"What about blue?" Zayne's voice came through the video call, tablet propped on Nana's coffee table. "For the wedding theme. Blue and silver. Matches your aether core."
Nana was supposed to be paying attention.
Was supposed to be engaged in planning their wedding—the intimate ceremony Zayne wanted, small and private with just family and close friends.
But she was distracted.
Because her fiancé was unfairly attractive even through a screen.
He sat in his home office, still in his doctor's coat from the hospital, hair slightly messy from running his hands through it. The late evening light caught his features perfectly—sharp jawline, focused eyes, that small concentrated frown he got when planning things.
"Nana? Are you listening?"
"Hmm?" She blinked. "Yes. Blue. Silver. Very pretty. You're very pretty."
Zayne huffed a laugh. "I'm trying to plan our wedding and you're staring at me like—"
"Like I want to marry you immediately? Yes. Correct assessment." Nana propped her chin on her hand, grinning. "Can we skip to the part where you're my husband?"
"We still need to actually *have* the wedding first—"
"Details. Unnecessary details."
"Nana—"
"I'm listening! I promise! Blue and silver theme. Small ceremony. Your parents crying. Me probably kicking a Wanderer during the vows—"
"Please don't kick Wanderers during our wedding—"
"No promises. What if one shows up? I can't just let it interrupt—"
The television interrupted with a sharp BREAKING NEWS alert.
Both of them turned to look at Nana's TV, which had been playing quietly in the background.
The news anchor's face was grim.
*"Breaking news from Bloomshore District. Military forces have discovered an underground facility beneath the eastern industrial sector. Early reports suggest this facility is identical in structure to the Linkon specimen program building destroyed during the outbreak."*
Nana's blood went cold.
Footage played—military units surrounding a warehouse, soldiers descending into revealed underground tunnels, reporters kept at distance by armed guards.
*"Sources indicate the facility contains biological specimens—creatures matching descriptions of those that attacked Linkon City. Vampires, hybrids, and other enhanced organisms in containment."*
The camera zoomed in on the warehouse entrance. On the military personnel in hazmat suits emerging with evidence crates.
On the creatures visible through reinforced glass cylinders being carefully transported.
A vampire. Eyes closed. Suspended in liquid. But alive.
Nana stood so fast her chair fell backward. "No. No no no—"
*"Officials state all specimens are secured in containment. However, the discovery raises urgent questions: How many facilities did the Linkon government operate? Are there more? And can the creatures be safely contained or must they be destroyed?"*
On the video call, Zayne's face had gone pale. "Nana—"
"They built it here," she said, voice hollow. "They built another facility *here*. In Bloomshore. Right under us."
*"Military leadership has assured civilians that all specimens are dormant and secured. However, given the Linkon outbreak's origin in a similar facility breach, many residents are demanding immediate destruction of the facility and all contents."*
The camera cut to footage inside the facility—rows of glass cylinders, each containing a creature. Vampires. Hybrids. Demons. All suspended in preservation liquid. All waiting.
"They didn't stop," Nana whispered. "After Linkon. After everything. They kept making more."
On screen, one of the vampire's eyes snapped open.
Just for a second. Just long enough for the camera to catch it before military personnel rushed to cover the cylinder.
But Nana saw it. Saw the awareness. Saw the hunger.
"They're going to wake up," she said, already moving. Grabbing her jacket. Her weapons. "The glass won't hold. The cylinders are reactive to sound, to vibration, to *stress*—"
"Nana, wait—" Zayne's voice urgent through the tablet. "Don't go alone. Wait for me—"
"There's no time! If those cylinders break—if even ONE breaks—"
She thought of Linkon. Of the facility breach. Of thousands of creatures flooding the city in minutes.
Of the nuclear strike that had erased an entire city to contain the outbreak.
"I have to stop them," Nana said, strapping on her weapons. "Before it happens again."
"Then I'm coming with you." Zayne was already moving on his end—grabbing his coat, his medical bag, manifesting ice around his hands. "Don't engage until I get there. *Promise me.*"
Nana looked at her fiancé through the screen—terrified but determined, preparing to fight beside her like he'd done in Linkon.
Like he'd done in Avalon.
Like he'd do for the rest of their lives.
"I promise. But hurry."
She ended the call and ran.
.
.
.
.
.
The scene was controlled chaos.
Military vehicles everywhere. Soldiers in hazmat suits. Scientists arguing with officers. Reporters held back by cordons but still filming everything.
And in the center—the warehouse entrance leading down to the underground facility.
Nana arrived on her motorcycle, parking aggressively close to the military cordon. Her Hunter Association credentials got her through the first checkpoint.
Being Specimen 21—the famous survivor from the trial—got her through the second.
"Ms. Wang," a military officer approached. Major someone, insignia on his uniform. "We weren't expecting civilian hunters—"
"Where are the creatures?" Nana demanded. "How many? What's the containment status?"
"All secured. Forty-seven specimens total. Mix of vampires, hybrids, and demons. All dormant in preservation cylinders. We're preparing to transport them to a secure research facility—"
"You can't move them," Nana interrupted. "The cylinders are sensitive. Too much vibration, too much sound—they'll wake up. And if they wake up—"
"We have protocols—"
"Your protocols killed thousands of people in Linkon!" Nana's voice rose. Her aether core started glowing through her jacket. "I was *there*. I watched the facility breach. I know what happens when containment fails!"
The Major's expression hardened. "Ms. Wang, I understand your concern, but—"
A loud CRACK echoed from below ground.
Everyone froze.
Then—screaming. Soldiers shouting. The sound of glass shattering.
"CONTAINMENT BREACH! SECTOR C! REPEAT, CONTAINMENT BREACH!"
Nana didn't wait for permission. Just ran toward the entrance, weapons drawn, enhanced speed carrying her past soldiers too slow to stop her.
Down the stairs. Into the underground facility.
It looked exactly like Linkon's facility. Same layout. Same monitoring equipment. Same glass cylinders lining the walls.
And in Sector C—one cylinder shattered on the ground, preservation liquid everywhere.
The vampire inside was awake.
Eyes red. Fangs extended. Wings spreading. Hungry and confused and *violent*.
It lunged at the nearest soldier—
Nana shot it mid-flight. *BANG BANG*—two bullets through the chest, one through the head.
The vampire dissolved into ash before hitting the ground.
But the damage was done.
The sound of gunfire—loud, sharp, echoing in the enclosed space—made the other cylinders vibrate.
Made the creatures inside stir.
"EVERYONE OUT!" Nana shouted. "GET THE CIVILIANS OUT NOW!"
More cylinders cracked. Preservation liquid leaking. Creatures beginning to wake.
This was Linkon all over again.
Zayne appeared at the entrance, ice already forming around his hands. "Nana—"
"We need to contain them!" She reloaded her guns. "Keep them underground. Don't let them reach the surface."
"There's forty-seven—"
"I know!" Nana's eyes glowed green. Aether core at full power. "We just need to hold until military can evacuate civilians. Then—"
Another cylinder shattered.
Hybrid. Massive. Angry.
It roared—deep and guttural—and charged.
Zayne froze its legs mid-stride. Ice coating the creature from feet to knees, stopping it cold.
Nana finished it with her combat knife through the skull.
But more were waking up. More cylinders cracking from the vibrations.
"We can't fight them all," Zayne said, ice spears forming. "Not without—"
"Without what? Another nuclear strike?" Nana's laugh was bitter. "They'd vaporize Bloomshore. Kill everyone. Again."
A vampire broke free. Then another. Then three more.
Nana and Zayne fought back-to-back, exactly like they had in Linkon. Her guns blazing. His ice spears flying. Moving in perfect synchronization born from surviving hell together.
But there were too many. More cylinders breaking. More creatures waking.
The facility was becoming a war zone.
"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" A voice from above.
Military had made a decision.
Not nuclear. Not yet. But demolition.
"They're going to collapse the facility," Zayne realized. "Bury everything underground."
"With us in it?!" Nana shot two vampires mid-flight.
"We need to leave. NOW."
"The creatures—"
"Will be buried too. Come ON—"
He grabbed her hand and they ran.
Up the stairs. Past soldiers retreating. Past scientists abandoning equipment. Through the warehouse and out into open air—
The explosion came thirty seconds later.
Not massive. Not nuclear. Just enough to collapse the underground facility, to bury the creatures and cylinders and evidence under tons of concrete and earth.
Dust billowed out of the warehouse entrance. The ground shook. Sirens wailed.
And then—silence.
Nana and Zayne stood in the parking lot, covered in dust and preservation liquid and ash. Breathing hard. Weapons still raised.
Waiting for creatures to emerge from the rubble.
But none came.
The facility was sealed. Collapsed. Buried.
Contained.
The Major approached, radio in hand. "All specimens confirmed destroyed or contained. No civilian casualties. Minimal military losses."
He looked at Nana and Zayne with grudging respect.
"You two just saved Bloomshore from becoming another Linkon."
Nana lowered her guns, hands shaking. "How many more facilities are there? How many more did they build?"
"We're investigating. But based on the arrested officials' testimony..." The Major's expression was grim. "At least six more. Possibly twelve. Across multiple cities."
Zayne's jaw clenched. "They were preparing for nationwide testing."
"Looks like it. We're working to locate and secure all sites before—"
"Before they breach," Nana finished hollowly. "Before more cities die."
She looked at Zayne—her fiancé, her partner, her survivor—and saw the same exhausted determination in his eyes.
We're not done. We'll never be done. Not until every facility is destroyed.
But for now—for tonight—Bloomshore was safe.
The creatures were buried. The facility destroyed. The government officials under arrest.
And Nana and Zayne were alive.
Day 75.
Wedding planning interrupted by war.
But surviving together anyway.
Always.
.
.
.
.
.
To be continued.