Location: Chicago Underground Rail TunnelsTime: 02:17 a.m.POV: MariaThe air smelled of rust and damp stone, every breath heavy with iron. Maria pressed her hand against the tunnel wall, its chill grounding her in the chaos of the last forty-eight hours. The echoes of footsteps—hers, Harrington’s, Webb’s, Daniel’s, and the uneasy alliance of the Kingpins—fused into one sound, a march of necessity.The deeper they moved, the more she felt the weight of unseen eyes. Shadows gathered where the flickering lights failed, stretching long, jagged shapes across the tunnel floor.“Feels like a trap,” Daniel muttered, his voice tight as wire. “Every sound down here bounces wrong.”“Everything feels like a trap,” Harrington growled back, shotgun held high. “That’s because it usually is.”The Kingpins flanked them, men and women who had once been bitter enemies now forced into proximity by a greater threat. At their head strode Viktor Malenkov, shoulders squared, eyes sharp enough to cut steel.

Location: Abandoned Subway Station, Lower Chicago GridTime: 04:07 a.m.POV: MariaMaria’s heart stopped.Isabel stood there in the half-light, framed by rusting columns and broken tiles, her outline trembling like something caught between dream and nightmare. Her eyes found Maria instantly, wide and impossibly human. No machine could mimic that sorrow. No puppet could carry that weight.“You’re here…” Maria whispered, words tearing from her throat before reason could catch them.The others froze. Weapons came up, barrels snapping toward Isabel. Viktor’s voice cut sharp: “Identify her. Now.”“No!” Maria stepped forward, blocking their aim. Her pistol lowered against instinct, as if her body remembered blood over logic. “It’s her. It’s Isabel.”But Harrington’s shotgun didn’t waver. His stare burned with warning. “Look closer. That isn’t your sister—it’s Lazarus engineering. A trap in flesh.”Isabel lifted her hands, palms bare, her voice carrying like silk drawn across glass. “They to

Time / Location / POV: 11:39 p.m., Chicago Loop — Daniel RiveraDaniel had only seconds to register the collapse.The stairwell cracked open like a jaw, concrete teeth breaking under pressure. His feet slid, weightless, the roar of fire swallowing thought. Instinct—not reason—saved him. He grabbed Maria’s arm, fingers locking like iron, and together they plunged into the smoke.Alexander’s voice cut through the chaos. “Hold on!”Steel groaned, then snapped. They fell three floors before landing on twisted rebar and shattered drywall. The impact ripped air from Daniel’s lungs. His ears rang, chest burning. For a moment, he thought he was already dead.Then Maria’s hand squeezed his. Alive.Heat pressed against their skin, the stairwell a furnace of smoke and sparks. Alexander crawled out of the rubble, coughing blood, one leg bent wrong but refusing to stop moving.“We’re not done,” he wheezed. “They’ll seal the exits.”Daniel forced his body upright. His ribs screamed in protest, but

Time / Location / POV: 12:42 a.m., Subterranean Tunnels beneath Chicago Loop — Maria AlvarezThe pit roared like a furnace, machinery grinding as drones clawed their way up the steel walls. Their red optics glared through the smoke, mechanical shrieks echoing like the cries of vultures.Maria didn’t hesitate. She holstered her pistol, sprinted three steps, and leapt.Her hands slapped against Elias’s palm, rough and calloused. He hauled her up with a strength that belied his battered frame. The tunnel shook beneath them, dust raining from the ceiling as more drones pulled themselves free.Behind her, Daniel cursed. “We’re not going to make it!” He dragged Alexander closer to the edge, the wounded man groaning with every jolt.Maria turned, reaching down. “Jump, damn it! I’ve got you!”Daniel’s jaw clenched. He shoved Alexander’s half-conscious body forward first. Maria and Elias caught him together, hauling him across the gap. Then Daniel leapt, barely clearing the widening fissure be

Time / Location / POV: 01:19 a.m., Subterranean Transit Tunnel beneath Chicago — Elias KaneThe tunnel reeked of rust and burning wires, its curved ceiling rattling as explosions echoed from the streets above. Elias moved at the front, rifle raised, eyes cutting through the dark with soldier’s precision. Behind him, Maria guided Daniel—his wrists zip-tied, his face pale but defiant. Alexander limped in the rear, blood seeping through bandages but refusing to slow down.Every step forward was a gamble.Detroit. That word beat like a war drum in Elias’s skull. He’d fought in wars where cities were stripped of their souls, but this was different—Detroit wasn’t a battlefield yet, but if they failed here, it would become the first domino in a chain across the entire Midwest.“Keep him moving,” Elias growled, glancing back at Daniel.Daniel sneered despite the restraints. “You think tying me up changes anything? Lazarus owns every corridor in this city. You’ll be dead before you reach dayli