Chapter 6: The Aftermath

They didn't stop to rest—couldn't. The hospital behind them groaned like a dying beast, its broken systems sighing their last. Ava moved with a limp, pain tightening her jaw, but she didn't falter. Jake had done what he could—stitched her up fast with what little they had, using what was left of the energy pulses he had tapped into earlier. He hadn't said a word about how pale he looked, or how his hand still trembled from gripping that live wire.

Jake flexed his hand, checking the small machine he had cobbled together from scraps in the control room. It wrapped around his wrist like a brace, glowing faint blue, knitting the skin where the wires had torn into him. It wasn't perfect, but it was working. For now.

Ethan trailed behind them, silent. The shock was still there in his eyes—of what they'd faced, and what he'd almost lost control of. Then the floor gave way beneath them.

The drop came fast. Too fast.

Without thinking, Ethan acted.

He gritted his teeth and slammed his hand down, twisting his finger at an unnatural angle. The snap was sharp, brutal—but it worked. His power surged from the pain, raw and wild, and a jagged wall of force burst out beneath them. It wasn't clean or pretty—it was a messy slab of energy and dirt—but it caught them. Saved them.

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They landed hard, the breath knocked from their lungs. Jake rolled, shielding Ava, groaning from the impact. Ethan collapsed against the far wall, clutching his mangled finger, his breathing ragged.

Jake crawled over and knelt beside him, inspecting the damage. "You didn't have to—"

"I did," Ethan cut in, his voice strained. "Can't let you two take all the hits."

Ava gave him a look—half grateful, half frustrated. "Next time, maybe don't break yourself to do it."

They rested there for a moment in the rubble, the air heavy with dust and silence. But something didn't sit right.

Ava was the first to feel it—that crawling sensation across her spine.

Jake stood slowly, eyes scanning the new space they had fallen into. Pipes jutted from the walls like broken bones. Old medical equipment lay rotting in corners, half-swallowed by the earth.

Then Ethan looked up. His voice was barely a whisper. "Do you feel that?"

The silence thickened.

They weren't alone.

There was no sound, no movement—but the feeling was undeniable.

Something was watching them.

And whatever it was... it knew they were here.