Is That Mom

Part 8 of Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

Confronting the Past

—

Part 8:

A Narrow Escape

Ethan’s breaths came in ragged gasps as he stumbled through the mouth of the hidden tunnel. His legs were burning, each step feeling like it might be his last, but he couldn’t afford to stop. Not yet. The heavy door he’d pushed through at the end of the outpost had given him a momentary advantage, but it wouldn’t hold them off for long. The group chasing him—they were relentless.

He knew they would search the area, but they hadn’t discovered this tunnel. He had found it earlier, hidden behind a decaying storage room wall, one of the few useful remnants of the research outpost. Now, it was his lifeline.

The passage was narrow and cold, the air thick with dampness. His body ached with exhaustion, every muscle screaming in protest after the frantic chase. The low ceiling forced him to crouch as he moved, his shoulders brushing the rough stone walls. His feet dragged through the uneven dirt floor, stumbling with each step. But he couldn’t stop, not yet.

The farther he went, the quieter the sounds of pursuit became. The footsteps, the shouts—eventually they faded into the distance, swallowed by the earth. Ethan finally allowed himself a moment to catch his breath. He pressed his back against the cold wall, his chest heaving, his pulse thundering in his ears. His body shook with exhaustion, fear, and the adrenaline that had been propelling him forward for what felt like an eternity.

Safe. For now.

But the fleeting sense of relief quickly gave way to a sinking realization. He wasn’t truly safe. He might have escaped for the moment, but the people chasing him—the unknown group—they wouldn’t stop. They had been following him since he’d begun this journey, their presence haunting him every step of the way. And now, they had come closer than ever. They had found him, and they would find him again.

His mind raced with questions. Who were they? What did they want with him? Were they connected to his mother’s work? Or was it something else? The files he had taken were crucial, but did they hold the answers? Or just more questions?

He pressed his hand against his forehead, trying to steady his thoughts. His mother. Everything came back to her. The experiments, the revelations in the hidden chamber—it all led back to her. The horror of what she had done, what she had become, still lingered in his mind, a dark cloud he couldn’t shake. The image of the woman he had once admired, once loved, was now tainted with the knowledge of her involvement in the experiments, her willingness to push the boundaries of science in ways that defied nature.

But what haunted him the most was the realization that she had subjected herself to those same experiments. His mother had changed herself, becoming part of the very project she had created. The thought made him sick—physically and emotionally. It wasn’t just betrayal. It was something deeper, something more painful.

Ethan clenched his fists, trying to push the thoughts away, but they wouldn’t leave him. The more he tried to make sense of it all, the more it overwhelmed him. His mind felt fractured, broken by the weight of everything he had learned. He wanted to stop, to rest, to shut it all out—but he couldn’t.

The tunnel stretched on, winding through the underground like a forgotten artery. The farther he walked, the darker it became, until the only light was the faint beam from the flashlight he had retrieved from his pack. The beam flickered, casting eerie shadows on the walls, and for a moment, he wondered if he was imagining the echoes of footsteps behind him. The fear of being followed, of being hunted, had rooted itself deep in his psyche. It felt like it was always there now, lurking just beyond the edges of his awareness.

Ethan forced himself to keep moving. The tunnel had to lead somewhere, to safety, to freedom. But even as he pushed forward, the exhaustion weighed heavily on him. Every step felt like a monumental effort, his body rebelling against the relentless forward motion. His legs trembled, and his vision blurred with fatigue.

The mental toll was just as crushing. The chase, the revelations, the sheer magnitude of what he had uncovered—it all felt too much. He had set out to find the truth about his mother, but now, faced with that truth, he wasn’t sure if he was strong enough to handle it. The woman he had loved, the woman he had idolized, was a stranger to him now. And the truth that had once driven him felt more like a curse than an answer.

Yet, even through the exhaustion and the fear, one thought pushed him forward: survival. He couldn’t give up, not yet. There was more to uncover, more to understand. The files in his bag held the key to the rest of the puzzle, and despite the overwhelming urge to stop, to collapse in defeat, Ethan knew he had to keep going.

His mother’s warning echoed in his mind: some truths are better left buried. But he was past the point of no return. Whatever the cost, he had to know the full truth. He had to understand why she had done what she had, why she had left him the breadcrumbs to follow. And most of all, he had to figure out who was hunting him—and why.

As Ethan reached the end of the tunnel, he saw a faint light ahead. The exit. His heart leaped with a mix of relief and dread. He was about to leave the shelter of the tunnel, but that meant stepping back into the open, where he could be found again.

He paused for a moment, gathering what little strength he had left. The fear gnawed at him, but he knew he couldn’t stop now. He had escaped the outpost, but the real danger was still out there, waiting for him.

With a deep breath, Ethan stepped forward into the light, the weight of the truth—and the hunt—still heavy on his shoulders.