Malik's snarl hung in the air. "This isn't over."
Ava's heart pounded. Every fiber screamed danger, but she made herself calm down and breathe slowly.
"Prisha's not just observing," Malik told her, voice low but stern. "She's waiting for something."
Zayan scrunched up his face. "Or someone."
Ayesha moved forward, voice shaking. "Subject One. She's near."
"Near?" Ava questioned, eyes piercing.
"She's been moving through the shadows, hidden. Not erased. Buried." Ayesha's gaze flicked to the dark woods, like she could see through the trees.
Malik nodded. "And if she's awake, if she remembers—"
"She's dangerous," Ananya finished for him.
Ava clenched her fists. "If she's dangerous, then so am I. They want me because I'm connected to her somehow."
Malik's eyes locked on hers. "Connected or not, we're all targets now."
The group shifted, quiet and quick, crashing through the undergrowth. They needed to get distance between themselves and the ridge—and whoever else was lurking.
A twig snapped suddenly.
Malik brought up his gun. "Positions."
They stood still, breathing shallow.
"Easy," a voice shouted. Out of the shadow stepped a figure: lean, hard-faced, with a battered jacket and suspicious eyes.
"It's me," Zayan said softly. "I shook them off back there."
Malik lowered his gun reluctantly. "Where?"
"East ridge. Two men. No tech. Watching. They know we're moving."
Ava's heart was racing. "Then they're not giving up on this. Not until they get her—or us."
Ananya's voice trembled. "Who's 'her'?"
Ayesha's eyes slid away, her face white. "Subject One."
"Then we locate her," Ava growled, gritting her teeth.
Malik nodded. "And in a hurry."
They pressed on, urgency etching their footsteps.
.......
Hours later, the cold pressed against their skin. Ava's thoughts whirled with questions, with scattered memories fighting their way back.
Malik halted abruptly, finger up. "Wait."
Before them, the ground was marked with recent footprints, and leaf clusters were trampled.
"Someone recently passed," Rohit breathed.
Ayesha crouched, following the prints. "Not ours."
"Perhaps Subject One's," Ava said, pounding heart.
Malik scowled. "Or a trap."
They crept forward, senses on high alert.
Abruptly, a faint cry shattered the silence.
Ayesha's eyes flung wide. "Listen."
From deeper within the woods, a small voice—childlike, but insistent.
Ava took a step forward. "Hello? Who's there?"
There was no reply. Only rustling leaves.
"We follow," Malik commanded.
...........
They crept toward the sound.
Through tangled roots and low branches, the voice grew clearer.
"Help me… please."
A small clearing opened. In the center—bound, pale, trembling—was a girl. Younger than Ayesha, eyes wide with fear.
Ava knelt beside her. "You're safe now."
The girl's lips parted, voice barely a whisper. "They… they took me too."
"Who took you?" Ava asked.
"They call me Subject Eight," she said, voice cracking. "I remember things. Painful things."
Malik severed the bonds with his knife. "You're going with us."
Standing up, the girl glanced around frantically. "They'll find us. They always do."
Ava shivered. "Not if we find Subject One first."
......
The group moved on, the burden of the missing subject weighing in the air.
There was a sudden snap.
"Ambush!" Malik cried out.
Faces appeared from behind the trees—masked, armed, hurrying.
"Run!" Malik ordered.
Gunfire cracked. Ava ducked behind a down log, her heart racing.
Rohit blazed back, covering their backs.
Ava took the girl's hand. "Stay with me!"
They ran, branches slapping against their faces, lungs heaving.
Behind them, the gunfire increased.
.......
They reached a narrow ravine.
Malik looked down. "We can't cross here."
Ava's mind raced. "We have to split up. Draw them away."
Malik shook his head. "No. Too dangerous."
But Ava knew the choice was theirs.
"Go. I will cover." Malik handed her a pistol.
Ava nodded, gripping the gun tightly.
"Stay alive," Malik said.
She took off into the trees, heartbeat in her ears.
................
Ava ran in the brambles alone, senses heightened.
Then a whisper came from behind her.
"Ava…"
She spun.
Subject One stepped out of the shadows.
The woman's eyes were fierce, haunted.
You recall now, she said.
Ava's throat tightened. "Who are you?
Subject One's mouth curled into a bitter smile. "I am what they tried to eliminate. And I'm here to finish what they started."
..........................
Ava held the gun tighter, pressed against the woman who emerged from the trees like a memory in flesh. Her breath was caught in her throat.
Subject One remained standing, unblinking.
Her eyes were hollow but aglow with a strange calm, her face as if chiseled from past horrors and buried secrets. Her voice was gentle but firm.
"They wiped me out," she replied. "But not completely. I remember you."
Ava's hand shook. "Why me? What did we do to them?"
Subject One continued. Ava never backed off, but she left her finger on the trigger.
"Because you were different," the woman continued. "You weren't just another test subject. You were hope."
Ava's breast tightened. "Hope for what?"
"That the mind forgets and yet comes back to the truth. That they could not truly possess us."
Behind them, distant gunfire echoed. Ava flinched.
Subject One's head jerked, her eyes wide open. "They're near. But they won't catch me. And now that you're awake, they won't catch you either."
"Why do they need me?"
"To complete what they began. To quiet what could be stirred up."
Ava placed the gun aside a little. "Did you leave the message in the bark?"
Subject One nodded. "You had to recall. Even if it costs you fear. Fear enhances memory."
A noise behind them made Ava spin around. Zayan stumbled into the clearing, holding the rifle aloft.
"Ava! Stand back!"
"No!" she screamed. "Don't shoot!"
He hesitated, confused.
"She's not attacking. She's been hiding. hiding from them."
Subject One remained still. She gazed at Zayan, unblinking.
"I was Subject One. I'm not their subject anymore."
Zayan lowered the rifle a few inches. "Prove it."
She moved aside, reluctantly. She pulled down the coat. Underneath this was a scar, a mark similar to Ava's. A coded burn.
"They marked us," she said. "Like assets."
Ava looked at her own scar. It was tingling now.
"Then help us," Ava replied. "Tell us who led Project Echoes. Did it include Prisha?"
Subject One shook her head. "She built the machines. But the orders came from above. Above any of you knew."
"Who?"
Subject One looked between them, then out into the woods. "Not here. Too many ears."
Zayan advanced. "We have to regroup. We found a new subject—a child. Subject Eight. She's terrified."
Subject One winced. "They're starting again."
Ava asked, "Can we stop them?"
Subject One slowly nodded. "If we get to the archive."
"What archive?"
"The one they buried in the Northern Compound. The one they think nobody remembers."
Zayan cursed under his breath. "That building is crawling with spies."
Subject One's eyes turned icily cold. "Then we go at night."
..................................
Meanwhile, Malik walked back and forth while they cared for the girl.
"You're telling me she's Subject One?" he asked Ava, his voice low.
Ava nodded. "She remembered my name. Said I was the key."
"And you trust her?"
"I don't know. But I think she is."
Ananya clarified, "We can't go on running. If there is an archive, and it confirms what they did, we need it."
Malik folded his arms. "Then we plan. One shot. In, out. No screw-ups."
............................