The night was long and endless.

The road stretched before them like a scar—cracked asphalt vanishing into the dark horizon. The convoy's engines were the only sound breaking the silence, low and steady, as if the vehicles themselves were too tired to run.

Inside the lead truck, Riku sat in the passenger seat beside Ichika, his rifle resting between his knees. His eyes were fixed on the faint glow of the dashboard, but his mind was miles away—back at the refinery, back at the crater where the earth had screamed.

Suzune's voice came over the radio, faint under the static. "Status check. Vehicle two, report."

Reyes' reply crackled through. "Holding steady. Fuel's low, but we'll make Echo if we stay under sixty."

"Copy that," Suzune said. "Keep formation."

Riku finally spoke, his voice rough. "How's the rear watch?"

"Quiet," Ichika said, gripping the wheel tighter. "But it's too damn quiet. No contacts on thermal, no movement on the scanners."

"That thing's not done," Riku murmured. "It's thinking. Waiting."

Ichika shot him a look. "You sure you want to say that out loud? We just watched a giant freak of nature crawl out of hell, and I'm trying not to have a breakdown."

He almost smiled. Almost. "Fear's good. Keeps you sharp."

"Yeah, well, too much of it makes me want to puke."

Riku leaned back against the seat, silent again. The convoy lights flickered briefly as the trucks climbed a hill, and for a second, he could see the distant glow of the refinery fires still raging beyond the horizon—orange veins bleeding through the night sky.

It was dying, but not dead. Just like the thing they left behind.

By dawn, the smoke had thinned. The road flattened, revealing the faint outline of Substation Echo ahead—an old military outpost repurposed into a survivor base. Guard towers, barricades, a chain-link perimeter reinforced with sandbags and steel plates.

Phillip's work, Riku thought. Overwatch standards.

As they approached, a figure in tactical gear waved a green flare from the main gate. The convoy slowed, tires crunching gravel as the soldiers inside the outpost raised their rifles, scanning for any infected presence.

"Convoy inbound, don't fire!" a voice shouted from the wall. "That's Riku's team!"

The gates groaned open. The trucks rolled through one by one, engines coughing from exhaustion. The smell of diesel and ash followed them inside.

Riku was the last to dismount, boots hitting the dirt. His knees ached from the ride, his hands still trembling slightly—not from fear, but from the strain of never letting go of his weapon.

Phillip was there to meet them, clipboard in one hand, rifle slung across his chest. His expression hardened the moment he saw their condition.

"What the hell happened to you?"

Riku took off his gloves, revealing soot-stained fingers. "The refinery's gone."

Phillip's eyes widened. "Gone? As in destroyed?"

"Buried," Suzune said flatly, stepping out behind Riku. Her left sleeve was torn and her face streaked with grime. "We had no choice. The bunker went critical. We triggered the failsafes, but it didn't die."

Phillip frowned. "It?"

Ichika cut in. "Some kind of experiment—human, but not. Thing woke up and decided to turn the place inside out."

Reyes added, "It made copies of itself. Smaller ones. Adaptive. Fast."

Phillip ran a hand down his face. "Christ… does De Vera know?"

"He will," Riku said. "Once I send the report."

Phillip gestured toward the command tent. "Come on. You all look like hell."

Inside, the tent was dim, lit by a single hanging bulb powered by a generator. The smell of coffee and metal filled the air. Riku sank into a folding chair near the tactical table while Suzune and Ichika dropped their gear in a corner.

Phillip spread out a map over the table. "Show me."

Riku pointed at the southern refinery complex marked in faded red. "This was Site Delta. Underneath it, we found a research facility—HavenCorp markings. Multiple sublevels, biological containment, artificial power grid."

Phillip leaned forward. "So HavenCorp was real."

"Yeah," Riku said. "And whatever they made down there… it's not just infected. It's organized."

Suzune tapped the map near the refinery perimeter. "The facility was feeding off a living power source. A human construct—some kind of hybrid organism running the entire grid. When Riku destroyed the control node, it woke up."

Phillip stared at her. "A living power source? That's impossible."

"Tell that to the thing that crawled out of the crater," Ichika muttered.

Phillip's eyes shifted to Riku. "You're saying it's still alive?"

"I don't think it ever died," Riku replied. "Just waiting for something to trigger it."

Phillip was silent for a long time, then asked quietly, "And now?"

"Now it knows we exist."

Outside, the camp was stirring awake. Survivors unloaded crates from the trucks, medics treating burns and cuts. Miko sat with Hana and Yui under a tarp near the medical tent, both girls wrapped in blankets. Hana clutched her stuffed bear tight, eyes distant.

Yui looked up at her softly. "Do you think the monster followed us?"

Miko smiled faintly, brushing a hand through her hair. "No. It's too far. We're safe now."

But even as she said it, she didn't believe it.

Suzune stood near the barricade, cleaning her rifle. The barrel was warped from heat. Ichika sat nearby, chewing on a ration bar, staring into nothing.

"You ever think we're just delaying the inevitable?" Ichika said suddenly.

Suzune didn't look up. "Every day."

"Still doing it anyway?"

"Yeah," Suzune said. "Because the alternative's worse."

Ichika smirked faintly. "You sound like Riku."

Suzune shrugged. "He rubs off on people."

In the command tent, Phillip had finished writing his report. "We'll send this to the MOA Complex. Thomas needs to see it. If HavenCorp was experimenting with bioenergy, this isn't just an infection—it's a design."

Riku looked up. "A weapon."

Phillip nodded grimly. "And one that might not be contained by distance anymore."

Sato entered, limping slightly. "We've started refueling the trucks. We can relocate within the hour if needed."

Riku shook his head. "No. We'll hold Echo for now. It's fortified, and we're running on fumes. People need rest."

Phillip hesitated. "You sure that's wise? If that thing finds us—"

"It will," Riku interrupted. "But we'll be ready."

Sato exhaled. "You sound like a man planning for a siege."

Riku met his eyes. "That's exactly what this is."

By afternoon, the base had settled into a grim rhythm.Engineers patched fences. Scouts rotated watch on the towers. The survivors—those who'd made it out—slept where they could, too tired to speak.

But unease lingered in every breath of air.

Suzune was in the watchtower when she saw it—movement far beyond the horizon, near the smoke trails from the refinery. She zoomed in through her binoculars. At first, it looked like heat distortion. Then she realized it was the ground itself shifting.

She grabbed the radio. "Riku. You need to see this."

Within seconds, Riku was climbing the tower ladder. When he reached her, she handed him the binoculars wordlessly.

He focused them. The soil near the refinery's ruins was buckling again—small at first, then spreading outward like ripples.Something was growing.

"Roots," Riku muttered. "It's spreading underground."

Suzune's face paled. "Like veins."

They both turned as the earth tremor reached them, subtle but unmistakable—a faint vibration beneath their boots.

"Alert the base," Riku said. "Now."

The alarm went off across Substation Echo. Soldiers rushed to positions, manning the walls, mounting machine guns. The survivors huddled in the shelter areas as dust shook from the tents.

Phillip ran up to Riku's position. "Report!"

Riku pointed east. "It's not coming on the surface—it's tunneling. It's looking for something."

Sato swore under his breath. "You think it's after us?"

"No," Riku said. "Not yet."

The vibration stopped as suddenly as it started. The silence that followed was worse than the noise.

Suzune frowned. "Why stop?"

Riku didn't answer. He just stared out into the distance, eyes narrowing.

Night fell again, and with it came the wind—dry, cold, carrying the faint smell of burnt metal and rain. The fires from the refinery were almost gone now, just dull glows on the horizon.

Ichika was on perimeter watch, tapping the side of her helmet to keep herself awake. The radio hissed occasionally, faint static whispering through her earpiece. Then, without warning, a voice cut through.

"...Riku… come back…"

Ichika froze. "What the hell—?"

She turned her frequency dial, but the voice repeated—faint, broken, undeniably female.

"...come back… Riku…"

Suzune appeared beside her seconds later. "You hear that?"

Ichika nodded. "Yeah. Sounds like—"

"—Miko," Riku's voice finished from behind them. He'd heard it too. His expression was tense, eyes sharp.

Suzune frowned. "That's impossible. Miko's in the medical tent."

Riku grabbed the radio from Ichika's hand, pressing transmit. "Identify yourself."

Static. Then the same voice, now clearer.

"Help me… it's dark…"

Ichika's hands shook. "That's her voice, Riku. I swear."

Riku's jaw clenched. "No. That's not her. It's mimicking."

Before they could react, the floodlights across the perimeter flickered—once, twice—and then went dark.

The hum of the generators sputtered out, replaced by the sound of the wind and something else… something faint, almost like a heartbeat beneath the ground.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Suzune whispered, "Oh, hell."

Riku raised his rifle and switched to night vision. "Positions. Now."

Phillip's voice came over comms. "We've lost main power—backup's offline! What's going on out there?!"

Riku stared into the darkness beyond the walls.

For a moment, he saw nothing.

Then, slowly, the ground outside the fence began to move.

The soil shifted, cracking apart, and from it rose shapes—black, glistening, almost human. Their bodies dripped molten residue, their eyes glowing faint blue.

Ichika's breath hitched. "They found us."

Riku raised his rifle, eyes cold. "Then this time, we finish it."

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