The abandoned train yard on the edge of Tavara was a graveyard of rust and silence. Forgotten freight cars sat like sleeping beasts under the cold glow of a fractured moon. The wind howled through broken windows and twisted metal.
Nora stood alone.
A black trench coat cloaked her slim frame, her hair tied back beneath the hood. Her eyes scanned the shadows. She hadn't brought backup. She hadn't needed to. She was the backup.
Tucked against her thigh was a concealed tranquilizer syringe. Not lethal — but enough to drop a grown man in seconds.
The seconds dragged.
Then, she heard it. The crunch of gravel beneath boots.
She turned slowly, her heart accelerating.
Out of the shadows stepped Damien Cross.
Same steely gaze. Same battle-worn posture. But different somehow — heavier, haunted.
They locked eyes, and for a heartbeat, neither spoke.
"I wasn't sure you'd come," he said, his voice low but steady.
"You left without saying goodbye. And now you show up whispering like a ghost," Nora replied, her tone sharper than she intended.
Damien smirked faintly. "Some things are easier to face in the dark."
She stepped closer, but cautiously. "Why are you back?"
He tossed her a small, encrypted flash drive. "Because The Helix Order knows your secret. And they're not the only ones watching you."
Nora caught it midair, her fingers brushing the cool metal. "You expect me to believe you came all this way for that?"
"I came because someone's targeting people from Project Epoch. You're next, Nora."
A flicker of fear crossed her face. Quickly masked. "Epoch was terminated years ago. No traces, no samples, no—"
"Don't lie to me," he interrupted, stepping forward. "We both know it wasn't destroyed. Just buried. And they've already dug up the first body."
She felt her stomach twist.
"Who?" she asked, quieter now.
Damien hesitated. Then, "Dr. Yele, Geneva lab. Found last week. Organ failure. DNA completely rewritten. Whatever they're testing now — it's evolved."
The night suddenly felt colder.
"And you think I'm next," she whispered.
"I know you are."
Silence settled again between them, but this time it wasn't empty. It buzzed with unresolved tension, with everything unspoken. Years of distance and longing coiled between them like a live wire.
Nora took a slow step back, her hand instinctively brushing the tranquilizer at her hip.
Damien saw it. "Still don't trust me?"
"I trust what the world turns people into. You disappeared. Now you come back with threats and riddles."
"I didn't disappear," he said. "I was silenced."
A gust of wind swept through, rattling an empty train car. Behind them, a soft metal clang echoed — once, twice.
Damien's eyes narrowed. "We're not alone."
He grabbed Nora's hand and pulled her behind the nearest freight car just as a red laser beam swept across the platform.
Sniper.
They dropped to the ground. Nora's breath caught. Damien already had a small drone scanner out, tracking the heat signature on the far roof.
"One shooter. South roof. Custom scope," he muttered.
"How did they find us?"
"They didn't." He turned to her. "They were already here. Waiting for one of us to lead them to the other."
Realization dawned on her. "It was a trap."
"Yes. And you're not walking out alone."
He reached into his vest and pulled out a small smoke canister. "Run on my mark."
She looked at him. "Why help me?"
His eyes met hers. "Because I never stopped."
Smoke burst across the yard as he threw the canister. Gunfire erupted behind them. They ran — past the rust, past the lies, into the darkness where survival had no rules.
But fate already had a plan.