Chapter 6 - THE TRAIL OF BLOODThe giant beast stepped closer, her massive head stopping just inches from my face. I could feel the heat of her heavy breath against my skin.
She didn't attack. Instead, she gently nudged my shoulder with her wet snout, letting out a low, soft rumble that vibrated through my whole body. It was a gesture of protection. An unspoken truce.
She turned around, picked up her cub gently by the scruff of his neck, and gestured with her head toward the dark woods, as if telling me to follow.
"Leo," I whispered, turning back to the ravine. "Can you stand?"
"I... I think so," Leo groaned, using a heavy stick to push himself up. I climbed down into the ravine and helped him hoist himself out.
Together, guided by the wounded lioness walking slowly ahead of us through the dark, we made our way through the mountain wilderness. The beast was leading us somewhere specific—away from the main trails where the mercenary patrols were hunting.
After an hour of agonizing trekking, the lioness stopped at the mouth of a massive, hidden concrete bunker built into the side of the mountain.
"This is it," Leo whispered, his voice trembling. "This is the back entrance to Sub-Level 3... the main research facility."
"Why did she bring us here?" I asked, watching the lioness put her cub down inside a dry rock alcove near the bunker entrance.
"Because," Leo said, looking at the heavy steel door that stood half-open, "the main control console is inside. It's the only place with an unblocked long-range transmitter. If we can get inside, we can broadcast the lab's black-market data to the international authorities and expose everything."
"And if we don't?"
"Then they'll send an airstrike to burn this whole mountain to ashes to cover up their tracks," Leo said grimly. "Including us, the cub, and her."
The lioness looked back at us, letting out a low growl of urgency. She was weak, bleeding heavily from her gunshot wounds, and losing strength fast. She had brought us to the heart of the evil that created her—so we could finish it.
"We go in," I said, my jaw setting tight. "We finish this."
We stepped through the heavy steel doors into the pitch-black corridor of the subterranean facility. The air inside smelled of ozone, copper, and decay. Emergency red lights flickered along the ceiling, casting long, bloody shadows across the walls.
As we moved down the long hallway toward the central server room, the heavy steel blast doors behind us suddenly slammed shut with a deafening CLANG!
The lights went out completely.
Then, over the facility's intercom system, a cold, calculated voice echoed:
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"Welcome home, Leo. I see you brought our subject... and a civilian witness."
🔥 FACEBOOK HOOK: They walked straight into the enemy's trap! The facility doors are locked, and the mastermind behind the deadly experiment speaks!
