The corridor outside their cell was a tunnel of flickering lights and stale air. The guards had left a while ago, lulled by routine and overconfidence. Somewhere deeper in the facility, a door slammed, metal against metal and then silence stretched again. The silence Lucia had been waiting for. They listened every single footstep, every small noise for days to memorize them. She knew the time had come.
"Now," she whispered.
Orion pushed himself upright, still wincing from the bruises along his ribs. "Fifteen minutes, right?"
She nodded once. "Maybe less if the next shift isn't as lazy."
He smirked faintly. "Then we'll make it count."
Lucia slid to the door, testing the handle. Locked. Of course. But these cells were built for intimidation, not security. One quick look at the hinges told her everything. She motioned for Orion to help. Together, they lifted the door just enough for her to wedge a piece of metal, taken from the broken cuff, into the gap and force it loose. It gave with a quiet, reluctant creak.
The hallway smelled of damp stone and something burnt. The walls were rough concrete, stained and chipped, the floor slick from condensation. Bare bulbs lined the ceiling, buzzing with weak electricity.
Lucia moved first, light on her feet despite her exhaustion. Orion followed close, silent but for the faint scuff of his boots.
"Which way?" he murmured.
Lucia paused at the first junction, scanning both directions. The left corridor was darker, stretching deeper into the compound. The right led toward a faint hum; electrical, rhythmic. Generators, maybe.
"Ward and the others would be held somewhere accessible," she whispered. "Left."
They moved.
Every step was measured. The quiet was oppressive. Not peaceful but suffocating, the kind that swallowed every breath. Orion's heartbeat felt too loud in his chest. Lucia glanced over her shoulder once, checking his distance. Her expression was unreadable but her eyes were bright with calculation.
After years of combat, she still moved like the world existed in slow motion for her. Every sound, every flicker of shadow registered, sorted, dismissed.
"Still following?" she muttered without turning.
"Wouldn't dream of letting you have all the fun," he murmured back.
She didn't answer but the corner of her mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.
They passed three doors, all bolted from the outside. Each time Lucia tested a handle, she listened first for breathing, for movement, for anything human. Nothing. Until the fourth door.
A sound; faint but still there. A muffled cough.
Lucia's hand lifted, palm out. Orion stopped instantly. She pressed her ear against the metal and closed her eyes. The sound came again, clearer now. A voice, hoarse but familiar.
"Ward," she breathed.
Orion crouched beside her. "Let's get him out."
The door's lock was old, mechanical. Lucia knelt, slipping the bent paperclip back into use. Her hands were shaking from exhaustion but precision was muscle memory. Two turns. One click. Then another.
The lock gave.
She eased the door open. The smell hit them first. Sweat, blood and iron. Inside, the light was dim, a single bulb swaying overhead. Three figures lay slumped against the wall, chained like they had been. Ward lifted his head weakly at the sound.
"Lieutenant…" His voice cracked. "You're… Holy hell, you're actually—"
"Keep your voice down," Lucia said, moving to his side. She examined the cuffs quickly. "Can you stand?"
He nodded, though unsteadily. "They've been taking turns questioning us. Thought you were dead."
Orion moved to the others, checking pulses. "They're alive," he said quietly. "Barely."
Lucia worked fast, freeing Ward first, then the next soldier. "We need to move. Guard rotation's about ten minutes."
Ward rubbed his wrists, eyes wide with disbelief. "You picked the damn locks with a paperclip?"
"Would you rather I asked nicely?" Lucia said dryly.
Orion grinned faintly, even as he hauled one of the privates to his feet. "Told you she's terrifying when she's quiet."
Lucia ignored him. "They'll expect us to head for the main exit. We'll need another route."
Ward frowned. "There's a maintenance shaft two corridors down. I saw them drag a generator through it on day one."
"Good." Lucia looked around, assessing. "Grab whatever you can use as a weapon."
There wasn't much. Broken pipes, a rusted wrench, a loose bolt from one of the cell bars. It would have to do.
They slipped back into the corridor, five shadows moving as one.
The hum of the generators grew louder the farther they went. The air felt warmer, heavier. Lucia's mind mapped every turn, every corner, committing it all to memory.
Halfway through the second corridor, voices echoed faintly ahead. Two guards, laughing, careless.
Lucia froze, hand up again. The team halted instantly.
She signaled to Orion: two targets, twenty meters, light visibility.
He nodded once, crouching low. She gestured for Ward to stay back with the others. Then she moved, soundless, a phantom in motion.
When the first guard rounded the corner, Lucia was already there. She struck fast. One blow to the throat, another to the temple. The man collapsed before he could shout.
The second guard turned just in time to meet Orion's fist. The impact sent him crashing into the wall, unconscious.
Lucia's breath was steady when she looked back at him. "Efficient."
Orion smirked. "We make a good team, don't we?"
"Move."
They continued down the hall until the air grew colder again. The maintenance shaft was where Ward said it would be, hidden behind a half-open panel and a stack of supply crates.
Lucia pried it open, peering inside. The shaft dropped about ten meters before bending into darkness.
"Leads to where?" she asked.
"Sublevel storage," Ward replied. "From there, access to the outer perimeter. If we're lucky, maybe an old vehicle bay."
Lucia didn't believe in luck. But she believed in precision. "Rossi, you first."
He peered down the shaft, one eyebrow raised. "You're trusting me with the lead now?"
"I'm trusting you not to complain while you climb."
He grinned, bruised lips splitting slightly. "Yes, ma'am."
He swung himself down, boots scraping metal. Lucia followed, then Ward and the others. The shaft was narrow and suffocating, the air thick with dust. The metal rungs creaked beneath their weight.
Halfway down, Orion paused. "Footsteps. Above."
Lucia froze. She listened; faint, hurried voices.
"They've noticed," she whispered. "Faster."
They moved, descending into the dark. When Lucia reached the bottom, she landed softly, crouching to absorb the impact. The chamber beyond was vast, lit only by the flicker of emergency lights. Rows of old machinery filled the space, half-buried in dust.
Ward dropped beside her, breathing hard. "Sublevel storage, just like I said."
Lucia scanned the area. "There."
Across the room, a large rolling door sat half-open, the faint night air beyond carrying the scent of wet soil. Freedom.
They crossed the chamber quickly, keeping low. But before they reached the exit, a shout echoed behind them: voices, boots, the unmistakable metallic rattle of weapons.
"Go," Lucia ordered. "Ward, take the others."
Ward hesitated. "Lieutenant—"
"Go." Her tone cut like a blade.
He obeyed, pulling the two wounded soldiers toward the opening. Lucia turned, standing between them and the advancing guards. Orion moved to her side without question.
"You're not staying alone," he said flatly.
"Wasn't planning to."
They exchanged a look, brief but sharp, understanding passing between them without a word.
The first guard appeared in the doorway above, flashlight beam slicing through the darkness. Lucia waited until it landed on her before she moved. One quick, fluid motion. She grabbed the fallen wrench from earlier and hurled it. It struck the guard's arm, sending his weapon clattering down the stairs.
Orion caught it midair, aimed and fired twice. The shots echoed through the chamber, deafening.
Lucia's ears rang, but she didn't stop. "Move!"
They sprinted across the room as alarms began to wail overhead. Red lights flared, painting everything in shades of blood.
Ward had already gotten the others through the door. Orion grabbed the edge and pulled it wider. Cold night air flooded in.
Lucia turned one last time, eyes scanning for movement. The guards were descending now, shouting orders in a language she didn't bother to translate.
She ducked under the door as Orion slammed the release. The metal groaned shut behind them.
Outside, the air was sharp with rain and smoke. The facility stretched behind them like a fortress of shadows. They ran until their lungs burned, until the alarms were nothing but a faint echo swallowed by the wind.
Finally, when the trees of Velmor's forest swallowed them whole, Lucia stopped.
Orion doubled over, catching his breath. "That… went better than I expected."
Lucia scanned the treeline, listening. "We're not safe yet."
He straightened, wiping grime from his face. "You ever say thank you after an escape?"
She looked at him, expression unreadable. "For what?"
"For following your lead and not dying."
Lucia's lips twitched, not quite a smile, but close. "You did what was expected of you."
"Still doesn't kill the mood," he said lightly.
She turned toward the others. Ward was helping the wounded sit, his face streaked with dirt. "We'll rest here for ten minutes. Then we move north. The extraction point should be twenty clicks."
"Understood," Ward said.
As she turned back to Orion, he was watching her, eyes glinting faintly in the dark. "What?" she asked.
He shrugged. "Nothing. Just thinking how you make 'we're still being hunted' sound almost comforting."
Lucia exhaled slowly, gaze drifting to the treetops where the first hints of dawn were bleeding into gray. "Get used to it, Sergeant. We're not out yet."
But the faint light touched her eyes, turning them molten gold, and for the first time in days, something like hope flickered between them.
They were alive. Together. And somewhere behind them, the walls of Velmor were beginning to crack.