"Stay silent," Tyler said in a low voice while keeping his eyes on the street outside. "The moment those things leave, we move."

He had barely finished speaking when he noticed something strange in their faces.

Tansy, Rose, and old man Rudd were no longer looking at the street.

All three were staring directly behind him.

Their expressions changed so sharply that Tyler felt it before he even turned—something cold and immediate, the kind of instinct that arrives before danger fully reaches thought.

He turned slowly.

Too slowly.

Outside the broken window, a giant eye stared directly into him.

It filled almost half the frame.

Red and blue light rotated within that enormous mechanical pupil, reflecting Tyler’s own face back at him.

The ape had already reached the wall.

For one absurd second Tyler raised both hands and, almost out of reflex, pulled down the broken window frame as though a few remaining glass shards could somehow matter.

Then everything exploded.

The wall shattered inward.

Tyler threw himself sideways and ran.

Behind him the room erupted in debris as a massive mechanical arm tore through the opening. Concrete cracked, wood splintered, and part of the wall collapsed inward under the ape’s force.

At the same moment Tansy grabbed Rose by the wrist and jumped through another broken side window before the second ape could close the distance.

Old man Rudd did not follow them outside.

Instead he tightened his grip on the extendable staff and sprinted upstairs with surprising speed for his age.

Tyler hit the road running.

He turned while moving and fired at the ape chasing him.

The handgun barked sharply through the empty street.

One bullet hit the ape’s shoulder.

Another struck near its chest.

The impacts were real—metal sparks and fragments flew—but the machine barely slowed.

Tyler rolled hard across the road and came up near a broken divider just in time to avoid another attack.

Only then did he fully see what the bullets had revealed.

The torn section beneath the artificial skin showed metal beneath.

Circuits.

Wires.

Hydraulic movement.

The ape was not merely armored.

It was robotic.

A giant fist crashed toward him.

Tyler ducked at the last possible moment.

The blow punched through the air where his head had been, but the fist did not stop there—it smashed straight into another ape moving behind Tyler.

The impact sent sparks flying.

The second machine staggered, and part of its outer skin tore open near the neck.

Electricity crackled visibly from the exposed circuits.

That confirmed it completely.

These were machines built to imitate beasts.

Tyler backed away and shouted toward the others:

"This gun won’t kill them!"

Above, hidden among broken upper floors, Tansy heard him clearly.

She looked down at the ape Tyler had wounded and understood what mattered—the exposed parts.

Then her eyes moved toward old man Rudd, who had just reached the upper landing.

More specifically, she looked at the metal staff in his hands.

"Stay here," she told Rose immediately.

Before Rose could argue, Tansy grabbed the folded rod from Rudd and ran.

A few seconds later she launched herself onto the neighboring roof.

The moment her palm tightened around the compact metal rod, it expanded again.

Both ends extended instantly into full length.

This time, however, something else happened.

As she gripped tighter, pale white current began flowing across its surface.

Electricity.

The staff hummed faintly.

Below, Tyler ran toward a narrow alley between two collapsed buildings.

His plan was simple—the ape’s bulk might slow inside the passage.

For half a second it seemed correct.

Then the machine forced itself in anyway, scraping both walls as it entered.

The alley narrowed, but not enough.

Tyler turned—

And saw movement above.

Tansy came down from the rooftop like a thrown blade.

She drove the electrified staff directly into the wounded section near the ape’s cheek where metal remained exposed.

The contact triggered instant reaction.

The ape roared.

Not like an animal.

Like overloaded machinery grinding through broken speakers.

A violent burst of current exploded outward.

The shockwave hit Tansy too.

Her body jerked violently.

The staff flew free.

She lost consciousness before fully falling.

Tyler lunged forward and caught her just before her head struck concrete.

The ape still stood before him.

Smoke rose from the wound.

For one terrifying second Tyler thought it had survived again.

Then the machine collapsed.

The impact shook the alley floor.

A dead weight of metal and false muscle crashed before them.

But relief lasted less than a second.

Because outside, the remaining apes saw one of their own fall.

A roar answered from the street.

Then another.

Three more moved toward them.

"Damn it."

Tyler lifted Tansy into his arms and ran.

He took the first turn out of the alley, crossed debris, and threw himself behind an abandoned car lying partly overturned near the roadside.

The vehicle had no wheels and most glass was gone, but the body still offered cover.

He lowered Tansy carefully and listened.

The apes searched openly now.

Angry.

Heavy steps shook the road.

Metal claws scraped concrete.

One ape moved toward the line of abandoned vehicles.

It examined each like a predator learning suspicion.

Then it smashed the first car.

Metal bent upward.

It struck again.

Then again.

The vehicle flew aside like scrap.

Another car followed.

Destroyed with three heavy blows before being thrown aside.

Then the ape stopped.

It turned toward Tyler’s hiding place.

The machine had found them.

Tansy opened her eyes at that exact moment.

Still dazed, but conscious enough to understand immediately what was happening.

The ape charged.

Tyler’s fingers tightened.

He was already preparing to release nanobots.

If forced, he would use them now.

Then sharp light cut across the street.

Pew. Pew. Pew.

Three concentrated shots struck the ape’s head.

Not ordinary bullets.

Laser-like impacts burned black marks across its metallic skull.

The ape staggered and looked upward instantly.

Above them floated a drone.

Small.

Fast.

Twin mounted guns firing controlled bursts.

Another volley hit the ape again.

Now the machine forgot Tyler completely.

It roared and leapt toward the drone.

A second ape joined the chase immediately.

The drone pulled back, drawing both machines away down the street.

Tyler stared upward in confusion.

Then heard footsteps.

Rose walked toward him carrying a remote controller almost as proudly as if she had found treasure again.

"Guess what I found," she said with a smirk.

Behind her, old man Rudd arrived too, breathing harder now but still steady.

He had retrieved the staff already and held it in one hand.

But his expression remained serious.

He lowered his voice.

"Quiet."

Then he looked toward the broken intersection ahead.

"There is still one ape left."

---

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Each footstep of the remaining ape sent vibrations through the ground.

Even from inside the abandoned store where they hid, the impact traveled through cracked tiles and broken shelves. Dust trembled from the ceiling every time the machine crossed another section of the road outside.

No one spoke loudly.

The ape was still searching.

Its movements had become slower now—not because it was tired, but because it was actively scanning. The heavy mechanical growls came between steps, mixed with short bursts of light from its eyes as it looked through windows, alleyways, and overturned vehicles.

Tyler crouched near the broken display shelf and carefully peered through a narrow crack in the shattered front glass.

The ape stood half-visible outside, enormous even from that angle, its damaged metallic fur reflecting sunlight in torn patches.

It had not lost them.

It was trying to confirm where they had disappeared.

Tyler looked toward Rose and asked quietly, "Can you use your drone again and lure this one away too?"

Rose immediately shook her head.

"Nope."

She lifted the small controller in her hand and pointed at the blinking display.

"The last drone is already gone. I switched it to autopilot and let it keep flying away so those two apes stay occupied."

That made sense.

Which also meant they no longer had that option.

But Rose did not look worried.

Instead, she raised one finger and smiled in a way Tyler already recognized.

The dangerous kind of smile she always made after finding something useful.

"But..."

Her eyes sparkled.

"I found something else too."

Tyler, Tansy, and old man Rudd all looked at her immediately.

Without waiting, Rose signaled for them to follow.

They moved quietly through the back of the store, crossed a narrow service passage, and entered another connected structure through a broken side door.

A garage.

Unlike most nearby buildings, this one still contained equipment.

At the center stood a machine fixed to the floor.

It looked similar to a ballista at first glance—heavy frame, reinforced supports, aiming controls, and launch tension arms—but instead of an ancient bolt channel, the front held a smooth launching surface designed to fire loaded objects at high force.

Beside it lay a printed manual, surprisingly clear and easy enough to understand at first glance.

Tansy stepped closer and studied the mechanism.

"This is great," she said, then frowned. "But what exactly do we launch?"

For one second no one answered.

Then Tyler’s eyes sharpened.

He looked toward the garage entrance.

Then toward the machine.

Then toward the street outside where the ape still searched.

An idea had already formed.

"I know what we’ll use," he said quietly.