Chapter4
628 Words
Water with blood
The sewer tunnels were never ending. Cold, wet, rusted.
The group had been walking for hours. No one said a word.
Kenny limped. Mara looked over her shoulder every five seconds. Usman held the front, silent like a blade.
Zara stood near the back. All alone with her thoughts. The silence was worse than screams.
Suddenly, metal jingled up ahead.
“Stop,” Usman said, raising a hand.
They lie low with their limbs close to their body behind a wall.
Voices. Heavy and big boots.
Three figures walked up to them, armed and marked with the red skull crest of the Sentinels. Elite-controlled killers. Bounty hunters.
Kenny’s breath hitched. “They’re not supposed to be down here…”
“They’re here for us,” Mara said.
Usman turned to Zara. “Did Tiger give us up?”
“I told you, I crushed the particle. I haven’t spoken to him since.”
He stared at her like he almost believed.
A flash grenade rolled down the tunnel.
“DOWN!”
Boom. Light and ringing chaos.
Gunfire tore through the air. Usman tackled Kenny. Mara fired back with a homemade pulse pistol.
Zara dove behind a pipe.
One of the Sentinels aimed his gun straight at her—
And then something shocking happened:
One of the Sentinels didn’t shoot. He froze. He whispered Zara’s name.
“Zara Ismaila?”
She stared, confused.
He lowered his gun. “You’re one of us—”
Before he could say more, Usman shot him dead.
Afterward.
They escaped through a maintenance shaft, panting and bloodied.
Usman turned to Zara, his voice cold.
“That man knew your name.”
“I—I don’t know how—”
“He said you were one of them.”
“I’m not!” she shouted, tears dropping. I don’t know why he knew me! I’m not working for them!”
“You sure about that?”
Silence.
Kenny looked between them, eyes wide.
Mara stepped forward. “Usman. That’s enough.”
“She’s hiding things,” Usman growled. “And it’s going to get us all killed.”
Zara backed away. “You think I want any of this?”
“You’re the only one with secrets,” he snapped.
Zara turned and ran down the tunnel, blinking back tears. She couldn’t breathe.
She found an old tunnel gate and kicked it open. Light spilled in.
Inside: a forgotten lab, half-flooded.
On the walls were photos, documents, test records. All with the same title:
SAINT’S PROJECT
She walked closer. Her face on a monitor. Age 5. Then again, older.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“They made me.”
Footsteps behind her. She turned and it was Tiger.
“I had to make sure you found this on your own,” he said.
“You used me.”
“I gave you the truth,” he said calmly. “You’re not normal, Zara.” You were built for something. Your whole crew—they’re just… chapters in your story.”
She stepped back. “They’re my family.”
“They’re your weakness,” Tiger said. “You want them to live? Then finish your job. Bring me the full data. Or they will all die.”
Zara looked at the old photo of herself.
Then at Tiger.
Then she pulled out her shock blade and raised it.
“Come near them again, and I’ll make sure you don’t leave this tunnel.”
Tiger smiled.
“You’re finally waking up.”
He vanished into the dark.
Zara returns to the crew.
Blood on her shirt. Fire in her eyes.
“I know who I am now,” she says.
Usman looks at her.
“Then prove whose side you’re on.”
- Writer
