Clear Water, Hidden Danger

Chapter 33 – The Wakeup Call in WH28

The August heat clung to the plant like a living thing, thick enough that every breath felt slow. Even the concrete radiated warmth. I’d barely cleared the top stair of WH27 when something hit me—
not a sound,
not a vision,
just a pull.

A pressure under my ribs, directional and unnatural, tugging me toward the dark row of well houses across the yard.

I stopped mid-step.

Hawk nearly ran into me. “What’s wrong?”

Before I could answer, the radio crackled.

Lin’s voice cut through the static, tight and alert.
“RJ, picking up a low heat signature coming from Well House 28. Barely above dead-body temp. Movement is unstable. Proceed with extreme caution.”

That did it.
The pull sharpened, like whatever was inside WH28 knew I’d heard.

I stepped into the open yard, flashlight beam slicing through the thick August night. The humidity swallowed everything except the direction I needed to look.

WH28.

Something shifted in the dark.

A figure stumbled out of the doorway—thin, unsteady, collapsing to their knees like their legs remembered walking but their body didn’t.

Hawk had his rifle up in a heartbeat.
“Stop! Don’t move!”

“STOP!” I snapped over him.

The figure froze at my voice.

Not like a Zerker.
Not feral.
Not hyperreactive.

Human.

Barely holding on.

I lifted a hand, pushing Hawk’s barrel down without taking my eyes off the shape on the ground. “Weapon low.”

He hesitated for one sharp breath, then obeyed… barely.

The figure tried to get up again, failed, catching themselves on trembling arms. I moved forward, slow and controlled, letting the flashlight rise until the beam caught their face.

Too pale.
Too dehydrated.
Too sunken to have walked out of anywhere normal.

But their eyes—

They weren’t empty.
They weren’t dead.
They were searching through the light, locking onto me like my voice was the only thing holding them upright.

“Hey,” I said quietly. “Look at me. You know who I am?”

Their lips cracked apart.

A whisper scraped out, broken but intentional.

“…R…J…”

Hawk’s breath hitched behind me.
“No way.”

Lin’s voice hissed over the radio again.
“RJ—resonance spike. Two signatures. One is yours.”

The figure shifted, just enough for the beam to catch their wrist. The ink burned into the skin was barely holding on.

A faded identifier.
Half-ruined.
Still readable.

S-28.

My heartbeat stumbled once.

They weren’t coming toward us by accident.
They weren’t escaping anything.

They’d been activated.

Recalled.

Sent.

Straight to me.

As I stepped closer, the angle of the light shifted, revealing more — the thin frame under an oversized t-shirt, the bare legs scraped from gravel, the shape small enough that the truth finally hit me:

She was a girl.

Young. Weak. Alive.

Her voice cracked again, barely air:

“Help… me…”

ANONYMOUS FIELD LOG -- ENTRY A
CLASSIFIED -- PROJECT ECHO CLEARANCE REQUIRED

Anchor responded to pull signature originating from WH28. Subject 28 exited structure in unstable condition. No hostility observed. Anchor established vocal dominance and neutralized potential escalation without force. Resonance overlap confirmed. Subject 28 identified Anchor by name despite impaired state. Environmental conditions humid and elevated. Monitoring continues. No exposure detected among CWP personnel.

ANONYMOUS FIELD LOG -- ENTRY B
CLASSIFIED -- PROJECT ECHO CLEARANCE REQUIRED

NLC internal sensors registered brief resonance spike concurrent with Anchor and Subject 28 contact. Dr. Mercer exhibited immediate stress response upon hearing identifier S-28. Captain Captain Bilew-Jackson recommended limited lockdown of sublevels. Command denied pending additional intel. Prediction models indicate Anchor trajectory vector will shift toward Stafford. This aligns with long-range projections. Infiltration remains uncompromised.