No birds. No wind. Just the wet groan of a collapsed Ferris wheel rotating an inch at a time against a rusted spoke.

– a note flickers on-screen: ENCODED BY GALAXYRG – DD5.1 – x264 – 1400MB Then it burns away to static. END SCENE.

She pulls the earbud out.

She runs. The camera pulls up. Behind her, the tunnel exhales a cloud of pale dust — and from it, shapes begin to unfold. Not sprinting. Standing . Waiting.

For the first time in 28 years — they have something to wait for.

She stops at the edge of a tunnel. The — still flecked with old biohazard stencils. Water drips from above like a slow clock.