CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
INT.. PRISON FACILITY - NIGHT
The cold air inside the prison is thick with the stench of decay. JACE and JANE move stealthily, navigating through the crumbling corridors of the abandoned prison now overtaken by the Stalkers. They hide behind a stack of rusted metal crates, peering into the main courtyard where walkers are chained to the walls, their groans echoing.
JANE (whispering): This is sick... they're experimenting on them.
JACE (nods grimly): They're making them faster, stronger. This ain't just survival, it's something else.
(They watch as a Stalker scientist is forced to inject a red fluid into a restrained Walker. Within seconds, the walker's veins bulge, and it begins thrashing violently before breaking its chains and lunging at a nearby handler.)
STALKER HANDLER (screaming): No! Get it off me! The walker tears into him
Jace and Jane exchange a glance, then start to move out. Suddenly, a Stalker scout spots them from above.
STALKER SCOUT: INTRUDERS! GET THEM!
An alarm blares. Stalkers swarm in, some rushing in from the hallways while others jump down from upper levels. Jace and Jane fight back fiercely.
JANE slashes with her two-edged spear, severing a Stalker's throat. JACE dodges an incoming blade, grabs the attacker's wrist, and forces him into a steel pipe, impaling him.
JANE (panting): We need to move! Too many of them!
Jace takes down another, but they are overwhelmed. One Stalker smashes Jace's head against a metal railing. Jane stabs another but is tackled by two more. Everything fades to black.
INT CABIN - NIGHT
Back at the cabin, the young couple, ETHAN and AMARA, hear rustling outside. Kevin peeks through a broken window.
ETHAN (whispering): Five of them… slow ones.
AMARA: We can't let them get close. Grab something.
The two rush outside. Ethan swings an axe, cleaving a walker's skull. Amara stabs another in the eye with a sharpened steel rod. One walker lunges at her, but Ethan pulls it back and crushes its head against a tree trunk.
The last walker growled and rushed at them, but Amara sidestepped, tripping it over a tree root before stomping on its head.
ETHAN (breathing hard): Damn… that was close.
AMARA (looking worried): Where are Jace and Jane?
INT.. PRISON ARENA - NIGHT
Jace and Jane regain consciousness. They are chained together at the wrist, standing in the center of a makeshift arena. The prison walls have been reinforced with scrap metal and barbed wire. Stalkers cheer from the stands, pounding their fists on the railing.
At the far end, the Stalker Leader, a massive brute with tribal tattoos and a missing eye, grins wickedly.
STALKER LEADER (mocking): You two fight well. But can you fight when it matters?
Two massive gates creak open, revealing two enhanced walkers, their eyes glowing red, veins pulsing black. They screech unnaturally before charging at full speed.
JACE (gripping his machete): No time to think—MOVE!
The two dodge as the first walker slashes with its elongated claws, ripping through the air. Jane rolls to the side and slashes at its leg, but it barely slows down.
JANE (gritting her teeth): They're fast as hell!
JACE (dodging an attack): We need to separate them!
Jane throws her machete like a spear, impaling one walker's shoulder. It screeches and stumbles. Jace uses the moment to jump on its back, stabbing it repeatedly in the head until it drops.
The second walker leaps at Jane, knocking her down. It snaps its jaws inches from her face, but she pulls a hidden dagger from her boot and shoves it into its eye socket. Black fluid sprays everywhere as it collapses.
The crowd falls silent. The leader scowls and draws his pistol.
STALKER LEADER: Impressive. But you don't leave here alive.
Just as he raises his weapon, a sudden gunshot pierces his neck. He gurgles, drops his gun, and collapses. Chaos erupts.
Across the arena, Jane's sister, AMAKA, stands holding a rifle.
AMAKA(yelling): GET UP! NOW!
The chained scientist rushes over, unlocking Jace and Jane.
SCIENTIST (panting): We have to go! I've been forced to work here for months—they'll never stop experimenting!
Jace grabs a machete and slashes a nearby guard. Jane throws a smoke bomb she grabbed from a fallen Stalker. The place erupts into chaos as they fight their way out.
The three sprint out of the gates. Behind them, the Stalker's leader—now injected with the red fluid—begins convulsing violently before ripping through his men, his speed and power beyond anything seen before.
JACE (breathing heavily): Let's move before he gets to us!
They sprinted through the darkened fields, making their way back to the cabin. As they reach it, Kevin and Amara greet them with weapons drawn but lower them upon recognizing Jace.
KEVIN (relieved): You made it back.
JANE (panting): Not for long. We need to leave. Now.
The horses are saddled up, and with one final look at the ruined prison in the distance, the group sets off toward safety, knowing the Stalkers have just begun their true experiments.