Chapter 2310: Story 2311: The Shepherd’s Truth

The roar shook the underground cavern like an earthquake.

Dust exploded from the ceiling while fungal roots twisted violently across the stone walls. Maya staggered backward as the elevator platform snapped loose behind her and disappeared into darkness below.

“There goes our way out,” Selena muttered.

Another roar thundered through the chamber.

Closer this time.

The merger creature suddenly began shrieking again on the cavern floor. Its twisted limbs curled inward protectively as though terrified of something approaching.

Then the Harvesters arrived.

Dozens of them poured through tunnels surrounding the cavern, crawling over walls and ceilings in complete silence. Their glowing white eyes fixed on Maya and Selena.

But they didn’t attack.

They were waiting.

Watching.

A massive shape emerged from the darkness ahead.

The Shepherd.

Black fungal armor covered its enormous body while fresh blood dripped from its claws. Parts of BLACKTHORN combat gear still hung from its shoulders like remnants of a dead life.

Commander Hale’s severed identification badge dangled from one claw.

The Shepherd stopped before them.

Every Harvester lowered itself toward the ground instantly.

Submission.

Maya raised her revolver anyway.

Selena slowly lowered her rifle.

“It’s not here to kill us,” she whispered.

The Shepherd’s pale eyes shifted toward the ceiling where Ethan had disappeared.

“He has joined the choir.”

Maya clenched her jaw.

“What did the Root do to him?”

The creature looked at her strangely.

“Not what it did to us.”

Us.

Maya noticed the word immediately.

The Shepherd turned slowly toward Selena.

“You lied to them.”

Selena’s face hardened.

“I told them enough.”

“No,” the Shepherd growled softly. “You told them what lets you sleep.”

The cavern pulsed again.

THOOM.

Black fungal roots around the walls opened like veins splitting apart. Inside them Maya glimpsed shapes moving beneath translucent layers of organic growth.

Human bodies.

Alive.

Connected to the Root.

Her stomach twisted.

“How many people are down here?” she whispered.

The Shepherd answered quietly.

“Thousands.”

Selena looked sick.

“That’s impossible.”

“You stopped counting after the first year.”

The words hit Selena like a knife.

Maya stared at her.

“What does that mean?”

Selena remained silent.

The Shepherd stepped closer.

Before BLACKTHORN collapsed, Dr. Selena Voss led something called the Integration Program.”

Selena’s breathing became uneven.

“Don’t.”

“You fed survivors to the Root.”

Maya’s eyes widened in horror.

Selena shook her head violently.

“It wasn’t like that!”

The Shepherd roared suddenly.

The cavern trembled.

“You chose adaptation over extinction!”

Silence followed.

Heavy.

Painful.

Finally Selena spoke in a broken whisper.

“We thought we could merge safely.”

Maya backed away from her slowly.

“You experimented on living people.”

“We were dying!” Selena shouted. “The infection spread too fast. Governments collapsed. Cities burned. We needed another solution.”

The Shepherd looked almost sorrowful now.

“So you built heaven beneath the earth.”

The merger creature on the ground suddenly began convulsing violently.

Its many mouths opened together.

“The gate opens.”

Every Harvester in the cavern lifted its head simultaneously.

THOOM.

THOOM.

THOOM.

The Root’s heartbeat accelerated.

Then the cavern ceiling cracked open above them.

Moonlight poured down through the stone as the silos overhead began collapsing into the underground chamber. Huge chunks of concrete crashed downward while screams echoed from somewhere far above the surface.

The infection was spreading upward now.

Fast.

The Shepherd looked toward Maya.

“You carry resistance.”

She froze.

“How do you know that?”

“The Root cannot hear your thoughts clearly.”

Selena stared at Maya in shock.

“That’s impossible...”

The Shepherd stepped closer.

“Unless she was exposed before.”

Maya felt coldness crawl through her chest.

Fragments of memory suddenly flashed inside her mind.

A hospital room.

Her mother screaming.

Doctors in BLACKTHORN uniforms.

A symbol.

The silver thorn wrapped around a skull.

Maya staggered backward.

“No...”

The Shepherd’s pale eyes locked onto hers.

“You were born connected to the Root.”