The morning light was thin and cold, casting a pale glow over the crumbled walls where Hale's team had taken shelter. The shadows still lingered in the corners, thick and oppressive, as if the encounter with that creature had stained the air itself.

  Colt sat hunched against the wall, his injured leg stretched out before him. His face was pale, sweat beading along his brow. The makeshift bandage they'd wrapped around the wound was already stained dark with blood. Every breath he took was shaky, laced with fear.

  "It... it touched me," Colt whispered, his voice hoarse. "It had me." He shivered, his eyes distant. "I felt it. Cold, like it wasn't even alive."

  Hale knelt beside him, his hand resting firmly on Colt's shoulder. "You're alive, Colt. You fought it off."

  Colt’s laugh was bitter. "Barely." He swallowed hard, glancing around the ruined walls as if expecting the creature to appear at any moment. "You saw it. That thing... it wasn’t just infected. It was something worse. It wasn’t hunting like Shadows. It was... waiting."

  Reyes paced nearby, rubbing a hand over his face. His eyes were wide, the shock still fresh in his features. "It knew we were there. It didn’t even see us, but it knew. How the hell does something without eyes know where we are?"

  Jace sat a little apart from them, his hands clenched tightly around his rifle. "It spoke," he muttered. "That voice. Like it wasn’t just talking, but crawling inside my head." He looked up, his gaze haunted. "We can’t face that thing again. If it finds us, we’re dead."

  Silence fell over the group, heavy and suffocating. The fear was thick—an invisible weight pressing down on them. Hale stared at each of his men, seeing the raw terror in their eyes. He knew the mission was over. The priority was survival now.

  Hale grabbed his radio, turning the dial, searching for the familiar frequency. Static crackled in the silence, until finally, a clear line opened.

  "This is Hale. Do you copy?" His voice was low but steady, masking the worry he felt.

  A pause. Then, Razor’s deep voice came through. "Copy. What's your status?"

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  Hale let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. "We’re pinned down on the east side of Sector Nine. Low on supplies. One of ours is injured. We need assistance."

  There was a pause, a crackle of static. Then, Razor’s voice again—calm, but with an edge. "Understood. Send coordinates. We’ll move fast. Hold your position."

  Hale shut off the radio and turned back to the others. "Help’s coming."

  Jace nodded but didn’t look convinced. "You think we’ll last that long?"

  "We’ll last," Hale said firmly, though doubt gnawed at him.

  Minutes dragged like hours. The team kept low, their whispers few and heavy with fear. Colt shivered where he sat, his hand tightening around his sidearm.

  "I keep hearing it," he whispered. "That voice. It's in my head."

  "It's not real," Reyes said quickly, though his tone was shaky. "You're just in shock."

  Colt shook his head. "It felt real. Like it was inside me. Like it knew me."

  Jace looked toward the city ruins, his face pale. "Whatever that thing is, it’s worse than anything we’ve seen. Shadows, Crawlers... they're nothing compared to that."

  Hale didn’t answer. He didn’t know how to comfort them. Because he was thinking the same thing.

  Time stretched painfully until the crunch of boots echoed nearby. The team tensed, weapons raised—until Razor’s voice called out.

  "It’s us."

  Hale stood, relief and tension twisting in his gut as Razor and his team approached. Gator, Shadow, Whiz, and Maverick fell into formation behind him, sharp eyes scanning the ruins.

  "You look like hell," Gator said, but the humor didn’t reach his eyes.

  "We found worse than hell," Hale muttered.

  Razor stepped closer, his sharp gray eyes assessing the scene. He looked at Colt's injury, at the fear etched into every face. "What happened?"

  Hale hesitated, but Colt spoke first. His voice was hollow, broken. "It wasn’t a Shadow. It wasn’t like anything we've seen." He looked up, his gaze meeting Razor’s. "It was... tall. Pale. No eyes. And it had these... these tentacles. It moved like it wasn’t even human. Fast. And its voice—" He stopped, shivering.

  Jace took over, his voice steadier but no less grim. "It found us without seeing us. It knew we were there. Like it could hear us breathe. And then it just... watched. Waiting. Until we made a noise. Then it attacked."

  Silence fell over the group, thick and cold.

  "What did it want?" Whiz asked quietly.

  Reyes shook his head. "It didn’t feel like it wanted to kill us. Not just kill us. It felt like it wanted... something more."

  Razor’s jaw tightened. He glanced at Hale. "Did you try to fight it?"

  "No," Hale said firmly. "We knew we wouldn’t stand a chance. We ran. Barely made it out."

  Shadow’s eyes narrowed. "And it didn’t follow?"

  "It didn’t have to," Jace said softly. "It knew where we were going. I could feel it."

  Maverick shifted, his brow furrowed. "Another mutation?"

  Hale nodded grimly. "Worse than anything we've seen."

  For a long moment, the only sound was the wind stirring through broken glass. Then Razor stepped forward, his voice low. "We need to get out of here. Back to HQ. This isn’t over."

  Gator glanced around, his hand resting on his weapon. "You think it’s watching us now?"

  Hale’s gaze drifted back toward the shadowed ruins. "I don’t know. But I feel like it never stopped."

  Without another word, they gathered their gear, helping Colt to his feet. Every glance over their shoulder felt heavy, like they were being watched.

  As they moved, Razor stayed close to Hale, his voice quiet. "We’ll report this. But I doubt anyone's going to believe it until they see it themselves."

  Hale nodded grimly. "They’ll believe it. They’ll have to."

  Because deep down, they all knew it wasn’t just a new mutation. It was something more. Something intelligent. Something waiting.

  And it wasn’t done with them yet.