"Step out of the vehicle."
The rain had stopped. The wind carried smoke from the burned-down house behind them. Xin, bruised and bleeding, groaned as he looked out the jeep window.
Five people surrounded them, all armed. Their weapons weren't Dive-issued—they were hand-modified, some homemade, but they looked just as deadly. Tactical clothes, ragged cloaks, visors, boots caked in forest mud.
The one in front—the one who had spoken—stood tall with sharp eyes and a rifle slung across her chest. Her hair was tied back tightly. Her presence screamed control.
Kaila helped Xin up. "We don't want trouble," she called out. "We were just escaping something... something bad."
"Yeah?" the woman said. "That so?"
Andy stepped out, hands up. "We didn't do shit, alright? We're just… we got caught in something. Crazy shit back there."
The woman didn't blink. She nodded at her squad. Two of them flanked the jeep, rifles raised.
"Check the vehicle," she said.
A man in a scarf and thick gloves opened the doors, inspecting inside.
"Back's clear. Just bags. Blood on the seat," he said.
"Thought so." The woman's eyes landed on Xin, who could barely stand.
"You. What happened to your chest?"
Xin looked her dead in the eyes. "Monster threw me through a wall."
She didn't smile. Didn't blink. Just watched him for a few seconds longer than necessary.
Then she said, "Names."
Kaila answered quickly. "I'm Kaila. That's my brother, Xin. And this is Andy. We're not Dive. We just—something really fucked up happened."
"Not Dive, huh?" she replied. "And yet you're here. In my sector. Running from fire. Covered in blood. Near a house Dive's been monitoring for a while."
"What?" Kaila's voice cracked. "That place—Joden's house—it was full of monsters. It wasn't Dive's."
"Oh, it was," the woman said coldly. "Everything in Matlo Rivera is. You're just late to the truth."
Andy stepped forward. "Lady, I don't care about any of this. Just let us go, alright? We're not part of your war."
She raised her rifle and pointed it at Andy's chest.
"You think you're not in it? You think anyone in this world isn't part of it by now?" Her voice dropped an octave, dangerous. "This isn't a game. This is hell."
"Okay, okay!" Andy backed off, hands up. "Chill."
"Who are you?" Xin asked finally, his breath ragged.
The woman took one step closer.
"I'm Tara. Leader of the Resistance's Cell-09. And you three just walked into the worst place you could've picked to rest your heads."
Scene Shift
An hour later, the three of them were blindfolded and led through the woods. Xin limped, leaning on Kaila, still exhausted and sore. Tara's squad was silent. Even Andy shut up.
Eventually, they stopped. A loud thunk echoed through the trees. Some kind of mechanical lift activated beneath them. The sound of stone scraping against steel followed.
Then they were underground.
Someone ripped off their blindfolds.
Xin blinked, adjusting to the dim, red lights. The space looked like a bunker built into the side of an old mine shaft. Walls reinforced with scrap metal, computer equipment duct-taped together, makeshift beds, weapons racks, and exhausted-looking people.
This was the Resistance.
They were surrounded by people who looked just as broken as them—but with eyes that still burned.
Tara stood in the center.
"This is Cell-09," she said. "Our base.."
Scene: The Base
Kaila explained everything—how they got lost, Joden, Melina, the monster, the house fire.
Tara didn't interrupt once. She watched. Listened.
When Kaila finished, Tara finally said, "That's the second report we've had this month of Dive experiments escaping into the open. But you three? You burned one down."
Xin coughed. "We didn't plan that. We were just trying not to die."
"You did more than survive," she said. "You left a crater. Dive's going to be pissed."
A younger resistance member ran in. "Tara. Drones spotted. Two clicks west. Dive units deploying now."
"Shit," Tara muttered. She turned to them. "You brought them here."
"We didn't mean to," Kaila said. "Please—we didn't know."
Tara's eyes were calculating. Her hand hovered over her sidearm. The room got quiet.
"We have kids here," she said. "People barely holding on. And now Dive's gonna sweep this area because of you three."
Andy stepped forward. "We didn't ask to be hunted! We didn't ask to be saved! Let us go, we'll find our way back—"
Tara's gun was at his head before he could finish.
"You'd last ten minutes out there," she said.
Kaila moved between them. "Tara. Please. We didn't choose this. But we'll fight with you. We'll help."
Andy's jaw dropped. "What the hell, Kaila?"
"We can't keep running," she snapped. "You saw what's out there."
Tara stared at her for a long moment. "You got guts. I'll give you that."
She holstered her weapon.
"You're not prisoners. But you're not friends either. Not yet."
She turned to the others. "Get them food. Get him treated. If Dive's coming, we prep for evac."
As Tara walked away, she called out without looking back:
"If you run—we put a bullet in your heads."
Xin slumped onto a bench, breathing heavily. Kaila sat next to him, brushing his hair back.
"I hate this shit, I just wanted to go home c'mon" he whispered.
"I know," she said. "But we've got no choice now."
Andy paced, muttering to himself. "This is bad… This is really fucking bad…"
Xin looked at him.
"Yeah man I know. I am stuck in this too.."
The lights dimmed as the base went into alert mode. Dive was closing in.