The fog thickened as they descended the mountain road, swallowing the path in layers of gray. Every sound seemed amplified, the crunch of boots on gravel, the rhythmic clink of Dimitri's rifle strap, the sharp bite of their breath against the cold.
They had not spoken to each other since leaving Artem's cottage.
Silence had built walls between them,thick and unbreakable.
Natalia walked behind Dimitri, her mind a battlefield of whispers and static. Since hearing the words Phase 3 Adaptation, her thoughts no longer felt like her own. Sometimes they came faster than she could process,numbers, coordinates, and fragments of memory she could not have lived. It scared her, but she said nothing. She did not want him to see her unravel.
They reached a dirt trail lined with frostbitten pines. Dimitri stopped, crouching low.
"Tracks," he murmured.
Natalia peered closer. Tire marks,fresh. Maybe an hour old.
"They found us?" she asked.
"Or they found Artem," Dimitri said grimly. "Either way, we need to keep on moving."
They picked up the pace, but the forest seemed to close in tighter with every step. Crows watched from above, their wings black against the white sky. The air was colder now, way too cold. Natalia rubbed her hands, and when she pulled them away, she saw a faint glow pulsing beneath her skin. Just for a second, then it was gone.
Her stomach twisted.
"Dimitri…" she whispered. "Something is wrong."
He turned. "What do you mean?"
She hesitated. "My hands. They..."
Before she could finish, a gunshot cracked through the silence.
Dimitri shoved her down and dove behind a fallen tree. Another shot followed, splintering bark inches from his head. The forest erupted into chaos,gunfire echoing from different directions.
"Stay low!" he shouted.
She crawled toward cover, heart pounding. The shots were precise, and professional. Whoever was shooting knew his rhythm.
Dimitri rolled out, fired two bursts into the trees, and dropped another round into the rifle. He caught a glimpse of movement, it was a flash of dark clothing, the insignia on the shooter's arm made his blood run cold.
Specter's men.
He fired again, covering Natalia as she ran to another tree. But something was off, too many gunmen for a random patrol. They had been waiting, which meant only one thing.
Artem.
Rage ignited in his chest. He wanted to deny it, but the timing was too perfect. The old man had betrayed them.
A voice boomed through the trees, amplified by a comm-link. "Volkov! Drop your weapon and step out, the girl is coming with us."
Dimitri recognized the voice immediately.
Kellan Voss,a former ally. Now he is one of Specter's lieutenant.
He clenched his jaw. "You are wasting your breath."
Voss laughed. "Still playing the soldier, I see. Sergei would be proud, sending his son to die for his pet project."
"Come and find out," Dimitri growled.
A sharp whistle cut through the air. Grenades rolled across the dirt, hissing. Smoke exploded around them in thick white clouds.
Dimitri grabbed Natalia's wrist and pulled her back. "Run!"
They sprinted through the smoke, shots chasing them through the fog as branches whipped their faces. The world blurred into motion,gray, white, red as a bullet grazed Dimitri's shoulder, tearing through the fabric of his clothes.
They burst out onto a clearing near the riverbank. The current was half-frozen, but fast.
Natalia gasped for air. "We can not cross that."
"Do you trust me?" he snapped.
Her eyes widened, but she nodded.
"Then run when I say so."
He turned, aimed, and fired three rounds into the smoke. For a moment, silence. Then shadows emerged, Specter's soldiers, their masks gleaming with rifles raised.
Dimitri threw a grenade, grabbed Natalia's hand, and dove into the river.
The shock of the icy water stole her breath. They were swept downstream instantly, tumbling through the current. She kicked, gasped, fought to stay above water. Dimitri surfaced beside her, grabbed her arm, and hauled her toward a half-submerged log.
They clung to it, shivering violently.
Natalia coughed hard. "They will find us again."
"They won't find us at least for now" he said through clenched teeth. "We are too far down."
"Dimitri, your shoulder..."
He looked down at his shoulder. Blood mixed with river water, flowing dark down his arm, he winced but said nothing.
They crawled out onto the bank, soaked and gasping. The forest was quieter here,almost peaceful. For a moment, all they could do was breathe.
Then Natalia felt it again,the pulse.
Not from fear, not from adrenaline but from inside her.
Her veins glowed faintly beneath her skin, blue light flickering like electric threads. She clutched her hands, terrified. "It is happening again."
Dimitri turned toward her. The glow reflected in his eyes, shock cutting through exhaustion. "Natalia…"
"I can't stop it!" she cried. "It's like...it's waking up!"
The air around them began to vibrate faintly. Dimitri reached out, gripping her shoulders. "Breathe, listen to me,look at me!"
She tried, but her vision fractured,images flashing too fast: a white lab, Sergei's voice, code streaming across a monitor, her own reflection hooked to wires. And then, Specter's face. Cold and Smiling.
Her scream tore through the forest and the light vanished.
She collapsed.
Dimitri caught her just before she hit the ground. Her body was burning cold, skin clammy, breath shallow. He pressed his hand to her cheek. "Stay with me, please."
Her eyelids fluttered. "He is coming," she whispered faintly. "He can see me."
Then she went limp.
Dimitri froze. "No,no, no..."
He pressed two fingers to her pulse, it was still there, but faint. Whatever had awakened inside her was not done. It had left something behind,something he could not fight with a gun.
He lifted her into his arms and scanned the woods. They needed shelter, fast.
He found a hunter's cabin about a mile downriver, although small,it was the best option. He kicked the door open and carried her inside, the place smelled of rot and dust. He laid her on a cot, pulled off his coat, and wrapped it around her.
Her skin glowed again briefly, then dimmed.
He sat beside her, blood drying on his shoulder, chest tight with helplessness.
His comm-link buzzed.
He stared at it, no one should have this frequency.
A message flickered across the cracked screen:
VOLKOV. YOU CAN'T HIDE HER FOREVER. SHE'S MINE. — S
He crushed the device in his fist, fury shaking through him.
Outside, thunder rolled through the mountains. Specter had found them.
Hours later, Natalia stirred. Her eyes opened, dazed, unfocused.
"Dimitri?" she whispered.
"I'm here." He leaned closer, relief softening his voice.
Her gaze met his. For a moment, she smiled faintly, but then something flickered in her expression. Cold and Detached.
Her voice shifted, mechanical at the edges. "You should not have ran."
Dimitri froze. "What did you say?"
Her hand moved before he could react, fast, precise. She grabbed his wrist, twisting it with unnatural strength while her eyes glowed faintly blue.
He did not fight back. "Natalia,stop It's me."
She blinked, confusion flickering. The glow faded, and her grip loosened. She gasped, stepping back as if waking from a dream. "I...didn't mean to..."
He exhaled shakily. "It's the code. It's inside you now."
Tears filled her eyes. "Then you should leave me."
"Not a chance."
"Dimitri..."
He caught her face in his hands, voice low and steady. "I don't care what they turned you into. You are still you and I am not losing you to him."
She trembled, but the warmth in his eyes anchored her. For the first time since this nightmare began, she felt something real.
Outside, a faint mechanical hum rose in the distance, drones, searching.
Dimitri grabbed his rifle and reloaded it. "They are close."
Natalia stood beside him, voice barely above a whisper. "Then let's make them regret finding us."
He looked at her torn, proud, and terrified. Then he nodded.
As the hum grew louder, the two of them stood together in the doorway of the ruined cabin, shadows stretching long behind them.
The storm was coming.
And this time, they would not run.