There are stories that end with monsters dying.
Heroes celebrate.
The sun rises.
Everybody goes home.
Life returns to normal.
This wasn't one of those stories.
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The Walker lay motionless in the dirt.
Its impossible body had collapsed into itself, riddled with bullet holes.
For months it had watched us.
Followed us.
Waited for us.
Now it was silent.
Forever.
Or so we hoped.
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Nobody celebrated.
Nobody cheered.
Because there was still one thing left inside the cave.
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"Sia."
Neems whispered.
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We ran.
All of us.
Chief Grant behind us, pistol still raised.
The white glow swallowed the cave walls, making everything feel unreal.
The air felt heavy.
Almost underwater.
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She was still there.
Floating.
Eyes glowing faintly.
Motionless.
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For one terrifying second, nobody moved.
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Then Samiya broke first.
She rushed forward.
"I got her!"
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Hashim and I grabbed Sia carefully by the arms while Samiya supported her legs.
She felt strangely light.
Almost weightless.
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The moment we pulled her free from whatever invisible force held her—
her eyes shut.
Her entire body went limp.
She collapsed into our arms.
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Hashim gasped.
Then laughed through exhausted breaths.
"We did it…"
He smiled.
"She's okay…"
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Nobody answered.
Several seconds passed.
Nothing happened.
Chief Grant frowned.
"…Shouldn't she be waking up by now?"
The smile disappeared from Hashim's face.
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I immediately crouched beside her.
My fingers reached for her neck.
Searching.
Waiting.
Praying.
Nothing.
I felt her carotid artery for 10 seconds.
Then—
My stomach dropped.
"…Oh God."
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Everybody looked at me.
I looked up.
"There's no pulse."
"Fuck."
Chief Grant says as he pulls out his phone to call for the ambulance.
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Then Samiya exploded.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN THERE'S NO PULSE!?"
Her voice cracked.
"I THOUGHT YOU SAID WE HAD TIME!"
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I couldn't answer.
Because I had.
I truly believed we did.
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My thoughts collapsed into each other.
Had I been wrong?
Had we come too late?
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"No…"
Neems whispered.
Her eyes filled with tears.
"No no no no…"
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She dropped beside Sia.
"There has to be something…"
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Hashim started breathing too fast.
His hands shook violently.
He couldn't speak.
I clapped both hands in front of his face.
"Hashim!"
Nothing.
"GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER!"
He blinked.
The panic broke just enough.
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I turned toward Chief Grant.
"…Please."
Grant was already kneeling.
His expression stayed calm.
Years of experience forcing panic away.
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"Everybody listen."
He looked at Samiya.
"Check if she's breathing."
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Samiya immediately leaned down.
Her eyes stayed focus on Sia's chest.
Five seconds.
Then ten.
She looked up.
Tears already falling.
"…her chest isn't rising"
Her voice broke completely.
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Neems yelled at me.
"CHECK FOR A PULSE AGAIN!"
Chief Grant held his hat.
"No! Stop! we've wasted enough time and we already confirmed there isn't a pulse and she isn't breathing!"
Chief Grant inhaled sharply.
Then looked around.
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"Who knows CPR?"
"I do!"
Neems answered instantly.
"Start compressions."
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She didn't hesitate.
Both hands locked together.
She began pressing.
Slow.
Too improper.
Too sloppy.
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"Keep your arms straight!"
She turned towards me.
"Push hard and fast!"
"Make sure to keep a steady rhythm!"
Chief grant added.
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Neems nodded through tears.
Forced herself to breathe.
Then started again.
Steady.
Controlled.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
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Chief Grant looked toward Samiya.
"Do you know rescue breaths?"
She nodded weakly.
"Be real, because this is somthing trained professionals do."
"I took hours of classes for this, i'm good."
"After every 30 compressions, do two rescue breaths.
Without another word, Samiya understood.
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Hashim stood frozen.
Watching.
Unable to think.
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"…Is there anything else we can do?"
he whispered.
Grant looked at Sia.
Then pointed at me.
"Support her head. She needs to lie flat when performing CPR."
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I moved the rock that was under her head.
Holding her carefully.
Trying not to shake.
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Then Grant pointed toward Hashim.
"Look at her chest if she starts breathing again, and pay attention for movement."
Hashim nodded.
His hands trembled.
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The cave became silent again.
Except for counting.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
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Compress.
Compress.
Compress.
Breathe.
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Time stopped making sense.
One minute passed.
Then another.
Nothing.
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Neems was crying openly now.
Still refusing to stop.
Samiya's shoulders shook.
She kept going anyway.
Chief Grant stayed focused.
But even he looked worried now.
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I couldn't stop staring at Sia.
Thinking about everything she'd done.
Everything she'd sacrificed.
Everything she'd hidden from us.
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Not like this.
Please.
Not like this.
Hashim suddenly grabbed her wrist tighter.
His eyes widened.
"…Wait."
Everyone was confused.
"I think…"
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He swallowed.
Checked again.
Then looked up.
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"…Her fingers are twitching"
Another second passed.
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Chief Grant put his hands on his face.
"Look, fingers twitching can happen from muscle activity or doing CPR itself.."
Hashim exploded.
"THEN AT LEAST CHECK FOR BREATHING!"
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I checked if her chest was rising.
And it did seem as if her chest was rising—just very slightly.
"Wait.. it does look like she's breathing!"
"Check for a pulse!"
Chief Grant yelled at me.
I felt the left side of her neck for 10 seconds.
And I couldn't believe it..
There was indeed a pulse.
"I FEEL A PULSE! STOP COMPRESSIONS!"
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Neems froze.
Sia took a ragged, uneven breath..
Her chest barely rising.
Her eyelids fluttered but she didn't seem fully awake.
Only groaning weakly.
But it was enough to let me be relieved.
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Hashim was in shock.
"She's breathing! She's breathing!"
"Put her on her side now until EMS arrives!"
Chief Grant yelled.
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Neems nearly had a panic attack.
Genuinely believing she wouldn't start breathing again.
Crying harder than before.
"I thought you died."
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Hashim fell flat onto the cave floor.
Looking at the ceiling.
Laughing and crying at the same time.
"It's really over…"
he whispered.
"…we won."
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Samiya wiped her face.
The tears refused to stop.
She looked at Sia.
"You big dummy."
She laughed through tears.
"Don't ever do something that stupid again."
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I quietly stood up.
Walked outside alone.
The cold night air hit my face.
I crouched beside a tree.
Held my head in both hands.
Trying to process everything that almost happened.
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Chief Grant stood silently—
Then looked toward us.
"Leave the weapons here."
he said quietly.
"And stay by her side incase of another arrest."
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The sirens were still minutes away.
The cave still stood behind us.
Silent.
Waiting.
Its impossible white glow unchanged.
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The Walker was gone.
But the cave remained.
And somewhere beneath it—
something was still listening.
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We saved Sia.
Alive.
Changed.
Traumatized.
But alive.
We won a battle.
We did not win the war.
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Nearly an hour later, after the ambulances had left and the woods had emptied, another convoy arrived.
Five black vehicles rolled silently onto the dirt road.
No police markings.
All it said on the vehicles was in white bolded letters "The NSF."
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Five figures stepped out.
Black smoke-colored tactical suits.
Heavy firearms.
Gas masks hiding their faces.
They moved with military precision.
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Without speaking, they surrounded the Walker's corpse.
One of them knelt beside it.
Touched the cracked remains.
Then stood again.
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And far, far.. away—
inside a room so white it almost hurt to look at—
a man stood with his back to the entrance.
He wore a gray-silver suit.
Perfectly still.
The door opened.
A woman stepped inside carrying a folder.
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"Sir."
she said quietly.
"It's true."
She hesitated.
"The anomaly has really been eliminated."
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The man never turned around.
He remained facing the white wall.
Hands behind his back.
"I understand."
he replied calmly.
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There was a long pause.
Then he spoke again.
"Bring it back to the facility."
Another pause.
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"We shall commence Phase One."
The lights inside the white room dimmed.
The door quietly shut.
And somewhere far beneath the earth—
something listened.
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End of Volume 1 — What Listens Beneath