Lucas covers rear position.
Eli and Nora help two injured operatives who switched sides.
And somehow—
without discussion—
the fractured survivors naturally form around us.
Around me.
Around the first person who remembered them as human.
The realization terrifies me.
Not because I don’t care.
Because I do.
Too much.
Another explosion rocks the tunnel.
The ceiling groans overhead.
Gabriel’s head snaps upward.
“That’s not weapons fire.”
Eli goes pale instantly.
“Oh no.”
Russ looks sharply at him.
“What?”
Eli’s voice shakes.
“Containment charges.”
My blood turns cold.
Wu isn’t just trying to kill us.
He’s burying the entire tunnel system.
Everyone inside it.
Including his own people.
Of course he is.
Clay’s arm wraps around my waist as the floor trembles beneath us.
“We run.”
No argument from anybody now.
