Aaron woke up in a bed in the military camp
The village was gone.
The Hollow One was sealed.
But at what cost?
Matthias, David,Sarah,Elias,Caldwell, Reyes—all dead.
The city had suffered. Thousands were dead.Thousands were before too. Thousands more to come.
Because worst of all—
Aaron could still hear the Calling but faint,he knew he had a few time before he succumb to it's call like the rest.
At night,In dreams.
In the silence between breaths.
It was only a matter of time before the cycle began again.
A matter of time before he succumb to his FEAR.
The world had gone quiet as he stepped outside the camp,lit a cigarette and roamed the vicinity.
The fires had long since died out, leaving only the charred remnants of a city that had tried—and failed—to fight back. Streets once alive with people were now graveyards of the fallen, their hollowed bodies twisted in unnatural positions, as if frozen mid-scream.
Aaron stood alone.
His uniform was torn, his body bruised, but none of it compared to the weight pressing down on his soul. He had lost them all—Father Matthias, Caldwell, the entire Echo team. Graves had been buried under the collapsing tunnel, Elias had given his life to buy them time, and Sarah... David... they were never coming back.
He had survived, but what did that even mean?
The city was still standing, but it wasn't safe. The Hollow One had broken free from its prison, and no amount of firepower had been enough to stop it.
Aaron staggered through the ruins, gripping the ancient, rotting gun he had been entrusted with. It was the only weapon that had ever hurt the Hollow One, but even that wasn't enough to destroy it.
His breath came out in short, uneven gasps. He wasn't sure where he was going—there was nowhere left to run.
Then, the radio at his waist crackled.
Static. A faint, distorted whisper.
"...Aaron..."
He froze. His fingers tightened around the gun.
"...Why did you leave me?"
The voice was wrong—warped and stretched—but he knew it. Graves.
"No," Aaron whispered, shaking his head. "You're... dead."
The radio crackled again, and this time, more voices joined in. Matthias. Elias. Caldwell. Whispering. Laughing.
"You think you escaped?"...."Join us"...."Hahahahha".
Aaron turned in a slow, dreadful circle. The streetlights above flickered. Shadows stretched unnaturally, twisting toward him like grasping hands.
"You brought it with you."
A cold chill ran down his spine. He looked at his reflection in the shattered window of a burned-out car.
His eyes—
A flicker of hollow darkness.
Aaron staggered back, his breath hitching.
No.
He grabbed the gun, raising it to his temple, his fingers trembling.
If it had taken root inside him—if he was the next to turn—he had to end it. Now.
But before he could pull the trigger, the radio crackled one last time.
And the Hollow One spoke.
A single word.
A command.
"Live."
The gun fell from his hand. His knees buckled.
And Aaron, the last survivor, finally understood.
The Hollow one can never really be killed only contained.
— The End.