The Crimson Virus: Hunt Intensifies

The escape from the facility had only been the beginning of a new nightmare. Reynolds and his team thought they had outrun Mercer’s men, but they soon realized that no amount of distance would be enough to escape the wrath of the organization they had just betrayed.

The night was freezing, and the wind cut through the trees as they ran in the dense forest. The moonlight barely made it through the thick canopy above them, and the terrain became almost impossible to navigate. They had no plan, no direction, just the urgency of survival pushing them forward.

“Move! Move!” Reynolds ordered in sharp bursts as they pushed through the underbrush. “We need to find shelter and regroup.”

“We can’t run forever,” Hayes said between pained breaths, scanning their surroundings for signs of Mercer’s men.

“We’ll figure it out,” Reynolds said, without losing any stride. “For now, we just need to survive. Every minute we stay alive is a victory.”

But it was clearly coming to that: Mercer’s forces were now closing in on them. He hadn’t spent too long as a fugitive, but with helicopters overhead overhead, they realized all they had to know-they were dealing with a maximum force deployment for Mercer, on the hunt and now closing.

In the woods as the team continued walking, Reynolds stopped and held up a hand to signal the team to stop. He crouched down, his eyes scanning the ground.

“What is it?” Hayes whispered, her voice tight.

“Tracks,” Reynolds replied, pointing to the ground where faint marks had been left by heavy boots. “Mercer’s men were here recently. They’re ahead of us.”

“We’re being hunted,” Collins muttered, his tone grim. “We don’t have much time.”

“Then we’ll make them chase us,” Reynolds said, determination flashing in his eyes. “We need to throw them off the trail.”

He gestured for the group to follow him, taking them away from the beaten path and deeper into the harder part of the forest. The ground was very uneven, steep, and with thick brush; it would be more difficult for Mercer’s men to track them.

As they trekked further into the wilderness, Reynolds couldn’t help but consider Mercer’s plans. Crimson Virus continued to threaten—potentially the greatest threat the human race has ever known—and they were the only ones standing between the world and it.

But how could they hope to succeed when they were constantly on the run, with no resources and no allies?

“Do you think anyone’s still fighting?” Hayes asked, her voice breaking the silence.

Reynolds looked at her, his face drawn in hard lines. “If there are any survivors, they’re out there somewhere. But now, we are on our own. It’s just us against Mercer.”

“And we’re going to win,” Collins said, his fists clenched in his hands. “We’ve made it this far. We can make it through anything.”

Reynolds nodded. “We’re not finished yet. But we need to keep our wits about us. No errors.”

They continued on into the night, pushing with every ounce of their training to get ahead of the people after them. The hours dragged by, and they all began to feel the fatigue setting in, but they could not stop; they had to continue.

At last, as if daybreak were breaking, they came to a small cabin abandoned in a glade, half gone; the roof had long ago crashed in and walls overgrown with moss. Still, this offered shelter-for a little while, at any rate.

“We’ll stay here for now,” he said, surveying the surroundings. “We can’t stay long, though.”

The team entered the cabin very cautiously, scanning every single corner before sitting down. They were all covered in dirt, and sweat smeared across their faces mixed with dirt smeared by long hours of running.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of distant helicopters, and the team’s heads snapped up in alarm.

“They’re close,” Collins said.

“Get ready,” Reynolds ordered. “We’re moving out. Now.”

The team quickly gathered their gear and sprinted back into the forest.

“We need to split up,” Reynolds said, as they ran. “Hayes, Collins, take the east. I’ll head west. We’ll create a diversion and buy ourselves some time.”

“You sure about this?” Hayes asked, her eyes filled with concern.

“I’m sure,” Reynolds said, his jaw set in determination. “Just make sure you stay alive.”

With that, they split, each member of the team off in a different direction. Reynolds’s heart pounded in his chest as he ran, knowing every second counted. He couldn’t let Mercer win—not when they were so close to stopping him.