Chapter 74: (Nell’s POV)

Pain. Darkness. Cold.

It felt like I was floating in black water, my mind bumping against sharp rocks I couldn’t see. When I finally woke, the world was a blur—a hard metal surface against my back, biting restraints on my wrists and ankles, the chemical scent of disinfectant everywhere.

For a moment, I thought I’d gone back in time to the first days of the “trial”—that nightmare I could never quite remember.

But this wasn’t the same.

A harsh white light shone in my eyes. I squinted, blinking away tears, the room coming into focus one edge at a time. Metal. Screens. Instruments I didn’t know the name for.

And a woman’s face above me.

Sharp red hair. Pale skin. Eyes that could freeze fire.

Dr. Evelyn Cross.

“Vitals holding. Begin prepping for the extraction protocol,” she said, not to me, but to someone behind her.

I tried to move, but the straps bit deep. My throat was dry and raw. All I managed was a hoarse, “Where…?”

Dr. Cross leaned in, clinical and cold. “You’re at Echo-6. You should never have come this close, Eleanor.”

Somewhere in the room, a door slid open with a hiss.

A man in a black suit entered. Not a scientist. Not a nurse. His face was hard and empty, his eyes alert.

Reed’s men.

My skin prickled with fear.

Evelyn barely looked at me as she prepped a syringe, her hands sure and quick. “We’ll be starting soon. You won’t remember any of this after today. Not him, not yourself. Not the pain, not the hope.”

Not him.

Alex.

His name burned in my mind, but even that memory felt frayed. Like a sweater after too many washes.

I turned my head, tried to see past her, but pain flashed in my skull and my vision went dark again.

\---

Somewhere beyond the pain, alarms started to ring.

First one, distant and shrill. Then another, closer and more urgent. Lights strobed red along the walls. Evelyn’s hand stilled, just for a moment.

“What’s happening?” snapped Reed’s man.

“Perimeter breach. We have to move her,” Evelyn replied, cool and sharp. She nodded at the guards, and suddenly they were yanking at my straps, hurrying, rough.

“Alex,” I whispered, barely able to speak, my heart pounding out of time.

“Move, now!” the guard barked.

But suddenly—the wall across the room rattled, and I heard it: the muffled thunder of gunfire, boots pounding on tile, and angry voices shouting orders.

“Shut the doors! Lock it down!” someone yelled from the hallway.

The guards shoved a gurney under me, tried to wheel me toward a side door. Metal barriers slammed down over the main entrance. Evelyn cursed, rushing to a control panel and stabbing at buttons. Nothing happened.

One of the guards looked panicked. “They’ve triggered the lockdown.”

“I’ll handle it. Just keep her restrained,” Evelyn hissed, but I could see real fear flicker in her eyes for the first time.

A screen on the far wall flickered to life, showing a grainy black-and-white feed of the outer corridor.

And there—moving with controlled fury—was Alex.

He wore body armor under his coat. Two security men flanked him. Behind them, a wave of guards fought Reed’s men—real fighting, brutal and desperate. Smoke from a flash grenade billowed in the hallway. Gunshots rang out, echoing through the underground walls.

But just as Alex reached the sealed operation room, alarms blared even louder.

Red lights flashed on the panel.

Access Denied: Biometric Authentication Required

The doors between Alex and me were sealed tight—thick, reinforced, almost impossible to break without explosives.

He slammed his fist on the glass. “Open the damn door!”

Reed’s men swarmed from both sides, cutting off his security detail. One of Alex’s guards went down in a heap. The other fired back, trying to buy time.

On the other side, I could only watch through my tears and panic.

Alex’s eyes locked on mine through the security screen.

I tried to shout his name, but all that came out was a choked sob.

\---

Inside the operation room, Evelyn’s hands didn’t shake.

She drew up the syringe, checked the monitors. “You’re a stubborn girl, Eleanor. But everyone breaks eventually.”

“Don’t…please…” I croaked, but her face never changed.

She signaled the remaining guard to hold me still.

Outside, I could see Alex raging at the glass—helpless. Reed himself appeared, stepping into the corridor with a pistol drawn, flanked by men in full tactical armor. His lips curled into a smug smile as Alex lunged forward, only to be blocked by another reinforced partition that sealed the corridor.

“You can’t win, Carter!” Reed’s voice crackled through the PA system. “Even with all your money and men, you’re still just a man.”

Alex roared back, “You’re going to pay for this! Don’t touch her!”

Reed only laughed, then turned away, leaving Alex pounding on the security glass, unable to get in.

\---

Evelyn’s gloved hand hovered above my arm, syringe poised. “Goodbye, Eleanor.”

Alarms wailed. Alex’s fists crashed against the glass. My world narrowed to pain, fear, and the soft hiss of liquid entering my veins.

But as everything blurred, as my eyes fluttered closed, I forced out one word—a plea, a promise, a prayer—

“Alex.”

The last thing I saw before the world went black was his face on the other side of the glass—desperate, broken, and still fighting to reach me.

\---

I didn’t know how long I lay there, strapped to the cold table, my mind drifting in and out of consciousness. The alarms had gone silent. The shouting had faded.

But I could still feel him.

Alex.

His presence lingered, even though the door between us hadn’t opened.

Even though I hadn’t heard his voice again.

My head throbbed. My veins burned where the needle had touched me. The world was blurring around the edges, and I couldn’t tell what was real anymore.

Had he come?

Was I dreaming?

Or had I finally lost the last part of myself?

Dr. Cross was gone.

Reed was gone.

The room was dim now, lit only by the flickering light of a single wall monitor.

I tried to turn my head toward it.

Tried to see if his face was still there.

But my body wouldn’t move.

Only my fingers.

Just a twitch.

And then I heard it.

The sound of static.

Faint.

Then clearer.

Then—his voice.

“Nell?”

I froze.

Breath caught.

“If you can hear me… don’t give up. I’m still here. I’m not leaving without you.”

My heart squeezed.

It wasn’t in my head.

He was speaking into the room—somehow, through the intercom or another channel.

I wanted to answer.

To scream his name.

But my lips wouldn't move.

Then, across the screen, a shape moved behind Alex.

A silhouette I couldn’t make out.

And before I could focus—

The feed cut to black.

A new alarm sounded.

And this time, it was louder than all the others.

Emergency override. Containment breach. CODE RED.