"NO!!!"
Gene woke up with a scream, darting upright on his bed. He was breathing heavily, gasping for air. Sweat was dripping down his neck and forehead, and his entire bedroom felt hot. He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.
We failed again, Gene thought with sorrow. Why...? Why does this keep happening?
Letting out a heavy sigh, he got up from his bed. He would have to meet up Aphmau and the others early today to discuss the last timeline with them. He was present for that one, along with Garroth. They would have to explain, in full detail, the chain of events that took place in that timeline.
He got changed out of his pajamas and into his everyday clothes, then headed out of the house and to the Maid Café. Ever since the repeating loop of Zane dying began, Kawaii~Chan had made sure to bring some sort of breakfast food with her for everyone if they couldn't eat. No one could eat breakfast anymore, they couldn't risk not making it to the Café in time.
"Hey guys..." Gene greeted the group with a heavy sigh, forcing a smile onto his face.
"Hey...." They all replied, giving small waves.
"How did he die this time?" Katelyn asked, rubbing her eyes. "Who was with him?"
"I was with him, and so was Garroth." Gene answered her, clearing his throat. "We were at the mall, ready to help if he started choking or got food poisoning from the pretzels we got. But we weren't expecting a sniper shot to happen!"
"So now we have to worry about snipers..." Aaron trailed off, looking down at Aphmau as she started to cry. "Aph?"
"Why....? Why does this have to happen to us? To anyone? Why does it have to happen to Zane!?" Aphmau sobbed, trying to wipe away her tears. "What did any of us do to deserve this? What did he do to deserve this!? He just wanted a happy life, is that too much to ask for Irene!?"
"Aph..... we'll save him one day, I know we will." The Ultima said confidently, but Gene could see the doubt in his eyes. "That's why Irene gives us so many chances, she wants us to save him."
"Well she could've made it a bit easier..." She pouted, showing that it had some effect.
Gene let out a heavy sigh, rubbing his eyes from how tired he was. He had always been tired before the repeating loop began, but his sleeping problems were just getting worse and worse now. The others were starting to become the same way, but it wasn't like they could just sleep all their problems away.
"So are we going to stick with the same plan as always?" Travis asked nervously, shivering at the winter cold. "Garroth and Laurance bring him here, you guys go through the work day as normal, then Gene hangs out with him for the rest of the day?"
"Yeah, it seems like it's the best coarse. Even the smallest change in our actions can affect this entire loop." Aaron nodded, scratching his wolf ears.
The group of friends nodded, and made small talk with each other while they waited. Gene, on the other hand, was too busy thinking about everything that had been thrown at them. Every time Zane had died before their eyes.... why did it have to happen? He couldn't get the image of bullet holes in Zane's chest out of his mind, the blood that covered the floor.
"I just got the text from Laurance, they'll be here with Zane soon." Aphmau announced to the group, her eyes filled with clear sadness. "Get ready, everyone..."
The group said their farewells and went their own ways. The people who worked at the Maid Café stayed, and the ones who didn't left. They couldn't all be there at once, Zane would get suspicious of something being wrong. Granted, of course, something was wrong. Highly wrong. But.... how do you tell someone that they've died nearly a hundred times and everyone is stuck in an endless time loop?
