Humanity's Peacekeepers

Stairs [ 4 : ЧЕТЫРЕ ]

- Игорь // Igor -

After several flights of stairs...

"We're here!" panted Jack. "This is... beyond exhausting, somehow..."

"We're at the 2nd level," I sighed. "The 1st floor."

"Yeah, you said 2nd level!"

"I said floor, Jackster," I snickered. "Two more flights of stairs to go."

"Drats...' he sighed.

———————————————

After more stairs...

"Haah... haaaaaahh..." Jack panted excessively.

"That's a biiit exaggerated..."

"It's 4 flights of stairs..."

Exactly! It's only 4 flights of stairs!" I nudged him. "Hey, at least we're here, though!"

"Wooooooooo..." He has pretty much zero stamina, I can tell you that.

Once we stepped out of the elevator room, we were greeted by a reception counter.

...An empty one, of course.

The place was basically the exact same as the 1st floor, which must have be confusing for the humans that worked here.

It had a really wide corridor, with the left side leading to 5 different doorways and a washroom.

On the right however, you would assume there to be an identical hallway of some kind, but there was instead a wall with two identical sets of doors, one on the left and one on the right.

"Do we split up in a situation like this?" I asked.

"No," said Jack. "There's a sign hanging from the ceiling."

I looked up, and he was right, whoops.

————————————
2F / L3
« Cubicles «
« Lounge «
« Restroom «
» Conference Room 1 »
————————————

"So, both doors lead to the conference room, Igor," he smirked.

"You didn't know which floor we were on," I tried justifing myself. "So, we're even, Jack."

"Fine, hehe." We're tied now, I suppose.

The moment we opened the door, we realized something.

"..This conference room is for the people working here," said Jack.

It was small, and barely had 50 seats. It was still well-decorated with wooden walls and had a projector.

"...Yeah..." I scratched my head. "218 world leaders surely can't fit here at once."

"Welp, what now?" Jack sighed.

"I did have another plan," I said. "We could look into some archives and get the answer that way."

"Oh, but the power is only for the lights," he reminded.

————————————————

We went back outside, standing in front of (what was) the door. Jack was gasping for air by the end of it, again.

"You gotta work out more or something," I joked.

"If you can find a giant treadmill, by all means I will," he joked back.

Since it's night time, you would expect the place to be absolutely pitch black. Yet, it's anything but.

The waxing crescent moon was hung up, but was amazingly bright. Maybe it's because that all of the humans, along with their car and factory smoke, had been gone for decades. With no man-made smog or any clouds tonight to cover the atmosphere, the natural nightlights finally got the chance to shine.

Asterisms and constellations livened up the firmament; stars and celestial bodies could gleam and glisten; the darkness could do nothing but compliment their yellow lights.

It was breathtaking, truly. Even silly Jack couldn't help but stare. "You're seeing this, right?" he said in awe.

"Mhm," I nodded.

Jack sat down, and so did I. The whole world just seemed so calm and tranquil.

The building behind us had yellow lights peeking out through the windows, albeit shielded by the leaves and vines. Nature had run its course, and I think this would be Mother Nature's proudest achievement—reclaiming all that was taken away from her.

It seems a bit rude for a Humanity's Peacekeeper to say this, but... the world seemed much better off without the humans.

I looked over to Jack. His golden eyes were still glued to the stars. "Where do we go after this?" he spoke softly.

"Mm..." I turned to the sky again. "Can we figure that out in the morning?"

"Why not?" Jack curled up into a comfy position on the asphalt. "A nap or something would be great right about now, anyway..."

I did the same beside him. "You must be very tired after that stair fest, right?" I poked fun.

"Grr..." he snarled.

"Hahahaha," I nudged him. Whatever the reason of it all may be, at least there's someone else here.

"Good night, buddy." His voice grew softer. "See you tomorrow."

"You too," I replied.