MILES POV
The silence stretched, thick and uneasy, my gaze shifting from one man to the other before settling briefly on Tessa. She didn't return it.
"I am Commander Orion Smith," the second man said, his voice deep and steady, the kind that didn't need to be raised to be heard. He gestured slightly to the man beside him. "And this is Captain Cole Kellerman."
Cole didn't acknowledge the introduction. Instead, he moved toward the wall beside me and leaned against it, folding his arms across his chest. One boot crossed over the other as his dull eyes settled on me—not studying, not judging, just watching like he was waiting for something to happen.
"You've put the entire Sector 3 on high alert," he said, his tone stripped of any real emotion.
I shifted slightly, the chains around my wrists dragging against the metal with a dull clink. "What did I do?"
Cole's gaze didn't leave mine. Then he let out a quiet scoff, barely more than a breath. "The boy doesn't remember anything." His head tilted just a little. "Should I still refer to you as a boy?"
If that was meant to be humor, it didn't land.
Commander Orion stepped forward before the silence could turn into something worse. "As you may have already noticed, there are people who would prefer you not be alive right now," he said. "Because of what you are."
My brow tightened. "What am I?"
There was a pause—not hesitation, just careful timing. "You transformed," Orion said. "During the attack… into one of them."
For a moment, the words didn't register. Then they did—and everything else faded with it. A faint ringing filled my ears as my eyes dropped to my hands resting on my lap. They looked the same, felt the same. But something about them didn't sit right, like they'd done something I wasn't there to witness.
"There will be a hearing," Orion continued, his voice cutting back through the noise in my head. "They'll decide whether you live or die. And if you walk in there like this…" His gaze flicked over me briefly. "You won't be walking out."
I exhaled slowly. "Do I have a chance?"
"Small," he replied.
That was honest. Too honest.
"Have you ever heard of the Arcades?" he asked.
I nodded faintly. "Soldiers that venture beyond the Badlands."
"Suicide squad," Cole added from the wall, his tone dry.
Orion ignored him. "I lead them," he said simply. "And right now, they are the only reason you're still breathing."
My gaze drifted, almost without thinking, toward Tessa. She was already looking at me. She didn't look away.
The Arcades… stories we used to laugh about. Men who walked out and never came back. And now they were my only way out.
"That's my option?" I asked.
Cole huffed lightly. "Option? No. That's mercy."
Orion stepped closer, his expression tightening just slightly. "There are things you don't know about what happened in Sector 4," he said.
My jaw clenched. "What do you mean?"
"It wasn't random," he replied. "The breach… it was opened. From the inside."
The words hit harder than anything else he'd said. Faces flashed through my mind—Noah, Dylan, Shawn. Gone. Just like that.
My hands curled into fists, the chains rattling as the metal bit into my skin. "You're saying someone let them in?"
"If you die," Orion said, "you'll never know who."
Something twisted in my chest, sharp and burning.
"I'm going to kill them," I muttered, the words slipping out before I could stop them. I looked up at him, my voice steadier this time. "I'm going to kill every single one of them."
Cole pushed himself off the wall, something shifting in his expression for the first time. Interest. He stepped closer and rested a hand briefly on Orion's shoulder. "Let's take him," he said, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. "I believe him."
Orion studied me for a moment longer before giving a small nod. "I'll see you at the hearing, Miles Walker."
They turned and left, the door shutting behind them with a heavy thud that echoed through the cell.
For a moment, nothing moved. Then the cuffs snapped back around my wrists, tighter this time.
"It's time," Tessa said quietly.
She helped me up without rushing, her grip firm but not rough, and guided me out into the corridor. The murmurs started almost immediately—not loud, not direct, just enough to follow us as we walked. Soldiers lined the path, stepping back as we passed, their eyes lingering but their bodies keeping distance, like I carried something they didn't want near them.
Even the ones in purple. Sector 4.
My people.
None of them said a word.
We stopped in front of the doors. They towered over us, heavy metal carved with the image of an eagle, wings stretched wide. It didn't look welcoming. It looked like something meant to keep things in.
"Hey."
Tessa's voice pulled my attention back.
"Anything you say or do in there," she said, adjusting the cuffs slightly, "they'll use it. Anyone who doesn't already want you dead will decide if they should… the closest things you'll have to allies are the three of us."
I looked at her. "Why?"
She paused, just for a moment. "Why help me?"
Her eyes softened—barely, but enough to notice, before she swallowed it down.
"Because you don't understand what's happening," she said. "And I think you deserve a chance."
Before I could respond, the doors groaned open, and the noise inside spilled out—low voices, shuffling, the scrape of chairs against the floor. It lasted a second. Maybe less. Then it died. Just like that.
Silence took its place and all eyes turned to me.