ANMELDENShe opened a second record. It contained a series of timestamps, medical readings, and a report marked with a red warning.“During the final experiment, the system registered an event that shouldn't have been possible. Elena's neural pattern appeared in a record dated three days before the time associated with her death.”I stared at her.“That makes no sense.”“I know.”“Then how can you claim you know why I came back?”“Because I was monitoring the experiment.”Lena's voice cracked slightly.“I was the research assistant assigned to compare the recorded neural patterns. When the system detected the impossible sequence, I reported it. The project director ordered me to destroy the records. I refused.”“And they declared you dead,” Sophie said.“They tried to erase me. I escaped, but they kept looking.”I looked at the photograph of myself.“So someone brought me back?”Lena hesitated.“I can't prove that anyone deliberately sent you into the past. The records suggest that your memori
The alarm screamed behind us.Lena pushed open the concealed door and hurried into a narrow passage. Adrian followed with his weapon raised, while I stayed close behind him. Sophie limped at the rear, struggling to keep up with her injured leg.“Where does this lead?” Adrian demanded.“An old service tunnel. It connects to the facility’s emergency exit.” Lena glanced over her shoulder. “Unless they’ve sealed it since my last visit.”“Comforting,” Sophie muttered.We reached a metal door. Lena entered a code, but the keypad flashed red.“Come on,” she whispered, trying again.Footsteps echoed from the passage behind us.“They’re coming,” Adrian warned.Lena pulled a small device from her pocket and connected it to the keypad. Seconds later, the lock clicked.We rushed through.Adrian shut the door just as someone struck it from the other side.For a moment, nobody spoke. We stood in a dim maintenance room filled with dusty equipment and broken cabinets.Lena leaned against the wall, br
DIRECTOR ELIAS VOSS.The man whose authorization appeared on several restricted transfers.The man connected to the order that had erased Lena's records.Adrian saw her expression.“What is it?”Elena handed him the binoculars.He studied the man and went still.“Voss.”“You know him?”“I saw his name on the original Blackridge operation. He was part of the command structure overseeing the emergency response.”“Is he the one who ordered the transfer?”“I don't know. But if he's here, this place is more important than we thought.”Elena watched Voss disappear through the entrance.“We can't let him leave without finding out why Lena is here.”“We won't.”Adrian took out a small radio and adjusted its frequency.They needed a way to observe the centre without being detected.As he worked, Elena noticed something near the fence.A narrow drainage channel ran beneath the outer wall. It was partly covered by weeds and debris, but it appeared wide enough for someone to crawl through.She po
Elena stared at the photograph.The woman standing outside the building was unmistakably Lena Morrow. The dark hair, the familiar coat, and the scar near her left hand matched the details in the Northstar records.But the death certificate had been clear.Lena had supposedly died on September 29.“How recent is this photograph?” Adrian asked.“I don't know. The sender didn't include a date.”“Look at the background.”Elena enlarged the image.Behind Lena stood a weathered sign, partly obscured by a tree. Only three words were visible.ASHFORD RECOVERY CENTRE.Adrian leaned closer.“That isn't the original military facility. It's a separate building several kilometers away.”“So they moved her there after she was declared dead?”“Possibly. But we need to verify the location before we go anywhere.”Elena looked at the photograph again.There was something else.Lena wasn't looking at the camera. Her head was turned toward a window on the upper floor, and one hand rested against the stra
Elena stared at the photograph.If Lena had died three weeks before the outbreak, why was an unknown sender telling Elena to find her?And why had her name appeared in the Ashford records?A noise sounded outside the office.Footsteps.Adrian immediately switched off his flashlight and pulled Elena behind the open door.Someone was walking down the corridor.The footsteps stopped.A man's voice spoke from somewhere nearby.“Check the administration files. The Blackwell team has already been here once.”Elena's blood turned cold.They knew Adrian's name.The man continued.“If you find anything connected to Morrow, send it directly to command. Do not remove the original documents.”Another voice answered.“What if they're already gone?”“Then find out who took them.”The footsteps resumed.Adrian waited until they faded before looking at Elena.“We leave. Now.”Elena slipped the report into her bag.They moved through the corridor, keeping to the shadows. At the stairwell, they heard a
The name Lena Morrow followed Elena through every mile of the journey.She sat in the passenger seat, studying the message on her phone while Adrian drove toward the outskirts. Sophie rested in the back, her injured leg stretched across the seat.The unknown sender had given them no address, no photograph, and no explanation.Only a name and a disturbing claim.Lena Morrow had died before the apocalypse.If that was true, why did the mysterious sender believe she could explain Elena's second chance?“Show me the message again,” Adrian said.Elena passed him the phone.He read it without speaking.“Do you recognize the name?” she asked.“No. But the records from Ashford suggest she was connected to the original investigation.”“Could she have been the first infected person?”“Possibly. But we shouldn't confuse exposure with infection. We don't yet know whether the person who carried the infection into the city was the same person who first became ill.”Elena looked through the window.







