Smoke clung to the stone walls of the underground corridor as Lena ran, her breath catching in her throat. Alarms still blared faintly in the distance, but the closer they got to the upper tunnels, the quieter it became. The pressure was building inside her chest—not just from fear, but from the way the Zero Child’s tiny hand gripped hers.He was silent, just like before. But now Lena felt it. The strange hum of energy coming from him. His steps didn’t make a sound, and somehow, the cold around him was starting to warm.Kai ran ahead, clearing the way with his gun drawn. His black shirt was torn, blood smeared along his arm from the last fight. He glanced back often, checking on them. Lena caught his eyes. They were filled with so many things—fear, anger, but also something gentler. Something that made her hold on just a little tighter to the child.“We’re almost out of the lower levels,” Kai called out, turning down a left tunnel. “Once we reach the loading bay, we’ll cut through the

ena pressed her hand flat against the cold metal of the warehouse wall as Kai and the Zero Child collapsed beside her. Their breaths came fast, weakening, but for once it wasn’t fear—it was exhaustion. They’d fought and run and fought again, led here by desperation, by love, by the truth.Outside, the night sky glowed orange—flames rising from the distant city. The broadcast had ignited hope, but it had also sparked war.Kai leaned in close, whispering, “We need to move.” His voice was ragged. “They’re searching everywhere now.”Lena nodded, though her legs felt like lead. She brushed hair off the Zero Child’s forehead, and the child opened her glowing eyes, looking at Lena with confusion and strength she hadn’t seen before.“I can feel something,” the child whispered. “Something beyond the city.”Lena looked past her—the woods beyond the warehouse. Dark, silent, but alive. “You feel it too?”The child nodded faintly and pushed back, trying to stand. Lena helped lift her, breath tremb

The rain fell hard against jagged metal and shattered glass. Lena and Kai stood in the trenches, soaked through to the bone. The air was thick with smoke, voices, and the final echoes of gunfire. The resistance line held—bloody but defiant.Lena pulled the Zero Child close. In the child’s arms, she was warm. Real. Alive."We need to move again," Kai said, voice low with exhaustion. "They won't stay away forever."Lena nodded. Her legs hurt so badly she barely felt them. But she stood taller than ever.They navigated the shattered city under cover of darkness. Torchlight flickered from scattered resistance pockets. Faces turned toward them with quiet hope or grim fear.In one ruined plaza, they found a resistance leader: a woman named Alia, wrapped in a rebel flag. She pressed a medical kit into Lena’s hands."He’s alive," Alia said, nodding at Kai. "Barely."Lena nodded. "It’s okay. We move."They walked for what felt like forever, through winding alleyways, abandoned shops, into sewe

The air underground felt heavier than before, as if the earth itself was holding its breath. The tunnel walls pressed in on all sides, their jagged edges glistening faintly from the flicker of Kai’s dim torch. Dust floated in the air, settling on Lena’s skin like a fine, cold powder.She could hear the faint rumble of soldiers above them. Boots against metal. Voices shouting orders. The hunt hadn’t stopped—it had only gotten closer.Mira walked a few steps ahead, her hand brushing the tunnel wall. Something about her had changed. Lena had noticed it hours ago, but now the shift was impossible to ignore. Mira’s breathing was steady, too steady, and her steps had a strange rhythm—as if she was moving in time with something deeper than sound.Kai kept glancing at her, his jaw tense. He’d been trained to notice changes like this, the little signs that someone wasn’t the same anymore. The Zero Child, small and silent in Lena’s arms, watched Mira with wide, unblinking eyes.“Mira,” Lena cal

The air in the underground tunnels had grown heavier, like it was pressing down on them. Lena’s breathing felt louder than it should, every exhale echoing back in the silence. She could hear Kai’s footsteps behind her, steady but cautious, and somewhere between them, the Zero Child moved without a sound. Mira walked ahead, her hand brushing along the wall, her eyes sharp and distant.Ever since she had discovered her new ability, Mira had been different. Her movements were sharper, her gaze more calculating. It wasn’t just the power itself—it was the way she carried it, as if it whispered something only she could hear.They had been moving for hours, weaving through narrow tunnels lit only by the occasional flicker of an old bulb. The underground felt endless, like a maze meant to keep them trapped.Lena’s mind kept drifting to the sound they’d heard earlier—the faint scrape of boots on stone, far behind them. Whoever it was, they hadn’t caught up yet, but the knowledge that they were