Morning came slowly to the engineering workshop.
Grey light filtered through reinforced windows, casting long shadows across the concrete floor.
The workshop, once filled with the steady rhythm of machinery and student conversations, now echoed only with quiet whispers and the occasional hum of the emergency generator.
No one slept well.
The documents recovered from the military convoy remained spread across the central workbench.
Elias had spent most of the night studying them, hoping to uncover something the bloodstains and missing pages had failed to hide.
Instead, he found more questions.
Project Chimera.
Hunter Unit.
Civilian Transfer.
Each phrase hinted at a truth hidden behind layers of military secrecy.
Noah walked over carrying two steaming mugs of instant coffee.
“You’ve been staring at those papers for hours.”
Elias accepted one without taking his eyes off the documents.
“They wanted these destroyed.”
“So?”
“So if someone risks destroying information…”
“…it’s usually because the truth is dangerous.”
Noah leaned against the table.
“You think the military caused all this?”
“I don’t know.”
“And that’s what worries me.”
The rest of the survivors slowly gathered around the workbench.
Emily placed breakfast on a nearby table, though few people seemed interested in eating.
Sarah carefully examined the recovered notebook.
“The convoy was transporting civilians.”
She looked around the room.
“Maybe they were evacuating people before they were attacked.”
Liam folded his arms.
“Or maybe they were transporting infected.”
Silence followed.
No one wanted to consider either possibility.
Elias uncapped a marker and turned toward the whiteboard.
Across the top he wrote one word.
FACTS
Beneath it, he listed everything they knew.
✓ Military evacuation broadcasts continue every hour.
✓ Families are entering the checkpoint.
✓ No civilians have been seen leaving.
✓ A destroyed military convoy carried restrained passengers.
✓ Soldiers mentioned Project Chimera.
✓ The Hunter was deployed near the convoy.
He stepped back.
“No guesses.”
“No theories.”
“Only facts.”
Emily quietly raised her hand.
“So…”
“What do we do?”
The room erupted into debate.
“We should leave while the military is still operating.”
“They’re the only organized force left.”
“What if they’re telling the truth?”
Another survivor shook his head.
“What if they’re not?”
Liam slammed his fist onto the table.
“We can’t hide in this workshop forever.”
Sarah nodded slowly.
“We’re running low on antibiotics.”
“The generator won’t last forever.”
“If the evacuation center is real…”
“…we may not have another chance.”
Everyone looked toward Elias.
He remained silent.
Instead, he drew another heading beneath the list.
QUESTIONS
Why does the radio never answer?
Where are civilians taken?
Why was the convoy destroyed?
Who created the Hunter?
The room fell silent again.
No one had answers.
Later that afternoon, Noah carried the damaged military radio onto the workbench.
“I’ve been thinking.”
Elias looked up.
“Dangerous habit.”
Noah smirked.
“I fixed the receiver.”
“You fixed it?”
“I said I fixed the receiver.”
“The transmitter is another problem.”
He connected several wires to the workshop generator.
Static filled the room.
Everyone gathered around.
For several seconds…
Nothing.
Then—
“…Convoy Seven…”
The distorted voice crackled through the speaker.
“…civilian transfer…”
Static swallowed the next sentence.
“…Phase Two…”
Another burst of interference.
“…specimens…”
“…secured…”
Silence.
The transmission ended.
Sarah slowly lowered her notebook.
“Did it say…
specimens?”
Noah replayed the recording.
The same fragments echoed again.
Specimens.
Not survivors.
Not civilians.
Specimens.
Elias quietly switched off the radio.
No one spoke.
The room suddenly felt colder.
As evening approached, arguments returned.
Some survivors wanted to head for the evacuation center immediately.
Others refused to leave.
Fear spread faster than infection.
Emily finally broke the silence.
“What if both sides are wrong?”
Everyone turned.
“What if the military is trying to help…”
“…but something else is controlling what’s happening?”
Elias considered the possibility.
He couldn’t dismiss it.
There were still too many missing pieces.
He looked around the room.
“I’m not ordering anyone to stay.”
Several people looked surprised.
“If anyone wants to leave…”
“…I won’t stop you.”
“But I won’t lead people somewhere I don’t trust.”
No one moved.
The workshop remained silent.
For now…
They would stay together.
The sun disappeared behind the ruined skyline of Blackhaven.
Outside, the campus grew quiet once more.
Then a deep engine rumbled in the distance.
Everyone rushed toward the observation window.
A military transport truck slowly entered the university through the shattered front gate.
Its headlights remained on.
Its engine never stopped.
The truck rolled to a halt nearly two hundred meters from the engineering workshop.
The rear doors opened.
Six exhausted civilians climbed down one after another.
Before anyone could wave for help…
The truck’s doors slammed shut.
Without a word…
Without checking on the survivors…
Without offering supplies…
The military vehicle turned around and drove away into the darkness.
The six strangers stood alone in the middle of the campus.
Confused.
Abandoned.
One of them spotted the workshop.
He slowly raised both hands.
A weak voice carried across the empty courtyard.
“Please…”
“We’re looking for shelter.”
Inside the workshop, nobody reached for the gate.
Elias watched the disappearing taillights until they vanished beyond the university entrance.
Only then did he speak.
“They weren’t rescued.”
He looked at the frightened strangers standing in the fading light.
“They were delivered.”
Outside, hidden atop the administration building, two crimson eyes opened in the darkness.
The Hunter had been watching the entire exchange.
And it wasn’t alone.