LOGINThe two helicopters appeared over New Haven shortly after midday. Their familiar silhouettes drew attention almost immediately. Workers repairing the outer wall stopped to look up. Children playing near one of the newly opened squares pointed excitedly toward the sky. Patrol officers signaled the control tower as both aircraft descended toward the airport. Within minutes, the rotors slowed. The engines shut down. And the doors opened. Aaron was already walking across the flight line before the pilots had even climbed out. Damien struggled to keep up with him. "So they made it," Damien said with obvious relief. Aaron nodded once. "They did." His eyes never left the helicopter. He wasn't looking for equipment or for soldiers. He was looking for one person. The first passengers climbed down. Two communications specialists, an engineer, a medic. Then two soldiers carrying reinforced military document cases. Aaron's eyes searched the doorway again. Still no Natasha. The seco
For a long moment, nobody moved. The last line of Hollows disappeared into the trees, leaving the highway exposed beneath the gray morning light. The road looked wounded, cracked, and littered with the bones of the old world, but it was open. For almost three years, that road had belonged to the dead. Now it was empty? Victor slowly stepped forward. He still couldn't believe what just happened. He couldn't speak immediately. None of his soldiers did. They simply stared at the road as though it might vanish if they blinked too fast. One soldier removed his helmet with trembling hands. Another sat down on the edge of the highway and covered his face. Somewhere behind Natasha, someone laughed once, a broken sound full of disbelief, and that small laugh quickly turned into a sob. Claire stood beside the truck, her rifle still in her hands, but even she looked shaken. Rowan walked up beside Natasha and watched the arsenal soldiers. Some were smiling. Some were crying. Others just s
The battle from the previous day had left its mark. Fresh claw marks scarred the outer walls. Spent shell casings still littered the concrete, while soldiers moved quietly through the compound repairing damaged barricades and replacing shattered floodlights. Despite everything, there was a different feeling in the air. Hope. Just enough to remind everyone that they had survived another day. Inside the command building, the large operations room had become the center of activity. The military map Victor had unfolded the previous evening now covered almost the entire conference table. Several routes had been marked in blue. Others had been crossed out in red. Victor stood at one end of the table. Natasha beside him. Claire, Rowan, Marcus, Dax and Captain Ryker completed the circle. "We move in phases," Victor said. Nobody interrupted him. "The helicopters leave first." He pointed toward the northern edge of the map. "They'll carry the Project Eden archives, the military s
He led them into a smaller briefing room connected to the archive. The room was simple. It has one long table and several old military chairs. A faded national flag still, hanging neatly on the wall. Someone kept the place clean every single day. Victor removed his cap and placed it carefully on the table before sitting down. The others remained standing for a moment. Then Natasha pulled out a chair opposite him. Rowan, Claire and the rest followed. For a few seconds, Victor simply looked at them, almost as though deciding where to begin. Finally, he spoke. "The outbreak reached us three days after the first official emergency broadcasts." His voice was calm and steady, like a man who had told himself this story many times. "By then the government had already declared a national state of emergency. Our orders were simple." He smiled bitterly. "Protect the Strategic Reserve Arsenal." Marcus frowned. "That was it?" Victor nodded. "That was it." "No explanation. No evacuation
The reinforced steel gate opened slowly. Years of dust and weather groaned through its heavy hinges as sunlight spilled across the concrete courtyard beyond. No one lowered their weapons immediately. Neither side trusted easily anymore. That was what almost three years of the apocalypse had taught everyone. Natasha remained where she was, her heartbeat had finally begun to settle, but her thoughts had not. The image of the Night Hunter being thrown backward replayed over and over inside her mind. It's not as if she touched or fired at it. She hadn't even raised her hand, yet something inside her responded. Something neither she nor Elias knew existed. Claire stepped beside her. "You alright?" Natasha nodded slowly. "I think so." "You don't sound convinced." "I'm not." Claire looked toward the tree line where the Night Hunters had disappeared. "Neither am I." A few yards away, Rowan quietly lowered his rifle. For one of the few times Natasha had known him, he looked genuine
Claire moved with the New Haven soldiers, shouting orders that sharpened their line. Rowan directed the left flank. Marcus and Garrick covered the helicopter zone. Nyra dropped to one knee and began firing controlled shots, not wasting ammunition, aiming for joints and eyes. The arsenal soldiers fought too. They were disciplined, but tired. And frightened. Natasha could see it. They had faced these creatures before and lost men to them. A Night Hunter launched itself toward the outer barricade, crossing open ground with terrifying speed. The wall guns followed it, but too slow. It hit one of the lower barricades, climbed, and lunged toward a young arsenal soldier positioned near a damaged gate post. The soldier froze. Natasha moved. She ran before anyone could stop her. “Natasha!” Rowan shouted. She crossed the open ground fast, lifted her rifle and fired twice. The first shot struck the creature’s shoulder. The second hit its side. It barely slowed. The Night Hunter chang
The private hospital room was quiet except for the steady beeping of the heart monitor. Soft white lights glowed from the ceiling. Everything felt too clean and perfect for a world that had ended more than a year ago. Natasha lay in the center of a large bed, an IV line running into her arm and an
The morning air felt cold. Josh paced along the porch, his eyes fixed on the heavy iron gates. Natasha had been taken away for the past twenty-four hours, and there was nothing he could do to bring her back. The weight of it sat deep in his chest. “She’s gone, Josh,” Martha said as she sipped her
“Wait… don’t tell me you’re infected?” Martha said, her voice rising in panic. “Stop, Mom. What are you talking about?” Josh cut in quickly, trying to shut her down. Even as he spoke, he understood what she meant, and that made his chest tighten. Natasha forced herself to stay calm. “I don’t know
Josh didn’t have an answer to Natasha’s questions—because there wasn’t one. But Natasha took his silence as an answer anyway. Once again, nothing was settled. It felt like her marriage was falling apart, and she couldn’t do anything to stop it. Night came quickly, and they both went to bed. Josh s







