72. Jonah
Jonah
T he little girl’s screams echo through the room.
And something inside me snaps.
Not emotionally.
Strategically.
Because Kade is counting on panic.
Counting on hesitation.
Counting on us turning on each other while the clock bleeds out.
No.
Not happening.
I step away from Kade slowly.
His eyes track me carefully now.
Good.
Let him wonder.
The countdown flashes across the monitors again.
00:05:58
Five minutes.
Elizabeth is crying softly behind us.
The children underground are terrified.
And Sienna looks like she’s carrying the weight of every single life in this building on her shoulders.
Enough.
I turn toward Vale.
“Can you override the system?”
“Yes.”
“Can you stop the individual triggers?”
Vale hesitates.
That’s answer enough.
“Not alone,” he says quietly.
I nod once.
Then look at Sienna.
“Can you?”
Her eyes meet mine instantly.
Fear.
Exhaustion.
Brilliance.
All tangled together.
“Yes,” she whispers. “But I need access to the central relay core.”
Cal curses immediately.
“That’s three floors underground.”
Lance checks his ammo fast.
“And crawling with hostiles.”
Kade smiles faintly from the wall.
“You won’t reach it in time.”
I look at him.
Really look at him.
At the absolute certainty written across his face.
And suddenly—
I realize something.
This bastard already thinks he won.
Which means he stopped adapting.
That’s when predators make mistakes.
My pulse steadies instantly.
“Sienna,” I say calmly. “How long to run the override once you’re connected?”
“Maybe sixty seconds.”
“Can you do it under pressure?”
Her jaw tightens.
“Yes.”
“I know.”
Something flickers across her face then.
Small.
But real.
Trust.
I turn toward Cal and Lance.
“We split.”
Cal immediately catches on.
“You’re going after the relay.”
“Yes.”
Lance points at Kade.
“And Hannibal Lecter over there?”
Kade actually laughs softly.
“I do enjoy him.”
“Yeah?” Lance mutters. “I’m gonna enjoy shooting you.”
Vale suddenly speaks.
“He can’t leave this room.”
Everybody looks at him.
Vale points toward the monitor.
“The biometric tether is proximity linked to this sector. If Kade moves too far before the override begins…” His face hardens. “The countdown accelerates again.”
Of course it does.
Kade built his entire system like a maze.
Layer after layer.
Punishment after punishment.
Sienna suddenly freezes beside the terminal.
“No…”
I move toward her immediately.
“What?”
Her fingers tremble over the keyboard.
“The relay core isn’t the only problem.”
My stomach drops.
“Talk to me.”
She pulls up another schematic.
The entire underground section flashes red.
Security doors.
Blast barriers.
Containment locks.
Every route to the children is sealing shut.
The timer drops again.
00:04:49
Cal goes pale.
“He’s locking them in.”
“No,” Sienna whispers.
Her voice sounds horrified.
“He’s preparing disposal.”
The room stills.
Elizabeth gasps softly behind us.
Vale closes his eyes briefly.
Like he already knows what that means.
I look back toward the screen.
At seventeen terrified heartbeat monitors.
At the shrinking timer.
At the kill chambers slowly sealing underground.
And then—
One biosign suddenly flatlines.
A long continuous tone pierces through the room.
Everybody freezes.
No.
No no no—
A boy on one of the camera feeds collapses sideways onto the floor.
The girl beside him starts screaming hysterically.
Elizabeth breaks into sobs.
“What happened?!” Lance shouts.
Sienna’s hands fly across the keyboard.
Then horror drains the color from her face.
“Kade triggered one manually.”
My vision goes black around the edges.
Slowly—
Very slowly—
I turn toward Kade.
And this time?
Even he sees it.
The moment I stop seeing him as human.