LOGIN"If we have to crawl through one more muddy, freezing trench while dodging automated scout drones, I am officially resigning from the apocalypse!" Kai wheezed, adjusting the strap of his modified kinetic rail-rifle as we crouched behind a low, snow-covered embankment."Save your breath for the extraction run, Kai," I whispered back, my dark purple eyes scanning the grey,jagged horizon ahead of us. "We are twenty yards away from the secondary military installation where Lucian's signal originated. If Adrian's tactical assessment is correct, the guards inside are holding information on my brother's exact transit route.""And if it's another HELIX staging trap like Base Victor-Nine?" Leo grunted, leaning his massive shoulders against a frozen rock wall while keeping his hands braced on the earth."Then we blast our way through them, rescue the prisoner, and ask questions while driving away in a stolen vehicle," I replied firmly, summoning a tiny, silent blade of pitch-black and purple pl
Dust settled over the concrete floor of the abandoned mountain church."If Daniel keeps staring at that wooden table like it stole his lunch, I am going to throw a soft pillow at his face!" Ethan shouted, waving his wooden ladle while adjusting his blanket wrap."Ethan, show some respect and lower your voice," Nora scolded sharply, dabbing an antiseptic swab against Daniel’s cut forehead.HISSSSSSS!"Ow!" Daniel winced slightly, sitting completely still on a wooden pew. His face was pale, covered in dark soot and dried blood, his brown eyes staring blankly at his own lap. "Nora, don't waste the sterile bandages on me.Save them for the wounded guards from Sector Four.""Daniel, stop acting like a dramatic martyr," Nora ordered, slapping a square bandage over his brow with a loud TAP! "Victor did not pull you through a collapsing blast door, fight off a twelve-foot mutated beast, and blow up a control room just so you could bleed out from a
The grey suppression field hummed louder from the four watchtower pillars, creating a heavy, suffocating pressure across the central courtyard.HUMMMMMMMM-BZZZZZZZT!"My legs feel like they're encased in wet cement!" Ethan shrieked, waddling behind a concrete barrier while holding his wooden ladle over his head like a tiny umbrella. "And my dark fire matches are completely out of order!""Ethan, stop waddling and keep your head down!" Kai yelled, dropping behind a stack of sandbags. He racked his kinetic rail-rifle bolt back, but the glowing blue charge lights on the side sputtered out instantly. "My rail-rifle's battery circuit is completely dead! We're down to standard kinetic bullets!""Standard bullets work just fine against turnip-headed traitors!" I roared, trying to force a dark purple fire blade out of my knuckles.A tiny, weak violet ember flickered over my index finger, popped weakly, and vanished into thin air.POP!
"If one more frozen twig snaps under my boot, I am declaring war on winter and setting this entire forest on fire!" I whispered loudly, ducking behind a heavy wooden crate buried in the deep snow.CRACK!"Mia, stop threatening the trees and keep your eyes on the northern searchlight," Adrian instructed, crouching directly beside me behind the frost-dusted barricade. His broadsword was held low, the blue lightning static along its heavy steel edge dimmed to a faint, silent hum. "Base Victor-Nine's perimeter guard has doubled their watch rotations since nineteen hundred hours.""Which proves they're hiding something juicy, Commander Bossy," I smirked, peeking over the top of the wooden crate at the massive concrete walls of the military facility.The base looked like an absolute iron fortress rising out of the snow-covered valley. Double-layered steel watchtowers cut through the freezing fog, heavy searchlights swept back and forth across the perime
Snowflakes danced through the freezing air as our scout transport ground to a halt outside an abandoned, ice-draped concrete complex nestled deep inside the mountain valley."If another giant icicle falls off a pine branch onto our windshield, I am going to throw my boots at the sky!" Ethan yelled from the back seat, clutching his wool blanket and holding his wooden ladle like a defensive weapon."Ethan, stop threatening the weather and help me watch the perimeter!" Kai barked, adjusting his thick winter parka while squinting through the frosted side window of the truck. "The scout scanner is picking up high-frequency electrical signatures inside that concrete building. The whole structure is drawing background power from an underground generator.""Which means someone kept the lights on after the initial world collapse," I noted, hopping out of the passenger side door into four inches of crisp white snow. My dark purple eyes scanned the rusted metal doors
"Okay, let's play a game called 'Let's Not Drive Across the Entire Frozen Wasteland Into a Death Trap Set by Evil Scientists!'" I announced loudly, marching over to the central communications console and slamming both hands onto the wooden desk.SLAM!"Mia, calm down. We need to analyze the transmission first," Adrian said, standing beside the glowing audio monitor. His dark blue eyes were sharp and focused, his uniform neatly pressed, showing zero signs of his broken ribs from a few days ago."Analyze what, Sparky?! That was my brother's voice!" I yelled, pacing back and forth across the command room like a caged tiger while dark purple sparks popped angrily around my boots. "Lucian is alive! He didn't turn into a zombie snack, he didn't freeze into an ice cube, and he's currently broadcasting from a HELIX relay station!""Which is precisely why we shouldn't rush out the door with a backpack of dried noodles and a dark blade," Adrian replied calm







