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CHAPTER 83 — EVERYONE THEY ERASED
The knocking stopped.For three seconds, the control room was completely silent.ThenKNOCK.I stepped backward.My rifle remained pointed at the floor.KNOCK.Again.KNOCK.Three times.Not random.Not structural.Someone was underneath me.Someone was knocking from inside the facility.My radio crackled."Ethan."Samuel.I grabbed it."Samuel, where are you?"Static.Then his voice returned."Below the third island.""That's impossible.""I know.""What did you find?"Silence.Then:"Rooms."My grip tightened."What rooms?""Containment rooms."I looked toward the screens.Marcus had disappeared.Cross-00 had disappeared.Aria was gone.My mother was gone.Everything had been designed to make me react.I wasn't going to give them that."Samuel, listen carefully.""I'm listening.""Are you alone?"Another pause."No."My stomach tightened."Who is with you?""I don't know.""How many?""I stopped counting."I looked at the countdown.09:03."Can you get to the surface?""I tried.""W
CHAPTER 82 — YOU DON'T GET TO RUN
Aria collapsed against me.I caught her before her knees hit the floor."Aria."She grabbed my jacket."I'm okay."Blood spread across her shoulder."You're not okay.""It's a graze."I looked at the wound.She was right.The bullet had torn through the outer part of her shoulder.No arterial spray.No shattered bone.But there was blood.Too much blood for me to pretend it didn't matter.I looked toward Marcus.He stood at the end of the corridor, surrounded by soldiers.Calm.Almost amused.Like he had been waiting years to see that exact expression on my face."Get behind me," I told Aria.She shook her head."I'm staying.""Aria.""I'm staying."She pressed her good hand against the wound."I've spent too much of my life being told where I belong."Her eyes locked onto mine."I'm not starting now."Something inside me almost broke.Then Marcus clapped once.Slowly."Beautiful."I raised my rifle."One more word."Marcus smiled."You see?"He looked at the soldiers around him."Tha
CHAPTER 81 — THE MAN BEHIND THE GLASS
The locks opened one after another.CLACK.CLACK.CLACK.The sound traveled through the darkness.I couldn't see anything.But I could hear them.Metal doors.Security shutters.Containment locks.Something was being released beneath us.Aria's hand tightened around mine."Ethan.""I'm here."A red emergency light flickered on.For one second, the room appeared.Then darkness again.I raised my rifle."Everyone stay together."Gabriel moved toward Michael."Can you get the lights back?""Working on it."Adrian looked toward the doorway."Something's coming."Elena whispered:"Not something."I looked at her."What?"She swallowed."People."Footsteps echoed through the corridor.Slow.Measured.Too many.Adrian raised his rifle."Positions."We spread across the control room.Gabriel took the left.Michael crouched behind the console.Samuel stood beside me.Aria stayed close.Elena remained against the wall.The footsteps stopped.Silence.Then a voice came from the corridor."Don't
CHAPTER 80 — PHASE TWO
The message disappeared.For half a second, the screens went black.Then the entire city went dark.No streetlights.No alarms.No communications.Nothing.The silence was worse than the gunfire.I stood in the tunnel with my rifle raised.Aria was beside me.Adrian, Gabriel, Michael, Samuel, and Elena were behind us.Nobody spoke.ThenBOOM.Something exploded above us.Dust fell from the ceiling.Adrian looked upward."They're attacking the power station."Michael checked his portable monitor."No."I looked at him."What?""The power station just disconnected itself.""Meaning?""Someone shut it down from inside."I looked toward Samuel.He was staring into the darkness."You said you remember this place."He nodded."Parts of it.""Then lead."Samuel hesitated."I don't know where we're going.""Yes, you do."He looked at me.I stepped closer."You recognized the message.""I recognized the feeling.""That's enough."He swallowed.Then pointed toward a narrow passage."That way."
CHAPTER 79 — THE PEOPLE WHO WERE ALREADY HERE
The door opened.Not slowly.Not dramatically.It simply unlocked.A heavy mechanical clunk echoed through the tunnel.Then the steel door slid sideways into the wall.Cold air rushed out.I raised my rifle.Everyone behind me stopped.The countdown continued above the corridor.00:08:47.Eight minutes and forty-seven seconds.Eight minutes before twenty million liters of contaminated water turned the city into a graveyard.But I couldn't move.Something about that doorway felt wrong.Not because of what was behind it.Because of how easily it had opened.I looked at Elena."Who has access?"She shook her head."I don't know.""You said Marcus didn't send anyone.""I said he didn't send the people who killed the guards."Adrian stepped closer."Then who did?"Elena stared into the open doorway."I don't know."Gabriel raised his weapon."That's becoming a very popular answer."Michael looked at the control panel beside the door."Someone entered a command.""Can you trace it?" I asked
CHAPTER 78 THE CHOICE
The radio went silent.For three seconds, nobody moved.Then every alarm in the city began screaming.Adrian looked at the tactical display."How many?"A woman at the communications station answered immediately."At least forty vessels.""Aircraft?""Twenty-six confirmed.""Ground troops?"She swallowed."Too many to count."Adrian nodded.Not panicked.Not surprised.Just calculating.I watched him.This was a man who had been waiting for this moment.For years.Maybe decades."How long?" I asked."Until they reach the outer perimeter?"Adrian looked at me."Forty minutes."Gabriel swore.Michael moved toward the communications station."Can we contact Ethan's city?"I shook my head."No."Adrian looked at me."Why?""Because they'll jam everything."He nodded."Already doing it."I looked at the map.Our city.The Free City.The sea between us.And Marcus's fleet moving toward both."What does he want first?"Adrian pointed toward the map."The harbor.""Why?""Because whoever cont
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