chapter 6
831 Words
**Chapter 6: The Scientist’s Secret**
The convoy’s engines growled like caged beasts as the armored trucks skidded to a halt below the rooftop. Soldiers in black body armor poured out, their faces hidden behind visored helmets. They moved with cold precision, gunning down the infected with suppressed rifles. Headshots only.
Elena clung to Noah, her mind racing. *Military? Mercenaries?* The radio had mentioned a safe zone, but these men looked like they’d stepped out of a warzone.
One soldier tilted his helmet up, revealing a sharp jawline and a scar that split his lower lip. “Survivors! Come down—*now*!”
Marcus didn’t budge. “Who the hell are you?”
“Captain Hayes. 2nd Battalion, 10th SFG.” The man’s voice carried the weight of command. “You called for extraction. Let’s not waste time.”
Jake stiffened at the name. Elena caught the flicker of recognition in his eyes—and the fear.
“Trust me,” Jake muttered, already climbing down the fire escape.
Marcus shot Elena a warning look, but they had no choice. The infected were regrouping, drawn by the gunfire.
---
The truck’s interior reeked of gun oil and bleach. Noah huddled between Elena and Jake, his eyes wide as he stared at the soldiers. They didn’t speak. Didn’t even glance at the survivors.
Captain Hayes sat across from them, cleaning a knife. “You’re lucky we patrol this sector.”
“The Flicker,” Elena said. “Is it real?”
Hayes’s gaze lingered on Jake. “Real enough.”
Jake looked away.
Marcus leaned forward. “What’s your play here? You recruiting? Trading?”
“Saving lives,” Hayes said flatly. “If you’d rather take your chances out there, the door’s open.”
The truck hit a pothole, jostling them. Noah whimpered, gripping Elena’s arm.
Hayes’s eyes softened—just for a second. “Kid’s got spirit. How long’s he been out there?”
“Since the beginning,” Elena said coldly.
Hayes nodded, then tossed Noah a protein bar from his vest. “Eat. You’ll need it.”
Noah stared at the offering, then at Elena. She nodded, her throat tight. *Kindness? Or a trick?*
---
The Flicker wasn’t what Elena expected.
The facility loomed in the distance—a concrete monolith surrounded by collapsed chain-link fences and scorched earth. Bodies littered the perimeter, some infected, some human. The air smelled like copper and burning plastic.
Hayes caught Elena staring. “We had a breach last week.”
“You *had* this place?” Marcus said. “And lost it?”
Hayes ignored him, barking orders into his radio. The convoy rolled through the shattered gates, tires crunching over broken glass.
Inside, the compound was a labyrinth of barracks and labs, all draped in shadows. Soldiers paced the rooftops, their spotlights cutting through the dusk. Elena counted more corpses. More bloodstains.
Hayes led them to a decontamination chamber. “Strip. Scrub down. Clothes go in the incinerator.”
Marcus bristled. “Like hell—”
“You’ve been outside,” Hayes snapped. “You’re covered in *them*. Either you burn it, or we burn you.”
Elena peeled off Noah’s jacket, her fingers trembling. The boy shivered, his ribs visible beneath his skin.
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “I’m here.”
---
They were given gray scrubs and led to a mess hall. The walls were lined with maps and red-string conspiracy boards. Elena’s medic eyes locked onto a file labeled *Project Blacklight*.
Jake saw it too. He paled.
Hayes returned, tossing a keycard on the table. “You’ve got one hour. Then we move you to the secure wing.”
“Move us?” Marcus said.
“For your safety.” Hayes’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “The Flicker’s still… unstable.”
When he left, Elena rounded on Jake. “What aren’t you telling us?”
Jake’s hands shook. “I—I can’t.”
Marcus grabbed his collar. “Try harder.”
“I worked here!” Jake blurted.
Silence.
Noah froze mid-bite, his protein bar crumbling.
Jake sank into a chair, his voice hollow. “Not as a soldier. As a lab assistant. *Project Blacklight*—it was a bioweapon. A virus that could target specific demographics. But it… mutated.”
Elena’s stomach dropped. “You *made* this?”
“I didn’t know!” Jake’s eyes glistened. “They said it was theoretical. Contained. But someone leaked it. Someone *wanted* it to spread.”
Marcus’s knife was at Jake’s throat in a flash. “You brought us to ground zero.”
“I thought they could fix it!” Jake choked. “The Flicker had the data. The samples. If we can get to the lab—”
Gunfire erupted outside.
Hayes burst in, his rifle smoking. “We’re leaving. Now.”
“What happened?” Elena demanded.
Hayes didn’t answer. He didn’t need to.
The screams told them everything.
**End of Chapter 6**
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