THE DOWNFALL

Chapter 2 : Unwanted Guest

They returned to the hideout still dazed by what they had witnessed. The decision was mutual: they wouldn’t speak of it to anyone, especially not to their military leader, General Matias a sharp-witted and imposing man known for his unbending rules and commanding presence.

As they made their way back, they were spotted by Erning, the head of the community inside the underground stronghold. The older man eyed them suspiciously as they walked past.

“Where have you two been?” Erning asked, arms crossed. “You forgot your duties. The typhoon ruined the last patch of crops we’re supposed to be fixing the farms.”

Jeff quickly bowed his head. “We’re sorry, Mang Erning. We’ll get back to work right away.”

They returned to the damaged fields, pretending to focus on planting and repairing the irrigation systems, though their minds were elsewhere. As they dug into the soil, Jeff leaned closer to Noel.

“I’ve got a plan,” Jeff whispered. “Let’s go back to the crash site later.”

Noel blinked. “What? How? Mang Erning has assignments lined up for us tomorrow. How are we supposed to sneak out?”

“Tonight. When everyone's asleep.”

Noel scratched his head. “Isn’t the main gate closed at night?”

“We’ll use the back exit,” Jeff replied calmly.

Unbeknownst to them, Lherianne and Angelo stood a few meters behind, silently observing.

“Lheri,” Angelo whispered. “Do you notice something weird about those two?”

“What do you mean?” she asked, avoiding his gaze.

“Don’t you find it odd where they came from?”

She shook her head. “Why would I?”

Angelo narrowed his eyes. “Because last night, I woke up and they were both gone. I looked all over the base and couldn’t find them anywhere.”

He paused before adding, “I think they’re hiding something from us.”

Later that day, a familiar blaring sound echoed through the base the siren that signaled the gates were closing for the night. The cafeteria buzzed with chatter as the residents gathered for dinner. Jeff, Noel, Lherianne, and Angelo sat side by side, blending in with the rest. But something felt different.

“There’s news again,” Angelo said, lowering his voice. “Another radio signal was picked up by the soldiers today. One of General Matias’s men told me.”

Jeff and Noel exchanged glances. The unspoken message between them was clear , they needed to go back.

Night fell. Most of the base was asleep. Jeff quietly rose from his bunk and nudged Noel awake. Without a word, they gathered their gear flashlights, tools, and makeshift containers. Their goal was to salvage whatever was left in the fighter jet: radar components, radio parts—anything that might help them trace the aircraft’s origin.

They knew it was a risk. General Matias had forbidden civilians from using any form of radio communication, fearing it could expose their hidden base to the enemy if misused.

Before heading to the secret exit, they stopped by the old storage room. Dust clung to the walls, but inside, they found what they needed. Jeff led the way toward the hidden passage behind the lower wall of the tunnel a place even most soldiers didn’t know existed.

As they walked, Noel finally asked the question that had been bothering him. “How did you even find out about this tunnel?”

Jeff fell silent for a moment. His eyes dimmed, as if his mind had drifted far from the present. A memory, buried deep within him, clawed its way back to the surface.

He was just a boy then fragile, broken, and hollow. It was the days after his mother died. The world around him had grown cold, even inside the safety of the base. He had no appetite, no energy, no words. Grief clung to him like a shadow he couldn’t shake off.

Every night, when the base grew quiet and the lights dimmed, he would slip away from the bunk room, careful not to wake anyone. He would sneak into the abandoned quarters, the empty storage rooms, the old communication halls anywhere he could be alone. He didn’t cry where people could see. He hid, tucked in corners, curled up in dark rooms, muffling his sobs so no one would hear. It was in those hidden corners that he spoke to her , his mother. As if she could still hear him.

One night, while crouched in the corner of an old maintenance corridor, his face buried in his knees, he heard footsteps. He quickly wiped his tears and pressed himself against the wall, barely breathing. Then he saw Erning his usual stern face was unusually serious, his movements cautious.

Jeff watched, eyes wide, as Erning knelt in front of what looked like a plain section of the wall. With a quiet click, a hidden panel slid open, revealing a narrow passage cloaked in darkness. Without a word, Erning disappeared through it.

Jeff’s heart pounded. He waited until the footsteps faded before slowly approaching the wall. He knelt in the same spot and ran his fingers along the panel until he felt it a tiny latch. With trembling hands, he pressed it. The door creaked open just a bit, and behind it… a tunnel.

He didn’t go inside that night. But he never forgot it.

Back in the present, Jeff blinked away the memory.

“Accident,” Jeff said simply. “Found it years ago.”

As they reached the exit, Jeff began opening the hatch until a voice rang out behind them.

“What are you two doing?”

They spun around.

Standing behind them were Angelo and Lherianne, both dressed in dark clothes, clearly having followed them.

Jeff’s eyes widened. “I thought you were asleep!”

Angelo folded his arms. “I had my doubts about you two. You’ve been acting strange. So we followed you.”

He stepped forward and noticed the half-open exit door. His jaw dropped slightly.

“There’s a passage here?” he muttered. “How long has this been part of the base?”

Jeff and Noel didn’t answer.

Their silence only deepened Angelo’s suspicion.

He took a step closer, narrowing his eyes. “Where exactly are you going? And why would you sneak out at this hour?”

Jeff hesitated, then forced a weak smile. “We… we just stumbled upon something the other day. It was an accident, really. We didn’t mean to—”

“Don’t lie to me,” Angelo cut him off, his voice sharp. “You two have been acting strange since yesterday. There’s something you’re not telling us.”

Jeff’s shoulders tensed, and Noel looked away, unsure of what to say next. But before either of them could reply, Angelo glanced at Lherianne, then back at the open passage.

“We're coming with you.”

The words hit like a sudden gust of wind.

Jeff and Noel froze. “What?” they said

“You heard me,” Angelo replied. “Whatever you’re planning, whatever this is—we’re not letting you go alone. Not when it could endanger all of us.”

Lherianne didn’t say a word, but she nodded faintly. Her face was pale, her fingers trembling slightly, yet she stepped forward. This would be her first time outside the base at night—and though fear clung to her like cold air, she chose to follow.

As they arrived at the crash site, Lherianne and Angelo froze in their tracks. Their eyes widened, their breath caught in their chests. Before them stood the wreckage of a fighter jet massive, torn, and half-buried in the scorched soil. The metallic body shimmered faintly under the moonlight, its wings broken but still imposing.

Lheri couldn't speak. Her hands clenched unconsciously at her sides.

Angelo took a cautious step forward, whispering, “I can’t believe it… This is the first time I’ve seen one this close.”

They had always seen these monsters from the sky, distant shadows dropping death from above. Whenever one passed overhead, they’d run for cover, fearing the next bomb would fall on them. Now, standing this close, the fear felt heavier… more real.

Jeff and Noel, unfazed, walked ahead.

Angelo moved closer, carefully circling the wreckage. Lheri followed, her eyes scanning every scorch mark and twisted panel. Jeff knelt by the cockpit while Noel inspected the outer markings.

“Wait,” Angelo said suddenly, his voice tense. “Where’s the pilot?”

Jeff and Noel looked at each other.

“There’s no one here,” Jeff answered. “We didn’t see a body.”

Angelo pointed toward the top of the fighter. “The canopy is gone… and the seat’s missing too. That means the pilot ejected before the crash.”

A cold silence fell over them.

“He might still be alive,” Angelo added. “And if he’s nearby… watching us…”

A chill ran down Lheri’s spine. Jeff clenched his jaw. The possibility that the pilot potentially a hostile could be hiding somewhere in the dark, armed and dangerous, was not something any of them had prepared for.

Still, Jeff pressed on. He climbed into the cockpit, brushing aside broken wires and burned panels. He reached toward the central console, hands searching.

Noel, meanwhile, walked along the side of the wreckage. His eyes scanned the scorched paint, the unfamiliar lettering, the symbols… Then he saw it.

A flag.

Back inside the cockpit, Jeff twisted a large rotary dial the frequency selector. As it turned, a loud static screeched from the speakers. The fighter's radar system sputtered to life.

A small, circular radar screen blinked on green, glowing, like a ghostly eye. In its center was a rotating line sweeping the screen, surrounded by pulsing rings of light. The static grew louder, almost deafening.

“Turn it off! Turn it off!” Noel shouted, sprinting toward the cockpit in panic.

Jeff fumbled, startled by the noise and the sudden urgency in Noel’s voice. His fingers darted across buttons, flipping switches at random.

“i don't know how to turn it off!"

Noel grabbed a fist-sized rock nearby and, without hesitation, slammed it down onto the console.

Once. Twice.

Sparks erupted. The static howled, then stuttered.

The radar screen flickered violently then died. Silence returned, save for their heavy breaths.

Everyone stood frozen, the air around them charged with tension.

Jeff looked down at the shattered console, his hands still trembling.

Jeff turned sharply toward Noel, frustration burning in his eyes.

“Why did you do that?” he snapped, striding over and grabbing the front of Noel’s shirt.

Noel didn’t speak. He simply raised a hand and pointed at the wing of the fighter jet.

Jeff followed his gesture and froze.

There, though it was scratched and faded by fire and debris, it was a flag

Not theirs.

It was a foreign banner. The symbol of the enemy. The invaders.

Jeff’s grip on Noel loosened. The anger drained from his face, replaced by a sinking dread. He stumbled back a few steps and dropped to sit on a rock. After a beat, he stood again, and kicked the jet’s metal frame with a mix of rage and fear.

Lherianne flinched at the sound and stepped forward, her voice tense. “We have to go back. Now.”

Angelo nodded, his tone firm. “She’s right. We’ve seen enough.”

Without another word, the four gathered what little they had and started back toward the hidden passage.

As they neared the camouflaged exit, Noel’s pace slowed. He frowned.

Something felt… off.

He glanced at the metal door and then froze completely. The door was open wider than how they had left . The small rock they had wedged beneath to keep it from closing was gone.

He raised his hand subtly to stop the others. Jeff halted behind him, sensing the change in Noel’s body language. Lherianne and Angelo tensed as well, understanding without needing a word.

Noel pointed with his eyes toward the door.

Jeff gave a small nod.

Cautiously, they approached the passage. Each step was slow, silent, careful. Their hearts pounded louder than their footsteps. If someone had discovered their route

They slipped through the opening one by one.

Inside, there was only the narrow corridor, dimly lit by a flickering overhead bulb. It was quiet. Too quiet.

Lherianne moved ahead first, followed by Angelo, then Jeff. Noel was last, taking one final glance outside before pulling the heavy steel door shut with a low grind of metal.

“Noel, hurry,” Jeff whispered. “We need to return this gear before someone”

He stopped mid-sentence.

“Noel?”

He turned around just in time to see a shadow move.

A figure clad in black uniform stood behind Noel, one hand covering his mouth, the other pressing a knife tightly against his neck. The figure wore a visor-like helmet dark and narrow, with tubes running down the sides. Not quite a gas mask, not quite a fighter pilot’s gear but clearly military.

Jeff froze in place.

“Don’t move,” Angelo hissed, eyes wide as he saw the blade.

Lherianne gasped but stifled a scream with her hands.

Noel’s eyes darted to Jeff. Panic. But also something else. Realization.

This is the pilot.

Noel slowly raised a hand toward the figure, palm out in a gesture of peace. He spoke carefully, his voice muffled by the grip on his mouth.

“We don’t want to fight,” he said hoarsely. “Let him go. You’re injured we can help you. Just… don’t hurt him.”

The figure didn’t respond.

Then, slowly, the hand with the knife dropped. The other released Noel’s mouth.

With cautious, deliberate movements, the figure reached up and unlatched the mask.

They all held their breath.

As the mask came off, long black hair spilled out from the helmet.

A woman.

Pale, wounded, and striking. Her expression was tense, but not cruel.

She staggered slightly and clutched her side.

“Medicine,” she whispered, her voice cracked and weak. “Give me medicine…”

She released Noel completely and slumped against the corridor wall.

Noel stumbled back toward the others while Jeff cautiously approached the woman, his eyes locked on the blood seeping through her uniform. “You’re hurt.”

The woman didn’t answer. Her eyes fluttered, her strength failing.

“Lherianne! Angelo!” Jeff barked. “Clean cloth. Water. Now.”

The two rushed to find supplies.

Jeff crouched beside the woman and examined the gash beneath her ribs. It was deep, and bleeding fast. He took the blade she had dropped and used it to slice open the fabric around the wound.

Water arrived first. Jeff poured it over the wound to wash away the dirt and blood. The woman winced, a hiss of pain escaping her lips.

Noel came back with alcohol and poured it over the wound.

She screamed sharp and short then bit down hard on her lip.

Jeff and Noel worked quickly. Jeff held her steady while Noel wrapped her side with a clean piece of cloth, pressing hard to stop the bleeding.

Her breaths grew shallow. Her head lolled.

She looked at them at the four strangers hovering over her and then her gaze dimmed.

Before she lost consciousness, she heard them.

Lherianne: “We can’t keep her here. She’s the enemy.”

Jeff: “She asked for help. She didn’t attack us.”

Noel : “She spared you. "

Angelo: “That doesn’t mean she’s not dangerous. What if she’s scouting us?”

Jeff stood firm. “I’m not letting her die out there.”

The woman’s vision blurred. Their voices faded.

And then, everything went dark.