2025-02-07 00:37:07Walker stood in the long line, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. Every breath he took felt heavier. His bruises throbbed, his limbs ached, and his mind was on the verge of shutting down. But he couldn’t afford to rest.
His eyes darted around, scanning the nurses moving between counters. The place felt too quiet. Too controlled. He clenched his fists, trying to stay focused. He needed a patient card for Elizabeth—nothing else mattered. Then, just as it was almost his turn, a nurse in white scrubs walked briskly to the counter. She leaned in and whispered something to the nurse handing out cards. She glanced at him. Walker’s stomach twisted. The counter nurse nodded, and without hesitation, she waved him forward. “Sir, please come here,” she called out. Walker hesitated. Why was he being pulled out of line? He glanced behind him. The other people waiting exchanged murmurs, their eyes narrowing in quiet disapproval. “Don’t worry about them,” the nurse said, her voice unnaturally smooth. “We need to get you sorted quickly.” Walker swallowed hard and stepped forward. His legs felt heavier than before. The nurse slid a form and a pen across the counter. “Here, sir. Fill this out for your wife.” Walker picked up the pen, but his hands wouldn’t stop shaking. The letters on the page came out wobbly and unreadable. “Sir,” the nurse asked gently, “are you okay? Can’t you write?” “I… I can,” he stammered. “Let me help,” she offered. Her tone was too kind. Too practiced. Walker hesitated. Something about her felt... off. But he was too exhausted to argue. “Yes, please. I… I can’t focus right now.” She pulled the form closer. “Okay, just tell me your details, and I’ll write them down. What’s your wife’s name?” “Elizabeth… Elizabeth Steve.” The nurse’s pen hovered over the page for a second too long. Walker frowned. “And her age?” “Twenty-two.” She scribbled it down quickly this time. “What’s her address?” Walker blinked, struggling to remember. His mind felt foggy. “Uh… 45 Oak Street, downtown.” The nurse nodded and kept writing—but slower now. Walker’s heartbeat picked up. He glanced around. Something about this place, these people, felt too… calculated. When she finally handed him the patient card, her fingers brushed his wrist. Cold. “There, all done,” she said, smiling. “You should really sit down now.” Walker clenched the card in his hand. “What about Elizabeth?” “She’s being attended to. But, sir…” Her eyes flicked to the bruises on his face. “Those cuts… they don’t look good. Let me call one of our nurses to treat them.” Walker opened his mouth to refuse—but then he noticed something. She wasn’t asking. She was stalling. His throat went dry. “Please, sir,” she said again, firmer now. “Let me help.” The antiseptic stung as she dabbed his wounds. Walker barely flinched. His mind wasn’t on the pain anymore. It was on the way she kept looking at him. Not with sympathy. Not with concern. With curiosity. Her eyes flicked to his injuries, then back to his expression. Like she was trying to read him. Walker forced himself to speak. “So… how long have you worked here?” The nurse smiled. “Oh, a long time.” But the way she said it didn’t sound natural. It sounded like an answer she had rehearsed. Walker clenched his jaw. He needed to see Elizabeth. Now. When she finished treating his cuts, she handed him back the patient card. “You can go see your wife now.” Walker muttered a quick thanks, grabbed the card, and stood up. But before he could take more than three steps— Another nurse intercepted him. This one held a clipboard, her posture stiff, her expression blank. “Sir, before you proceed to the ward, I need you to answer some questions about your wife,” she said. Walker’s hands balled into fists. “Can’t this wait? She’s in critical condition!” “It’s standard procedure.” Standard procedure? Walker’s skin prickled. He hesitated for a moment—then nodded and sat down. But this time, he watched her carefully. She flipped through her clipboard and immediately started firing questions. “What’s her blood type?” Walker’s pulse quickened. “I… I don’t know.” The nurse didn’t react. She simply wrote something down. “Does she have a history of heart failure?” “No.” “Any sexually transmitted diseases?” Walker’s jaw tightened. “What does that have to do with anything? She was in a car accident.” The nurse didn’t look up. “Drug addiction? Alcohol abuse?” “No, none of that!” His voice rose. “What is this?” The nurse finally met his eyes. And for the first time, Walker realized something chilling— She wasn’t writing everything down. Some questions, she noted. Others… she ignored. Like she already knew the answers. Walker’s breath hitched. His mind screamed at him to pay attention. The nurse continued, unfazed. “Any organ issues? Kidney failure? Lung problems?” Walker wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans. “She’s never had anything like that.” Silence. Then the final question: “Does she have any allergies to medication?” Walker’s heart pounded. His lips parted—but no sound came out. He didn’t know. He had never needed to know. But somehow, deep inside, a small voice whispered: They do. His hands trembled as he answered. “I—I don’t know.” The nurse scribbled something and, for the first time, smirked. Not smiled. Smirked. Walker’s blood ran cold. The nurse handed him a form. “Sign here, stating you don’t know some of the answers. Then you can proceed to the ward.” Walker snatched the pen, his grip tight. He scrawled his name in sharp, angry strokes. “This is ridiculous,” he muttered. The nurse finally looked up. And in that moment, Walker knew— She wasn’t a nurse. Not really. “Thank you,” she said, voice smooth. “You may go now.” Walker shoved the form back into her hands and stormed off. But he didn’t head straight to Elizabeth’s room. He stopped. Turned. And when he glanced back at the nurse’s station— The two women were watching him. Expressionless. And smiling. They knew something he didn’t.
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Meet me at the Cave
Walker stood by the cracked window, his silhouette half swallowed in the shadows of the room. The light outside was still, but his insides churned like a distant storm.“Svet…” he began, voice low but firm, “…I don’t want to involve you in what you don’t fully understand.”Svet leaned forward on the edge of the couch, hands clasped tightly. His expression had shifted from curious to cautious.Walker stepped away, slowly, almost like retreating. His boots made faint creaks on the wooden floor.“I’ve pulled others into this before,” Walker continued, eyes not meeting Svet’s, “and now… they blame me for everything.”His voice cracked slightly on that last word, as if regret was a bruise he hadn’t stopped pressing.He was about to say more—“involving” was halfway out of his mouth—when his phone buzzed in his palm. A sharp vibration.No name. Just a blank number.Walker stared at it for a beat too long.Then he answered.“Hello,” he said, slowly, cautiously.A silence. Then a voice. Famili
"I'll stay till you figure it out"
The clock ticked past midnight.Walker hadn’t moved far from the window. The lights inside were off. Only the pale glow of the fridge lit the room, casting long shadows across the kitchen floor.Outside, the night sat heavy. The air was thick. Quiet.Then headlights cut through the silence — low, cautious beams. A single car.Walker flinched. His fingers curled tighter around the pistol in his hand. Safety off. Just in case.The sedan crept to a stop across the street. Engine idled. No one stepped out immediately.He stood to the side of the window, one eye just barely peeking through the blinds.Svet.It looked like him. Slouched behind the wheel, shoulders hunched like always. His signature gray hoodie up over his buzz-cut head. No sudden movements.Walker watched for another full minute.Nothing. No second car. No shadows moving behind.Still, he waited.Another thirty seconds.Then he crossed the room silently, reached the door, and unlocked it — click. He kept it half-open, letti
Svet Arrives New York
Walker’s burner phone vibrated against the kitchen counter — a deep buzz that rattled the empty glass beside it.He turned slowly, eyes narrowing. His body stiffened, just slightly, like prey sensing a predator from miles away.The screen flashed: Unknown Caller.He hesitated. His thumb hovered. Then, a quiet sigh.He answered."Walker," a voice said — sharp, urgent, trembling at the edges. "Hello? Am I speaking to Walker?"Walker’s heartbeat skipped. The voice was familiar. Too familiar.He cleared his throat, dropped his tone, and added a rasp. “No. Who’s asking?”The line held its breath."You bastards," the voice snapped, fury laced beneath the words. "You kidnapped Walker, didn’t you? I swear to God — I’ll make sure all of you suffer. I’ll make your lives a living hell."Walker said nothing. He let the silence hang, his jaw clenched, eyes locked on the fridge door’s faint reflection.The voice cracked again, this time with disappointment and confusion. “If you're not Walker, then
Clash
Walker wasn’t in a rush. He moved with the ease of someone who’d done this before.The sun was soft against the hospital roof as he stepped out of the black cab across the street, a brown paper bag in one hand and his eyes doing what they always did—scanning.He’d parked two blocks away and walked the rest. Not out of habit—out of necessity.Private hospital. Minimal foot traffic. Neutral colors. A blue logo painted on a cream wall that looked like it hadn’t seen graffiti in twenty years. Classy. Quiet. Too quiet.He adjusted the paper bag in his grip, the warm sandwich scent from the deli still rising out. Not that he planned to eat. He just needed the visit to look normal.That was the game—make things look normal. Even when they weren’t.Before he crossed the street, he slowed. His left eye twitched.There. The guy across the florist van. Pretending to be on a phone call.Another one—bent at a vending machine too long.Something in the air shifted. Not loud. Just a scent. But Walke
Walker is found again
Dax stood still—frozen, like a man watching his own shadow stretch under a dying sun.His breath dragged out longer than usual. A pulse ticked under his jaw. Slowly, he lifted his wrist and glanced at the time—a black-faced Rolex Sea-Dweller, thick-strapped, gifted by Montoya himself during a silent night of blood and loyalty.The hands on the watch ticked without mercy.Time… slipping.Only twenty-two hours remained out of the thirty-six he’d been given. If Walker wasn’t caught before the clock bled out, Dax wouldn’t just lose his rank—he’d lose his head.And the Stone-Faced Man?That man didn’t make empty threats.Already, Dax had dispatched his crew across the boroughs—Brooklyn to Bronx, from the belly of Queens to the upper glass towers of Manhattan. His men were hunting, and their phones stayed hot. Walker or Riven—he didn’t care which one showed up first. One would lead to the other.He slid his tongue across dry lips and tried to swallow, but the air tasted metallic.The gangs
Left To Die
The warehouse reeked of silence.A heavy, moldy silence—thick like spoiled milk left too long in summer heat.In the center of the dim, rust-stained space stood a single metal pole, its base corroded into the cracked concrete floor.Wrapped around it, bound like an offering to some unseen god, was a girl.Anita.Her frame—once lively and laced in neon lights—now slumped. Her wrists bore deep red rings where the thin, silver chains had bitten into her flesh. Her ankles? Worse. Skin peeled in flaky strips. Swollen. Bruised. One foot twitched every few minutes, not from strength—no, that was long gone—but from involuntary nerves fighting hunger’s grip.Her black leather miniskirt was soiled. Her crop top clung to her skin like a second, sweat-drenched hide.She hadn’t eaten in days.Her hair, once slick and shining under the club's violet strobes, now hung in tangled mats, clumped with sweat, dust, and the dried scent of old urine.And the stench...Even rats stayed away.Three days ago,
You may also like
The Celestial Heist
Lummi Gold2.0K viewsTHE FOOTPRINTS. Journey of no return.
Rodney D. Shay1.6K viewsAcademy of Death
Lusi Solona2.9K viewsZepp
Anggin Kenari1.7K viewsEthan Wilder Rise to Power
Jesse Eze545 viewsWhispers In The Dark
Juliana Arias779 viewsThis is Me
Gbemiro 1.1K viewsThe Christmas Darling
Jason Boyce3.4K views