The first rays of morning filtered through the cracks in the bunker ceiling, but something felt wrong.
It wasn't the silence.
It wasn't Maya's suspicious glances or Lena's haunted expression.
It was the absence of one small voice.
Jax counted the children as they gathered for breakfast.
"...Eighteen... nineteen..."
He stopped.
"Hibis?"
No answer.
Sam looked around the room.
"I thought she was with the little ones."
The younger children shook their heads.
"I saw her last night," one whispered. "She couldn't sleep."
A chill swept through the bunker.
Hibis was gone.
Everyone spread out, searching every corner of the shelter.
Storage rooms.
Ventilation tunnels.
Water cisterns.
Nothing.
Marco and the others arrived from the communications hub just as the search turned frantic.
"What happened?" Marco asked.
Jax's face had gone pale.
"Hibis is missing."
The words hit everyone like a punch.
Marco immediately remembered the restored recording.
Someone inside the bunker had betrayed them.
Now one of the youngest children had disappeared.
The timing couldn't be a coincidence.
Maya knelt beside the bunker entrance.
Fresh footprints covered the damp earth outside.
Two different sets.
One pair was small.
The other belonged to an adult.
"They left before sunrise," she said quietly.
Kael's expression hardened.
"She didn't leave alone."
Unknown to the others, Hibis slowly opened her eyes.
Her wrists weren't tied.
The room around her was clean, quiet, and brightly lit.
Nothing like the bunker.
A tray of food sat nearby.
The steel door slid open.
Commander Voss stepped inside.
"Good morning, Hibis."
She backed against the wall.
"Where are my friends?"
"They're safe... for now."
She glared at him.
"You lie."
A faint smile crossed his face.
"You're very much like your mother."
Hibis froze.
"My... mother?"
Voss placed an old photograph on the table.
It showed a woman holding a baby.
The baby was Hibis.
"I think it's time you learned who you really are."
Back at the bunker, panic turned into determination.
Marco gathered everyone.
"We've lost too much already."
He looked around the room, meeting every pair of frightened eyes.
"We're bringing Hibis home."
Lena stood silently at the back.
Her heart pounded.
She knew exactly where Voss would have taken the little girl.
And for the first time, she made a choice against the Government.
"I know where they are," she said softly.
Every head turned toward her.
Maya narrowed her eyes.
"How would you know?"
Lena took a slow breath.
"Because..."
"...I've been there before."
The bunker fell silent.
The truth Lena had been hiding was finally about to come out.
Chapter 10