to their problems—then what was he, a mere boy who didn't even know what the surface was like until a week ago, going to come up with?

The bleak situation churned Akikta's stomach, and his knees grew weak. "I-I'm gonna go to the bathroom..." He muttered before limping off.

Inka reached a hand out to grab him, only to stop a few inches away from his shoulder. She seemed unsure of herself, as something compelled her to leave him alone. She wasn't sure what the uncomfortable feeling was, but she didn't fight it, lowering her hand as a result.

Akikta hadn't seen her reach out to him, so he continued lumbering through the observatory.

He wasn't even sure if the building had a bathroom. He just wanted a place free from the others' gazes. By chance, he stumbled upon a bathroom and waltzed right in, subconsciously entering the men's section, despite there being no need.