Running with you

Echos and entry points

Night came fast.

Too fast.

Rain drummed across the cracked rooftops of Sector Seven, washing the safehouse in darkness. The van was prepped, weapons checked. Brenda drove. Minho sat up front, fingers twitching over the trigger of a stolen rifle. Thomas was beside you in the back, and this time — you were the one clinging to him.

You hadn't let go since you took his hand on the roof.

The map you'd pulled from the folder showed the facility buried under a collapsed medical district. Abandoned. Hidden. But not forgotten.

It reeked of WICKED.

And you hated that a part of you recognized the blueprints.

Brenda drove until the road disappeared, then veered off across loose gravel and weeds until headlights swept across a shattered "DO NOT ENTER" sign, buried half under rubble. Beyond it: blackness.

"We're here," she said.

You tightened your grip on the pack slung across your back. Inside were the maps, the folder, two vials of blood you'd extracted yourself. Yours and Newt's. In case it came down to proof.

The others followed you silently through the wreckage of the ruined hospital complex. Walls cracked like open ribs. Floors hollowed out by time. Ash coated the air.

Then you found it.

A stairwell — untouched. Concrete clean. A steel door at the bottom glowing faint green beneath the grime.

Thomas turned to you.

"You're sure this is it?"

You nodded. "They wouldn't bury something this deep unless they were afraid someone might actually find it."

Minho cracked his knuckles. "Let's knock."

Brenda hacked the keypad with a makeshift reader. Static buzzed.

Then—

Click.

The door swung open.

Inside was nothing.

Then lights flickered on.

White. Cold. Clinical.

A hallway stretched out before you like something from a nightmare you hadn't remembered until now. You all moved forward slowly, breath catching as you passed rooms lined with shattered glass and overturned beds.

Everything was empty.

Too empty.

"We're not alone," Thomas said quietly.

You felt it too — the buzz in your spine, the static behind your ears.

The memories.

This place used to scream.

The corridor ended in a vault-like chamber. At its center: a console. Still powered. Still active.

Brenda moved toward it, fingers flying over keys. "Give me a minute."

But you weren't looking at the console.

You were looking at the room beyond the glass — through a wall smeared with blood.

In the center stood a gurney.

And in the gurney — a figure.

Not alive.

Not entirely dead either.

It was a boy.

Thin. Hooked to wires. Breathing, barely. You stepped closer.

Minho hissed behind you. "No. No way—"

Because you knew that face.

Gally.

But not the version you remembered. This one was older. Paler. A ghost in stasis.

"What the hell—?" Brenda muttered.

The console behind her blinked. "RETRIEVAL SUBJECT — STANDBY MODE."

Then another file opened.

And your name flashed across the screen.

SUBJECT 09 — TERMINATION OVERRIDE.

The chamber lights turned red.

Thomas shouted. "Get back!"

The room exploded into movement — panels opening, walls shifting, gas venting through the vents. You coughed, falling to your knees. Brenda screamed, "It's a trap!"

Thomas grabbed you, dragging you toward the exit.

But the doors sealed shut with a mechanical hiss.

Minho slammed his fist against the glass. "They're locking us in!"

You stumbled toward the console. Brenda yelled something, but all you could hear was static again.

Your hands flew across the keyboard.

Lines of code, passwords you shouldn't know, commands buried in your subconscious came spilling out.

Then—

Override Accepted.

Doors unlatched. Venting ceased. The lights dimmed back to white.

You collapsed.

Thomas caught you before you hit the ground.

Brenda was already moving toward Gally's chamber, cracking the door and running a quick vitals check.

"He's... stable," she said slowly. "Sedated. But functional."

Thomas turned to you.

"How did you know what to type?"

Your eyes stung. "Because I wrote the failsafe."

He stared.

Minho whispered, "You're not just part of the experiment. You're the backdoor."

A long silence fell.

Then Thomas stepped forward.

"If we want a real shot at the cure — if we want to save Newt — we follow this thread. All the way."

You looked up at him, voice barely a breath. "Even if it means losing more of who I used to be?"

He reached for your hand again.

"Then we find out who you are now."

You didn't let go this time.

Not even when the chamber door creaked open again... and Gally opened his eyes.