The streets were quiet now. Too quiet. Jonah ran across broken roads and past burned cars. He held his axe tightly in one hand. His other hand was clenched into a fist. His face was tight with anger. He had never run this fast before. His boots hit the ground like thunder. Trash flew around him. The wind stung his eyes, but he didn’t stop.He was following Kevin’s scent. The system helped him. “Target is moving east. Speed: 15 miles per hour. Distance: 0.4 miles.”Jonah’s heart was burning in his chest. “Hang on, Kevin,” he whispered. “I’m coming.”He thought about Lisa. She had been crying when he left. She begged him to bring Kevin back. Jonah promised her. And he wasn’t going to break that promise.He ran through an alley, stepping over dead bodies. Zombies lay everywhere, slashed, burned, crushed. Jonah didn’t stop to look.His feet hit wet pavement. The rain had started again. Soft at first, then harder. The sky was dark. Thunder rumbled in the distance.Jonah slid to a stop at

The wind howled outside the broken supermarket. Jonah stood near the boarded-up window, watching the dark street. His hands were tight on the axe. His back ached. His thoughts were racing. Behind him, Lisa sat beside Kevin. The boy was still asleep, his face pale and his arms covered in small bruises from the wires.“Jonah,” Lisa said softly, “tell me what happened.”He didn’t turn around at first. He kept staring out the window, listening to the wind. Then, after a moment, he spoke. “I met someone out there,” he said. “A woman. She wasn’t like the others.”Lisa stood and walked closer. “What do you mean?”“She said she was like me. Changed by the system. But she called herself a Watcher.”Lisa looked confused. “Watcher?”“She said she could see the future,” Jonah said. “And that she saw my death.”Lisa’s face turned pale. “She told me,” Jonah continued, “that the virus isn’t just about zombies. There’s something worse. Something underground. And they need Kevin to wake it.”Lisa gr

Flames lit up the night sky. The village was burning. People screamed as huts collapsed around them. Fire crackled through the dry wood. Smoke filled the air. Shadows ran in every direction, some trying to fight, others just trying to flee.But in the middle of it all, one figure stood still. Subject Two. Tall. Pale. Dressed in black. His eyes were empty, no color, no light, just darkness. But his mouth curled into a cold, cruel smile.Jonah stood across from him, axe in hand.The glowing black stone from the Seer burned in Jonah’s other palm. It pulsed like a beating heart, hot and heavy.Subject Two took one step forward. Jonah didn’t move. Lisa stood behind him, holding Kevin tightly. The boy’s eyes were wide with fear.“Jonah,” Lisa whispered, “what is that thing?”Jonah didn’t answer. He stared at Subject Two, muscles tight, breath low. The creature raised one hand and pointed at Kevin. “No,” Jonah said quietly. “You’re not getting him.”Subject Two didn’t speak. But he charged.

The fog wouldn’t leave. It clung to the trees, thick like smoke, swallowing every sound. Jonah could barely see more than a few steps ahead. His axe felt heavier in his hand with each mile they walked.Lisa kept Kevin close. She didn’t speak much, but her eyes darted from shadow to shadow. She could feel it too, something was wrong. Very wrong.The black stone around Jonah’s neck pulsed harder now. It grew warmer the deeper they moved into the fog-covered woods. Sometimes, when Jonah touched it, he could almost hear whispers. “System,” Jonah said in his mind. “Are you still with me?”[System operating at limited capacity. Tracking error: Location corrupted.]Jonah frowned. “Corrupted?”[WARNING: Hive interference increasing.]He clenched his jaw and kept walking. The path beneath their feet turned muddy. Twisted tree roots reached across the trail like veins. And the air smelled foul, like rotting meat.Kevin coughed and held his nose. “It stinks here.”Lisa looked at Jonah. “Are we

The light from the gate faded. Jonah gasped as he stumbled backward, blinking through the afterglow. Sweat dripped down his face. His chest rose and fell with fast, uneven breaths.Micah knelt beside him, also shaking. “It worked,” he said quietly. The gate had opened.Behind it was a long, black tunnel. It pulsed with a strange light, slow and steady, like a heartbeat. The air that came out of it wasn’t just hot, it was alive.Jonah stood slowly, gripping his axe tighter. “This is it,” he said. “This leads to the source.”Micah nodded. “The Hive’s heart.”They stepped forward together. As they entered the tunnel, their systems reacted. [Warning: Hive Core Detected][Unity Protocol: Partially Active][Do not proceed.]Jonah ignored it. “I don’t trust it anymore,” he muttered.Micah glanced at him. “The system?”Jonah nodded. “It’s not just a tool. It’s something else. It wants something.” Micah said nothing, but his silence agreed.Back at the Chamber, Lisa wiped Kevin’s forehead wit