chapter 7
764 Words
**Chapter 7: The Flicker’s Light**
The vent was a tomb of dust and darkness.
Noah scrambled forward on hands and knees, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Behind him, Elena could hear the screech of metal—Voss tearing at the grate, his labored grunts echoing through the shaft.
*"You can't run forever!"*
Jake was ahead, his silhouette barely visible in the gloom. "Left here—it leads to the outer fence!"
Elena's shoulder burned where the bullet had grazed her, blood soaking through her scrubs. She ignored it. Noah was sobbing now, his tiny hands shaking as he crawled. She wanted to pull him close, to whisper that it would be okay, but there was no time.
A gunshot rang out behind them. The bullet punched through the vent's thin metal, missing Elena's leg by inches.
*Move. Faster.*
---
The vent emptied into a drainage ditch outside the compound's perimeter.
Elena tumbled out first, catching Noah as he slipped. Jake landed hard on his injured wrist, biting back a cry. Above them, searchlights swept the grounds, and distant shouts carried through the night.
Noah pressed his face into Elena's chest. "They're coming."
Jake staggered to his feet. "We need to get to the trees—now."
The forest loomed ahead, a wall of shadows. Elena ran, Noah's weight dragging at her arms. Branches tore at her skin, but she didn't slow. Not until the shouts faded behind them.
Then—silence.
She collapsed against a tree, gasping. Noah curled into her lap, his body wracked with silent tremors. Jake doubled over, retching.
Elena stared back the way they'd come. The Flicker's lights glowed in the distance, a false beacon in the hellscape they'd created.
Marcus was still in there.
Or what was left of him.
---
Jake wiped his mouth, his voice hollow. "I didn't know. I swear to God, I didn't know they *did* it."
Elena's hands shook—from exhaustion, from rage. "You worked there. You *helped* them."
"Not like that!" Jake's eyes were wild. "I was a lab tech. I ran simulations. When I realized what the virus *could* do, I stole the files. I tried to *warn* people—"
Noah flinched as a twig snapped nearby.
Elena tensed, scanning the trees. "We can't stay here. They'll send patrols."
Jake nodded stiffly. "There's an old ranger station east of here. We can regroup."
---
The station was a rotting husk, its windows shattered, its door hanging off the hinges. But it was shelter.
Elena barricaded the entrance with a rusted filing cabinet while Jake scavenged the cupboards. He returned with a half-empty first aid kit and a crumpled map.
"Lucky break," he muttered, tossing the kit to Elena.
She peeled back her bloodied scrubs, wincing as she cleaned the bullet graze. Noah watched, his eyes too old for his face. "Does it hurt?"
"Not much," she lied.
Jake spread the map on the floor. "We're here. If we follow the river, we can make it to the quarantine zone in two days."
Elena frowned. "Quarantine zone?"
"Where the *real* military is. The ones trying to *stop* this." Jake tapped a circled area on the map. "Voss's team didn't account for the mutations. The virus outran their control. Now they're scrambling."
Noah tugged Elena's sleeve. "What about Marcus?"
The question hung in the air like a ghost.
Jake looked away.
Elena forced her voice steady. "Marcus knew the risks."
*Just like Liam.*
---
Dawn came too soon.
Elena had barely slept, her dreams filled with gunfire and Voss's smile. Noah dozed fitfully against her, his fingers tangled in her shirt.
Jake stood watch at the window, his silhouette tense. "They're coming."
Elena was on her feet in an instant. "How many?"
"Enough."
Through the grimy glass, she could see them—black-clad figures moving through the trees, their rifles scanning the undergrowth.
*Flicker operatives.*
Jake grabbed the map, stuffing it into his pocket. "Back door. Now."
They slipped out just as the first bootsteps hit the porch. The forest swallowed them, the morning mist clinging to their skin as they ran.
Noah stumbled. Elena scooped him up, her arms screaming in protest.
Jake suddenly froze. "Wait."
A figure stood ahead, blocking their path.
Not a soldier.
Not human.
Its limbs were too long, its joints bending in ways that made Elena's stomach lurch. But worst of all—it was *watching* them.
*Calculating.*
Noah whimpered. "Mom... *that's not like the others.*"
The creature's head tilted, its blackened lips peeling back from needle-like teeth.
Then it *smiled.*
**End of Chapter 7**
- Writer
