Chapter 27 · Run

"Six." My voice came out flat. Wrong. "They're not rushing us. They're surrounding us."

Marcus slammed a fresh magazine home. "Then we don't give them time to finish the job."

The rune crawled another inch up my jaw. Copper flooded my mouth. Becca stayed out front, thirty meters and closing, while the others fanned wide along the tracks.

*He thinks this is containment,* Lyra whispered under my skull. *It's a cull. You're on the list too.*

"I know," I muttered.

I shoved her down before she could start calculating our odds. Six samples. Two of us. One exit that probably led straight into another trap.

Footsteps echoed from the north tunnel. Too many. Too even.

Marcus went rigid. "That's not them."

"Then who—"

Flashlights swept across the platform. A dozen beams cut the dark into strips. Tactical spacing. Trained movement.

I knew the uniforms before they stepped into view.

Government cleaners.

Ash Chen entered the light first. No rookie jacket this time. He wore a full combat rig stamped DOD CONTAINMENT, with a rifle built to end fights on a much larger scale. Eleven operators spread behind him, covering every angle.

His eyes found mine. The rune flared hot.