The cold wind slashed against Kevin's face as branches whipped by them. Rain soaked their clothes, but neither of them stopped to wipe their eyes or catch their breath. Behind them, they could hear the heavy, unnatural stomping—closer than before. The beast was hunting, and it knew exactly where they were going.
Kevin grabbed Missy's hand, pulling her forward through the brush. "This way!" he shouted over the wind.
Missy was shaking, drenched, and covered in mud. Her breath came out in ragged gasps. "W-We need to find a place to hide—please—I can't run anymore!"
"We can't stop! Not here!" Kevin glanced back and saw the distant silhouette of Wrath moving through the trees. Its massive, clawed arms dragged across the bark, slicing into it like paper. It didn't just walk—it stalked, like it was savoring the fear.
They kept going until they found an old ranger outpost, abandoned and broken down. Its windows were shattered, and the door barely hung on its hinges. Kevin pushed it open, then yanked Missy inside.
"Hide, quick!" he whispered. They ducked beneath a broken desk in the corner, their breathing shallow, their hearts pounding so loud it hurt.
Outside, Wrath stopped walking. For a moment, there was nothing—only the thrum of the rain on the tin roof. Then, the wooden steps creaked. One by one. It was here.
Missy covered her mouth with trembling hands, tears flooding her eyes again. Her thoughts screamed inside her head. "This is my fault. Ali is dead. Lukas is dead. I should've told the truth sooner. I deserve this."
Kevin crouched beside her, trying to keep calm, but the terror gripped him too. Wrath's footsteps moved past the doorway. It was sniffing. Searching.
Suddenly—CRASH.
The desk exploded in splinters. Wrath's claw smashed down into the floor just inches from Kevin's leg. He screamed and grabbed Missy, pulling her out. They ducked through the opposite door as Wrath roared behind them.
The chase began again.
Through the endless trees, soaked in darkness and fear, Kevin and Missy ran blindly. Lightning flashed. Wrath wasn't far—it was leaping now, crashing through trees, breaking limbs like twigs.
They found a drainage tunnel ahead and slipped inside. The darkness consumed them. They crawled, gasping, until the monster's screeches faded into the storm.
Inside the tunnel, their breathing echoed. Missy finally collapsed, sobbing. "I can't— I can't anymore…"
Kevin sat beside her, trembling. "We're alive. We're alive…"
"Ali's gone. We should be too…"
"No." Kevin's voice was hoarse. "You're not dying. Not like this. Not to him."
They sat in silence, water dripping around them. For a moment, it felt like the tunnel was their only safe place left in the world.
Then, a small flickering light appeared down the tunnel—an old emergency bulb flickering to life. They followed it deeper, until they found a rusted ladder. Kevin climbed first and pushed up a manhole cover. It creaked and lifted slowly.
Above them, the storm had passed. Dawn was beginning to bloom, bleeding red and gray into the sky.
They emerged in the back of an old scrapyard. The place was dead quiet. Missy looked around, trying to steady herself. "Why here?"
Kevin squinted. "I used to come here with Lukas… to mess around with junk. It was his favorite place to hide."
Missy let out a bitter laugh. "Of course it was…"
They moved through the scrapyard, past stacks of broken-down cars and rusted machinery. They ducked into a small shed, its interior cluttered with tools and debris. Kevin sat on a crate, staring blankly at the wall. Missy paced back and forth.
"I have to say it," she said. "I need to tell you exactly what happened. You don't know everything."
Kevin looked up. Missy hugged herself tightly, her voice barely above a whisper. "That night... we were all messing around at the warehouse. Cheese was forcing Lukas to take the blame for something he didn't do. Mark had a gun—he was scaring him with it. I grabbed it from Mark to stop him. I didn't even know how to hold it."
Kevin's eyes darkened, but he stayed quiet.
"I just wanted them to stop hurting him. I was going to give it to Lukas, let him hold it so they'd back off. But... Cheese lunged at me. I pulled the trigger."
Her voice broke.
"Lukas… he jumped in front of him."
She looked at Kevin, tears spilling down her face. "He saved Cheese. He died… for the person who bullied him."
Kevin leaned forward, burying his face in his hands. "Jesus Christ…"
"I tried to tell the truth. But Cheese told the others it was a police shootout. He forced us to lie. And then Lukas was gone. And it just… spiraled."
Kevin stood up, walked over, and hugged her.
"I don't hate you," he said. "But we need to stop running. We need to fight back."
Missy blinked. "Fight… Wrath?"
Kevin nodded slowly. "Michael Harrington's not just some grieving dad. He's turned himself into something else. Something not human. But even monsters have weaknesses."
Suddenly, a loud clang echoed through the scrapyard.
They froze.
Another clang.
Something was walking.
They peered out through the shed's window.
A shape emerged through the mist—massive, misshapen. Not Wrath.
It was something else.
Another creature.
Larger. Bulkier. Its face was metal-plated, with jagged wires protruding like veins. Steam hissed from vents in its back. It moved slower than Wrath—but every step cracked the earth.
Kevin whispered, "That's not him… is it?"
Missy shook her head. "No… this is something new."
The creature stopped.
And then—it spoke.
Its voice was garbled, synthetic, broken.
"Subject... location confirmed. Extermination... order active."
Missy's eyes widened. "It's looking for us. But it's not Michael."
Kevin grabbed a wrench from the wall. "That means there's more. More of them."
"More monsters?" Missy whispered.
"More experiments."
They slipped out the back of the shed and ducked behind a pile of rusted car hoods. The creature scanned the area, a light flashing from its head. Its arms extended, revealing circular saws and a flamethrower nozzle.
Missy covered her mouth.
"We need to get out of here," Kevin said.
"Back to the tunnel?"
"No. We need answers. There's only one place we can go."
Missy turned to him. "Where?"
Kevin met her eyes.
"The Harrington house."
Missy stared at him, breathless.
"If Michael really built that machine," he said, "then the basement is where it all began."
They moved quietly toward the scrapyard fence. Behind them, the new creature continued to prowl, smashing aside car frames as if looking for prey.
Kevin and Missy slipped into the rising sun.