2025-10-14 21:51:26They followed the narrow trail north until the trees thinned and the ground turned rocky.
The climb was hard. The air smelled faintly of smoke from the valley behind them. Each time Caleb looked back, he saw the blue haze rising from the river. It pulsed with the rhythm of a slow heartbeat. No one spoke for a long time. Every word felt heavy in the air. Nora kept close to Luke, her arm steadying him when he slipped. Dylan walked behind, scanning the trees with a broken rifle he had found in the bunker. Caleb led them uphill toward the ridge where the relay tower should be. By midmorning, the mist began to lift. The forest opened into a clearing covered in ferns and fallen branches. In the middle stood a chain-link fence, half buried under vines. A warning sign hung crooked on the gate: RESTRICTED AREA – FEDERAL COMMUNICATION SITE. “This is it,” Caleb said. They stepped through the gap in the fence. The ground was soft with ash and scattered bones of small animals. The tower rose ahead, tall and thin, its metal ribs streaked with rust. Cables ran from the base into a small building beside it. One door hung open, creaking in the wind. Caleb entered first. Dust floated through the light coming from a broken window. Inside were old consoles, tool racks, and a generator the size of a car. He knelt and checked the panel. “If the fuel tank isn’t empty, I can start it.” Dylan set the rifle down. “You really think anyone will hear us?” “We won’t know until we try.” He twisted the valve and pulled the starter cord. The generator coughed, shuddered, and came to life with a weak hum. The lights in the room blinked once, then steadied to a dim glow. Nora exhaled. “Finally, something works.” Caleb moved to the radio console. Most of the switches were broken or melted, but one indicator light glowed faintly. He turned the dial. Static filled the room. He turned it again, slow and careful, until a faint voice slipped through the noise. “…containment… Morana… do not… approach…” The signal broke and returned, clearer this time. A man’s voice, calm but urgent. “Field teams report contamination beyond the perimeter. Deadzone protocol engaged. Evacuate all civilian sectors.” Then silence. Nora looked at Caleb. “They knew.” He nodded. “And they left it.” The generator sputtered, then steadied again. He adjusted the frequency. Another voice cut in, a recording on loop. “This is Relay 47 command post. If you are receiving this message, the valley has been quarantined. Do not attempt to cross containment lines. The river is no longer safe. Repeat” The voice stopped midword. The static returned, thicker now, mixed with faint whispers that were not human speech. Luke covered his ears. “It’s inside the signal.” Caleb turned off the radio. The whispers stopped. They stood in silence. Outside, the forest was quiet, too quiet. Dylan looked out the door. “We should move. If that thing’s still transmitting, it might call them.” Caleb grabbed a flare from the wall and stepped outside. The tower loomed overhead, humming softly. The sound was the same pitch as the pulse from the river. He looked up. The sky was turning grey again. Clouds rolled over the ridge in slow, perfect circles. The hairs on his arms rose. “Something’s wrong with the air.” A shape moved at the edge of the clearing. Then another. Figures stepped out from the trees, their eyes pale, their movements slow and uncertain. More followed until the fence around the tower shook from their weight. “Inside,” Caleb said. They slammed the door and shoved a table against it. The generator lights flickered. The hum outside grew louder. Nora crouched by the window and peeked out. “They’re surrounding us.” Caleb moved to the radio again. He switched to a higher frequency and pressed the transmit key. “This is Cascadia Hydro personnel. We are alive. Requesting evacuation.” Only static answered. He tried again. “This is an emergency broadcast from Rivermouth Valley. Deadzone protocol has failed.” The static deepened, almost a roar. Then, through the noise, a voice answered. It wasn’t the same man as before. The tone was slow, echoing, distorted. “We hear you.” Nora looked up. “Who is that?” The voice repeated, softer now. “We hear you.” Caleb’s hand froze on the switch. “Identify yourself.” The radio crackled. A new sound filled the room—low, rhythmic, like breathing through metal. Then the generator shut down without warning. The lights went out. Dylan cursed. “Now what?” Outside, the scraping began again. Hands on the door. The pulse rolled through the ground and up through the metal walls. Every tool in the room vibrated. The air filled with a faint blue glow. Luke whispered, “It followed the signal.” The door bowed inward. The wood began to split. Caleb reached for the emergency hatch at the back of the room and pulled it open. Cold air poured in. “Out now,” he said. They climbed into the brush behind the building. The tower hummed louder, the sound almost a scream. The infected gathered beneath it, faces tilted upward, eyes shining with blue light. The metal glowed where they touched it. Caleb led the group down the hill, keeping low. Behind them, the tower flashed once, bright as lightning. The sound rolled over the forest, shaking every leaf. When they looked back, the tower was still standing, but the top had begun to bend. Sparks rained down from the cables. The infected moved as one, drawn to the light like moths. They reached the bottom of the slope and stopped to breathe. Nora clutched her knees, gasping. “That voice. It wasn’t human.” Caleb stared at the sky. The clouds were still circling above the valley, turning faster now, glowing faintly at the edges. “It was something else,” he said. “And now it knows we’re here.” The hum returned, softer this time but steady, as if answering him. He looked at the others. “We keep north. There has to be another outpost.” Dylan nodded. Luke said nothing. They walked into the deep woods again, following the faint trail that led away from the tower. Behind them, the Deadzone pulsed in the distance, alive and waiting.
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Chapter 10
They didn’t go far from the research site.The air was cooler in the trees, but the hum still reached them from below.It never stopped, not even for a breath.They set camp near a dry creek bed where the ground felt solid.Caleb built a small fire. The light made a circle around them that faded into the dark.The forest was quiet.Too quiet.No insects. No birds. Only the soft hiss of the wind moving through dead branches.Dr Hale sat apart from the group with the laptop he had carried from the lab.A cracked battery powered it, the screen faint but readable.Lines of code and numbers filled the screen.He typed slowly, whispering to himself.Dylan watched him. “You think he can still pull something useful from that thing?”Caleb poked at the fire. “He’s the only one who understands what’s happening. Let him try.”Nora sat with Luke beside her, wrapped in a blanket.The boy’s eyes were half closed.Every few minutes he looked at the sky, then at the trees, as if expecting something t
Chapter 9
The forest grew thinner as they moved north.The air smelled sharp, like metal after lightning.Every few minutes the ground hummed, soft and steady, as if something deep below was breathing.They had walked since morning.The trees looked wrong now.Some had twisted trunks that bent toward the ground.Others grew in perfect straight lines.The pattern made Caleb uneasy.He stopped when he saw the smoke.A thin column rose above the trees a few miles ahead.It was not black like fire but grey and steady.“Someone’s burning fuel,” he said.Dylan looked through his scope. “Could be a crash.”“Or a camp,” Nora said.They followed the smoke.The closer they came, the stronger the smell of oil became.The trees opened into a clearing filled with old trucks and broken walls.Ahead stood a small complex of concrete buildings.The fences around it had collapsed in places.The sign on the gate was faded but still readable.FEDERAL RESEARCH SITE – RESTRICTED ACCESS.Caleb studied the symbol ben
Chapter 8
The road north started through a narrow pass. Broken rocks lined both sides, and the ground was soft from the storm. The group moved in silence. No birds. No wind. Only the steady hum seemed to come from under their feet. By midday, the light changed. The sun faded behind thick clouds. Caleb walked ahead, watching each step. He heard a deep crack before he felt it. The ground shifted once, then dropped away. He fell with the others. The noise of breaking stone filled his ears. Then everything went dark. When he woke, his head hurt. Cold air touched his face. He sat up slowly. A beam of pale light cut through a hole above him. Dust drifted in it like smoke. Nora was beside him, coughing. Dylan was farther back, pulling Luke out from under a piece of wood. Everyone was bruised but alive. They were standing in a tunnel. Metal rails ran along the floor. Pipes lined the ceiling. Water dripped from somewhere unseen. Dylan looked up at the hole they had fallen throu
Chapter 7
They left the observatory at first light.The air was colder than before and smelled faintly of metal. The sky was grey but still, no wind at all. Every few minutes a low roll of thunder passed across the mountains, soft at first, then sharper, as if the sound came from underground.Caleb led them down the rocky slope. The path turned through old pine trees and broken fences. Far below, the valley spread wide and empty. Patches of mist clung to the ground like smoke.They walked until noon.The thunder grew closer. Clouds pressed together above them, layered and dark. The light on the ground changed from silver to blue.Nora stopped to drink from a canteen. “You think it’s safe to keep going?”“Not if we stop here,” Caleb said.Dylan pointed ahead. “There’s a road down there.”It led to a flat stretch of land where a handful of buildings stood close together. The roofs were dented from years of weather. A tall metal frame marked what had once been a loading yard. Beyond it, the mouth
Chapter 6
The climb took most of the day.The sun hung behind the clouds, pale and cold. The forest had thinned to stunted pines and rock. Caleb kept his eyes on the ground, counting steps, listening for the hum that never truly stopped.They reached the hilltop near sunset. The observatory rose ahead of them, round and grey, half swallowed by vines. Its metal dome was split down one side like an open shell. A cracked road led to it, littered with rusted cars and pieces of broken fencing.Dylan stopped first. “The place looks empty.”“It’ll do,” Caleb said.They crossed the lot and pushed through the main doors. The air inside was dry and heavy. Dust hung in the light. Desks, monitors, and tangled wires filled the control room. Old coffee cups sat where they had been left.No bodies. Only silence.Caleb found a set of stairs leading upward. The dome above had collapsed, but part of the walkway was still intact. From there he could see the valley stretching south. The river glowed faintly, even
Chapter 5
They followed the narrow trail north until the trees thinned and the ground turned rocky. The climb was hard. The air smelled faintly of smoke from the valley behind them. Each time Caleb looked back, he saw the blue haze rising from the river. It pulsed with the rhythm of a slow heartbeat. No one spoke for a long time. Every word felt heavy in the air. Nora kept close to Luke, her arm steadying him when he slipped. Dylan walked behind, scanning the trees with a broken rifle he had found in the bunker. Caleb led them uphill toward the ridge where the relay tower should be. By midmorning, the mist began to lift. The forest opened into a clearing covered in ferns and fallen branches. In the middle stood a chain-link fence, half buried under vines. A warning sign hung crooked on the gate: RESTRICTED AREA – FEDERAL COMMUNICATION SITE. “This is it,” Caleb said. They stepped through the gap in the fence. The ground was soft with ash and scattered bones of small animals. The tower ros
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