In the new world, people weren't just killed. They were used. The eastern gates exploded inward, metal screamed and concrete shattered and the Hollowed entered the camp.
Gunfire erupted instantly. The Hollowed moved in structured formations through smoke and debris while the invading raiders from the west pressed harder from inside. The camp was trapped between two enemies.
Kane cursed violently.
"They planned the whole damn thing!"
Jasper grabbed Stacy's arm immediately.
"We move now."
"Where?!"
"Anywhere that isn't here!"
People ran screaming through burning structures. Floodlights burst overhead as bullets ripped through towers and barricades.
A truck overturned near the central yard, exploding into flames that illuminated the nightmare unfolding across the settlement and through it all the Hollowed advanced calmly without hesitation or emotional reactions, there was no wasted ammunition either. Every movement served a purpose . Jasper ducked behind a collapsed barrier as Hollowed gunfire tore through the air above them. Stacy fired twice toward advancing raiders.
One dropped instantly.
Another barely flinched.
"What the hell is wrong with these people?!" she shouted.
"They're conditioned," Jasper replied.
"No," came Kane's voice nearby.
"Controlled."
Kane slid into cover beside them, blood running down one side of his face.
The tough confidence from earlier was gone now.
This was survival mode.
"They breached all three perimeter lines," he growled.
"How?" Stacy demanded.
Kane looked toward the Hollowed moving through the smoke.
"They knew our layouts."
That answer landed hard.
Someone inside the camp gave them information.
A scream echoed nearby and Jasper turned instinctively. A woman was being dragged across the yard by two armed raiders toward one of the western trucks, other young survivors, heathy ones were being rounded up too.
Stacy's expression darkened instantly.
"…They're taking people."
Jasper's stomach tightened.
Kane saw it too, his jaw clenched.
"Damn scavenger packs…"
"What are they doing with them?" Stacy asked.
Kane didn't answer immediately.
Because the answer was worse spoken aloud.
"Selling them."
This wasn't survival anymore as the world outside the facilities had rebuilt itself into factions, raiders, camps, trade routes, territories and people had become resources.
Another scream echoed and this time it was closer. A teenage boy was slammed against a vehicle while raiders tied restraints around his wrists.
Stacy immediately moved and Jasper grabbed her arm hard.
"Wait."
"We can't leave them!"
"If we rush in blind, we die with them!"
Kane stared at Jasper carefully after hearing that, measuring him again. Even during chaos Jasper studied patterns. The Hollowed weren't taking prisoners only the human raiders were which meant that the two factions had different objectives but same coordinated goals. That terrified him more than anything else.
"They're separating targets," he said quickly.
Stacy frowned.
"What?"
"The Hollowed push people into kill zones…"
He pointed toward the raider trucks.
"…the raiders collect survivors trying to escape."
Kane's eyes narrowed.
"You figure that out already?"
Jasper looked at the battlefield again.
"They've done this before."
Movement near the burning supply yard caught Jasper's attention.
A man chained to a metal pole behind one of the trucks was thin and bruised, barely conscious unlike the others. He wasn't being loaded up, He was already restrained and owned. Then the man looked up and mouthed something silently toward Jasper.
"Help."
Stacy saw him too.
"We're not leaving him."
Kane grabbed her immediately.
"You go near those trucks, you're dead."
"You said people survive out here."
Kane's expression hardened.
"Not everyone."
But Jasper kept staring at the chained survivor, something felt wrong. The raiders guarded him differently and more carefully.
"Why is he separate?" Jasper muttered.
Kane heard him.
His face shifted slightly.
"…Because he matters."
Jasper turned sharply.
"You know him?"
"No."
Kane lies which was immediate and obvious
Gunfire intensified nearby as Hollowed forces pushed deeper into camp. The entire eastern section was collapsing fast. Raiders loaded more prisoners onto vehicles while fires spread through supply structures. Time was running out as Stacy looked between Jasper and the chained survivor.
"We decide now."
Jasper's mind raced calculating risk, positioning, enemy movements, extraction route and Probability of survival which was very low.
Then the chained man lifted his head again and Jasper saw it, the faint glowing lines beneath the man's skin just like the raider earlier.
"He's been exposed to the system," Jasper whispered.
Kane's eyes widened instantly.
"How do you know that?"
"Because I've seen it before."
The chained man suddenly shouted weakly through the chaos:
"They're trying to open another sector!"
Everything stopped for Jasper another sector and facility.
Stacy looked at him sharply.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Yes."
Kane cursed under his breath.
"No. Absolutely not."
Jasper looked at him.
"You know what he means."
Kane stayed silent and that silence confirmed everything. Somewhere out there, more facilities existed with more systems, more experiments and apparently someone was trying to access them.
"Cover me," Jasper said suddenly.
Stacy nodded immediately.
Kane grabbed him hard.
"You don't understand what you're walking into."
Jasper met his eyes coldly.
"No," he replied.
"I think you do."
Then he moved fast.
Bullets tore through the air as Jasper sprinted between burning vehicles. Stacy followed close behind, firing controlled shots toward approaching raiders.
One Hollowed turned instantly toward Jasper tracking him down.
"Primary subject moving."
Damn it.
The raiders near the chained survivor reacted immediately.
"Contact left!"
Gunfire erupted.
Jasper slid behind wreckage as sparks exploded around him.
Stacy dropped one raider cleanly.
Another rushed her with a blade.
She pivoted hard and shot him point-blank.
Jasper reached the chained man up close, he looked even worse, starved, beaten, and exhausted but his eyes were still sharp and aware.
"You took your time," the man muttered weakly.
Jasper examined the restraints quickly.
Industrial-grade locking clamps not improvised, it was purpose-built.
"Who are you?" Jasper demanded.
The man gave a faint smile.
"Someone who escaped."
That answer chilled him instantly.
Before Jasper could ask the man grabbed his arm suddenly hard.
"You need to leave now."
"Not without you."
The survivor shook his head urgently.
"No—you don't understand."
Then Jasper noticed it, the faint blinking light beneath the man's collarbone had a tracking tech embedded under his skin.
Realization slammed into Jasper instantly.
"Oh no…"
The survivor's expression collapsed into guilt.
"I tried not to lead them here."
Every Hollowed nearby suddenly stopped fighting, stopped shooting, stopped moving and turned directly toward Jasper. The hum inside his head surged violently.
"Primary subject confirmed."
Kane screamed from across the battlefield
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!"
The chained survivor looked at Jasper with pure horror now.
"They're not hunting camps anymore…"
"They're hunting you."
Then…the blinking light under his skin turned solid red.
Jasper's eyes widened.
"MOVE!"
The survivor smiled sadly.
"…Sorry."
A deafening pulse exploded outward instantly as vehicles flipped and bodies launched through the air. The entire yard vanished into fire and shockwave and Jasper was swallowed by the blast.