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Smoke rolled through the underground tunnel as the survivors ran.Davion was barely aware of his feet hitting the ground. Beverly had a hand locked around his wrist, pulling him forward, refusing to let go like she thought the second she did, he’d disappear into the wreckage behind them.“Almost there!” Wilson shouted ahead. “Exit door’s thirty meters!”Behind them, Genesis groaned like a dying beast. Metal screamed. The floor trembled. Lights exploded overhead, plunging parts of the tunnel into darkness.The children—free children—ran in a terrified cluster, guided by Irene and Reika, their faces pale but awake, alive in a way Davion had never been at their age.The tunnel burst open into night.Cold air slammed into them as they spilled out into the forest beyond the facility. The hidden base, once invisible, was now exposed—fire licking out of vents, alarms howling into the dark.They didn’t stop running until the ground finally stopped shaking.Then—Genesis collapsed.The explosi
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The lights went red.Not blinking red. Not warning red.Blood-red.“Yeah,” Irene muttered beside me, tightening her grip on her gun. “That’s never a good sign.”The hallway shuddered like Genesis itself had taken a breath. Somewhere deep inside the facility, something massive powered up—low, mechanical, angry. The sound crawled under my skin.“Core’s awake,” Wilson said, tapping furiously on his tablet. “Security protocols just jumped to max. We’ve got—” He stopped. Swallowed. “We’ve got two minutes before lockdown seals every exit.”Beverly turned to me. Her eyes met mine, sharp but steady. “Davion. Your call.”I didn’t hesitate.“We move. Now.”We ran.Boots slammed against metal floors as sirens wailed overhead. The rescued girl—Mira—stayed close to Beverly, her fingers knotted in Beverly’s jacket like she was afraid the world would disappear if she let go.I knew that fear.The doors ahead split open with a hydraulic scream, revealing the core chamber.And my chest tightened.The
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Alright. Continuing directly from Cameron being taken, keeping it intense, emotional, dramatic, teen-author style.Next chapter — ~1000 words.⸻CHAPTER — BRANDON’S POVThe door slammed shut behind Cameron with a sound that felt permanent.Not loud—final.I stood there for half a second longer than I should’ve, staring at the empty space where he’d been, my palm still pressed against the cold barrier like he might somehow push back through it if I stayed still enough.“Cam,” I whispered.No answer.The room hummed softly, indifferent.Then the lights shifted.The control room dissolved into something else entirely—walls sliding, screens retracting, the space reconfiguring itself like it had never been meant to hold us for long. I turned slowly, heart pounding, fists clenched so tight my knuckles ached.“Okay,” I muttered to myself. “Okay. You don’t panic. You don’t lose it. You don’t—”A screen blinked on in front of me.Just one this time.Cameron’s face filled it.My chest seized.H
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The room felt too small for the amount of anger in it.Iron Hand pushed himself up from the desk, blood streaking down the side of his face, but he was smiling. Not a scared smile. Not a desperate one. The kind that made Davion’s stomach twist.“You think this ends with me on the floor?” Iron Hand asked calmly. “You think tearing down Genesis stopped the machine?”Beverly tightened her grip on her blade. “You’re stalling.”“Of course I am,” he replied smoothly. “That’s what people do when they still have options.”Davion stepped forward, heart pounding. “You don’t. Your systems are down. Your guards are locked out. Whatever backup plan you had—”Iron Hand laughed. Actually laughed.“You children really don’t understand scale,” he said. “Genesis wasn’t the heart. It was a test run.”Lina’s fingers froze over her console. “That’s not possible. We traced every—”“—every node you could see,” Iron Hand cut in. “Did you really think I’d build my legacy on a single point of failure?”Rami’s
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For a second—just one tiny, shaky second—the whole room froze. Iron Hand was pinned against his own desk, breathing hard, eyes wild in a way Davion had never seen before. It was weird, almost unsettling. He wasn’t the calm, untouchable monster they’d been running from for months. He looked… human. But Davion didn’t let himself feel anything about that. Not now. Not here.“Don’t hesitate,” Beverly said sharply, shooting Davion a look that cut through every distraction like a blade. “That’s how he wins.”Iron Hand laughed quietly, the sound rough and bitter. “You think you’ve won because you shut down a few security systems? Children. You’re all children.”“And yet,” Rami called from the doorway, panting as he kicked away another unconscious guard, “the children are kicking your butt right now.”Maya snorted. “Respectfully.”Iron Hand pushed himself off the desk in one swift movement, like some engine had restarted inside him. He reached under the desk and pulled out something that look
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The moment Iron Hand hit the desk, something in him snapped—like a switch inside his head turned off all the fake calm he had been wearing like perfume. His eyes flickered with this cold, mechanical glow, and Davion felt his stomach twist.“Oh no,” Maya whispered. “Not this again.”Iron Hand stood up slowly, rolling his shoulders, and the sound wasn’t normal—it was metallic, grinding, like gears shifting inside his body.“He enhanced himself,” Beverly muttered, eyes wide. “He actually—Davion, he’s not fully human anymore.”Iron Hand smirked. “Evolution is the only path forward. You children cling to your emotions like life jackets. I’ve transcended that weakness.”Davion stepped in front of the others. “And you lost your soul doing it.”Iron Hand didn’t argue. He just moved.Fast.Faster than before. Faster than human. One second he was standing near the desk—next second he was in front of Davion, metal fist slamming into Davion’s ribs with the force of a car crash.Davion flew across
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