Chapter 1
ESCAPE 3 - CHAPTER ONE
The shadow at the tunnel entrance didn't move at first.
It just stood there - a dark outline against the dripping concrete, watching him.
He tightened his fists.
He didn't have a weapon.
Didn't need one.
Not tonight.
The figure stepped forward, slow and deliberate.
Boots splashed in the shallow water, echoing through the tunnel like a heartbeat.
He backed up a step, eyes locked on the silhouette.
The faint light behind him flickered again, casting long, jagged shadows across the walls.
"Come out," the voice said.
Low.
Calm.
Too calm.
He recognized it instantly.
Not an enemy.
Not a friend.
Something worse - someone from the past he'd buried.
The figure stepped fully into the dim light, rain dripping from a black hood.
A scar ran across the left cheek, fresh enough to still look angry.
"You're supposed to be dead," he said.
The figure smirked.
"Yeah... you too."
Before he could respond, a burst of gunfire ripped through the tunnel entrance.
Concrete shattered. Sparks flew.
The figure dove behind a support beam, yelling, "They followed you!"
He didn't waste time arguing.
He grabbed the stranger by the arm and pulled them deeper into the tunnel as bullets tore through the darkness behind them.
The tunnel curved sharply, leading into an old maintenance chamber.
Rusty pipes lined the walls.
A single emergency light flickered overhead, barely clinging to life.
They slammed the metal door shut behind them.
The gunfire outside echoed, then faded.
For a moment, there was only breathing - heavy, ragged, desperate.
He turned to the stranger.
"Why are you here?"
The stranger wiped rain and blood from their face.
"To warn you," they said.
"They're not just hunting you anymore."
He felt the cold settle deeper into his bones.
"Then who?"
The stranger swallowed hard.
"Everyone connected to your first escape. Everyone who helped you. Everyone who knows the truth."
The room felt smaller.
The air felt heavier.
He stepped closer, voice low and dangerous.
"Tell me everything."
The stranger hesitated - just long enough to confirm the fear in their eyes was real.
"It started three days ago," they said.
"A new task force. Off‑the‑books. No badges. No rules. They're wiping out every loose end from your past."
He clenched his jaw.
"And they know where you're going next."
He froze.
He hadn't told anyone where he was going next.
Not even this stranger.
"How?" he asked.
The stranger looked up slowly.
"Because someone close to you... someone you trust... is feeding them information."
The emergency light flickered again - once, twice - then went out completely, plunging them into darkness.
And in that darkness, he heard it:
Footsteps.
Inside the chamber.
They weren't alone.
