Endogenesis (Complete)

Chapter Thirty

It had been more than five weeks since they had been released from their cells, and while Dante wouldn't say it out loud, they weren't any closer to escaping. Nadia was always with Adam, but they had yet to find a way past the fence. They couldn't brute force their way out, and as much as Dante tried to pay attention in engineering in the vain hope he would learn something of value, it was useless. He could barely keep up with anything the instructor said.

Dante couldn't sit back and let Nadia and Gabriel do all the work, but he was at a loss for what he was meant to do. Maybe he should start tunnelling his way out; their building was right by the fence, and it would be easy to hide in the basement. There was plenty of broken furniture he could break to use as structural support... Surely he wasn't that desperate.

Dante carried the textbook under his arm as he strolled into the lounge room. Elijah sat on the cushion with the notebook in his lap and a chocolate wrapper by his feet. Nadia was constantly giving them treats that she received from Adam. How often was the Green leader breaking into the other yard to steal? How hadn't the adults noticed?

Meryl lay on her mattress, wrapped in blankets, though her hoodie was still on. Every blanket was coarse and scratchy, and the beds were rock hard; the Republic wouldn't even let them be comfortable in their sleep.

Dante sat beside Elijah and placed his textbooks on the ground; he questioned if he was wasting his time, but what else was he meant to do with himself.

There was always digging that hole.

'When you complete tasks, you can level up, but it doesn't always have to work that way. Dad found me a bunch of different rule books; one is even a hundred years old. I keep that one in a drawer with how damaged the spine is,' Elijah said as he scribbled away. 'The rules aren't always the same in each edition, but you can fudge them if you want, as long as everyone playing agrees with it.'

'It sounds complicated,' Meryl said, looking utterly lost.

'You don't have to worry about most of that. As dungeon master, it will be up to me to figure out, and I've read some of the rule books a dozen times,' Elijah said.

Dante snickered as he rested against the wall, 'Don't lie, you can't read.'

Elijah's brow tightened, 'Says the nerd who only reads books with pictures in them.'

Dante gestured to the notebook, 'You're calling me a nerd while you're planning a D and D campaign?'

Elijah slapped the notebook shut, 'If you're going to be a jerk, then I'll go find Gabriel.'

'Gabe's already left,' Dante said.

Elijah paused, 'Why?'

'Nadia hasn't come back yet, so he went to find her,' Dante answered.

Elijah sighed, 'She'll just be with her boyfriend, and if he doesn't return, how will we get to class?'

'We'll manage, but he'll be back in time, have a little faith.'

Elijah rose, 'Then I'll go and continue my work on the roof.'

Elijah turned his nose up as he stormed out of the room. If he had been genuinely upset, he would have burst into tears.

Meryl picked at her nails, 'Your brother really likes talking about that game.'

'It was Dad who got him into it. Mum was happy because it meant he would read something, even if it was player manuals,' Dante peered down at his boots, scuffed with dirt. 'He almost seems like his usual self when his doing it, and his not fixated on Mum, or if Dad is safe, or what happened to Joy, our dog.'