AARON Breathing refused to steady. Slow pulls of air helped a little, but not enough. A full breakdown stayed just out of reach, yet tears still slipped free and my legs would not stop shaking. Muscles felt weak, like they might give out at any second. Vision drifted back toward the long stretch of train cars behind us. Faces hovered at the windows. People watched in silence, stealing quick looks, then pulling back. Every pair of eyes carried the same hope. Please do not pick me. Please let it be someone else. Hatred flared for a heartbeat. Every one of them sitting there, safe for now, watching what was about to happen. Watching people die. That anger burned hot, then faded just as fast. Truth settled in hard. If our places were switched, fear would rule me too.Hiding in a metro car would feel safer. Waiting for soldiers, police, or God to intervene would feel easier than risking a life that still breathed. Time felt warped. The train car had emptied without me noticing. That realization struck when Caleb appeared on the other side of Marianne and cut the line holding us. The restraint dropped away and fell to the floor. He gave a quick smile, small but steady, like this was just another bad day he had prepared for. “Remember what I told you,” Caleb said quietly. “Keep it together. That gives us a better chance of getting out alive.” “Shut the fuck up,” the armed man snapped. He probably could not hear Caleb’s low voice. He only saw someone speaking when no one was supposed to. Caleb raised his hands and nodded, calm and apologetic, like he had done this before. Commander Silas stepped into view. His boots hit the floor hard as he moved around the line. He gave a thumbs up to the three men holding passengers at gunpoint. They returned it without hesitation. One of them pulled out a device and stepped toward the first person. Another kept his weapon locked on them, finger tight on the trigger. Silas reached into his pocket and produced his own device. A flat rectangle, thicker than the usual thin screens people used for games and scrolling. It looked ordinary. That made it worse. His voice carried, sharp and confident. “Ladies and gentlemen, I need your full cooperation. When I come to you, place your pointing finger on this pad. It tells me who belongs to the Deep State government.” His eyes swept the line. “Anyone tries to interfere, my son and Malton will blow your head off. If you are not one of them, you have nothing to fear. Do not try to be a hero.”A gunshot cracked through the hall. Screams followed, loud and panicked. My stomach dropped. Heads snapped toward the front line. A woman lay behind it, motionless. Her body looked wrong, broken. Blood and bone spread out behind her in a wide fan, reaching toward the lead car. The smell hit a second later and made my throat tighten. Silas stepped up to the first person in our line. Without warning, the man broke and ran toward the third train. Panic drove him. Footsteps slammed against the floor, fast and desperate. The moment he cleared the line, Malton fired. The sound was sharp and final. The bullet hit his back and dropped him where he stood. “Holy shit, Malton,” Silas laughed. “Why the hell couldn’t you shoot like that at the buck last week?”Malton laughed back, easy and relaxed. “Guess I didn’t want it enough then.” Silas kept chuckling as he held the device out to the next person. His son stayed close, rifle steady, eyes empty. The man’s skin looked white as fresh snow. His hand shook as he pressed a finger onto the screen. Silas studied the display, taking his time. “No Federal ID,” he said. “Good for you. Stay put. We still need to talk.” Relief flooded the man’s face, then confusion. He stayed where he was, frozen. The third person stepped forward. A white man with a perfectly shaved head. He stood straight, trying to look calm. “Finger on the pad, brother.” Hesitation followed. Just a second too long. Silas’s son moved fast, pressing the rifle muzzle against the man’s face. The metal touched skin. The man flinched, eyes squeezing shut, then looked away and placed his thumb on the screen. Seconds dragged by. Silas clicked his tongue and slowly shook his head. “Adam Hyneman. Engineer with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Looks like today isn’t your lucky day.” The trigger pulled. The man collapsed in a heap, like a puppet with its strings cut. No sound came out of him. Just a heavy thud. Marianne broke apart beside me. Sobs tore out of her chest. Her body shook so hard it almost ripped our hands apart. I tightened my grip, afraid she would fall. The man who had just been cleared dropped to the ground, staring at nothing, his mind gone somewhere far away. Silas stepped toward Caleb. His son stood in front of the spared man, leaning in close, staring straight into his eyes. A slow smirk crossed his face before he straightened again. “Alright, you fucking Twinkie,” Silas said to Caleb. “You know the drill.” Another gunshot rang out from the other line. The sound echoed and refused to fade. Caleb glanced that way. Silas’s son turned his head to follow the look, distracted for just a moment. Silas snapped his fingers inches from Caleb’s face. “Hey, Grandpa. I’m on a schedule.” Caleb smiled and nodded. Calm. Too calm. His hand stretched toward the pad. Everything exploded into motion. Caleb’s hand shot forward and clamped around Silas’s wrist. His grip tightened like iron as he yanked Silas in close. The commander’s arm twisted hard behind his back. A scream tore out of him, raw and sudden.Caleb’s free hand slammed into Silas’s throat. The sound cut off instantly. The scream died in a wet choke. Silas’s son froze for half a second, shock flashing across his face. He rushed forward, but the man who had just been spared tackled him to the ground. Both crashed down hard, bodies slamming against the floor. Malton swore, loud and angry. I watched the muzzle of his rifle bounce upward, lining up on Caleb as Silas was held tight against him, used as a shield. For a second, I thought he would fire anyway. Instead, Malton ripped the sling from his shoulder and ran forward, gripping the rifle by the stock and raising the butt to strike. That was when something inside me shifted. The world tilted. Sound dulled. Perspective lifted, like watching myself from above. Fear burned away, replaced by something sharp and clear.One moment I stood frozen in line. The next moment, my body was moving. Running. Malton turned. Shock spread across his face when he saw me coming. His eyes widened just before impact. Adrenaline flooded my muscles. My lungs burned with oxygen from frantic breathing. My shoulder slammed into his stomach, hard and deep, driving straight into his diaphragm. Air left him in a broken sound. There was no time to think. No time to hesitate. The moment of waiting was over. The fight had begun.