Chapter 15 - Chapter 15: Signal Online

The garage door slammed behind them like a coffin lid. A drone hovered above the floor, and its white light pinned Noah, Mara, and Owen in the open. The beam made the dust look like snow, and every breath felt loud. Ahead, between rows of dead cars, shapes moved in the dark.A speaker on the drone crackled. "STOP. HANDS UP. SUBJECT THIRTEEN REMAINS PROPERTY." The voice was calm, like it was reading a rule. Behind them, Harrow's rifles clacked in the tunnel mouth, and someone shouted Noah's alias like it was a leash.Noah did not stop. He pulled Mara tight by the sleeve and shoved Owen's weight higher on his shoulder. He stepped sideways, fast, toward a line of concrete pillars. If he froze under the light, he became a target. If he ran in the open, he became a target faster.A shot snapped and hit the wall near his head. Chips of concrete stung his cheek. The noise was enough. The dark shapes in front of them turned as one, like dogs hearing meat hit the floor."Move," Noah hissed. "Don't look up."Mara's fingers dug into his jacket as she dragged Owen's feet. Owen's eyes were half open, glassy, like he was awake but not here. The spot of blood on his scalp had dried into a dark line, but Noah could still feel heat there through the hair when Owen leaned on him.The first zombie came out from under a sedan with a wet crawl. It was wrong in a new way. Its skull looked swollen and ridged, like bone had grown in layers. Noah aimed and fired once, clean, right where the temple should give.The bullet sparked off bone.For half a second, Noah did not understand what he saw. Then the zombie's head snapped toward him, mouth wide, and it surged forward even faster. Yesterday, that shot would have dropped it. Today, it was just a signal.Noah swore under his breath and changed the plan mid-step. He slammed his shoulder into a car door, ripping it open, and used it like a shield. The zombie hit the door hard enough to bend metal. Noah drove his knife through its eye socket, not because it was clean, but because it was soft.The blade sank deep. The zombie kept moving.Mara gasped, and Noah felt her fear spike through his arm. He could not let this turn into a slow fight. Slow was how you died in a place full of corners.He grabbed a tire iron from the floor near a fallen tool cart and swung. The first hit cracked teeth. The second hit landed on the ridge of skull and made a dull sound like striking stone. The third hit finally caved something in, and the zombie dropped, twitching.Noah did not celebrate. He stepped on its neck to pin it and brought the tire iron down again until the head split enough to open. The smell hit him first. Hot rot. Wet metal. He forced his hand inside and found the crystal buried deep, slick and warm like it had been alive.He yanked it free.The crystal caught the drone light and flashed for a second, bright as a promise. That was the problem. Anything bright in this world was bait.A chorus of hungry sounds rose from the darkness. More shapes stood up between the cars, faster now, drawn by gunfire and the wet crack of bone. Noah shoved the crystal into his pocket, but the movement felt heavy, like he had just put a gold bar in his pants."Keep going," he told Mara. "Do not stop."They reached the first pillar, and the drone light slid with them, tracking. Noah could feel the camera watching every angle of his face. He kept his head low, but he could not shrink small enough to disappear.He risked a glance toward the tunnel. Harrow's people were choking and blinking hard, still shaking off the sleeping gas. One of them stumbled into the garage, and a zombie on the edge of the shadows snapped toward him. The man fired wild, and the muzzle flash lit the cars in fast bursts.Good, Noah thought. Let them feed each other.But the drone did not care who died. It floated closer, slow and sure, like a judge.Noah's hands started to tremble, not from fear, but from the crystal pressing against his thigh. He could feel it even through cloth. His mouth went dry, and a low urge climbed up his spine like a bug under skin.Not now, he told himself. Not in the open.Then a zombie dropped from the hood of a truck right in front of them. It was smaller, thin, and fast. Its face was peeled raw, and its eyes did not blink.Noah shoved Mara back and took the hit on his forearm. Teeth scraped his sleeve, trying to find meat. He drove the tire iron into its ribs, but it did not slow. He smashed its head against the pillar hard enough to leave a smear, then stomped until the skull gave.The drone light found the movement and held it steady. Noah felt exposed down to the bone. He could hear Harrow behind him yelling orders he could not follow. He could hear zombies ahead answering the sound of his breath."There," Mara said, tight and fast. She pointed to a metal door in the wall. A small sign above it read: SERVICE STAIRS.Noah ran for it. The door handle had a red latch, and it would not move. He banged it once, then twice. It was locked.A soft laugh came from the shadow between two vans.Riley stepped out like she had been there the whole time. She held a small key fob in one hand and a pistol in the other. Her eyes flicked to Owen first, then to Noah's pockets, like she could see the crystal through fabric."You look like hell," she said. "Still breathing though. That's cute."Mara's face went hard. "Back up."Riley ignored her. "That drone is not here for you, Noah. It's here for him." She nodded at Owen. "Subject Thirteen. That's a real price tag."Noah felt his jaw tighten. "Open the door."Riley lifted the key fob and rolled it between her fingers. "I can. But I'm not doing favors today."Behind them, Harrow's rifles kept firing, but the shots were getting closer. In front, the dark was moving faster. The garage had turned into a funnel, and they were the meat in the middle.Noah's hand slid toward his pocket. The crystal felt like a hot coal. The urge to swallow it was sharp now, almost painful.Riley's smile widened when she saw the motion. "Yeah. That. I want that."Noah did not bargain like a normal man. He bargained like someone with seconds left. "Open it. Now. Or you die here too."Riley looked past him at the zombie shapes. For the first time, her grin slipped. "Fine. But you better make it worth it."She pressed the fob. The lock clicked. The SERVICE STAIRS door popped open a crack.Noah shoved it wide and pushed Mara through first. Then he half carried Owen inside, his boots dragging on the concrete. The stairwell smelled like old bleach and cold water. It was dark, and the sound of the garage became a muffled roar behind them.Riley slipped in last and slammed the door. The metal rang like a bell.Bad move, Noah thought, but it was already done.Something hit the door from the outside right away. A thud. Then another. The hinges groaned."Up," Riley said. "Don't go down. Down is dead."Noah took the stairs two at a time. His legs burned, and Owen's weight felt like it had doubled. Mara stayed close, one hand on the rail, the other ready to grab Owen if Noah dropped him.A scream echoed from the garage. Harrow's man, the one who stumbled, was being torn apart. The sound was sharp, then cut off. Noah did not look back.At the next landing, a small panel was bolted to the wall. It was dark, but when Owen's head passed near it, the screen flickered to life.SUBJECT 13 SIGNAL: ONLINENoah froze for a breath. Mara saw it too. Riley's eyes widened, quick and greedy."That's new," Mara whispered.Noah's skin went cold. It wasn't just a label. It was a beacon. Owen wasn't only a key. Owen was a live tag.The drone outside must have seen the same thing. A high beep sounded through the concrete, like a response. Then another beep. Closer.Noah's pocket pulsed with heat. The crystal wanted in. It promised speed, strength, control. It also promised pain.He made the choice because the stairwell was a trap without it.He pulled the crystal out. It was bright even in the dim light, like a drop of ice that refused to melt. Mara's eyes flicked to his hand, and her voice went sharp."Noah—""I know," he said.He pressed it to his mouth and swallowed.The pain hit before the crystal was fully down. It punched through his throat and into his chest like a hot nail. His knees buckled, and he caught himself on the rail just in time. Blood rushed to his nose, and he tasted metal.His hearing spiked so hard it turned into a scream. Every tiny sound became a hammer: Mara's breath, Riley's boots, Owen's weak moan. His vision narrowed into a tunnel, and for a second the stairwell stretched wrong, like it was too long to be real.Then the strength came.His arms locked firm. His legs steadied. His grip on Owen turned solid again. He could carry him. He could move.But the cost was already there too. His hands shook, and his heart beat too fast. A sharp hunger rose behind his eyes, like the crystal wanted more than space inside him. It wanted choices."Keep moving," Noah forced out.They climbed again. The door below them banged harder now. Metal screamed. The zombies were climbing, or something else was pushing them.At the next landing, another door waited. This one had a keypad and a small camera over it. A light above the pad blinked red.Riley reached for it without looking at Noah. "This is the exit to street level."Noah stepped in and blocked her hand. "Open it."Riley's mouth twitched. "I can't. Not alone."Mara's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"Riley pointed at the small camera. "It wants him. The tag. Subject Thirteen. That's why Harrow needed him. That's why the garage door asked for him."Noah felt rage push up, bright and clean, because rage was easier than fear. "Do it."Riley raised both hands in fake peace. "Fine. But don't blame me when you see what's outside."She stepped back and let Noah do it.Noah leaned Owen close to the keypad. The panel woke up like it recognized blood.CROSS, D: ACCESS GRANTEDSUBJECT 13: CONFIRMEDA green light blinked. The lock clicked.Mara flinched at the name. CROSS, D. She had seen it before, but seeing it again made it heavier. Noah pretended he did not notice. He could not afford that talk now.The door cracked open.Cold air slipped in, sharp and wet. Noah smelled outside. Smoke. Rain. And something else: diesel and human sweat. A lot of it.He opened the door wider.Floodlights snapped on in the alley beyond, bright enough to hurt. A line of rifles pointed back at them from behind a low barricade. Not Harrow's team. Different gear. Cleaner. Real Authority.The drone voice came again, louder now, like it was right above the door. "SUBJECT THIRTEEN RECOVER. CROSS, D, SURRENDER."Noah's stomach turned. They were waiting. The tag had called them here. The stairwell was not an escape. It was a delivery chute.Riley moved first.She stepped into the light with her hands up and shoved Owen forward hard. Owen stumbled out of Noah's grip, half falling into the open. His eyes went wide for the first time, panic flashing through the fog."No!" Mara lunged, but Noah caught her by the waist and pulled her back.Riley did not look sorry. She looked relieved. "He's right there," she called to the rifles. "Subject Thirteen. I brought him. I want my cut."The soldiers shifted, and Noah saw a man in the back raise his hand like he was giving a calm signal. A net launcher sat on the barricade like a mouth ready to spit.Riley turned her head just enough to look at Noah. Her smile was thin now, almost angry. "This isn't personal. It's math."The banging on the stairwell door below exploded into a full crash. Metal tore. Something fast was coming up.Noah stood in the doorway with Mara in his arm, the light burning his eyes, his blood still dripping from his nose. Owen was outside, exposed, one step from being taken. Inside, the stairwell was about to fill with teeth.The crystal inside Noah screamed for a simple answer. Kill. Run. Take.Noah tightened his grip on Mara and stepped forward into the floodlight.A rifle trigger started to move.