Chapter 194
The emergency lights turned the corridor blood-red.
Ima’s boots pounded across the metal flooring, echoing into the ceiling ducts. The scent of scorched circuits and burning ozone hung thick in the air, like the base itself was bleeding, wounded by the lockdown.
"Left here!" Ima hissed over her shoulder. "Quick!"
Naomi ushered the kids ahead—her daughter, Lia, clutched the strap of her ragged little satchel, her eyes huge and unblinking. Beside her, Aren’s lip trembled, but he didn’t make a sound. They knew this was a serious issue where they needed to be extra careful, just like when they were outside the walls with the scary creatures.
Mike and Miles brought up the rear, tense, alert. Sam jogged just ahead of Naomi, eyes scanning every corner with the rigid calculation of someone who’d done this before—too many times.
Ima hit the next junction and pulled her tablet from the sling around her chest. Her thumb swiped across the flickering map. The interface was half-fried. Lockdown protocol had frozen the feed, leaving only ghostly overlays and static-ridden corridors, like trying to read tea leaves in a thunderstorm.
"Cameras are frozen." Ima gritted her teeth. "Can’t track Winter’s group."
"Damn it," Miles muttered. "We’re blind."
"We know they’re underground," Mike said, voice hushed but urgent. "But we don’t know which exit they’ll take. And if we go too deep too fast—"
"We lose line-of-sight," Ima cut in. "And get cornered without knowing it. I know."
She blinked sweat from her eyes. Her fingers flew across the interface, searching for options.