CHAPTER 6 — THE HIDDEN ARMY
Red emergency lights flooded the arena.
Every exit slammed shut.
The spectators looked confused.
This had never happened before.
Suddenly...
The bodies lying motionless on the arena floor began to move.
One by one...
They stood up.
Broken bones twisted back into place.
Blank eyes stared forward.
No fear.
No pain.
No emotion.
The crowd gasped.
"What... are they?"
The Warden calmly addressed the audience through the speakers.
"Ladies and gentlemen..."
"Allow me to introduce the true purpose of Black Hollow."
"They're not prisoners anymore."
"They're prototypes."
The fighters weren't dead.
They had been injected with an experimental serum that suppressed pain, erased fear, and turned them into perfectly obedient human weapons.
Ethan stared in horror as one of the revived men tore through solid steel bars with his bare hands.
The Executioner whispered,
"So... this is why no one ever escapes."
The Ghost nodded.
"We were never meant to."
The arena floor suddenly split apart.
A massive underground hangar slowly rose from beneath the sand.
Inside stood hundreds of identical soldiers in black tactical armor.
Every one of them had the same emotionless stare.
Every one of them waited silently for a command.
The Warden spread his arms proudly.
"Project Phoenix is complete."
"The prison was only the testing ground."
"Tomorrow..."
"The world gets its new army."
Then he looked directly at Ethan.
"You should be proud."
"Your DNA made this possible."
Ethan felt the ground disappear beneath him.
"My... DNA?"
The Warden smiled coldly.
"You were never arrested by accident."
"You were born for this."
At that exact moment...
A violent explosion ripped through the eastern wall of the prison.
Concrete rained from the ceiling.
Sirens screamed.
Smoke swallowed the arena.
Through the flames, dozens of armed figures stormed inside wearing black combat gear.
Their leader removed her helmet.
Ethan's heart stopped.
It was his wife.
She raised her rifle toward the Warden and shouted:
"Nobody move! The prison is surrounded!"
The Warden didn't look surprised.
He simply smiled.
Then he said seven chilling words:
May you like
"I knew you'd come... my daughter."
To Be Continued...
