Eternal Malediction (RE)

Then one of the survivors near the back of the room raised his hand slightly. "...So, what are the rest of us supposed to do?"

Orion answered immediately. "Try not to die."

"Orion," Graham sighed quietly.

"What? That’s literally the whole point of the meeting."

A few people laughed weakly at that, and strangely enough, it eased the tension slightly.

Kaelen rubbed the bridge of her nose before continuing. "We’ll organise supply runs throughout whenever we need it."

"Food, clothing, medicine," Graham added. "Anything useful."

Then Kim John near the far side of the room suddenly spoke up. "...I also kinda want to look around London."

Silence.

Orion slowly turned toward him with the expression of a man witnessing criminal stupidity in real time. "...Look around?"

The poor guy immediately shrank slightly beneath Orion’s stare.

"We are not on vacation," Orion snapped.

The room quieted instantly. "We are stranded—"

He stopped himself.

A dangerous pause followed.

Then Orion immediately corrected himself with the most forced expression imaginable, because he knew that everyone right now is tensed at their situation, so he needs to calm everyone down. "...On vacation."

Silence. "...So go ahead."

Roy physically looked away to hide his amusement while Tanaka nearly choked trying not to laugh.

That was close; the meeting slowly dissolved afterwards.

People began organising small groups for errands while Kaelen went back to distributing carefully rationed amounts of cash to everyone.

The amount itself looked tiny.

But in 1985? It actually held value.

Roy quietly inspected the old notes in his hand; inflation really did destroy humanity.

"Don’t waste it," Orion said out loud to warn Kim.

Kim John looked offended immediately. "You say that like we’re irresponsible."

"You carried a microwave through a dimensional collapse," Orion replied flatly.

Kaelen turns around to face Orion’s question. "...What?"

Orion’s face goes pale as he remembers what Graham said back at the boy’s cabin, and he then tries to play it off. "It’s a joke... in the boy’s cabin..."

Every man was staring daggers at Orion and he can feel it as he slowly walks to the corner to put himself in time out.

Eventually people started leaving the room gradually.

Some prepared for supply runs while others simply wanted fresh air after being crammed together all morning.

Kieran quietly slipped out of the cabin alone, the cold air brushing against his face as he exhaled. He didn’t go far, just to one of the wooden benches sitting outside beneath the shade of the cabin.

He dropped into it with a tired sigh and reached into his jacket pocket.

A Cadbury chocolate bar.

He stared at it for a moment like it was the only good thing left in the world. Then he peeled the wrapper open and took a slow, meaningful bite.

Of course, the children noticed immediately.

two of them wandered over, being small, curious and hopeful. Rin stood next to Mella, who pointed at the chocolate with wide eyes as she asked, "... Can I have some?"

Kieran froze mid chew. He looked at the chocolate then to Mella and Rin and then back at the chocolate again. A long painful internal debate played across his face and finally, he sighed and held out the wrapper. "Hold this."

The kids grabbed the wrapper eagerly as Kieran snapped the chocolate bar into three uneven pieces. He held the pieces in his palm like he was about to perform a sacred ritual.

"Listen carefully," he said, voice low and serious.

The kids blinked up at him, fully expecting him to hand over two of the three chocolate pieces, that was until he said this...

"Never... trust people when it comes to food."

And then... Without hesitation... Without Mercy... Without even pretending to reconsider... Kieran shoved all three pieces into his mouth at once.

While the two kids stared in horror as they saw their pieces of chocolate being smeared across Keiran’s cheek.

At first there was sniffling, and then Mella’s face crumpled instantly as tears started falling free from her eyes.

"HE ATE MY CHOCOLATE!" she screamed as rain started pouring from her tear ducts, pointing at him with betrayal so loud it echoed across the entire cabin area.

Everyone who was near or within the cabin at that time came to see what the commotion was. People stared as Rin, standing right next to Mella, looked at Kieran with the dead, empty eyes of someone who had witnessed true suffering.

Sophia ran over to Mella and hugged her as she asked what happened and why she was crying and then she stared at Kieran and shook her head side to side even though a grin was forming on her face after hearing what happened from Mella.

"KIERAN!" several voices shouted at once.

He tried to speak, but his mouth was too full. All that came out was a muffled, chocolate‑stuffed groan.

Tanaka nearly fell over laughing with Roy as he covered his mouth, body shaking. A few Marcus, Victor and Daniel and Lily near the corner were doubled over, wheezing at the sight of Kieran desperately trying to wipe chocolate off his face while the little girl continued pointing at him while she cried like he was the villain of the entire timeline.

She shouted at him, "I hate you Kieran, I hate you!" as she dug her face into Sophia’s jacket while she cried, all while Sophia tried not to smile and started reprimanding Kieran.

And Kieran, still chewing miserably, muttered under his breath. "...Worth it."