All Chapters of THE LAST SHIFT: A Werewolf without a Wolf : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

The drones located us.I rested my back against the wall of the cave, and there I saw three silver machines that floated over the treeline. And their eyes were red, and they moved back and forth like searchlights, sprinkling the rocks with red blood.“Don't kill; prepare to change over." The metallic voice chimed in the forest.My heart was beating on my ribs. “They would like to have me alive now?” Malek grasped my arm in his hand.Somebody interfered with the orders someone was giving them." I stared at those shining eyes, and the wolf was pounding in my chest. She was just about to fight, and something held her back. It is not right.We have to go. Malek used his hand to point to the nearest drone. "I can…""No." I caught him by the wrist. And when you kill one, they will come with troops, plenty of them."One drone beeped. And then it shot. A web of glittering fibers exploded against us like a spiderwebof light.I threw myself on one side and hit the stone. At the spot where I had

For a time, there was silence everywhere. Twitching like dying insects, the fragments of the Reclaimers ignited all around us. They were motionless and heavy with metal. However, I sensed that they were still there. Not at all. They were studying and learning in order to come back stronger. Once more, the woodland was silent. Too silent. Malek sat with his eyes hollowed out from exhaustion, hugging his knees by the fire. With one blade in her hand at all times, Tyra was surveying the area.Additionally, Kieran was still staring at me. He crouched next to me, and he murmured softly,"Are you okay?" Although I nodded, that wasn't true. My hands were still shaking. My mind was still racing.I responded, "They said I was rewriting the code." "They claimed that I am a key.""You are," he said. "You were always." However, the lock is now terrified of being unlocked. I turned to face my hands.Something inside me still hummed, like a second heartbeat, even though the violet light had dimmed.

I didn't get any rest that night.Tyra rested one blade over her lap, Kieran sat close to me, half-awake, half-alert, and Malek snuggled against the wall. However, I was unable to close my eyes.Not after what I had witnessed.Subject Zero wearing my face, though not me. She was not Echo. Echo was the ideal weapon; she was smooth and icy. Zero, however, was something different; Not made to follow orders, it wasn't even made to be copied. She was… released... Her smile was different from Echo's.She didn't make any threats.She just walked with confidence as if she had already won.And what frightened me the most was that she didn't feel out of place. I felt like I was missing her, a part of me that I can't even recall losing.I stepped out of the vault as morning broke and inhaled the abrasive mountain air.Silently, Kieran joined me a moment later. "Don't you feel her too?" I inquired. He didn't have to inquire who I was referring to."Yes," he said. "Like a storm that has yet to p

We kept running until the city was no longer visible behind us.Smoke continued to rise from the tower, snaking into the night sky as a signal. It was not a scream for aid but a warning that something had changed.Something had entered the system—and lived.We went through the ruins quickly and silently.Malek led the way, a map flickering in his hands. Tyra remained behind with knives ready. Kieran has never left my side. And me? I was still shaking internally. Not for fear. But from her. Starting from zero.Because even hours after we left her company, I could still hear her voice in my thoughts.Faint…..Echoing…. Like someone humming a lullaby in the next room.Not attempting to harm me. Not even attempting to follow. Just... waiting.In the hollow of an old railroad tunnel, we set up our camp.A rusted steel beam curved overhead, yet the air was cold and damp. But it served very much as a shelter.I held my legs to my chest while sitting close to a flaming fire. Kieran squatted ne

When the sun was setting behind the mountains, we arrived at Hollow Base.It was nothing but a jumble of shattered rock and twisted iron, half-covered by dry vines. But Tyra replied that it was safe. Well, we were buried away somewhere in the cliff where the Council could not get us.Where Zero had no access to us. Not for now.Malek punched some code, and a secret door clicked open. The stale air of the interior seemed to be of a forgotten odor, as if no one had ever breathed it for years.“We stop here tonight,” said Tyra.Nobody argued. I could not really feel my legs anymore.The rest dispersed in the bunker. Tyra looked round twice. Malek discovered an old computer and began exploring it. Kieran helped me to sit on the wall.His hand was close to my shoulder as though he wanted to touch me but wasn't sure if it was safe for him to do that.I don’t blame him.I did not know exactly.The light that was in my chest had not ceased to shine. Now it was beating to my heartbeat, violet