The Tunnels Beneath Echo Base Were Older Than The Virus Carved Into The Earth Long Before The World Fell Apart Cold Damp Air Brushed Against Zeyad's Skin As He Led The Way Torchlight Flickering Off Rusted Pipes And Cracked Concrete WallsEvery Step Echoed Like A Whisper In A Cathedral The Passage Narrow And Twisting With No End In Sight Behind Him Laila Moved Silent Focused Her Weapon Tight In Her Hands Eyes Scanning Every ShadowWe Keep Moving Zeyad Said Voice Low No Light No Sound Unless Necessary If They're Listening Down Here We'll Hear Them Too LateThe Path Split Ahead One Passage Descended Into Darkness The Other Curved Toward A Faint Red GlowWhich Way Laila Asked Her Voice Barely AudibleZeyad Checked His Map System Data Offline Tracking Jammed No Signal No Compass Only InstinctWe Take The Glow He Said If It's A Trap Better To See It ComingThey Advanced Slowly The Glow Growing Brighter Revealing A Chamber Lined With Machines Old Terminals Broken Consoles Wires Crawling Acro

The Smoke Had Not Yet Cleared When Zeyad Finally Regained His Balance, The Taste Of Metal Still Lingering In His Mouth. The EMP Had Knocked Out The Room's Power Grid, Fried Every Circuit, And Left The Air Reeking Of Ozone. But The Core Still Beat With A Dull Red Pulse In The Distance, Like The Last Heartbeat Of A Dying Star.Laila Sat Slumped Against A Wall, Her Chest Rising And Falling Shakily. Blood Matted Her Hair And Dried Against Her Cheek, But Her Eyes Were Alert. She Didn’t Speak, Didn’t Need To. They Both Knew That Whatever They Had Just Faced Was Only A Glimpse Of The Greater Nightmare Waiting Inside The Hive.Zeyad Crawled Toward Her, Pain Screaming Through His Left Arm. A Shard Of Bone Or Metal—He Couldn’t Tell—Had Lodged Beneath His Shoulder Blade. He Bit Down, Yanked It Free, And Tossed It Aside, Gritting His Teeth As His Vision Blurred.We’re Still Alive, He Said Finally, Though The Words Tasted Like Ash.Laila Nodded Weakly, But Her Gaze Drifted Back To The Pulsing Core

The Sky Was Painted With Fire As The Sun Rose Behind Them But The Light Felt Hollow Like It Did Not Belong To This World Anymore Zeyad Adjusted His Pack And Looked Across The Charred Landscape That Stretched Ahead Of Them The Blackened Earth Still Smoked From The Collapse Of The Hive Behind ThemLaila Walked In Silence Beside Him Her Knife Now Dried Of Blood But Still Clutched Firmly Her Fingers White From Holding It Too Tight She Had Not Slept In Thirty Hours Neither Had HeThe Interface In Zeyad’s HUD Still Glowed With That Singular MessageRemaining Node Detected Sector Forty Seven Estimated Hostile Activity MaximumThere Were No Roads Anymore No Maps To Follow Just A General Direction And A Whisper In His Mind That Pulled Him Like A Magnet Toward The Final Heartbeat Of The InfectionThey Walked For Hours Through Burnt Forests And Abandoned Fields Once Teeming With Life Now Haunted By Silence Occasionally They Passed The Crumpled Remains Of Vehicles Devoured By Nature Or Corpses Fr

The Earth Was Quiet For The First Time In Years. The Skies, Once Filled With Smoke And Screams, Now Shimmered With The Pale Glow Of A New Dawn. What Remained Of The Hive Had Fallen. The Orbital Uplink Was Gone, Reduced To Cosmic Ash. And Zeyad Khan, The Man Who Had Set Fire To The Sky, Was A Name Whispered In Reverence Among Those Who Survived.Laila Stood Alone On The Ridge Overlooking The Charred Wreckage Of Borealis Station. Her Clothes Were Tattered, Her Face Smudged With Soot, But Her Eyes Held No Defeat. She Had Witnessed The Death Of A God And Lived. And That Made Her something more than human now—a flame carried from the brink of extinction.A Week Had Passed Since The Sky Had Burned. The Signal That Once Controlled Millions Had Gone Silent. Infected Drones, Without Their Puppet Master, Had Collapsed. Some Fled Into The Wild, feral and lost. Others simply dropped where they stood, lifeless husks. It wasn’t peace—not yet. But it was the beginning of something better.Scavenger

The Snow Fell Like Ash In The Dim Light Of The Arctic Sky As Zeyad Stood On The Observation Deck Of Borealis Station Staring Out Over The Frozen Expanse That Seemed To Stretch Into Infinity The Wind Howled But Inside The Station The Silence Was AbsoluteLaila Joined Him Her Breath Visible In The Cold Air That Somehow Still Managed To Creep Through The Reinforced Walls Despite The Heating Systems Running At Maximum Capacity There Was A Stillness In The Station That Set Her Teeth On Edge A Stillness That Felt ManufacturedWe Should Not Be Alone Here Zeyad Said Finally His Voice Low As If Afraid To Disturb The QuietLaila Nodded I Keep Expecting A Door To Open Or A Voice To Speak Or Something But Nothing Happens This Place Feels Like A Trap Built From TimeThey Had Explored The Lower Levels Already Storage Rooms Filled With Supplies That Were Too Pristine Too Untouched Medical Bays Still Stocked With Equipment Screens That Blinked With Old Data But No Signs Of Human Life No Blood No Bodie