I used to think the worst parts of people came out through violence.

Through murder. Betrayal. The kind of shit the world above was built on now.

The infected walking around outside had made that easy to believe.

You see a man bash another man’s skull in for canned food, and suddenly humanity doesn’t seem all that complicated anymore.

But I don’t think that’s true.

I think the darkest side of humanity shows itself when people get too comfortable.

Too bored.

Too rich.

Because once people stop worrying about survival, their brains start looking for something else to feed on.

Something entertaining.

Something new.

And if they have enough money? Enough power?

Then human beings start treating other human beings like projects.

Like toys.

Like experiments they can pull apart just to see what happens.

That’s what this place felt like.

Not a sanctuary.

Not civilization.

A fucking laboratory.

My lungs burned as I sprinted through the underground corridor, boots slamming against polished floors that reflected the sterile white lights overhead. Every alarm in the sector screamed at once, red warning lights pulsing across the walls in violent flashes.

People scattered around me.

Not survivors.

Not the kind I knew.

These people looked untouched by the apocalypse.

Clean clothes. Jewelry. Soft hands.

A woman stumbled backward clutching shopping bags against her chest like she couldn’t process the fact someone was running at her with an assault rifle.

"OUTTA MY FUCKING WAY!" I shouted.

She flinched so hard she nearly fell over herself.

Lila stayed close behind me, breathing unevenly. Her condition still wasn’t good. I could hear it every time she inhaled.

But she kept moving.

That alone told me enough.

We turned a corner hard enough for my shoulder to slam against the wall.

More signs.

More of those symbols.

The Crucible insignia stamped onto walls, hanging from banners, glowing faintly on screens overhead.

I felt sick looking at them.

Everywhere I went.

Every fucking time.

The compound.

Vivian.

Jennifer.

This place underground.

It all circled back to the same thing.

The same people.

The same obsession with me.

My grip tightened around the AK-47.

The rifle still felt strange in my hands compared to the pistol. Heavier. Meaner.

Deadlier.

Somewhere behind us, boots thundered against the floor.

Soldiers.

A lot of them.

"They’re gaining!" Lila shouted.

I looked over my shoulder just enough to see shadows turning the corner behind us.

Then muzzle flashes exploded.

Gunfire ripped through the hallway.

Glass shattered beside my head.

I grabbed Lila by the arm and dragged her behind a thick concrete pillar just as bullets chewed apart the wall where we’d been standing.

The sound echoed violently through the corridor.

People screamed.

Some dropped to the floor.

Others just froze.

That hesitation saved me.

Because trained soldiers know what to do when bullets start flying.

Normal people don’t.

I leaned out from cover and fired.

The AK barked against my shoulder violently.

One soldier dropped immediately.

Another dove behind a kiosk.

The rest backed up fast.

Not because they were scared of dying.

Because they were scared of me.

Jennifer had accidentally done that herself.

Every person in this place knew something about me now.

The patient.

The prototype.

The unstable one.

The one they apparently weren’t allowed to shoot in the head.

That hesitation was worth more than armor.

I used it instantly.

I fired again, forcing them farther back while civilians scrambled directly into their line of sight.

"MOVE!" one soldier screamed at the crowd.

Too late.

The hallway became chaos.

Bodies colliding.

People crying.

A child screaming somewhere.

And in the middle of it, me and Lila kept running.

"You already know they can’t kill me!" I shouted toward the soldiers as we moved.

One of them hesitated.

That was all I needed to see.

They were scared of disobeying Jennifer more than they were scared of us.

Good.

I hooked my arm around a passing metal cart and shoved it hard behind us.

It crashed into two soldiers trying to push forward.

One slammed into the wall.

The other hit the floor with a curse.

Lila looked at me strangely for half a second.

Not scared.

Just realizing something.

I was adapting way too fast.

The partial lattice integration still sat inside my body like ice beneath my skin.

I could feel it.

Cold.

Sharp.

Like something rearranging itself quietly in the background.

I ignored it.

We burst through another corridor intersection.

And stopped.

Not by choice.

Three soldiers stood directly ahead with rifles raised.

Behind us, the others were catching up fast.

Cornered.

Exactly what I’d been trying to avoid.

One soldier ahead swallowed visibly before speaking into his radio.

"Visual acquired."

I slowly raised the rifle.

"So what now?" I asked.

Nobody answered.

The lead soldier’s finger twitched near the trigger.

But he didn’t shoot.

Because he didn’t know if he was allowed to.

I saw it in his eyes.

Fear.

Confusion.

I smiled slightly.

Then shot the lights out overhead.

Darkness swallowed the hallway instantly.

Gunfire exploded everywhere.

People shouted.

Somebody screamed after getting hit.

I moved immediately.

Not away from the soldiers.

Toward them.

The first one barely saw me before I slammed the rifle stock into his jaw hard enough to send him sideways.

I ripped the handgun from his holster before the second soldier could react and fired twice into his vest.

The third grabbed for me.

Lila shot him first.

The sound rang beside my ear.

His body folded instantly.

"Move!" I barked.

We sprinted again.

Behind us, alarms still screamed.

Somewhere overhead, automated doors started slamming shut section by section.

Trying to contain us.

Trying to trap us.

I could practically feel Jennifer somewhere losing her mind.

And honestly?

That almost made me laugh.

—

Aubrey stared at the rusted ventilation map spread across the table.

"This shit looks like somebody drew spaghetti."

Terri rubbed her face tiredly.

"That’s because you’re holding it upside down."

Aubrey flipped it over silently.

Hale leaned against the wall with his arms crossed while Isabella crouched beside an old maintenance hatch built into the concrete floor.

The underground sector entrance sat somewhere beneath them.

Close.

Too close to turn back now.

Naomi sat quietly nearby, chewing nervously at the inside of her cheek while listening to the distant vibrations under the floor.

Gunfire.

Faint.

But definitely there.

"They found him," she muttered.

Nobody answered.

Because everybody already knew.

Aubrey looked toward the hatch.

Then toward Hale.

Then back at the hatch.

"I just wanna say," she started, "if we open this thing and a bunch of underground mole people start chasing us, I’m blaming all of you."

Terri snorted despite herself.

"Can you be serious for five minutes?"

"No."

Isabella suddenly raised a hand.

"Quiet."

Everybody stopped talking.

Footsteps.

Coming from the hallway nearby.

Hale immediately killed the lantern light.

The room dropped into darkness.

Naomi’s pulse started hammering.

The footsteps got closer.

Voices followed.

Soldiers.

"...sector’s completely fucked right now," one complained.

"No shit. They said he took down six people already."

A pause.

Another voice spoke quieter.

"You seen the footage of him?"

"Nah."

"They’re saying he barely even reacted after surgery."

Naomi exchanged a look with Aubrey instantly.

Surgery.

Aubrey’s jaw tightened.

The footsteps stopped directly outside the room.

Everybody held their breath.

Then—

A metallic clang echoed farther down the corridor.

The soldiers cursed immediately.

"What the fuck was that?"

Their footsteps rushed away.

The second they disappeared, Aubrey exhaled sharply.

"Yeah," she muttered. "We’re definitely stealing one of their cars when this is over."

Hale crouched beside the hatch.

Then looked at Naomi.

"You sure this leads underground?"

Naomi nodded slowly.

"I saw workers using it earlier."

Aubrey cracked her knuckles.

"Cool."

Terri sighed.

"That response concerns me."

"It should."

With that, Aubrey grabbed the hatch wheel and started forcing it open.

—

The atmosphere ahead of us suddenly opened into something massive.

Not hallways anymore.

Not just small buildings and markets anymore.

A city.

An actual underground city.

My steps slowed without meaning to.

Massive artificial lights hung overhead like fake suns.

Buildings stretched upward.

Restaurants.

Shops.

People everywhere.

All beneath the earth.

Lila stared too.

"What the fuck..."

...Yeah.

The apocalypse hadn’t touched this place.

Not really.

People moved around dressed in expensive clothes while soldiers flooded the streets searching for us.

It felt wrong.

Like discovering rich people had continued living normally while the world above rotted.

Then the speakers overhead crackled.

Jennifer’s voice filled the entire sector.

Calm.

Controlled.

"Attention all civilians. Please remain calm."

I froze slightly.

Her voice continued smoothly.

"An unstable patient is currently loose within the sector. Armed personnel are handling the situation."

People around us immediately started looking.

At me.

At the blood on my face.

At the rifle.

At Lila beside me.

Jennifer kept talking.

"If spotted, do not approach him. The patient is psychologically compromised and extremely dangerous."

I almost laughed.

Psychologically compromised.

That was rich coming from her.

The crowd slowly started backing away from us.

Creating distance.

Fear spread fast.

And fear was useful.

I scanned the area quickly.

Too open.

Too many angles.

Too many soldiers approaching already.

Then I saw it.

A train platform.

Underground transit.

Leaving in less than a minute.

My heartbeat kicked harder.

That was our way out.

I grabbed Lila’s wrist.

"We’re getting on that train."

The moment we started moving, soldiers spotted us from across the plaza.

"CONTACT!"

Gunfire erupted instantly.

Civilians screamed and dropped.

I shoved Lila behind cover as bullets tore apart the concrete planter beside us.

Then the train doors started closing.

No.

No fucking way.

I sprinted straight through the gunfire.

Lila behind me.

Bullets sparked against metal.

People scattered everywhere.

One soldier stepped directly into my path.

I shot him without slowing down.

The train doors narrowed.

Almost shut.

Lila dove through first.

I followed—

And a hand suddenly grabbed the back of my shirt violently.

Hard enough to yank me backward.

I twisted instantly, rifle coming up—

And froze.

Because standing there behind me—

Bleeding.

Breathing hard.

Surrounded by armed soldiers—

Was Bill.