Chapter 7: The Rot Beneath the Surface

Mark’s Team – The Journey Into the Unknown

The golden pulse had long faded, but its presence remained.

Mark, Sophie, and Rhea trekked across the Martian wasteland, the terrain rougher than before. It was as if the land itself had shifted—cracked and scarred, as though something had awoken beneath it.

Mark: “This doesn’t feel right.”

Sophie wiped sweat from her brow. “Nothing about Mars ever feels right.”

Rhea adjusted her rifle. “Still. This is worse.”

They had traveled for hours, following the residual energy readings from the skyward pulse. It had originated near an old Alpha Union research outpost, one that had been abandoned after the parasites first took hold of Mars.

Now, as they stood before the ruined facility, a new problem emerged.

The air smelled rotten.

Not like dead bodies. Not like burnt chitin.

Something else.

Something wrong.

Sophie gagged, covering her mouth. “That’s—Jesus. That’s new.”