Was he buying it?
The question had crossed Noah's mind more than once throughout the interrogation, and even now, he couldn't say for certain. Kirk's reactions had been convincing enough, though that didn't necessarily mean he'd completely swallowed the lie.
Either way, Noah had no intention of letting him know the truth.
Footsteps approaching from the hallway pulled him from his thoughts. Noah straightened slightly, his hand tensing around the shaft of his spear.
Sage appeared first, bow still in hand, with Levy following close behind. Neither of them looked particularly alarmed.
That alone made Noah relax a little.
"Well?" Kirk asked.
Sage glanced toward him. "Relax. It's probably not your mysterious boss."
Kirk's shoulders loosened for only a moment.
"But we've got a problem."
Noah's brow furrowed. "What happened?"
Sage looked toward the front door.
"Well, there's someone out there playing ding-dong-ditch during an apocalypse."
Before anyone could say anything else, three knocks echoed faintly through the apartment.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The sound seemed strangely loud in the quiet apartment as Kirk went rigid.
Noah immediately noticed.
"You know them?"
"I don't," Kirk said, far too quickly.
Another three knocks echoed from somewhere beyond the bedroom.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Kirk's eyes flicked toward the doorway. Then a voice came, muffled by the distance.
"Marcus?"
Kirk's face went pale.
Noah stared at him.
Marcus? Don't they know his actual name?
Sage glanced at Levy, then Noah.
Kirk stared at the three.
"...We're fucked."
The three exchanged glances, each of them seemingly waiting for Kirk to elaborate. He didn't. Instead, he remained seated in the chair, his eyes fixed on the bedroom doorway and his face still noticeably paler than it had been moments ago.
"What exactly did you mean by that?" Levy asked.
Kirk's gaze shifted toward him, but he offered nothing in response.
Sage watched him for a moment before deciding not to press the matter. Whatever had caused that reaction, they could worry about it later. Right now, someone was standing on the other side of the apartment's front door, and they had no idea who it was.
"Fine," she said. "We'll deal with you later."
She stepped toward Kirk and pulled a strip of cloth from her pocket. Before he could object, she wrapped it firmly around the back of his head and tied it over his mouth.
Kirk glared at her.
"It's for everyone's benefit," Sage said, apparently unfazed by his expression. "Mostly mine though."
Levy gave Kirk a sympathetic look. "Honestly, you're lucky she's only gagging you."
Kirk responded with an unintelligible grunt.
"Yeah, yeah. Save it for the birds."
Leaving Kirk bound to the chair, the three made their way quietly into the hallway. They moved with considerably more caution than before, their attention fixed on the front of the apartment.
The distant sounds of the outside world seemed to fade beneath the silence within, leaving only the occasional creak of the floorboards beneath their feet.
Noah reached the foyer first.
He slowed as he approached the front door, instinctively lowering his spear so the shaft wouldn't bump against anything and give away their position. Sage and Levy stopped a few steps behind him, both readying their weapons as Noah moved closer.
He placed one hand against the wall beside the door and leaned toward the peephole.
The hallway outside was empty.
Noah frowned and stood there for several seconds, scanning what little of the corridor the peephole allowed him to see. There was no movement, no footsteps, not even the faintest indication that anyone was nearby.
Then another three knocks sounded from the other side.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Noah stiffened.
The sound had come from directly behind the door, yet the hallway remained empty.
He continued staring through the peephole, his senses stretching beyond what his eyes could see. No obvious movement outside, but something about the situation felt off.
Then, at the very edge of his vision, he noticed something that hadn't been there before.
A shadow.
It stretched across the floor beside the door, cast by the overhead lights in the hallway. Noah's eyes followed it slowly, tracing its shape upward until he realized what it meant.
Someone was standing just beyond the edge of the peephole's view.
Right beside the door.
Noah's grip tightened around his spear as he slowly pulled away from the peephole. He glanced back at Sage and Levy, raising a finger to his lips.
Neither spoke, nor did they intend to.
Noah turned his attention back toward the door, now painfully aware that whoever was outside had been standing there the entire time, and somehow, they had known exactly which door to knock.
Noah slowly pushed himself away from the door, careful not to make a sound. As he turned, however, his elbow caught the edge of a small potted plant sitting on a shelf in the foyer.
The pot tipped.
All three pairs of eyes widened as it began to fall.
Noah reacted on instinct, lunging forward and catching it just before it could hit the floor. He steadied the plant in his hands, holding it there for a moment as the three of them collectively held their breath.
No sound came from the other side of the door.
Noah carefully returned the plant to the shelf, and the three quietly released the breath they'd been holding.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The sudden, much louder knocking reverberated through the apartment.
Levy Jumped. His arm jerked instinctively, sending the plant Noah had just situated onto the shelf tumbling. The pot hit the floor with a sharp crash, shattering beneath the impact.
Silence followed. For a moment, none of them seemed quite sure how to react.
Noah and Sage slowly turned toward Levy, their movements almost eerily synchronized. Neither said a word as they stared at him, their expressions conveying the same unspoken question.
Seriously?
Their eyes met his.
Levy glanced down at the shattered pot and the scattered soil littering the floor. He stared at it for a few seconds as though only now processing what he'd done before reluctantly looking back at them.
He scratched the back of his neck and gave them an awkward, sheepish smile.
"Oops. My bad."