THE MENDEL INHERITANCE

The Hunters and the Prey

The third facility was in Ohio.

Rolling hills. Cornfields. A small building that looked like a rural hospital.

It didn't look like a prison.

But Ethan knew better now.

He sat in the passenger seat. Charlotte drove. Nora slept in the back. Marcus rode in a separate car, driven by a hired driver—someone Charlotte trusted.

Richard had stayed at the farmhouse. Elena was still recovering. Liam had returned from Seattle and stood guard.

"The director here is named Walsh," Marcus had said before they left. "He's cautious. Paranoid. He won't open the doors just because I ask."

"Then we open them ourselves."

"You'll need more than a wire cutter. Walsh has armed guards. He knows about Mendel. About Texas. He'll be ready."

"Then we'll be ready too."

---

They arrived at midnight.

The facility was dark. No lights in the windows. No movement in the parking lot.

"Looks abandoned," Charlotte said.

"It's not." Nora's eyes were open. Glowing faintly. "I can feel them. Receivers. Twenty of them. In the basement."

"Guards?"

"Twelve. Armed. Wired."

Ethan pulled out the blueprint. Studied it.

"The service tunnel is here. Behind the generator shed."

"Same as before," Charlotte said. "They'll expect that."

"Then we don't use it."

Ethan pointed to a different entrance. The old ambulance bay. Boarded up but accessible from the side.

"Walsh won't guard that. It's been sealed for years."

"And if it's sealed?"

"Then we unseal it."

---

They moved through the cornfield.

Stalks brushed against their jackets. The moon was hidden behind clouds.

The ambulance bay was exactly where the blueprint showed.

Wooden boards. Rusted nails.

Ethan pried one loose. Then another.

The opening was just wide enough for a person.

He climbed through. Charlotte followed. Nora came last.

Inside: darkness. Dust. The smell of old blood.

"The ambulance bay hasn't been used in years," Charlotte whispered.

"Good."

They found a door. Locked.

Nora touched the lock. White light. The lock clicked open.

"Chimera is here," she said. "Stronger than before. It knows we're coming."

"Then we move faster."

---

The corridor led to basement level one.

Same gray walls. Same fluorescent lights.

But the lights were flickering.

And the cameras were spinning.

Derek wasn't here to disable them. They were on their own.

"Stay in the blind spots," Ethan said.

They moved from shadow to shadow.

The security office was ahead. Two guards inside. Watching monitors.

Charlotte pulled out a taser. "I'll handle them."

She moved like a ghost. The door opened. Two quick zaps.

The guards slumped.

Charlotte waved them forward.

"Two minutes before the next patrol."

They ran.

---

The machine room was on sub-basement two.

Same cylinder. Same wires. Same hum.

But guards stood at every entrance. Eight of them. Armed.

"We can't fight them all," Charlotte said.

"Then we don't fight."

Ethan looked at Nora.

"Can you talk to them? Like you did in Texas?"

"Those guards weren't prepared. These are. Walsh trained them to resist the Frequency."

"Then we need another way."

Marcus's voice came through the earpiece. "I'm in the admin building. Walsh is in his office. I can create a diversion. Fire alarm. Lockdown."

"Do it."

"Give me two minutes."

They waited.

The intercom crackled. "Code Red. Code Red. Fire in the east wing. All personnel respond."

The guards looked at each other. Hesitated.

Then ran.

All of them.

Ethan ran to the machine.

Behind the cylinder. Red. Black. Green.

He cut the green.

The hum changed.

He cut the black.

The lights flickered.

He cut the red.

Silence.

No scream this time. No possession.

Just silence.

And then a voice. Calm. Human.

"Mr. Cole. I've been expecting you."

Ethan turned.

Director Walsh stood in the doorway.

He was tall. Gray hair. Glasses. Holding a tablet.

"You've destroyed three machines now. Mendel. Texas. Ohio. But there are nine more. And each one you destroy makes Chimera angrier."

"Good."

"Anger isn't good. Anger makes Chimera reckless. And reckless things hurt people."

Walsh held up the tablet.

"I have a live feed of the farmhouse. Your father. Elena. Liam. All of them."

Ethan's blood went cold.

"If you take one more step, I send the order. My people are already there. Armed."

"You're lying."

"I'm not."

Walsh turned the tablet.

Richard sitting on the porch. Liam standing beside him.

Elena inside, reading a book.

Real. Live. Current.

"What do you want?"

"Simple. Stop destroying the machines. Leave. Forget you ever found this place."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then your father dies. Your friends die. Everyone you love dies."

Ethan's hands shook.

Nora stepped forward.

"Walsh. Look at me."

He looked.

Her eyes glowed brighter.

"You're afraid," she said. "Not of us. Of Chimera. It's been talking to you. Showing you things. Your wife. Your children. Dead."

Walsh's face twitched.

"It lies. Always lies. Your family is safe. They've always been safe."

"I saw them—"

"You saw what Chimera wanted you to see."

Nora walked closer.

"Shut down the facility. Release the Receivers. Destroy the machine yourself. Not for us. For them."

Walsh stared at the tablet.

"I can't. Chimera will kill them."

"Chimera can't kill anyone. It's a voice. A parasite. It needs a host to do its bidding."

Nora touched his hand.

"Be the one who says no."

Walsh's hand trembled.

The tablet fell.

He looked at Ethan.

"Do it. Destroy the machine."

---

Ethan climbed back behind the cylinder.

But there was nothing left to cut.

The power lines were already severed.

The machine was dead.

Walsh sank to his knees.

"I've been a prisoner for twenty years. Thinking I was the warden."

"You can be free now."

Walsh looked up.

"Kaine. Did he really have a heart attack?"

"Yes."

"Chimera told me it would kill me if I didn't obey. That's why I sent the guards. Why I threatened your family."

"It's over now."

Walsh nodded.

He pulled out his phone. Made a call.

"Release the Receivers. All of them. Shut down the facility."

Then he looked at Ethan.

"Thank you."

---

They walked out through the front gate.

Receivers streamed past them. Confused. Scared. But free.

Ambulances waited. Social workers. Family members.

Charlotte watched them go.

"Nine more," she said.

"Nine more."

Nora stumbled. Ethan caught her.

"Chimera is furious. The connection is getting harder to block."

"Then we finish this faster."

Marcus waited by the car.

"Walsh called me. He wants immunity."

"He can have it. If he testifies about the network."

"He will."

They drove away from Ohio.

Behind them, the facility went dark.

Permanently.

---

The drive back was quiet.

Nora slept. Charlotte stared out the window.

Marcus made calls. Coordinated with other directors. Some cooperated. Some didn't.

"Three facilities have gone silent," Marcus said. "Directors won't answer. I think they're planning something."

"Like what?"

"Like using Chimera against us. Turning the Frequency into a weapon."

"They can't. Chimera can't be controlled."

"Can't be controlled easily. But desperate people try desperate things."

Ethan thought about Walsh. The fear in his eyes. The way Chimera had manipulated him.

"Which facilities are silent?"

"Nevada. Arizona. Colorado."

"Three in the southwest. Close to each other."

"They're probably coordinating. Sharing resources. Guards."

"Then we hit them first."

Marcus shook his head. "Too risky. They'll be expecting us."

"Then we don't go in the same way. We adapt."

---

The farmhouse was quiet when they returned.

Richard was on the porch. Awake.

"Walsh's people never came."

"Because Walsh changed his mind."

Richard looked at Ethan.

"You're getting good at this."

"I'm getting tired of it."

"That's different."

They sat together. Watched the stars.

"The third machine is destroyed," Ethan said.

"Nine to go."

"Marcus says three are organizing against us. Nevada. Arizona. Colorado."

Richard nodded. "Those were the most secretive facilities. Kaine's network. Walsh was part of it too, but he broke."

"Can we trust Walsh?"

"Trust, no. Cooperate, yes. He's scared. Scared people are predictable."

Ethan leaned back.

"How do we stop Chimera for good?"

"Destroy all the machines. Every one. Then the prison is complete. Chimera can't reach anyone."

"And the Receivers?"

"They'll still have the Frequency. But without the machines amplifying it, Chimera can't talk to them. Can't possess them."

"So they'll be safe."

"Safer."

Richard put a hand on Ethan's shoulder.

"You've done more in two weeks than I did in twenty years."

"I had help."

"Good people. Loyal people. That's how you win."

---

The next morning, Liam returned from Seattle.

Elena stayed with the specialist. More tests. More therapy.

But she was improving. Walking on her own. Eating solid food.

"She wants to come back," Liam said. "Help with the facilities."

"She needs to recover first."

"I told her that. She told me to shut up."

Ethan almost smiled.

"She's stubborn."

"She's a Vance. We're all stubborn."

Charlotte walked in. Carried a map.

"Nevada. Arizona. Colorado. Three facilities. Three directors. All loyal to each other."

"Any way to divide them?"

"Maybe. The Arizona director is named Park. He's former military. Disciplined. He won't break easily."

"Colorado?"

"Director Chen. She's young. Ambitious. Wants to prove herself."

"Nevada?"

"Director Voss. We already dealt with her. She ran."

"Then Nevada is vulnerable. No director. No leadership."

Liam nodded. "We hit Nevada first. Then Arizona. Then Colorado."

Ethan agreed.

---

They left at dusk.

Charlotte drove. Ethan navigated. Nora rested.

Marcus rode in the back, still in cuffs.

"You don't need those anymore," Ethan said.

Marcus held up his wrists. "Force of habit."

"I meant the cuffs. You haven't tried to run."

"Where would I go? Chimera is in my head too. Has been for thirty years. Only you can silence it."

"I'm not silencing it. I'm destroying its pathways."

"Same thing."

The desert stretched ahead.

Nevada.

---

The facility appeared at midnight.

Lights on. Guards at the gate.

Voss was gone. But her second-in-command had taken over.

A man named Ross. Former intelligence. Careful. Clever.

"He's set up motion sensors," Nora said. "Heat detectors. We can't get close without being seen."

"Then we don't get close."

Ethan pulled out a drone. Derek's drone. Left behind at the farmhouse.

Small. Quiet. Equipped with a camera.

He launched it from the ridge.

The drone flew over the fence. Over the buildings.

The feed showed guards at every entrance. Dogs in the yard.

But the service tunnel was unguarded.

Because Ross didn't know it existed.

"Old blueprints," Marcus said. "From before the renovation. Ross is using new maps."

"Then we use the old ones."

Ethan guided the drone back. Packed it up.

"Tunnel entrance is behind the water tower. Same as Ohio."

They moved.

---

The water tower was rusted. Abandoned.

The tunnel hatch was buried under sand.

They dug with their hands.

The hatch opened.

Darkness. Cold air.

Ethan climbed down.

The tunnel was narrower than the others. Tighter.

Nora followed. Then Charlotte. Marcus last.

They crawled.

The tunnel ended at a metal door.

Locked.

Nora touched the lock. White light.

The lock clicked.

They emerged in the boiler room.

Basement level one.

Guards patrolled the corridor outside. Two of them.

Nora stepped forward.

Her eyes glowed.

The guards froze. Dropped their weapons. Walked away.

"Chimera is here," Nora whispered. "It knows."

"Then let's finish this."

---

The machine room was on sub-basement two.

Same cylinder. Same wires. Same hum.

But the guards were different.

They wore helmets. Earpieces. Noise-canceling.

"Walsh warned them," Marcus said. "They're blocking the Frequency."

"Then we do this the hard way."

Ethan ran.

First guard. Elbow to the temple.

Second guard. Swept his legs.

Third guard. Charlotte tasered him.

Fourth guard. Liam—when did Liam get here?—dropped him with a single punch.

"I couldn't let you have all the fun," Liam said.

Ethan nodded. Grateful.

He ran to the cylinder.

Behind it. Red. Black. Green.

Cut the green.

Hum changed.

Cut the black.

Lights flickered.

Cut the red.

Silence.

No scream. No possession.

Just silence.

And then an alarm.

Loud. Blaring.

"Emergency lockdown," Marcus said. "Ross triggered it. We're trapped."

---

The doors slammed shut.

Metal barriers dropped over every exit.

"We need another way out," Charlotte said.

Nora closed her eyes. "The old access shaft. Behind the incinerator room."

"Lead the way."

They ran.

The incinerator room was dark. Dusty.

The access shaft was covered by a metal grate. Rusted.

Liam pulled it open.

"Go. I'll hold them off."

"No—"

"Go!"

Ethan climbed into the shaft.

Charlotte followed. Nora. Marcus.

Liam pulled the grate closed behind him.

Then he ran the other way. Drawing the guards.

Ethan heard shouts. Footsteps. Gunfire.

Then silence.

---

They emerged behind the water tower.

Cold air. Stars.

Liam was not with them.

"We have to go back," Charlotte said.

"We can't. Not yet."

Ethan grabbed her arm.

"Liam knew what he was doing. He's former military. He'll find a way out."

Charlotte pulled away. Tears in her eyes.

"He better."

They ran to the cars.

Started the engines.

Drove away.

Behind them, the facility lights went out.

One by one.

Until there was only darkness.

And somewhere inside, Liam was still fighting.