Morning broke over the engineering workshop, but no one celebrated the sunrise.
The words Elias had written on the whiteboard the previous evening remained untouched.
Entered: 132
Exited: 0
Every survivor who walked past the board slowed for a moment before looking away.
The evacuation center represented hope.
Yet Elias’s notes had planted doubt.
A sharp knock echoed against the workshop’s reinforced gate.
Everyone froze.
Noah raised his crowbar.
Liam shouldered his fire axe.
Emily carefully moved the younger survivors behind a stack of steel lockers.
Elias approached the viewing slit.
Outside stood no one.
Only a military supply crate rested on the concrete.
Its lid was broken.
The contents had spilled across the ground.
Empty ration packets.
Spent ammunition.
A bloodstained combat helmet.
No bodies.
No footprints leading away.
Just silence.
Minutes later, the scout team cautiously investigated the area.
Sarah knelt beside the helmet.
“The blood’s dry.”
“At least two days old.”
She carefully turned it over.
Inside was a faded military name tag.
CPL.
J.
HAWTHORNE
Noah frowned.
“If soldiers were here…”
“…where did they go?”
Elias scanned the area.
“That’s what we’re going to find out.”
Following a trail of dried tire tracks, the group left the university once again.
The tracks wound through abandoned streets before disappearing beneath an overpass on the Old Meridian Highway.
There they found it.
A military convoy.
Six armored vehicles sat abandoned across the road.
One transport truck had overturned, crushing several civilian cars beneath its weight.
The entire area was eerily quiet.
No infected wandered nearby.
Even the birds avoided the place.
Liam lowered his voice.
“I’ve got a bad feeling.”
“So do I,” Elias replied.
“Stay alert.”
The closer they moved, the stranger the scene became.
Bullet casings covered the asphalt.
But every impact mark pointed outward.
The soldiers hadn’t been shooting into the convoy.
They had been firing away from it.
Sarah examined one of the bodies lying beside a vehicle.
“No bite marks.”
“No torn flesh.”
“No signs of infection.”
She looked confused.
“They died from gunshot wounds.”
Noah blinked.
“Friendly fire?”
Elias slowly shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed toward a line of spent shell casings.
“They formed a defensive perimeter.”
“They were protecting something.”
The rear door of the overturned transport truck hung open.
Inside were dozens of empty restraint seats.
Steel cuffs dangled from the walls.
Medical equipment had been ripped from its mounts.
Large black letters remained painted across the floor.
PROPERTY OF CHIMERA DIVISION
Sarah read the words aloud.
“…Chimera?”
Noah scratched his head.
“Military code name?”
“Maybe.”
Elias photographed every detail with a recovered digital camera.
“If it’s important…”
“…we’ll remember it.”
Liam called from another vehicle.
“You need to see this.”
The group hurried over.
Inside an armored command truck sat three dead officers.
Maps still covered the table.
Coffee cups remained untouched.
One officer clutched a pistol in his hand.
Another held a bloodstained notebook.
The third…
Had been handcuffed to his own chair.
No one spoke.
Sarah quietly closed the officer’s eyes.
“They never had a chance.”
Elias carefully opened the notebook.
Most pages were soaked with blood.
Only fragments remained readable.
…evacuation proceeding as scheduled…
…civilian numbers exceeding projections…
…Hunter Unit successfully deployed…
His eyes narrowed.
Hunter.
The same word appeared again.
…Project Chimera entering Phase Two…
The remaining pages had been torn out.
No explanation.
No signatures.
Only questions.
Without warning—
A distant engine echoed across the highway.
The group immediately ducked behind the convoy.
A military truck approached from the direction of the evacuation center.
It wasn’t damaged.
It wasn’t abandoned.
It was operational.
Two armed soldiers stepped out.
Both wore black tactical uniforms without insignia.
One scanned the convoy.
The other spoke into a radio.
“No survivors.”
“Evidence compromised.”
“Proceeding with cleanup.”
Elias signaled for absolute silence.
The soldiers walked only meters away from their hiding place.
Noah tightened his grip around his crowbar.
Sarah barely dared to breathe.
Then…
One soldier stopped.
He looked directly toward the overturned truck where the group hid.
“…Did you hear something?”
The second soldier slowly raised his rifle.
A low, guttural growl rolled across the highway.
Both soldiers froze.
The sound came from above.
The Hunter stood atop the overturned transport truck.
Its crimson eyes fixed on the soldiers.
Neither side moved.
For one long heartbeat…
Predator met prey.
Then the Hunter attacked.
Its leap covered nearly ten meters.
One soldier disappeared beneath a blur of claws.
The second fired wildly before being thrown across the highway.
Gunfire echoed through the silent streets.
Elias didn’t wait.
“Move!”
The team sprinted through the wreckage as chaos erupted behind them.
The Hunter ignored them completely.
Its attention belonged to the soldiers.
The workshop doors slammed shut behind the returning scouts.
Everyone immediately began asking questions.
Noah emptied his backpack onto the workbench.
A military notebook.
An identification tag.
A faded map.
And one torn document bearing a single unfamiliar heading.
PROJECT CHIMERA
The room fell silent.
Emily looked at Elias.
“What is Project Chimera?”
Elias stared at the words for several seconds before closing the folder.
“I don’t know.”
He looked around the room.
“But whatever it is…”
“…people are willing to kill to keep it secret.”
Outside, beyond the workshop walls, a column of black smoke slowly rose into the evening sky.
Somewhere in the distance, the Hunter roared.
And for the first time…
It didn’t sound alone.