เข้าสู่ระบบThe next wave hit harder.Victor’s remaining men stopped testing and committed. Gunfire hammered the front of the ranger station in controlled bursts, chewing splinters from the old wood. Nick stayed low beside the doorway, returning fire only when he had a clear angle. Every movement pulled at the wound on his arm, but the pain never reached his eyes. Those stayed locked on the clearing, cold and absolute.Ariana pressed herself against the wall just behind him, weapon ready, breath shallow. She could feel the heat of his body even with the space between them. Every time a bullet struck near the door he shifted instinctively, angling himself to keep her covered.Daniel’s rifle spoke from the upper floor—measured, lethal. One of the flankers went down and did not get up. The other scrambled deeper into the trees.Victor’s voice cut through the noise again, closer than before.“You’re outnumbered and outgunned, Nick. Spare her the trauma of watching you die. Send her out.”Nick’s reply
First light turned the boarded windows of the ranger station the color of old bone.Nick was already awake when Ariana opened her eyes. He sat on the edge of the cot, shirtless, rewrapping the bandage on his arm with clean strips from the medical kit. The wound looked better than it had the night before—still angry, but no longer bleeding. When he noticed her watching, the hard line of his mouth softened.“Morning.”She sat up and reached for him, fingers tracing the warm skin just above the bandage. “You should have woken me.”“You needed the hour.” He caught her hand and pressed a kiss to the center of her palm. “Daniel’s already outside setting the first line of alerts. Evelyn’s making something that might pass for coffee. We have work to do.”The station felt different in daylight—less like a temporary shelter and more like a place they had chosen to make their stand. Daniel had scavenged old ranger equipment from a locked storage closet: coils of wire, motion sensors that still h
The twelve miles to the ranger station stretched longer than any map could show.They walked in single file through the pre-dawn dark, Nick in front despite the wound on his arm, Ariana close enough behind him that she could reach out and touch his back if the need arose. Daniel took the rear. Evelyn moved carefully but without complaint, her earlier injuries still present but no longer slowing her to the point of danger.Every hour Nick stopped just long enough for Ariana to check the makeshift bandage. The bleeding had slowed, but the fabric was stiff with dried blood and the skin around the graze looked angry. He never flinched when she touched him. He only watched her face, eyes dark and steady, as if the pain mattered far less than the fact that she was still beside him.“You’re stubborn,” she murmured during one of the brief pauses.“You’re one to talk.” His free hand rose to brush a leaf from her hair. The touch lingered. “Keep walking. I want walls around you before the sun is
The hunting shelter held the night like a secret.Ariana woke to the shift of Nick’s body beside her. His breathing had changed—no longer the deep rhythm of rest, but the controlled stillness of a man who had heard something. One of his arms remained locked around her waist. The other had already moved to the weapon at his side.She stayed perfectly still.Daniel’s silhouette filled the narrow doorway. He lifted two fingers, then pointed toward the trees on the eastern side of the clearing. Two, maybe three figures. Moving slow. Professional.Nick’s mouth brushed her ear.“When I move, you stay behind me. No arguments.”She nodded once against his chest.Evelyn was already awake, eyes wide in the dark. Nick signaled her to stay low and silent. Then he and Daniel slipped out of the shelter like smoke.Ariana’s heart hammered. She counted the seconds. Ten. Twenty. The forest remained quiet except for the soft rush of wind through the pines. Then a sharp, muffled impact. A second one. A
The car slammed through underbrush, headlights cutting wild arcs between the trunks.Nick’s hands were iron on the wheel. Every muscle in his arms stood out as he forced the vehicle deeper into the trees, away from the road and the SUV that had tried to cut them off. Branches screamed against the metal. The chassis shuddered over roots and rocks. In the back of her mind Ariana registered the second set of headlights—Daniel still following, refusing to lose them.Another gunshot cracked somewhere behind. The rear window spider-webbed but held.“Down,” Nick ordered again, voice raw.Ariana stayed low, one hand braced on the dashboard, the other locked around the door handle. Her pulse roared in her ears. The case that had once held the interface sat empty at her feet. The research was gone. The only thing left to hunt was her.Nick risked a glance at her. “You hit?”“No.”“Good.” His jaw flexed. “Because I’m not losing you in these trees.”The words were almost lost under the engine’s s
The warning settled over the cabin like smoke.Daniel’s words still hung in the air when Nick moved. He crossed the room in three strides, pulled the blackout curtains tighter, and checked the satellite phone for any new signals. His jaw was set, every line of his body coiled with the same lethal focus Ariana had seen at the warehouse.“How long do we have?” he asked.Daniel shook his head. “Hard to say. They’re casting a wide net. Could be days. Could be hours if they get lucky with a traffic camera or a gas station ping.”Evelyn stood slowly, one hand braced on the table. “Then we can’t stay.”Ariana looked down at the closed case in her hands. The interface inside had already changed everything. Her blood. Her voice. Her father’s final trust. The choice now sat heavy in her chest—destroy the research completely, or find a way to place it with people who would not weaponize it.Nick turned to her. The intensity in his eyes made the rest of the room fade.“Whatever you decide, we do







