The bunker had grown too quiet.
After the Reclaimers' attack, Zombieland was repairing, healing — but Alina couldn't rest. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw their glowing blue eyes, heard their voices echoing through her mind.
"Secure the hybrid."
Aurora lay in a small crib beside her, eyes wide open despite the late hour. She never cried long. Never fussed like other newborns. She just... stared. Watching. Aware.
Too aware.
Alina leaned over and gently touched her daughter's forehead. "You're safe," she whispered, more to convince herself than the baby.
But then Aurora's tiny fingers curled — and the light flickered.
The small lantern above them dimmed, pulsed once, and then flared brightly, casting odd shadows on the wall. Alina stepped back, heart racing.
"What was that?"
Suddenly, Aurora blinked — and the room returned to normal.
Alina picked her up slowly, her arms trembling. "Baby girl… what are you?"
Over the next few days, strange things kept happening.
When Aurora cried, objects in the room would rattle slightly.
When she laughed — once, a glass of water froze over completely.
One night, when Lyra came to visit, she swore Aurora looked right through her and whispered something she couldn't understand.
"She's not normal, Alina," Lyra said gently. "But that doesn't mean she's dangerous."
Alina wasn't sure.
She remembered the Reclaimers' words. "Hybrid."
And suddenly, all the memories of being kidnapped, the beatings, the terror while pregnant — they made sense.
Maybe they weren't just after her.
Maybe they had created her.
And now Aurora… might be the key to something far greater.
That night, as Alina sat with Ethan and Elena, she finally spoke.
"She's different," she admitted, eyes full of fear. "She's not just special — she's powerful. I think… they want to control her."
Elena's jaw clenched. "Then we'll protect her. No matter what she is."
Ethan nodded, but deep in his eyes, worry settled in like a storm on the horizon.
Because if Aurora truly carried something new in her blood —
She wasn't just in danger.
She was the danger.