The message still echoed in our minds.
"Echo-Zero…We're under attack…We don't know how much longer we can hold…"
A voice—steady.Worn.On the edge of collapse.
We didn't know who the woman was.Only that her refuge was falling.
And that was more than enough.
It took us barely an hour to pack.
The rest had been short. The pain, still raw.But no one hesitated.
Romina still walked with the help of a makeshift cane.Patricio's chest was wrapped in fresh bandages.Pablo—silent—was already leading the formation before anyone gave the order.
—Are you sure? —Romina asked, eyes fixed on the horizon.
—No —I replied.—But if we don't go, no one will.
We left the ruins of the sports center at dawn.Behind us were buried bodies and invisible scars.
Ahead…
a promise.
The path to Viña del Mar wasn't easy.
Blocked roads.Infested zones.And stretches of land where the darkness felt… alive.
By midday, we crossed a coastal highway.The ocean in the distance no longer looked like life.It was a mirror of black glass—still and silent.
And in an abandoned tunnel, our first test waited.
—You hear that? —one of the captains whispered.
Screams.Not human.Throats hollow and dry.
The creatures came out from the sides of the tunnel—twisted and fast.
—Formation! —I shouted.
The battle was quick and brutal.
I fought in the center.Pablo and Romina led the flanks.The creatures were disorganized…
Until one of them spoke.
Not with a mouth.But inside our heads.
"Echo-Zero… won't see the dawn…"
We all heard it.Even Patricio froze.
—Did that…?
—Doesn't matter. Keep fighting!
We killed them all.But the message… stayed.
And the silence that followed weighed more than the bodies we left behind.
We moved faster.Tighter.
Because now we knew that whatever was attacking Echo-Zeroknew we were coming.And it wanted to stop us.
That night, we camped in a quiet ravine.No fire.No noise.
I didn't sleep.Just stared southward.
And thought about that voice.
That woman I'd never met.That group of people still fighting to survive.
And the last words she spoke before the transmission died.
"We don't have much time…"
—Neither do we —I whispered to the wind.
And the next day…
we started running.