Story 1274: Chains and Consequences

The sky darkened as they crossed the southern ruins of Halloway.

Smoke drifted from burned-out bunkers. Collapsed towers leaned like broken bones. Between cracked concrete and rusted steel, a familiar sound echoed through the air—chains, dragging across stone.

Juno stopped.

“Do you hear that?”

Shade lifted his rifle. “Yeah. And I don’t like it.”

H-13 scanned the area. “There’s something alive ahead. Big. Human-shaped. Wearing signal dampeners. I can’t get a clear read.”

They moved forward, weapons ready, and entered what remained of a quarantine yard.

There, shackled to a steel pylon in the center of the square, stood a massive figure. Shirtless. Scarred. Muscles carved with numbers. His arms were bound by chains bolted to the ground.

His eyes lifted slowly.

Juno gasped.

“Axen.”

She hadn’t seen him since Facility 9 burned.

He had been one of the test subjects—code-named EX-2A—engineered for brute immunity and pain suppression. A friend… and once, almost more.