𝕯𝖊𝖆𝖉𝖘𝖍𝖔𝖙

Axehead

The moon rose reluctantly, painting the city in hues of muted scarlet. Inside the base, the light did little to lift the shadows that lingered in the corners.

The team gathered in the third-floor meeting room, their exhaustion evident in their hollow eyes and slouched postures. The tension in the air was thick, every word they exchanged feeling like a stone dropped into still water.

The room, usually filled with hurried plans and lively conversation, felt unusually still, as though the gravity of the previous day's events had left an invisible weight on everyone's shoulders.

Lorenzo stood at the head of the table, gripping the USB drive so tightly his knuckles turned white. The device felt impossibly heavy in his hand, as though the secrets it contained could crush them if they weren't careful. Around him, the others argued, their voices heated.

Julian typed away furiously on his laptop, searching for any leads on their next move, his brow furrowed in concentration. Haylee stood leaning against the wall, arms crossed, looking as though she hadn't slept a wink.

Russell sat quietly, the hunting rifle resting on his lap, a distant look in his eyes. And Caleb, usually calm and collected, kept glancing toward the door with paranoia as if he was expecting something — or someone — to burst through at any moment.

Paige's fingers absentmindedly toyed with her RPG, while Lorenzo gripped the handle of his firefighter's axe so tightly his knuckles had turned white.

"We can't keep sitting here, waiting for something to happen," Julian said, tapping his laptop with restless energy. "What if T.O.K. is working with the lunarists?? In that case, every second we waste is a second they're using against us."

"We need to keep searching for clues," Russell finally broke the silence, his voice hoarse from lack of sleep. "I'm telling you," Julian muttered, still staring at the screen. "T.O.K. isn't just some random group of survivors. There's something organized about them. Something deliberate. This isn't just about survival anymore."

Haylee leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "And if they're not? It's probably a trap, or something."

"I don't know.." Paige interjected, her voice tense. "They have our teammates. At this point, I don't even care what they are—we gotta get the rest of them back."

Lorenzo cleared his throat, cutting through the noise. "We can argue later. First, we need to know what else this drive holds. It's the only lead we've got."

Russell nodded grimly, understanding Lorenzo's urgency.

Caleb sighed. "So.. you're saying a majority of our friend group is.. dead. Daniel, Nick, all of them?" He said, pulling his sleeves up.

"Yeah. All dead."

"Julian, you said you found something?" Haylee asked, her voice tense but steady.

Julian glanced up, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Yeah... I think I might have something. There's a pattern in the locations where T.O.K. operates. If I'm right, they've set up base near an old subway station not far from here. It's hidden, camouflaged with the buildings around it, like a warehouse. That's why we haven't been able to track them."

Lorenzo's eyes flashed with renewed purpose. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go."

The group fell silent, watching as Julian plugged the USB into his laptop. The screen flickered to life, lines of code scrolling rapidly.

Then—
BANG!

A deafening crash echoed through the building, followed by the shattering of glass.

"What the hell was that?" Kaylee shouted, picking up her revolver off the table. "Downstairs," Haylee said, bolting for the door.

"Hell no! I'm not taking another fight!" She yelled. Despite her protests, Haylee took her hand and dragged her along. The team scrambled, weapons in hand, as they raced down the stairs.

The living room was in chaos. The front door, once reinforced with makeshift barricades, now hung limply from its hinges. Splinters of wood and shards of glass littered the floor. The air was thick with dust and tension.