Chapter 10: Project Lazarus
301 Words
The alarms screamed through the facility as they ran.
Aria kept pace with Damian effortlessly.
Too effortlessly.
“You’re not surprised,” she said between breaths.
“I was hoping it wouldn’t happen like this,” he replied.
They burst through a side exit into the freezing night air.
Gunfire erupted behind them.
Aria didn’t flinch.
Didn’t panic.
She calculated angles.
Distances.
Wind direction.
It felt… natural.
They slid behind a concrete barrier.
“Tell me,” she demanded. “Now.”
Damian hesitated only a second.
“Project Lazarus.”
The name hit something buried deep inside her.
“It wasn’t just a black ops unit,” he continued. “It was enhancement. Cognitive acceleration. Combat reflex rewriting. Memory suppression.”
Her pulse remained steady.
“They used children,” she said quietly.
He looked at her sharply.
“Yes.”
The word hung heavy.
“My father didn’t try to expose corruption,” she whispered.
“No.”
“He tried to stop the trials.”
Damian’s silence confirmed it.
“And I was one of them.”
A long pause.
“Yes.”
The world didn’t shatter.
It aligned.
Suddenly her childhood gaps made sense.
The migraines.
The missing years.
The unnatural instincts.
“They thought you didn’t survive full activation,” Damian said. “You were listed as unstable.”
Her lips curved slightly.
“Looks like they were wrong.”
SUV engines roared closer.
Red laser dots swept across the barrier.
Damian grabbed her hand again.
“We need to move.”
But this time—
Aria pulled him back.
“No.”
Her eyes scanned the approaching vehicles.
Her voice was calm.
Strategic.
“Let them come.”
Damian stared at her.
And for the first time—
He wasn’t the most dangerous person there.
- Writer
