Clay
Darkness hits hard.
Absolute.
Total.
Then the children start screaming.
“Lights!” Russ barks.
Nothing happens.
The underground nursery dissolves instantly into chaos.
Sirens scream through hidden speakers somewhere deep beneath the tunnels, echoing off concrete and steel until it sounds like the entire underground system is waking up around us.
Red emergency lights suddenly flash on overhead.
Blood-colored.
Jesus Christ.
Every face in the room turns crimson.
The doctor smiles.
Actually smiles.
“There,” she says softly.
“Now they know you’re here.”
Gabriel moves first.
He lunges across the room and slams her against the medical cart hard enough to send syringes crashing across the floor.
“You’re done.”
The doctor barely reacts to being pinned.
Calm.
Too calm.
“You really believe Sentinel ends tonight?”
I don’t even hear the rest.
Because my focus shifts instantly toward the tunnel outside the nursery.
Boots.
Fast.
Multiple teams inbound.
“Hannah!”
