The searing pain in Ethan's ribs was a white-hot agony, each ragged breath a testament to the Brute's crushing blow. His vision swam, but the primal instinct to survive, honed by weeks of relentless terror, screamed at him to move. Anya, half-carrying a dazed Jax, was already scrambling for the ruined doorway, the retrieved data drive clutched in her hand.
**\[Host sustained severe blunt force trauma to ribs. Major injury. Stamina temporarily reduced by 3. Agility temporarily reduced by 1. Healing rate severely slowed.]**
**\[Current Status: Critical.]**
"Go! Go!" Ethan choked out, pushing himself up, his muscles protesting. He looked back at the lab. The Brute, still bellowing, was beginning to slump against a shattered server rack, its one good eye fixed on him with unfathomable hatred. The armored Lurker, its knee mangled, was slowly scuttling away into the shadows, a high-pitched chittering marking its retreat.
He stumbled through the doorway, past the dying Brute, ignoring the pain. Anya, seeing him, cursed and doubled back, grabbing his arm. "Lean on me, Ethan! We're not leaving you!"
Jax, though clearly dazed, shook his head and found his footing, gripping Anya's other side. Together, they formed a grim, limping trio, stumbling through the maze of offices they had just navigated.
"They'll be drawn to the sound," Jax rasped, referring to the Brute's dying roars and Anya's rifle fire. "We need to get off this level."
The distinct patter of multiple sets of feet, too fast for shamblers, echoed down the corridors. Runners. They were closing in, drawn by the chaos.
"Head for the service tunnels!" Anya commanded, pushing them towards a smaller, less obvious door. "If these labs are connected to the power core, there might be a secure conduit or maintenance shaft."
Every step was agony for Ethan, his ribs feeling like a cage of shattered glass. He focused on Anya's steady grip, on Jax's labored breathing beside him, on the faint, dull hum of his **Anomaly Sense** warning him of nearby threats but offering no specific direction. They were everywhere.
They burst into a cramped, dusty utility tunnel, barely wide enough for all three. Anya slammed the heavy metal door shut behind them, the resounding clang echoing ominously. Moments later, they heard the impacts of Runners throwing themselves against the other side, their frustrated growls vibrating through the thick steel.
"How bad is it, Ethan?" Anya asked, her voice filled with concern, her hands quickly patting him down. She found the source of his pain. "Damn. Cracked ribs, maybe worse. We need to get you stabilized."
They weren't out of the woods, not by a long shot. This tunnel was dark, unfamiliar, and potentially endless. But for now, for this one precious moment, they were safe from the immediate, overwhelming threat. Anya pulled out a small, rugged tablet and inserted the data drive. The screen flickered to life, displaying lines of code, schematics, and chilling biological data.
"This is it," she murmured, her voice grim. "The key to everything. The origin of the nightmare."
Ethan leaned against the cold, grimy wall, eyes closed, fighting the pain. He could hear Jax fumbling for a flashlight, and the faint, unsettling scratch of mutated claws on the steel door behind them. They had the data, but what exactly it meant, and how they would use it, remained a terrifying unknown. Their survival depended on both the information Anya was now accessing and their ability to escape this hellish facility.