EXT. INDUSTRIAL OUTSKIRTS – PRE-DAWN The city's edge was wrapped in a sick fog, the streets eerily still beneath gutted warehouses and collapsed smokestacks. Lena and the team moved fast and low, packs light, eyes scanning every window. "They're adapting. Moving in patterns. Not just mindless anymore." "Then they're evolving." "Or someone's teaching them." That thought settled in heavier than the morning mist. INT. PARKING STRUCTURE – EARLY MORNING They ducked into a broken garage to rest. Lena checked Briggs' wound—it had spread into his veins, black and twitching. "If I turn... you know what to do." Lena didn't answer. She didn't need to. Suddenly—a screech echoes. Not an animal. Not human. From the garage's depths, figures emerged—not walkers, but sprinters. Fast. Feral. Eyes blazing with hunger. EXT. ALLEYWAYS – MID-MORNING The chase was relentless. They sprinted through narrow passages and over debris. One of the Turned lunged from a window—Lena dodged and slashed with her knife, the blade catching bone. "Keep going! Don't stop for me!" LENA (grabbing his arm): Ward covered the rear, gunning down two with controlled bursts. The Girl lobbed a flare into a drainage tunnel—flames whooshed, momentarily blinding the horde. EXT. SCHOOLYARD RUINS – LATER They collapsed behind a broken wall. For now, they'd lost the pack. "They didn't follow. They... regrouped?" "Why didn't they just swarm us? They had numbers." Lena stared into the empty lot. The fear wasn't just survival anymore—it was strategy. The Turned were learning. FLASHBACK – LENA'S MEMORY: Her brother, Danny, bleeding out in a stairwell. Surrounded. A young Lena screaming for help that never came. "Don't let them change who you are, Len." BACK TO PRESENT – SCHOOLYARD Lena shook off the memory. Focus. "We keep moving. We don't stop until dark." "They'll be waiting again." "Then we change the rules." She pointed toward the storm drains—an underground path most would avoid. "We take the tunnels. No noise. No lights. Just guts." Briggs groaned, barely conscious. The Girl moved beside him, quiet but resolute. "We'll carry him if we have to." INT. STORM DRAIN ENTRANCE – NOON They disappeared into the earth, the surface behind them howling as the Turned returned—sniffing, hunting, organized. EXT. CITY SKYLINE – DISTANT VIEW Above the crumbling buildings, an eerie, synchronized shriek pierced the sky—hundreds of the Turned, converging with purpose. They weren't just hunters anymore.