The ground trembled beneath their feet as August, Cara, and Lara scrambled through the darkened hallways of the collapsed facility. The countdown had echoed in his ears, a sound that would haunt him for the rest of his life. And then, the explosion had come—deafening, violent, and all-consuming. The lab had been reduced to rubble in seconds, and August had barely made it out alive.

But they weren’t all out.

Jude.

Jude was still back there.

August could feel the weight of that name, of that loss, pressing down on his chest like a vice. Every step he took away from the lab felt like a betrayal. He couldn’t shake the image of Jude, fighting to the last breath to buy them time. It wasn’t fair. None of it was. They had made it out, but at what cost?

He glanced back once more, his heart pounding in his chest. The fiery glow of the explosion illuminated the distant horizon, a reminder of what they had just escaped. The lab, the horrors it had hidden, and the truths that still lingered in the shadows.

But there was no turning back now.

“August, we need to move,” Lara’s voice cut through the fog in his mind, snapping him back to reality. She was already a few paces ahead, her eyes scanning the surroundings. She was always so calm under pressure, always the one to push forward when it seemed like the world was falling apart. She had a resilience that August admired, but now, he wasn’t sure if even she could hold them all together.

“I know,” August muttered, his voice strained. He turned and followed her, still clutching Sabrina’s unconscious body in his arms. Her breathing was shallow, her skin pale and cold, but there was hope—hope that she might be able to help them understand everything that had happened. Hope that she held the key to stopping this madness.

The sound of distant gunfire echoed through the air, a reminder that they weren’t free yet. They had made it out of the facility, but the world beyond the crumbling walls was just as dangerous, if not more so. Marcos’s forces were still out there, hunting them, and they couldn’t afford to slow down. Not now.

“Where do we go?” Cara’s voice was tight with fear. Her eyes darted around, her hands shaking. She had seen too much. Lost too much. And now they were trapped in a world where survival seemed like the only goal, with no end in sight.

“We head west,” Lara said, her voice low and authoritative. “There’s a small town on the outskirts. We can rest there, regroup, and figure out our next move.”

August nodded, though the words felt hollow. There was no real plan, no real direction. They were surviving by the skin of their teeth, hoping for some shred of hope to pull them through.

As they moved, August couldn’t help but glance down at Sabrina, her face still pale in his arms. He had to believe she was going to wake up. He had to. Because if she didn’t, they’d be lost. She was the key to everything.

The wind howled through the trees as they moved deeper into the wilderness, the remnants of the explosion still visible in the distance. The landscape was scorched, the remnants of the world they once knew reduced to ash. It felt like the end of everything.

And in a way, it was.

Jude was gone.

The lab was gone.

And now they were all that was left.

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After what felt like an eternity of walking, they found a small clearing—an abandoned shack, just off the beaten path. It was run-down, but it was shelter. It was something they could use. They were exhausted, hungry, and wounded, but at least they were alive.

Cara helped August settle Sabrina onto a makeshift bed, and Lara stood guard, her eyes sharp and watchful. August could see the tension in her shoulders, the unspoken fear that lingered beneath the surface. They were all on edge, waiting for the next attack, the next betrayal, the next danger to rear its ugly head.

But none of that mattered now.

August’s mind was consumed with one thought: Jude.

His eyes closed briefly, memories of their time together flashing through his mind. The jokes. The camaraderie. The shared pain of surviving this nightmare together. Jude had been more than just a companion. He had been a friend. A brother. And now he was gone.

“August,” Cara’s voice broke through his thoughts. She was standing over him, her face pale and drawn. “We need to talk.”

August looked up at her, his throat tight. “Not now, Cara. I just… I can’t do this right now.”

But Cara wasn’t letting him off the hook. She crouched beside him, her expression firm. “You need to listen to me. We need to figure out what the hell is going on. You’re holding something back, August. You’ve been doing it ever since we got this far.”

August clenched his fists, a mixture of anger and guilt rising within him. “I’m not holding anything back. We’ve all been through hell, but we’re still alive. That’s what matters right now.”

But Cara wasn’t backing down. “You’re lying. You’ve been hiding something from us, August. The system. Sabrina. The virus. You know more than you’re saying, and we’re running out of time. We’re in this together, and if you don’t start telling us the truth, we’re all going to end up dead.”

For a moment, August said nothing. He couldn’t bring himself to speak, to admit the truth that had been gnawing at him ever since they’d escaped the lab. The system. He didn’t trust it. Not anymore. But he couldn’t let go of it either. It was a part of him now. It had become something more than just a tool.

“I don’t know what you want from me, Cara,” he said finally, his voice low and strained. “I don’t know what you think I’m hiding.”

“I think you’re hiding the truth about Sabrina,” Cara said, her voice quiet but forceful. “About the virus. About what’s really going on. You know something, August. And if you don’t tell us, we’re all screwed.”

August’s heart raced. She was right. He knew. But he couldn’t say it. Not yet.

“We’ll figure it out,” August said, his voice barely a whisper. “We have to.”

Just as he said it, a soft groan came from the bed. Sabrina stirred, her eyelids fluttering before she slowly opened her eyes. She blinked a few times, disoriented, before her gaze locked onto August.

“August?” she whispered, her voice weak but steady. “What happened?”

For a moment, August didn’t know how to respond. How could he explain everything that had happened? How could he tell her about Jude? About the lab? About everything that had gone wrong?

But Sabrina’s eyes held something more than just confusion. They held something else—a knowledge, an understanding, that chilled August to his core.

“You’re alive,” August said, his voice trembling slightly as he crouched beside her. “I thought… I thought we lost you.”

Sabrina smiled faintly, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I’m alive. For now.”

And then, her expression changed. Her gaze hardened, and the words that followed felt like a punch to the gut.

“The system has its own agenda, August,” she said, her voice cold and steady. “And it’s not what you think.”

For a moment, August’s mind went blank. He stared at her, his heart pounding in his chest. What was she talking about? The system? What did she know?

But before he could respond, she closed her eyes, as if the effort of speaking had drained her.

“I’ll explain more,” she murmured, barely audible. “But we have to move quickly.”

Cara and Lara exchanged a look, but neither of them said anything. The words hung in the air, unanswered and ominous.

The system. Its agenda.

August’s pulse quickened. Whatever Sabrina knew, it was something that could shatter everything they had believed. And as the room filled with tension, August felt a chill crawl up his spine. They had survived the lab, escaped the mercenaries, and now they were faced with something far worse.

The truth.

And it was more dangerous than they could have imagined.