CHAPTER 101; The Ones Who Don’t Stay DeadEthan's Pov;The forest lit up with gunfire behind us, the shots slicing through branches, ripping bark from trees.Reina pulled me forward faster, her grip surprisingly strong for someone half my size.“Move, Hank,” she hissed. “You slow down, you die.”“I’m not slowing down,” I said through clenched teeth.My body disagreed.Every step felt like my bones were being held together by stubbornness alone.Blood dripped down my side in a steady rhythm, warm, sticky, too fast.But Yvonne was out there somewhere in the dark, running for her life.So I ran.Evan stayed behind me, dragging Derrick like he weighed nothing. Derrick stumbled, choking on every breath.“You don’t have to do this!” he shouted at Evan. “You don’t know who’s coming! You’re making a mistake!”Evan yanked him hard enough to shut him up.“I don’t make mistakes,” he said.Thirty seconds later, three more shots rang out closer now.Reina cursed. “They’re gaining. We need to cut t

CHAPTER 103; The Night Doesn’t End HereEthan's Pov;The clearing finally went quiet.Not peaceful, never peaceful but the kind of quiet that comes after destruction. Smoke drifted from the overturned truck, carrying the metallic scent of burnt rubber and leaking fuel. The night air felt thick, heavy, waiting for the next blow.Yvonne still had her arms around me, her face buried against my chest, breath trembling in my shirt. I kept my hand on the back of her head, fingers tangled in her hair, grounding myself in the fact that she was still here. Still breathing. Still mine to protect.Evan stepped up beside us, gun still raised, eyes sweeping the trees. His jaw was tight, the tendons in his neck sharp enough to cut steel.“We need to move,” he said. “This location’s compromised.”Reina snapped her fingers at him. “We knew that ten minutes ago.”Danica didn’t even look at them. She crouched near the overturned truck, touching the metal almost respectfully, almost like she was admiri

CHAPTER 105 :Through the Fire We RunEthan's Pov;The smoke above us churned like a living thing.Boots scraped metal.Shadows moved.And I didn’t wait.The moment my foot left the bunker floor, the rifle was already up.I fired through the hatch before the men above could react.Two shots.Two bodies dropped into the bunker like sandbags.Gunfire erupted instantly echoing in the small space, deafening.“Move!” I barked.Reina shot up the ladder first, fast as lightning, using the fallen bodies as cover.Aiden went next, firing blindly upward.Danica didn’t climb, she jumped. She grabbed the edge of the hatch with one hand, swung herself onto the roof like she was born to fight on metal.Evan dragged Derrick behind us, practically throwing him up the ladder.I pushed Yvonne forward.“Go.”She shook her head. “I’m not leaving you.”“You’re not,” I said, “you’re going ahead of me.”“I don’t care I’m not going ”I grabbed her jaw, leaned in, and kissed her once.Fast.Hard.Unapologetic.

CHAPTER 107:A War Waiting at the BottomEthan’s Pov;Yvonne’s breathing slowly steadied against me, her hands still gripping the back of my shirt like the moment she loosened even a finger, I’d vanish.I didn’t let go either.I couldn’t not yet.Her heartbeat thudded fast against my chest, uneven and terrified. Mine matched it.I pulled back just enough to look at her face. Dust streaked across her skin, her hair tangled, eyes red from tears and shock. She looked wrecked.But alive.Alive.I brushed my thumb under her eye, wiping away dirt. “Can you stand?”She nodded… then shook her head. “My ankle may have twisted. Maybe worse.”I shifted into a crouch, forcing my body to hold together. “We’ll figure it out.”“We don’t have time,” Evan said behind me, voice clipped. “They’ll reach the ravine in minutes.”Reina scanned the ridge above us. “Three groups. They’re splitting up.”Danica, leaning on her rifle like it was decoration, added, “We have maybe five minutes before they corner th

CHAPTER 109:The Shaft That Shouldn’t ExistEthan's Pov;The tunnel air grew colder as we ran, the darkness crawling deeper into our lungs. Our footsteps echoed through the steel corridors, mixing with the distant sound of the men hunting us.They were getting closer.Not running.Moving in formation.Disciplined.Trained.Not Consortium foot soldiers.Something worse.Yvonne limped beside me, her breath short and uneven. I kept my arm around her waist, pulling her along, making sure her ankle didn’t buckle again.“We’re almost there,” I murmured.“You said that ten minutes ago,” she whispered back.“I meant it then too.”Her grip tightened on my shirt. “Ethan… what if we don’t reach the exit before they do?”“Then I’ll make a new exit.”She looked at me like she didn’t know whether to hit me or kiss me.Probably both.Reina reached the maintenance shaft first. A giant steel grate covered the floor, half-buried beneath old debris and coiled wiring. The shaft opened into a dark vertical