They didn't hesitate. Feet pounding against metal and concrete, Ava, Arlo, the tall woman, and the younger girl surged through the blasted double doors. The corridor beyond was a sudden, blinding contrast to the darkness they had endured.
Daylight. Real daylight.
The air hit Ava like a shock-fresh, cold, and filled with the tang of wet earth. They stumbled out onto a wide platform perched at the edge of an overgrown courtyard. Nature had begun reclaiming what humans had abandoned: vines crawled up crumbling walls, weeds tore through cracked concrete, and moss coated the remnants of old machinery.
For a moment, none of them spoke. The sunlight made Ava squint. Her lungs gulped air she hadn't realized she'd been starving for. Arlo's hand still gripped hers, a silent anchor.
Then she noticed it.
The ground wasn't flat. Beyond the courtyard, the earth dropped sharply, opening into what looked like a canyon carved into the facility itself. Rusted catwalks, broken ladders, and fragments of staircases clung to the rock face. Somewhere below, a faint murmur of running water whispered, echoing against the concrete cliffs.
"We... we made it out," Ava whispered, almost disbelievingly.
"Not yet," Arlo said sharply, scanning the area. His eyes narrowed. "Look at the edges. Look at the ground."
Ava followed his gaze. Dark shapes shifted among the overgrowth. The creatures-they weren't far behind. Only, this time, they weren't coming from the corridors. They were crawling from the shadows of the walls, their forms stretched and distorted, slinking over broken beams and the jagged edges of the courtyard.
The tall woman drew herself up, crowbar ready. "We can't fight them here. Too open. Too exposed."
The younger girl, clutching her flashlight like a lifeline, shivered. "Then... where do we go?"
Ava's gaze caught a distant glimmer-something manmade. A staircase descending into the shadow of the canyon. Rusted metal, but sturdy enough to hold them. "There," she said. "That way."
Arlo assessed the path quickly, then nodded. "Move fast, don't stop."
They sprinted. The ground shook under the pounding of the creatures' claws as they leapt from broken walls, snarling. The first of them hit the courtyard with terrifying speed, jaws snapping. Ava ducked behind a low wall just as a claw swiped past her head.
"Keep going!" Arlo shouted, pulling her along.
They reached the staircase. One by one, they descended into the canyon, the sunlight fading behind them into shadows. Halfway down, Ava dared to glance up. The creatures had slowed at the edge of the courtyard, snarling, frustrated-but still watching.
Her chest heaved. She wanted to cry, wanted to scream, wanted to collapse-but she didn't. Survival had a way of stripping away weakness.
At the bottom of the staircase, they emerged onto a narrow ledge running along the cliff face. The murmur of water grew louder-a river cutting through the canyon, dark and fast-moving. A rusted cable bridge swayed above it, its planks broken, threatening to give way with the slightest misstep.
Arlo looked at the bridge and then back at the others. "We cross. That's the only way out of this canyon."
The woman tested a plank with her crowbar. It creaked ominously. "It's going to hold... maybe. No choice."
Ava swallowed, gripping Arlo's hand again. Her legs trembled, but forward was the only option. One careful step after another, they began to cross the bridge. The river roared below, each gust of wind making the cable shudder.
Halfway across, a scream echoed behind them-the younger girl froze. A plank cracked under her weight. Ava grabbed her shoulder. "Keep moving!"
Another crack. Another scream. But they pressed on. Heart in her throat, Ava reached the far side, stumbling onto solid ground. Arlo and the others followed, the last of them barely making it as the bridge groaned, twisted, and sent debris plummeting into the river below.
Safe-for now.
They collapsed on the far side, the canyon stretching endlessly before them. The sun had dipped lower, painting the sky in bruised purples and reds. But beyond the canyon, Ava could make out distant structures-what looked like abandoned roads, overgrown buildings, and faint traces of civilization.
Arlo finally let out a breath. "That... that was too close."
The woman rested her crowbar on her shoulder. "We survived because we moved together. Don't forget that."
Ava nodded, still trembling. "So... what now?"
Arlo's eyes scanned the horizon. "Now... we find out if anyone else made it. And if there's any place out there that isn't... Haven."
The younger girl whispered, barely audible. "Do you think... we'll ever be safe?"
Ava looked at the sky, at the canyon, at the endless wilderness beyond. She didn't answer immediately.
But deep down, she knew the truth: Haven wasn't over. Haven had only changed its shape. And the real nightmare-the one that waited beyond Exit A-was only just beginning.