All Chapters of ZERO-DEATH PROTOCOL : Chapter 61
- Chapter 70
100 chapters
Breaking the Trap
"Don't move," Zoya whispered, her voice dropping to a harsh, razor-thin edge that cut straight through the dense, dust-choked air of the signal cabin. She reached out blindly in the pitch blackness, her fingers clamping down hard around Ariful’s thin wrist, stopping him mid-stride as he started to shuffle toward the back corner of the room. "Stay right where you are. Not another step."Ariful froze, his breath coming in shallow, wheezing hitches that rattled deep inside his chest. "What is it?" he murmured, his voice barely audible over the relentless whistling of the alpine gale outside. "I thought I heard—"Outside, right against the rotting wooden planks of the cabin’s front wall, a low, wet growl vibrated through the floorboards. It was a thick, guttural sound, vibrating with pure predatory malice, followed immediately by the harsh, tearing scrape of heavy claws raking frantically against the frozen timber.Scratch. Scritch-scratch. Thud.Toby let out a sharp, choked gasp, his sma
The Ridge Road Sprint
"He's found us," Toby whispered, his voice trembling so violently that the syllables blurred together in the suffocating dark of the signal cabin. "The hound... it's right outside. How did it track us through this blizzard? The snow must have buried every footprint we left.""It didn't follow our footprints, it followed the scent of the blood on my coat from the station," Zoya snapped back instantly, her eyes darting through the dust-streaked windowpanes toward the pale, churning wall of sleet outside. "And where there’s a hound, its handler is never more than a hundred yards behind. Move!"Outside, the frantic scratching against the rotting oak planks escalated into a heavy, brutal slam as the animal threw its entire weight against the door. The rusted iron drop-bar shrieked, vibrating violently within its wall brackets as a cloud of dry, choking sawdust puffed out from the strained timber frame."We can't stay here," Ariful rasped, his hands clutching desperately at his chest as a h
The Freight Yards of Oakhaven
"Move, I said! Now!" Zoya’s voice cracked through the blinding sleet like a whiplash, driving Ariful and Toby forward through the jagged, waist-deep shale of the alpine cut.Behind them, a sharp, echoing crack split the howling wind—the unmistakable sound of a high-velocity hunting rifle discharging. A split second later, a fist-sized chunk of grey shale exploded into a cloud of vicious stone splinters barely a foot to the left of Ariful’s shoulder, showering them both in stinging, razor-sharp debris."He's got us zeroed in!" Toby shrieked, scrambling up the steep, slippery incline of the dry waterfall gully on his hands and knees, his fingernails clawing frantically at the frozen mud and loose gravel. "He's going to pick us off one by one!""Not if you keep your head down and your legs pumping!" Zoya roared back, dropping to one knee behind a massive, weather-worn slab of granite. Without a moment’s hesitation, she pulled her battered sidearm from her holster, raised it with both han
Hiding in Plain Sight
"Keep your heads down and your eyes on the ground," Zoya muttered, her voice a low, hard hiss that brooked zero argument as she shoved Toby gently forward into the churning sea of heavy wool coats, grease-stained overalls, and canvas duffels. "If anyone looks at you, you’re just tired shift workers coming off the graveyard run. You understand me?""I understand," Toby breathed back, his small frame practically vibrating with the residual adrenaline of the run down the ridge, his dirty fingers clutching the edge of his oversized jacket. "I'm just cold.""We're all cold, kid, but hypothermia doesn't excuse a sloppy walk," Zoya snapped quietly, her hand gripping the back of Toby's collar to steer him past a towering stack of wooden crates marked with the faded blue stamp of the regional transit authority. "Ariful, stop dragging your feet. We are not leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for Vance to follow."Ariful stumbled forward, his breath hitching into a wet, rattling cough that he despera
The Locked Car
"The cars are all sealed," Ariful wheezed, his knuckles white as he leaned heavily against the cold, rusted flank of a massive boxcar. A thin line of pink-tinged spittle tracked down his chin, but he swallowed it back with a grimace, refusing to let another coughing fit compromise their position. "Every single one of them. Heavy sliding doors, iron drop-latches, and lead seals stamped by the freight master. We aren’t getting in.""We have to get in," Zoya hissed, her eyes scanning the milling crowd of shift workers and railway mechanics. Twenty yards away, a pair of transit guards in heavy grey greatcoats were leisurely inspecting a manifest clipboard, smoking foul-smelling herbal cigarettes. "Vance isn't far behind us. If he cleared the ridge half as fast as we did, he’ll be stepping out onto these tracks within ten minutes. Look closer, Ariful. There has to be something.""I am looking," Ariful muttered, his fingers tracing the jagged rust flakes peeling off the side of the car. "An
The Tracker Closes In
"He's right there," Zoya hissed, her body instantly going rigid as she clamped a gloved hand hard over Toby’s shoulder, yanking the boy down into the deep, oil-soaked shadows beneath the overhang of a high-sided coal tender. "Don't move. Don't even breathe." Ariful shrank back against the rusted iron plates of the boxcar, his chest heaving as he fought down another violent wave of coughing, his hand clamped tightly over his mouth to muffle the sound. Through the narrow gap between two standing flatcars, less than fifty yards away across a lattice of crisscrossing rails, a tall, lean figure stepped out from behind a stack of weathered timber ties. Vance. The bounty hunter moved with an unhurried, predatory grace, his heavy duster flapping in the sharp alpine wind, a scoped rifle cradled easily in the crook of his right arm. His sharp, weather-beaten face scanned the sprawling freight yard with cold, methodical efficiency, pausing for a long moment to study a group of railway mechanic
Yard Arm Wrestling
"He’s checked the manifest office," Zoya whispered, her eyes locked on Vance as the bounty hunter shouldered his scoped rifle and took two long, unhurried steps toward the row of timber cars. "Which means he’s heading straight down this line. Ariful, get the boy inside. Now." "The latch is rusted solid, Zoya," Ariful hissed back, his voice a frantic rasp as he threw his full weight against the heavy iron handle of the boxcar door, his boots slipping in the frozen grease coating the ballast. "It won’t budge! Toby, push from the bottom!" "I am pushing!" Toby grunted, his small hands wedged into the freezing gap between the sliding metal door and the car frame, his face turning bright red as he strained against the heavy timber structure. "It’s caught on something inside!" "Move," Zoya ordered, her voice dropping into that terrifyingly calm register that meant she was out of options and running purely on tactical violence. She shoved Ariful aside with a sharp elbow, planted her boot ag
Rolling Out
"Keep pushing!" Zoya roared, her knuckles scraping raw against the jagged iron of the boxcar frame as Vance’s heavy boots crunched onto the gravel ballast barely thirty yards away. "I told you, it’s wedged!" Toby cried out, his voice cracking with panic as he threw his entire weight against the jammed door. "The latch is frozen shut!" "It’s not frozen, it’s pinned!" Ariful wheezed, lunging forward with a desperate burst of adrenaline. He jammed the iron tip of his salvaged multi-tool into the rusted groove beneath the locking pin, his face turning an alarming shade of purple as he wrenched upward. "Toby, now! Kick the bottom corner!" With a sharp, metallic shriek that cut through the howling alpine wind, the heavy iron latch sprang upward, releasing a shower of rusted flakes and frozen grease. Toby didn't hesitate; he dropped to his knees, lowered his head, and scrambled headfirst through the narrow gap into the pitch-black interior of the timber car like a frightened animal diving
Tending the Wounds
The heavy sliding door of the timber car slammed shut with a deafening, metallic crash that echoed off the rusted iron ribs of the carriage, cutting off the howling alpine wind and plunging the interior into near-total darkness. "Ariful, the secondary latch! Drop the safety pin now!" Zoya shouted, her voice tight and compressed as she threw her entire weight against the wooden wall, her breathing ragged and shallow from the frantic sprint across the rail yard. "I'm trying! The grease—it's frozen solid!" Ariful’s voice drifted back from the gloom, accompanied by the frantic scraping of metal against metal and a series of sharp, desperate curses that were immediately swallowed by a sudden, violent spasm of coughing. He muffled the sound with his sleeve, his frame shuddering violently in the dark. "Don't let him cough too loud," Toby whispered, his voice trembling slightly as his small hands groped blindly along the rough timber planks of the floor. "If Vance is still out there on the
The Open Horizon
"He’s not just out there, Toby. He’s on the ladder of the car behind us," Zoya said, her voice dropping into a razor-thin whisper as the heavy iron frame beneath them shuddered violently. A metallic clanging echoed from just beyond the rear bulkhead—the unmistakable sound of heavy boots striking iron rungs. "Ariful, the pin. Drop it right now or we’re dead." "I can't get the leverage!" Ariful gasped, his breath hitching as another cough threatened to rip through his chest. He slammed his palm against the stubborn iron bolt, the sound wet and desperate in the confined space. "The cold has warped the casing. It’s seized!" "Move aside," Zoya ordered, her boots shifting in the dark. She didn't wait for him to comply. She jammed the heel of her boot directly into the housing of the secondary lock, throwing her weight backward with a sharp grunt. With a deafening clack, the rusted pin sheared through, dropping into the socket with enough force to send a shockwave up through the wooden flo