People think adults always know what to do.
They don't.
Sometimes they just hide it better.
Sometimes they're just older kids pretending to have answers.
And sometimes—
the only people willing to believe something impossible are the ones who see it themselves.
⸻
The decision came quicker than any of us expected.
There wasn't another option.
We couldn't fight The Walker with kitchen knives.
Or bleach.
Or sharpened sticks.
Or wishful thinking.
If Samiya was right—
and the only way to save Sia was to kill it—
then we needed help.
Real help.
⸻
Hashim looked around the basement.
"So…"
He scratched the back of his head.
"…we're seriously doing this?"
⸻
Neems looked exhausted.
"What choice do we have?"
Nobody answered.
Because there wasn't one.
⸻
I looked down at my phone.
The contact sat near the top of my messages.
Chief Arnold Grant.
The same man who arrived after the cave.
The same man who searched the woods.
The same man who never found anything.
Because by then—
the cave had already moved.
⸻
"He'll think we're insane."
Hashim muttered.
"He already does."
Samiya replied.
Neems looked toward me.
"So what do we tell him?"
"The truth."
⸻
Hashim laughed once.
"The truth sounds insane."
"It usually does."
I answered.
⸻
Two hours later—
we stood outside the police department.
None of us wanted to walk inside.
Not because we were scared of the police.
Because we knew what we sounded like.
⸻
"Officer, a cave that moves around the city kidnapped our friend and now we need guns."
⸻
Yeah.
Not our best opening.
⸻
Chief Arnold Grant recognized us immediately.
He leaned back in his chair.
Raised an eyebrow.
"You kids again?"
Hashim smiled awkwardly.
"…Hey."
⸻
Grant sighed.
"I thought we agreed to stop chasing ghost stories."
Nobody smiled.
His expression slowly changed.
"…What's wrong?"
⸻
I stepped forward.
"We found the cave."
Silence.
⸻
Grant rubbed his forehead.
"No."
"We did."
"No."
He shook his head again.
"The cave doesn't exist."
"It does."
"I searched those woods myself."
"I know."
"There wasn't anything there."
"I know."
"So stop thinking about that night."
⸻
The room became quiet.
Then Samiya placed her phone on his desk.
"Put it on the projector in your office, and watch."
Grant frowned.
"What is this?"
"A video."
"Of what?"
"The cave."
⸻
A couple minutes later the video was on the projector in his office.
He looked at us for several seconds.
Almost amused.
Then pressed play.
⸻
The shaky recording filled the office.
Trees.
Darkness.
Heavy breathing.
The pale white glow.
Stone.
The impossible entrance.
⸻
Grant's expression didn't change.
At first.
Then the video kept going.
⸻
The cave remained.
The light spilled out across the ground.
The camera trembled.
Hashim whispered something behind it.
⸻
Then—
The Walker appeared.
Twelve feet tall.
Standing perfectly still.
Guarding the entrance.
⸻
Grant's face lost all color.
He leaned closer to the screen.
"…Pause that."
I did.
⸻
The office became silent.
Grant stood up.
Walked toward the monitor.
Studied the frame.
Then looked at us.
⸻
"…Who made this?"
"I did."
Hashim answered quietly.
"No editing?"
"No."
"No filters?"
"No."
"No AI?"
"No."
⸻
Grant stared for another few seconds.
Then replayed it.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Nobody interrupted him.
⸻
Finally—
he looked toward us.
"Where was this recorded?"
⸻
I handed him Sia's notes.
The coordinates.
The relocation pattern.
Everything.
⸻
Grant flipped through the pages.
Slowly.
His expression changed with every page.
⸻
Confusion.
Concern.
Disbelief.
Curiosity.
Then something else.
Fear.
⸻
He looked back at us.
"…Why are you bringing this to me?"
Nobody spoke.
Because none of us wanted to say it.
⸻
Neems finally did.
"Our friend is in there."
Grant frowned.
"What?"
"Sia."
"The girl from the first incident?"
I nodded.
"We found her."
⸻
Grant looked relieved.
"So call her."
"We can't."
"Go get her."
"We tried."
"Then what's stopping you?"
Samiya answered.
"The thing standing outside."
⸻
Silence.
Grant looked back toward the paused frame.
Toward The Walker.
For nearly a minute—
nobody moved.
Then he quietly sat back down.
⸻
"I've worked homicide."
He spoke without looking up.
"I've worked narcotics."
"I've worked organized crime."
"I've worked missing persons."
He looked at the screen again.
"I've never seen anything like this."
⸻
Hashim quietly nodded.
"…Us neither."
Grant closed the folder that was on his desk.
Then stood.
"Come with me."
The four of us exchanged confused looks.
⸻
He walked down a hallway.
Past offices.
Past holding cells.
Past interview rooms.
Until he reached a thick steel door.
⸻
He entered a code.
The lock clicked.
The heavy door swung open.
⸻
Neems stopped walking.
"…Holy…"
The room beyond looked nothing like a police station.
Weapons lined the walls.
Handguns.
Shotguns.
Rifles.
Sniper systems.
Less-lethal launchers.
Protective equipment.
Cases of ammunition.
Equipment racks stretching across the room.
⸻
Hashim slowly turned in a circle.
"…You guys were hiding all this?"
Grant ignored him.
⸻
He walked toward one of the racks.
Picked up a pistol.
Checked it.
Set it down.
Then looked back at us.
⸻
"Every weapon in this room is deadly."
His voice was calm.
"They didn't train weak little pussies in the Army."
Hashim awkwardly raised a hand.
"…Thank you for your service?"
Grant stared at him.
"…You're welcome."
⸻
Even Samiya almost smiled.
Almost.
⸻
Then her expression hardened again.
"…How exactly does this help us?"
Grant looked toward the weapons.
Then remembered the image of The Walker on the projector.
⸻
"If you're telling the truth…"
He paused.
"…and your friend was really taken by that thing…"
His eyes settled on each of us.
"…then you're going to need to dispose of it."
The sentence hung in the air.
Heavy.
Permanent.
⸻
Neems swallowed hard.
"…You're going to teach us?"
Grant nodded once.
"For a few hours."
⸻
He reached for another rifle.
Checked the chamber.
⸻
"Safety."
"Trigger discipline."
"Distance."
"Control."
"You'll learn enough not to kill yourselves."
⸻
Hashim looked around nervously.
"…That's comforting."
Grant ignored the joke.
⸻
Then he looked directly at me.
"How much time do you have?"
⸻
I thought of Sia.
Floating.
Motionless.
Eyes glowing white.
⸻
I looked toward Samiya.
She already knew my answer.
"We don't know."
I admitted quietly.
"And that's exactly why we can't waste any more."
⸻
Chief Arnold Grant nodded.
Then he locked the door behind us.
Training had begun.
⸻
NEXT WEEK:
CHAPTER 24: "The Walker's End"