All Chapters of HUMBLE & WILD: Chapter 101
- Chapter 110
150 chapters
Chapter 101: The Gathering of Shadows
Location: Detroit, The Iron Room — 22:40 p.m.POV: MariaThe Iron Room was not a place for peace. It was a fortress hidden beneath an abandoned steel mill on Detroit’s east side. The walls still smelled faintly of rust and oil, the air heavy with decades of dust. Tonight, it pulsed with the low murmur of men and women who shaped wars from the shadows.Maria sat at the far end of the table, her back straight, her eyes sharp. The leather chair creaked under her weight, but her stillness made it sound like a growl. She hadn’t asked to be here, but Harrington had insisted. “If we don’t show strength,” he had said, “we’ll leave as prey.”The room was lit by a single steel chandelier, its bulbs flickering like dying stars. Around the oval table sat the kingpins — cartel chiefs, warlords, arms brokers, and defected intelligence officers. None trusted the other. Each carried their own army outside, engines rumbling through the night as proof of power.At the head of the table sat Marcus Webb,
Chapter 102: Fire in the Wires
Location: Detroit — The Iron Room, Lower LevelsTime: 22:55 p.m.POV: MariaThe prototypes came fast, blurs of muscle and steel under human skin. Their eyes glowed faint blue, scanning the chaos as if every heartbeat was a target.Maria fired first. The bullet tore through the closest one’s temple. For a breathless second, it staggered—then smiled, blood slicking its teeth, and lunged again.“Move!” Harrington bellowed, shotgun bucking against his shoulder. Each blast shredded walls but only slowed the monsters. “Maria, get that drive out of here!”Her hand clenched the cold metal drive. Every instinct screamed to bolt, but Webb’s voice pinned her in place.“Don’t run yet!” he shouted over the gunfire. His suit jacket was torn, his tie dangling loose, but his eyes burned with command. “If Lazarus wants you gone, they’ll track you before you hit the street. We burn their feed from here—now—or you’re already dead.”Maria aimed again, rage sharpening her focus. “Why should I trust you, M
Chapter 103: Shackles in Silk
Location: Detroit — Lazarus Subterranean FacilityTime: 07:42 a.m.POV: MariaMaria woke to chains.Her wrists burned where steel cuffs dug into her skin, her head heavy from the sedative they’d pumped into her veins. The air reeked of antiseptic and ozone, a laboratory smell that never faded from Lazarus’s halls.She opened her eyes slowly. The room was vast, lined with glass cells that glowed faint blue. Inside each cell floated a shadow of a human—half-formed, features flickering like static on a broken screen. Copies. Ghosts that breathed but weren’t alive.Her stomach turned. So Harrington was right.“You’re awake.”The voice pulled her gaze to the far end of the chamber. The emissary stood there, immaculate in a tailored suit, hands clasped behind his back. His face was calm, his tone almost gentle.“You fought well,” he said. “But Lazarus doesn’t waste talent. You’re here because you belong here.”Maria’s throat was raw, but her voice cut through anyway. “If this is recruitment
Chapter 104: Beneath the Surface
Location: Detroit — Lazarus Underground ComplexTime: 08:17 a.m.POV: HarringtonThe fall lasted forever and ended too soon.Harrington crashed through layers of concrete and twisted metal, his body slamming against debris as the Lazarus facility collapsed around them like a house of cards. Water rushed from ruptured pipes, mixing with sparking electrical conduits to create a deadly maze of obstacles in the darkness below. The air reeked of ozone, burnt electronics, and something else—something organic and wrong that made his stomach clench.He rolled to his side, spitting blood and concrete dust. His ribs screamed in protest, at least two of them cracked from the impact, but he was breathing. Air moved in and out of his lungs without the wet sound that meant punctured organs. That counted as victory in his book."Maria!" His voice echoed through the rubble-strewn chamber, bouncing off unseen walls in the red-lit darkness. "Webb! Sound off!"A groan echoed from his left, followed by t
Chapter 105: The Voice in the Dark
Location: Lazarus Facility Tunnels — Sublevel 3Time: 08:42 a.m.POV: MariaThe tunnel swallowed her whole.Each step Maria took pulled her deeper into a world where sound twisted and memory blurred. The walls dripped with condensation, the air heavy with rust and damp earth. Behind her, Harrington’s warning still echoed: Not Isabel. Not anymore.But the song lingered, soft and fragile, carrying her back to nights when Isabel used to hum to calm the fire sirens outside their old Vinewood apartment. The melody was crooked now, halting like it came from a throat not built for music. Yet it was still hers.“Isabel,” Maria whispered.The tunnel widened into a chamber. Dim lights buzzed overhead, revealing cages welded into the walls. Inside, figures shifted—half men, half constructs, their skin patchworked with Lazarus biotech. Some stared blankly at her. Others whispered nonsense, voices broken by implants.Maria’s grip on her pistol tightened.From the far corner, the song stopped. A fi
Chapter 106: The Fractured Path
Location: Lazarus Facility Tunnels, Sublevel 3 → Collapse ZoneTime: 08:59 a.m.POV: MariaThe world split in two.Isabel’s hand clamped on her wrist like iron, glowing veins burning against Maria’s skin. Harrington’s grip on her other arm was just as fierce, dragging her toward the exit as the chamber crumbled around them.“Maria!” Harrington barked. “Now!”“Don’t let go!” Isabel screamed, her voice cracking through the chaos.The ceiling groaned, a slab of concrete smashing down where Maria had stood seconds before. Dust and fire filled the chamber. The prototypes shrieked as their bodies collapsed into glowing ash.Maria’s lungs burned. The choice carved her in half.She ripped free of both grips. For a heartbeat, she stood alone, caught between blood and mission. Her pulse thundered in her ears.Then she turned, grabbing Harrington’s sleeve. “We move!”Isabel’s face shattered. “You promised!”Maria’s chest wrenched. But Harrington pulled her hard, and together they dove into the c
Chapter 107: Breaking the Relay
Location: Lazarus Facility Tunnels — Collapse ZoneTime: 09:06 a.m.POV: HarringtonThe white light swallowed everything.For a heartbeat, Harrington thought he was dead. Then sound came rushing back—screams of metal, a pulse like thunder rolling through the walls, Maria’s ragged breathing just ahead of him.The Juggernaut staggered, convulsing. The override device blinked red against its chest, sending tendrils of energy crawling along its plated skin.“Webb!” Harrington roared. “Shut it down now!”“I’m trying!” Webb’s voice cracked from behind a pile of debris. Fingers flew across his broken keyboard, sparks licking his hands. “System’s fighting me—like it knows I’m in!”Maria scrambled back from the Juggernaut, her pistol empty, blood streaking her cheek. “It’s not going down—”The creature bellowed, a sound that shook the tunnel to its bones. Its chest split open in seams of glowing blue, wires writhing like serpents.Daniel, coughing blood but still on his feet, laughed hoarsely.
Chapter 108: Echoes Before Midnight
Location: Abandoned Textile Warehouse, Riverside DistrictTime: 2:43 p.m.POV: MariaThe warehouse reeked of mildew and rust. Shafts of afternoon light cut through broken windows, striping the dust-choked air. Maria leaned against a cracked pillar, wrapping her arm tighter to hide the faint glow beneath her skin.They’d been silent since dragging themselves out of the tunnels. The Juggernaut’s corpse, left smoldering behind them, weighed heavier than victory.Webb sat cross-legged on the concrete floor, typing furiously. His laptop fan whined, echoing like an insect’s wings. Every few minutes he cursed under his breath.Daniel paced like a caged wolf, his injured arm bound against his chest. Sweat dripped from his brow, but his grin never faltered. “So. Midnight at the river. Sounds romantic, Harrington. Planning a date?”Harrington didn’t answer. He stood by the warehouse’s broken bay door, staring out at the sluggish river beyond. His shotgun rested against his shoulder, but Maria n
Chapter 109: The Silent Fortress
Location: Abandoned Textile Warehouse, Riverside DistrictTime: 4:07 p.m.POV: HarringtonThe storm outside was building, thunder echoing through the broken rafters like war drums. Harrington stood in the center of the warehouse, the flickering light from a broken bulb casting him in harsh lines. Every instinct screamed that time was short.Maria pressed a rag against her wrist, but Harrington caught the faint glow pulsing beneath her sleeve. He didn’t comment. Not now. The team needed unity, not fractures.“Listen up,” he barked, drawing every eye. “We don’t know when Lazarus moves, but they’re already close. We turn this warehouse into a fortress. If we fall, we fall with teeth bared.”Daniel grinned like a predator. “Finally. I was worried you’d tell us to run.”Webb set his laptop on a crate, already pulling cables from his pack. “I can rig motion sensors using the old factory lines. Won’t last long, but it’ll give us early warning.”“Do it,” Harrington ordered. “Daniel, reinforce
Chapter 110: The Siege Breaks
Location: Abandoned Textile Warehouse, Riverside DistrictTime: 12:41 a.m.POV: MariaThe first impact rattled the walls. Wood cracked. Steel groaned. The barricade they’d built at the west wall shook under the force of something more than human.Maria braced behind a crate, pistol in hand, pulse thundering louder than the storm outside. Harrington’s voice cut sharp through the dark.“Hold positions! Don’t fire until you see them!”The second impact came harder. Dust rained from the rafters. Webb’s sensors screeched before dying in a hiss of static.“They’ve killed the grid,” Webb shouted, frantically pulling wires. “We’re blind!”Then the wall gave way.Metal screamed as it tore apart, and shadows poured in—Lazarus soldiers, their eyes faintly glowing, movements too smooth, too fast. Bullets wouldn’t hold them. Maria knew it before the first shot rang.Daniel didn’t care. He charged headlong, firing both pistols, each muzzle flash a curse spat into the storm. “Come on, you bastards!