They came all at once.
Three shadows. Three claws. Three killing instincts locked on one target.
Vivian.
"Move!" Jamo roared.
He shifted fully this time.
No restraint.
No control.
Just raw Alpha power.
He slammed into one of the creatures mid-air, tearing it off course. The impact sent both of them crashing across the dock, wood splintering under the force.
Lucas intercepted the second.
Faster.
Cleaner.
He moved like precision code dodging, striking, adapting.
But the third
It kept coming.
Straight for Vivian.
She didn't run.
Not this time.
Her breathing slowed.
Her fear sharpened into focus.
If it wants me… then let it come.
The creature lunged.
Vivian stepped forward
Not back.
At the last second, she dropped low, grabbing a rusted metal rod from the ground and driving it upward with everything she had.
The rod pierced its shoulder.
The creature roared
But didn't stop.
Its claw swung
Vivian barely rolled out of the way.
Too close.
Way too close.
Jamo's voice thundered across the dock.
"Vivian, fall back!"
"I can't!" she shouted back.
Because she saw it now.
Clear.
All three creatures were adjusting.
Not just hunting her
Studying them.
Learning them.
Lucas drove his opponent back with a brutal strike, but it adapted instantly, countering him with unnatural speed.
"This isn't working," he muttered.
Jamo tore through the first one
But it reformed.
Rebuilt.
Flesh twisting, snapping back into place like it refused to die.
Jamo's expression darkened.
"They don't stay down."
Vivian's mind raced.
They adapt. They learn. They regenerate…
Then
It clicked.
"They're connected!" she shouted.
Jamo glanced at her mid-fight.
"What?"
"They're not separate they're one system!"
Lucas froze for half a second.
Then saw it.
"When one learns… they all do."
Jamo growled.
"So we're fighting the same enemy three times."
Vivian shook her head.
"No… worse."
She looked at all three creatures.
"They're getting stronger every second we fight them."
Silence hit for a split second.
Then Jamo made a brutal decision.
"Then we stop fighting."
Lucas looked at him.
"What?"
Jamo's eyes burned.
"We end it all at once."
Vivian's chest tightened.
"How?"
Jamo looked at the river.
Then back at the creatures.
Then at Vivian.
And she knew.
"No."
Jamo stepped toward her.
"It's the only way."
Lucas caught on instantly.
"You're going to collapse the dock."
Jamo nodded.
"Take them with it."
Vivian shook her head.
"You'll be down there too!"
Jamo didn't deny it.
Lucas's voice sharpened.
"That's not a plan—that's suicide."
Jamo's gaze didn't move from Vivian.
"It's a trade."
Vivian's heart pounded violently.
"No."
The creatures moved again—
Circling.
Closing in.
Time was gone.
Jamo stepped closer to her.
"You trust me?"
Her breath hitched.
"That's not fair."
Jamo's voice softened just slightly.
"It never is."
Lucas stepped in.
"We find another way."
Jamo shook his head.
"There isn't one."
Vivian looked between both of them.
One ready to die.
One refusing to lose anyone else.
Her chest tightened.
Then
She made another controversial decision.
"No one's staying behind."
Both men looked at her.
"What?" Jamo said.
Vivian's eyes hardened.
"We bring it all down."
Lucas frowned.
"And survive how?"
Vivian looked toward the stacked fuel barrels near the edge of the dock.
Then at the cracked structure beneath their feet.
Then back at them.
"We don't fight them."
Her voice turned sharp.
"We erase the ground."
Jamo's eyes narrowed.
"Explosion."
Lucas caught on.
"Chain reaction."
Vivian nodded.
"We collapse everything dock, tunnels, whatever's under it."
Jamo looked at the creatures again.
"They won't escape that."
Lucas added quietly,
"Neither will we… if we're too close."
Vivian met their eyes.
"Then we don't stay close."
The plan was insane.
Reckless.
Their only chance.
The creatures lunged again
Closer now.
Faster.
Jamo moved.
"Do it."
Lucas grabbed one of the barrels, dragging it into position.
Vivian ran to another, shoving it toward the cracked edge.
The creatures noticed.
Adjusted.
Changed direction.
"They know," Lucas said.
Jamo growled.
"Then we move faster."
Vivian's hands shook as she positioned the final barrel.
Her heart pounded violently.
"Once we do this… there's no going back."
Jamo stepped beside her.
"There never was."
Lucas took position near the edge.
"All set."
The creatures charged.
All three.
Together.
Jamo looked at Vivian one last time.
"Run on my mark."
Vivian didn't argue.
Didn't hesitate.
She nodded.
"Together."
Jamo's voice dropped.
"Now."
Lucas fired first.
The bullet hit the barrel
Explosion.
Fire ripped through the dock.
Vivian ran.
Heat blasted behind her.
Another explosion.
Then another.
The entire dock began to collapse.
Wood shattered.
Metal twisted.
The ground gave way beneath them.
Vivian felt it
The drop.
The fall.
Jamo grabbed her arm
Lucas grabbed Jamo
And the world disappeared beneath them.
Fire.
Water.
Darkness.
Impact.
Cold swallowed everything.
Vivian sank.
Fast.
The river dragged her down.
Her lungs burned instantly.
Her body screamed.
She reached out
Nothing.
No one.
Just darkness.
Then
A hand grabbed hers.
Strong.
Familiar.
Jamo.
She held on.
Tight.
But the current pulled hard.
Too hard.
Another hand grabbed Jamo.
Lucas.
For a moment
All three of them were connected.
Holding on.
Fighting the current.
Then
Something moved beneath them.
Something big.
Something alive.
Vivian's eyes widened in the dark water.
No…
The current shifted violently.
Lucas's grip slipped.
Jamo tightened his hold
But it wasn't enough.
Lucas's eyes met Vivian's
Just for a second.
And then
He let go.