The run had felt endless-an unforgiving sprint through suffocating damp shadows, driven by desperation and a singular hope that the end of the tunnel would lead to something more than just another cage. But then, at last, light. A distant glimmer, weak at first, then growing, swelling into a golden promise.

  I stumbled forward, gasping for air, my body aching from the strain. The tunnel's exit loomed before me, opening at the base of the mountain that housed the Compound. No guards. No sirens. Just... silence.

  Is this really happening?

  I crouched just inside the tunnel's mouth, my breath unsteady, heart hammering against my ribs. The taste of iron clung to my tongue, the ghost of exhaustion weighing down my limbs.

  For the first time in what felt like eternity, I wasn't being hunted. I wasn't shackled, tested, or trapped. Yet, the momentary relief twisted into something ugly-guilt.

  I had left them behind.

  Are they alright?

  My mind spiraled, grasping at fleeting images of Robert, Cenilera, even James-faces frozen in time, caught between survival and sacrifice.

  Were they still alive? Had Albert discovered their involvement? Had James—

  I didn’t hear a gunshot… so maybe they’re just in custody. I shouldn’t think the worst…

  I knew that I had no other choice than to leave them behind. If I had stayed, they would’ve been confirmed as the traitors and Albert would’ve had them executed.

  Clenching my fists, I whispered under my breath,

  "I'll make sure I get out of here—for them."

  Steeling myself, I stepped forward.

  The moment my foot left the tunnel and touched the earth beyond, warmth embraced me-soft, unfamiliar. The sky stretched endlessly above, an expanse of brilliant blue streaked with wisps of white. The sun, burning high above, poured golden light onto the landscape, bathing everything in a glow so gentle, so foreign and warm, it almost hurt.

  Lush green surrounded me, vibrant and alive, nothing like the sterile, clinical whites and grays of the Compound. Leaves rustled with a breeze so light it barely felt real. The air tasted cleaner, sweeter.

  I finally reached it.

  I took a step, then another, my body protesting, as if afraid this was a trick—a dream I would wake from, strapped to a metal table once more.

  But the wind didn't disappear. The scent of wildflowers didn't fade. The sun didn't flicker like the Compound's harsh fluorescents.

  This is real.

  The descent took time. The incline was steep, the underbrush thick, but I pushed forward, each movement forcing me to leave behind the world I had known. After what felt like forever, the dense foliage parted, revealing what lay beyond.

  I froze.

  A city.

  Not ruins. Not crumbling remains of what once was. But a living, breathing city, brimming with life.

  People moved through the streets in effortless harmony-men and women dressed in flowing clothes of striking colors, children laughing, running between them, their voices light and carefree. The architecture was unlike anything I had ever seen-tall, sprawling buildings of smooth, gleaming stone, their surfaces catching the sunlight like glass. The streets stretched wide, brimming with vendors, shops, people going about their daily lives as if the world beyond these walls had never ended.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Everything was too clean. Too bright. Too perfect.

  It was overwhelming. Alien.

  The Compound had been nothing but steel and suffering. Sharp corners. Narrow corridors. The constant hum of machines, of orders barked through speakers. The clatter of boots against cold, tiled floors. Here, everything was soft.

  Vibrant. Alive.

  "I heard Doctor Cenilera's stories about the world beyond the Compound," I murmured to myself. "But hearing them and seeing them... it's not the same."

  A sudden voice broke through my thoughts.

  "Daddy, look! It's a Scout!"

  I turned sharply. A child pointed at me, eyes wide with wonder, clutching the hand of an older man in stiff, pristine attire. Not his father—his butler. I didn't know how I could tell, but I just knew.

  This wasn't just a city. It was a world separate from the compound, separated from the worries and threats beyond the walls.

  Paradise.

  And no one here knew who l was.

  No one looked at me with recognition. With fear.

  With the cold, clinical assessment of a scientist measuring results. For the first time in my life, I was a stranger.

  The wrongness of it gnawed at my skin, but I shoved it aside, forcing myself forward. I needed information. I needed a plan.

  A crowd funneled into a street lined with glittering storefronts, the kind I had only seen in the fragments of old books. My feet carried me along with them, drawn to the shimmering objects displayed behind thick glass. Jewelry, watches, intricate trinkets that served no function but to exist. They sparkled under delicate lighting, absurdly beautiful.

  A part of me wanted to press my fingers to the glass just to feel if they were real.

  I exhaled.

  "It's so beautiful out here," I whispered, almost breathless.

  I had escaped the Compound.

  And I had stepped into paradise.

  But something deep inside me whispered—

  Paradise always has a price.

  And so the illusion didn’t last.

  No matter how much I tried to pretend I was just another person in an ordinary place, the truth clawed at the edges of my awareness, refusing to be ignored. The towering wall loomed in my periphery, an unyielding reminder of where I was

  —and how far I still had to go.

  If I wanted to escape, I had to keep moving.

  Searching. A crack in the foundation, an overlooked gate, anything. And if I couldn't find one... perhaps l'd need to summon that strange power again-the one Albert's experiments had carved into my very being. I have to rely on myself.

  My right hand curled into a fist as I glanced down at it. Then, slowly, I uncurled my fingers, willing something-anything-to happen. But my arm remained unchanged. No glow. No grotesque shift of flesh. Just my own hand, ordinary and weak.

  The surge of strength l'd felt in the lab was gone.

  I kept walking, slipping past the hordes of servants at every market stall and crowded eating areas as I moved toward the wall until it loomed over me.

  Voices-low, steady, at least ten or eleven of them. I stopped, straining to make out their words.

  They weren't moving. A gate? Maybe. Or an ambush. If only I could hear them.

  The hairs on the back of my neck rose. I needed higher ground to see.

  Scanning the area, I spotted a building nearby— old, crumbling, but tall enough to give me a vantage point. A fuse box jutted from the wall, just high enough to use as a foothold. I took a breath and jumped.

  But what happened next wasn't normal.

  The instant my feet left the ground, something ignited inside me—an unnatural force surging through my limbs. Instead of a controlled leap, I shot into the air, weightless and untethered.

  Ten feet into the air.

  The rooftop rushed toward me, and I slammed down hard, the impact jolting through my spine.

  Pain flared up my back, sharp and searing.

  I bit back a curse, rolling onto my side.

  "What the hell was that?" I whispered, pressing a hand to my ribs. The pain was already dulling, ebbing away faster than it should have.

  “Who’s there?” a gruff voice barked, shattering the quiet.

  I scrambled upright, adrenaline taking over.

  Without thinking, I jumped again-this time landing squarely on the rooftop. My breath hitched as I flattened myself against the cold surface, peering over the edge.

  Below, a guard rounded the corner, his hand hovering over his holster. His eyes swept the area, searching for me.

  I pressed lower, muscles locked, breath held.

  Thump! Thump! Thump!

  My heartbeat pounded in my ears, drowning out everything else.

  "I heard something—a thud. It sounded heavy."

  "Well, I don't see anything," the second guard replied, exasperation lacing his tone. "And we're supposed to be watching the gate. It's not like the kid can climb the damn wall."

  Apstra hesitated. I could hear the doubt in his silence, the way he shifted his weight from foot to foot. Then, at last, he muttered something under his breath and turned away. I stayed motionless, listening, waiting.

  When I was sure they had left, I moved.

  Sliding across the rooftop, I edged toward the far side, keeping low, keeping silent. The gate loomed ahead, it was massive. Impenetrable. Yet it was the only way out.

  The only thing standing between me and freedom.

  A cold wind swept through the streets below, but I barely felt it. My hands trembled, the rush of adrenaline still thrumming through my veins.

  I looked down at them. At the fingers that had clenched scalpels, fought restraints, clawed against the agony of Albert's experiments.

  They didn't feel like my own anymore.

  "What am I becoming?" | whispered.

  The mutation. The strength. The unnatural power humming beneath my skin. It was all proof.

  Proof that I wasn't a person anymore.

  I was something else.

  "A freak," I murmured, the word tasting like rust on my tongue.

  The thought should have crushed me. Should have left me cold. But instead, something else burned in my chest—a flicker of resolve. I will escape from here even if I have to fight my way out.