The cabin's light flickered again.
Jay moved quickly, yanking the blinds shut while Lena locked the back door. Outside, the trees stood like silent witnesses. Whoever—or whatever—had been watching was gone.
But the feeling wasn't.
Jay handed Lena a small black device. "This is a jammer. It blocks all trackers. Keep it with you."
Lena took it, her fingers brushing his. "If they're following us... what now?"
"We find the others. There were nine more in the program before me. If any survived, they'll know what we're dealing with."
Jay opened a map, hand-drawn with X's in places Lena had never heard of. He pointed to one.
"A man named Caleb. He used to be a pilot. He remembered his real life after a dream about his daughter. They erased him again. But I think he escaped."
Lena's voice cracked. "And if they erased you again?"
Jay looked at her with a softness that broke her heart. "I made sure there was one thing they couldn't touch."
"What?"
He stepped closer, placing her hand over his chest. "You. You're in here."
For a moment, the world stilled.
But then—**a loud knock.**
Three sharp hits against the cabin door.
Jay's eyes widened. "That's not a person."
Lena backed away as Jay grabbed a fire poker from the hearth.
Another knock.
Jay pulled her toward the basement. "Downstairs. Now."
The basement was cold, damp, and lined with shelves of old canned goods and rusted tools. They crouched behind a stack of boxes, the door above creaking open.
Footsteps.
Slow. Heavy.
Not military. Not organized.
Jay whispered, "I've heard that walk before. One of them."
Lena barely breathed. She peeked through a crack in the floorboards—and froze.
A man stood in the doorway.
His skin was pale. Too pale. Like someone who hadn't seen the sun in years. His eyes were unfocused, but he moved with purpose.
He carried something: a tablet. On its screen, a video played on loop.
Lena's breath caught.
It was her.
Footage from her bedroom. Her brushing her hair. Crying. Talking to herself.
Recorded without her knowing.
She gasped, and the man's head **snapped toward the sound.**
Jay lunged up the stairs. The door slammed shut behind him.
There were sounds of a struggle—thuds, shouts, something crashing.
Lena raced after him.
She found the door kicked open, the pale man gone. Jay stood in the yard, bleeding from a cut on his forehead.
The tablet lay in pieces on the ground.
Jay's chest heaved. "He wasn't one of them."
Lena blinked. "Then who"
"He was *made* by them."
He looked down at the broken device.
"They've started using surrogates. Mindless bodies carrying surveillance. Programmed to hunt... and watch."
Lena's voice trembled. "Why me? Why are they watching me?"
Jay met her eyes, his voice barely a whisper.
"Because you're the one they couldn't erase."