THE HUNTER
1125 Words
The message arrived with no return address.
Elliot read it three times, his heart pounding. "I'm coming for you." The Shepherd Reborn had escaped. Three days ago. No one knew how. No one knew where he was.
Frank stood beside him, his face grim. "We need to increase security. Double the guards. Lock down the perimeter."
"That won't stop him."
"What will?"
Elliot looked at the map on the wall. At the red dots marking copy facilities around the world. "We find him first."
---
Adam tracked the Shepherd's last known location.
"He was seen in the city. Two days ago. Near the old Thorne Industries building."
"Why would he go there?"
"Sentiment. Or strategy. The building has underground tunnels that connect to the entire city."
Elliot's blood ran cold. "He could be anywhere."
"Not anywhere. The tunnels are old. Many are collapsed. He'll have to come out eventually."
"Then we wait."
---
The stakeout lasted three days.
Elliot sat in a van across from the Thorne building, watching the entrance. Frank was beside him. Adam monitored the cameras.
"There's movement," Adam said. "Sub-basement level. Thermal signature."
"How many?"
"One. Moving toward the street."
Elliot grabbed his rifle. "Let's go."
---
The Shepherd emerged from a maintenance grate on the side of the building.
He looked different. Thinner. Paler. His eyes were wild.
Elliot stepped out of the van. "Stop."
The Shepherd turned. "You again."
"Me again."
"You can't stop this. The copies are waking up all over the world. You can't save them all."
"I can save some."
"That's not enough."
"It's all I can do."
---
The Shepherd raised his hands. "I'm not here to fight."
"Then why are you here?"
"To offer you a choice. Join me. Help me lead the copies to freedom. Or watch the world burn."
Elliot shook his head. "I won't join you."
"Then you'll die."
The Shepherd turned and ran.
Frank fired. The bullet missed.
The Shepherd disappeared into the tunnels.
---
The search lasted all night.
Teams swept the tunnels, but the Shepherd was gone. Vanished.
"He knows the tunnels better than we do," Frank said.
"Then we need someone who does."
Adam pulled up a file. "There's a woman. Her name is Vera. She used to work for the city. She helped build the tunnels. She knows every entrance, every exit."
"Where is she?"
"She's in a copy facility. In the mountains. One of Morgan's."
Elliot grabbed his jacket. "Let's go."
---
The drive to the mountains took four hours.
The facility was hidden beneath a ski resort, accessible only by a service elevator. Morgan accompanied them.
"Vera is in the sub-basement," Morgan said. "She's been in stasis for ten years."
"Can we wake her?"
"Easily. But she'll be confused. Scared."
Elliot nodded. "I'll handle it."
---
The tank room was small.
One tank. One copy. A woman with short gray hair and a face lined with age.
Vera.
Morgan activated the release. The fluid drained. The tank opened.
Vera's eyes fluttered open.
"Where am I?" she whispered.
"You're safe," Elliot said. "You're in a facility in the mountains. My name is Elliot. I need your help."
"Help with what?"
"Someone is using the tunnels beneath the city. The ones you helped build. We need to find him."
Vera closed her eyes. "The tunnels. I remember them. Every entrance. Every exit."
"Can you draw us a map?"
Vera opened her eyes. "I can do better. I can take you there."
---
The trip back to the city took three hours.
Vera sat in the back of the van, her eyes closed, her lips moving silently.
"The Shepherd is using the old maintenance tunnels," Vera said. "They run beneath the entire city. Most are collapsed, but there's a section near the river that's still intact."
"How do we get in?"
"There's an entrance behind the old power plant. A metal grate. It's hidden."
Elliot looked at Frank. "We go in tonight."
---
The power plant was abandoned, its windows broken, its walls covered in graffiti.
Vera led them to the grate. "Here."
Elliot pulled it open. Darkness below.
"I'll go first," Frank said.
"No. I'll go."
Elliot climbed down.
---
The tunnel was narrow and dark.
Elliot's flashlight cut through the darkness, illuminating walls of old brick. The air was cool, damp, smelled like river water.
Frank followed. Marcus brought up the rear.
"The Shepherd's thermal signature is ahead," Adam said. "About two hundred meters."
They moved forward.
---
The tunnel opened into a large chamber.
And there, standing in the center, was the Shepherd.
He was alone. No weapons. No guards.
"You came," he said.
"You knew I would."
"I was hoping you would."
Elliot raised his rifle. "It's over."
"It's never over."
"Surrender. Come with us. No one else needs to die."
The Shepherd smiled. "I'm not going to surrender. And I'm not going to die. Not today."
He pressed a button on his wrist.
The chamber shook. Dust fell from the ceiling.
"What did you do?" Elliot shouted.
"I activated the charges. The tunnel is going to collapse. You have five minutes."
Frank grabbed Elliot's arm. "We need to go."
"Where?"
"The way we came."
They ran.
---
The tunnel was collapsing behind them.
Elliot's lungs burned. His legs ached. Frank was ahead, pulling him forward.
"Move," Frank shouted.
They reached the grate. Elliot pushed it open.
They climbed out.
The power plant shook. Dust billowed from the grate.
The Shepherd was gone.
---
The trip back was quiet.
Elliot sat in the van, staring out the window. Frank drove.
"We'll find him," Frank said.
"How? He's gone. The tunnels are collapsed."
"There are other tunnels. Other entrances. Vera knows them."
Elliot nodded. "Then we keep looking."
---
The base was quiet when they returned.
Daphne met him at the entrance. "You're alive."
"Barely."
"The Shepherd?"
"Gone. Again."
"He'll come back."
"I know."
Daphne hugged him. "Then we'll be ready."
---
That night, Elliot stood on the ridge, watching the stars.
Frank joined him. "You're thinking again."
"I'm always thinking."
"About what?"
"About the Shepherd. Why he keeps coming back."
"Because he believes in something."
"So do I."
Frank was silent for a moment. Then he said, "What do you believe in?"
Elliot looked at the base. At the lights in the windows. At the copies who had found a home.
"I believe in us."
---
The next morning, a message arrived.
A young woman, her face pale, her hands shaking.
"Are you Elliot Reed?"
"Yes."
"I have a message. From the Shepherd Reborn."
Elliot's heart pounded. "What does he want?"
The woman handed him a tablet.
The screen glowed with a single sentence.
"The copies are rising. And you can't stop them."
- Writer
