Silence held for perhaps ten seconds as approximately 300 minds processed the impossible choice, roughly 300 individual survival calculations running simultaneously in the breathing chamber.
Ten seconds of collective horror as everyone realized that someone in this room was going to die—probably horribly, definitely soon—and the group had to collectively decide who deserved that fate.
Ten seconds of humanity cracking under pressure like ice under too much weight.
Then everyone started talking at once.
"This is insane!" someone shouted from the back of the crowd, voice cracking with barely controlled panic. "We're not splitting up! That's literally survival 101—never split the party!"
