Chapter 11 - The Man Who Didn't DieI woke on a beach.
Smoke covered the sky.
The sea was filled with debris.
People were screaming.
Daniel was alive.
Lauren was alive.
The six women were alive.
My mother was alive.
But Ethan was gone.
I sat in the sand.
For the first time since our wedding night, I cried.
Not because I loved him.
Because I finally understood him.
He had been a monster.
Then a prisoner.
Then a protector.
Perhaps all three.
Daniel sat beside me.
“We have to move.”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
I looked toward the ocean.
“I know him.”
Daniel frowned.
“You think he's alive.”
I pointed.
A figure stood on the rocks.
A man.
Bloodied.
Barely standing.
Ethan.
I ran.
He collapsed before I reached him.
We carried him into a military helicopter that arrived twenty minutes later.
For the first time, Ethan had no secrets.
At least that's what I believed.
He woke three days later.
A federal medical team surrounded the room.
Daniel stood near the door.
My mother sat beside the window.
I stood at Ethan's bedside.
He looked at me.
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
He smiled.
“You always were difficult to kill.”
I slapped him.
He laughed.
Then his expression became serious.
“You shouldn't be here.”
“Where else would I be?”
“Investigators will come.”
“They already did.”
He looked at Daniel.
“Not those investigators.”
Daniel's face hardened.
“What do you mean?”
Ethan stared at him.
“The government team that took control of Blackfall isn't ours.”
Silence.
“What?”
“They've been waiting.”
“For what?”
“For the island to explode.”
Daniel looked confused.
Ethan whispered:
“That's when the second protocol activates.”
My heart stopped.
“What second protocol?”
Ethan looked at me.
“Every surviving subject receives an instruction.”
My mother stood suddenly.
“No.”
Ethan continued:
“An instruction implanted during childhood.”
My mother covered her mouth.
“What instruction?”
Ethan looked directly at me.
“Kill the person carrying the original Blackfall code.”
I froze.
Daniel slowly reached for his gun.
“Who's carrying it?”
Ethan smiled.
“Elena.”
The room went silent.
Then every phone in the hospital began ringing simultaneously.
At exactly the same time.
Every television switched on.
Every screen showed the same message:
SUBJECT ELENA VALE HAS BEEN LOCATED.
May you like
Then the hospital doors locked.
And from the hallway came the sound of dozens of footsteps.
