The walls of the tunnel seemed to breathe with them. Every gunshot echoed back, swallowed by the endless dark. The stench of rot and old metal grew thicker the deeper they went, until it clung to their lungs like smoke.
Soufiane's rifle barrel steamed faintly in the cold air. He'd fired until his ears rang, until the walls shook from the force of the undead pressing against the barricade.
But now—silence.
Not the silence of safety.
The silence that comes when predators listen.
He motioned to the others to move. Amal and Julien pushed ahead, flashlights sweeping over the flooded corridor. Water rippled with every step. Cynthia carried Younes close, whispering something soft in his ear to drown out the echoes of their own breathing. Zahira followed, pale and exhausted, her hands trembling from fear and the weight of everything she had already lost.
When they turned the corner, the tunnel opened into a wide chamber — half laboratory, half tomb. Broken consoles flickered weakly with dying light. The symbols carved into the concrete glowed faintly blue, like veins beneath skin.
Julien muttered, "What the hell were they doing here?"
Soufiane knelt beside a metal crate stamped with the same emblem they'd seen before — a circle surrounding the letters E.P.A.R.
Cynthia frowned. "That name again… it was on the research files we found in Bremen."
Amal crouched next to him. "Maybe this is where it all began."
Soufiane's gaze hardened. "No… not where it began. Where they tried to control it."
---
At the far end of the chamber stood the cracked glass tank they had seen earlier. The woman inside was still moving — slowly, almost mechanically. Her skin shimmered with that same unnatural glow, the tubes pulsing faintly as though feeding something beneath her flesh.
Younes clung to Cynthia's leg. "She's… talking."
They froze.
At first, it was impossible to tell if it was the boy's imagination. Then they heard it — faint words, vibrating through the glass like the whisper of a radio signal caught between stations.
"…help… please… help me…"
Soufiane stepped closer. "Who are you?"
The voice came again, this time directly in their heads — not through sound, but thought.
> Not who… what they made me.
Cynthia stepped back, horrified. "She's inside our heads."
The woman's face twitched. Her eyes rolled back, and the tubes shivered violently. The glowing veins spread up the walls, pulsing like arteries.
> They used the infection to create control… but the mind… it broke.
Julien pointed his flashlight at the walls. "These cables — they're alive!"
Before Soufiane could answer, the door behind them exploded inward. The infected poured through like a wave of rot and rage, crashing against the laboratory floor.
"Move!" he roared.
Gunfire filled the chamber again. Amal's axe split bone and black flesh. Cynthia covered Younes while Julien threw a makeshift flare, lighting the room in red chaos.
The woman in the tank screamed — not in pain, but as if commanding. The infected froze.
Every single one.
Soufiane stopped firing. His chest rose and fell with disbelief. The horde, only seconds from tearing them apart, now stood motionless — trembling, heads tilted toward the glowing tank.
Zahira whispered, "Is she controlling them?"
> I can stop them… but not for long…
The voice shook through their skulls again, broken with static and grief.
> You must destroy the core. Burn it. Leave this island… before it spreads.
Soufiane hesitated. "Where's the core?"
The woman's eyes opened wide, glowing the same blue as the walls.
> Beneath me.
The floor rumbled. Somewhere below, something massive began to move — gears, cables, and perhaps something alive. The water rippled violently.
Julien shouted, "It's waking up!"
Soufiane turned to the others. "Everyone, move! Find the exit! I'll—"
But the woman screamed again, and this time, the sound shattered the remaining glass.
The infected dropped dead instantly — or whatever counted as dead for them. Their bodies convulsed, black veins bursting, the air thick with the smell of burning rot.
And then, from the pit beneath the tank, a metallic arm burst through — a hybrid of flesh and steel, reaching for the light.
Soufiane grabbed Cynthia's arm. "Run!"
The chamber collapsed behind them, the tunnels shaking as the thing beneath began to rise. They sprinted through falling debris, the island itself trembling like it was being torn apart.
---
When they finally burst out onto the surface, the night sky had turned orange from the fires below. The forest glowed like dying embers.
They ran toward the cliffs where their small boat waited, waves crashing violently against the rocks. Amal fell to her knees, gasping, staring at the smoke rising behind them.
Julien shouted over the wind, "What was that thing?!"
Soufiane looked back — eyes dark, jaw set. "The reason the world ended."
As they pushed the boat into the raging sea, the island behind them split open, a beam of faint blue light shooting into the sky like a dying signal.
Younes, clutching Cynthia's hand, whispered, "Is it over?"
Soufiane didn't answer. He looked back one last time at the glowing ruins. The sea was rough, but they had no choice.
He turned his gaze south — toward Africa.
"Not yet," he said quietly. "But it will be."