The Price of Progress

A loud crash echoed from behind me, and I whipped around, my heart leaping into my throat. The sound had come from inside SolGen, from the building that had once been my pride. It was followed by a low growl, a sound so guttural and unnatural that it froze me in place. The Sunod. They were here, drawn by the scent of death, by the very thing I had unleashed.

I took a step back, my pulse racing. The air was thick with the smell of rot and gasoline.

"Shit," I whispered, more to myself than anyone else. My hand reached instinctively for the gun at my side, but I knew it wasn't enough. It was never going to be enough.

The city was crumbling around me. Everything I had worked for was gone. And yet, I couldn't stop. I had to find a way to make it right. I had to stop the spreading of Salus before the global collapse happen.

I pushed through the rusted doors of the lab, the faint squeal of metal against metal sending a shiver down my spine. My boots crunched against shards of broken glass, the sound echoing unnervingly in the cavernous, dimly lit space. The lab was a mess—papers scattered across the floor, overturned chairs, and equipment that had once been pristine, now abandoned and broken. The flickering blue glow of emergency lights cast ghostly shadows that seemed to move, shifting with every gust of wind that rattled the walls.

I stepped cautiously, my senses heightened. The air was thick, heavy with the stench of decay and something else—something metallic, like blood. Every creak of the building felt unnatural, as if the walls themselves were breathing, holding their breath in anticipation of whatever was lurking in the darkness.

Suddenly, a voice cut through the silence. It came from behind me, sharp and urgent.

"Ethan?!"

I spun around, adrenaline coursing through my veins, my baton raised defensively. But the moment I saw her, all the tension in my body released. It was her—Marisol.

She stood in the doorway, her figure illuminated by the faint glow of emergency lights, casting a soft halo around her. Her sharp, striking features were framed by dark, windswept hair that cascaded around her shoulders, adding to the allure of her presence. Her eyes, always sharp and calculating, gleamed with intelligence—eyes that could cut through the darkest of situations.

But it was the way she carried herself that struck me most. The blood smeared across her lab coat didn't detract from the raw magnetism she exuded; instead, it added an unsettling edge to her beauty. Even in this hellish environment, she was undeniably captivating. Her curves, accentuated by the torn lab coat, moved with purpose as she stepped forward, unbothered by the chaos around her.

My heart raced, not just from the adrenaline but from the mix of emotions that swirled inside me. I had always known her to be more than just a pretty face, but in that moment, her presence felt like a force I couldn't quite resist. "Hey, calm down, Ethan," she said, holding her hands up in mock surrender, her voice soft yet firm. "I ain't gonna eat you."

My heart was still pounding in my chest, but hearing her voice was like an anchor. I let the baton fall to the floor with a soft thud and took a step toward her, instinct pulling me forward. Without thinking, I grabbed her, pulling her into a kiss. It was desperate, hungry, as if the world outside had stopped existing. Her lips were warm, and for a moment, I allowed myself to forget about everything—the chaos, the Sunod, the list.

She didn't pull away at first, and I felt her hands on my chest, her breath hot against my skin. But then, just as quickly, she pushed me back with surprising force.

"Tut tut... I said I ain't gonna eat you," she said with a raised eyebrow, her lips curving into a playful but calculating smirk.

I couldn't help but laugh softly, despite the tension hanging in the air. "Yeah, right?" I grinned back, my voice low, laced with a mixture of humor and a touch of the desperation that still lingered in my veins.

She nodded, the playful edge in her eyes fading into something more serious. "We don't have much time. The Sunod are drawn to noise, and your ferry wasn't exactly subtle. Follow me."

Her tone was all business now, and I nodded, feeling the gravity of the situation crash back into my chest. This was Marisol—the friend from the list the hooded figure had given me. But she wasn't just a friend; she was a partner in every sense of the word, a woman who had been there when things fell apart. We weren't in a relationship, not in the conventional sense. But in this world, where trust was rare, we had always found a way to... help each other.

Marisol turned on her heel, her footsteps echoing as she moved deeper into the lab. I followed closely, my mind racing as I tried to make sense of everything that had happened. The list, the Chronos project, the collapse of the world—it was all spiraling out of control, and I was being dragged along for the ride.

As I walked behind her, I noticed how the shadows seemed to twist around us, like something was waiting just beyond the edges of the light. The quiet was oppressive, broken only by the sound of our footsteps and the occasional distant groan of the building's weakened structure. I could feel the weight of the silence pressing in, suffocating, as if the very air itself was holding its breath.

"How long do we have?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. The Sunod were out there, somewhere, lurking in the dark. And I didn't know how much longer we had before they found us.

Marisol didn't answer right away. She just kept walking, her eyes scanning the shadows, her every movement calculated and deliberate.

Finally, she spoke, her voice a low murmur. "Not long. We need to move fast. There's a place, a safe house just a few blocks away. It's the only chance we've got."

I nodded, my heart pounding. Every instinct told me to trust her, but I couldn't shake the feeling that we were running out of time, running out of options. And with each step I took, the sense of dread only grew stronger.

The building creaked again, this time louder. A distant sound, like something heavy scraping against the floor, followed by a low, guttural growl that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. The Sunod were getting closer.

Marisol glanced back at me, her expression unreadable. "We don't have much time. Keep up, Ethan."

Marisol led me through a labyrinth of decaying hallways, each one more twisted than the last. The air was thick, the smell of rust, decay, and something far more pungent hanging in the damp atmosphere. It grew colder as we descended deeper into the facility, a chill that bit at my skin, making my breath fog in the air. With every step, the metallic tang of blood seemed to grow stronger. My grip on the baton tightened, my knuckles white, as I tried to steady myself.

The walls, once pristine, were now cracked and smeared with dark streaks. The faint sound of dripping echoed in the distance, but there was no movement except for the echo of our footsteps. And then, the bodies.

The sight of them made my stomach churn. The remnants of Marisol's colleagues—twisted and broken in ways that made my blood run cold. Some of them were... consumed, their bodies torn apart in a grotesque display of violence. The others, the lucky ones, hadn't fared any better. They lay sprawled in pools of crimson, their faces frozen in an eternal mask of terror. Their eyes were wide, pupils dilated in death, as if they had seen something too horrific for the mind to process before the life drained from them.

I fought to swallow the bile rising in my throat, my eyes scanning the room, searching for anything that would make sense of the madness.

"They're evolving," Marisol's voice barely reached me, hushed but laced with something darker. "The Salus virus... it's not just creating Sunod. It's changing them. Faster. Stronger. Smarter."

"Smarter?" I repeated, the word tasting foreign on my tongue. My heart sank. "How? They can barely think for themselves—"

Her eyes met mine, grave and focused. "They're not just mindless killers anymore. They're adapting. They've started hunting in coordinated packs. They're learning from each encounter. They... think."

The weight of her words hit me like a punch to the gut. My stomach twisted violently, nausea threatening to overwhelm me. I couldn't shake the image of those mindless creatures—of the Sunod—as they used to be. It was hard to fathom that they were becoming something else, something far worse.

We reached the end of the corridor, the walls narrowing as we approached a secure room. Marisol punched in the code, the metal door groaning open with a sound that echoed like a death knell. I flinched, my senses on high alert, but she didn't hesitate. Inside, the dimly lit lab was a stark contrast to the madness outside. The only light came from a single overhead lamp, casting long shadows across the room. The walls were lined with monitors, each one flickering with streams of data and surveillance footage.