Manhattan had never felt this empty.
Rain poured endlessly from the sky, washing over abandoned streets and silent buildings. Police barricades blocked off entire avenues. Emergency lights blinked in the distance like fading signals in a storm.
The city had pulled back.
Left behind a battlefield.
Rennie and Tyler slowed near an intersection overlooking the waterfront.
The river churned violently below, waves crashing against the concrete edge. The storm had turned it into something wild—unpredictable, dangerous.
Tyler bent over, hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.
"Okay… okay… please tell me we're not just running until we collapse."
Rennie stood still, staring at the water.
Her mind was racing.
Thinking.
Connecting everything.
Crystal Lake.
The visions.
The tunnel.
Tommy.
Tyler looked up at her.
"Rennie?"
She didn't answer.
Her eyes stayed fixed on the river.
Then slowly… she spoke.
"We were wrong about the water."
Tyler frowned.
"Yeah, I figured that out when it didn't work."
Rennie shook her head.
"No."
She turned to him.
"We were using it wrong."
Tyler blinked.
"What does that even mean?"
Rennie pointed toward the river.
"That's not just water."
He looked.
Confused.
"It's a river…"
Rennie's voice steadied.
"It's movement. Force. Depth."
She took a step closer to the edge.
"In the tunnel, the water was rising… but it was trapped."
Tyler slowly started understanding.
"And this isn't."
Rennie nodded.
"If we can force him into something stronger… something that keeps pulling him under…"
Tyler finished the thought quietly.
"He doesn't get back up."
Behind them, a distant figure stepped into the street.
Jason.
Still walking.
Still coming.
Tyler looked back.
"Okay… I get the idea."
He looked at the river again.
"But how do we actually do that?"
Rennie scanned the area.
Her eyes landed on something further down the waterfront.
A maintenance structure.
Flood control gates.
Metal walkways stretching over the rushing water.
She pointed.
"There."
Tyler squinted through the rain.
"That place looks… unsafe."
Rennie nodded.
"Exactly."
They moved again.
Running along the empty street toward the structure.
Wind howled across the open waterfront.
The sound of crashing water grew louder with every step.
Behind them, Jason followed.
Unstoppable.
They reached the flood control platform.
Rust-covered railings.
Slippery metal surfaces.
Waves crashing below with terrifying force.
Tyler looked down.
"Yeah… I officially hate this plan."
Rennie stepped onto the platform.
The metal groaned under her weight.
"This is where we end it."
Tyler followed reluctantly.
"You're really serious."
Rennie turned to him.
"I'm not running anymore."
Her voice wasn't shaking now.
Not even a little.
Jason stepped onto the waterfront.
Rain pouring over him.
He moved toward the platform.
Toward her.
Tyler looked around quickly.
"We need something to actually push him in."
Rennie nodded.
"Help me."
They moved across the platform, searching.
Tyler spotted a heavy metal hook attached to a chain used for maintenance work.
He grabbed it.
"This could work."
Rennie found a loose steel rod near the railing.
She picked it up.
Jason reached the platform.
The metal echoed under his steps.
The distance closed again.
Tyler swallowed hard.
"This is it, huh?"
Rennie didn't look away from Jason.
"This is it."
Jason stepped closer.
The wind howled.
The river crashed violently below.
Lightning flashed across the sky.
For a moment, everything felt frozen in place.
Then Jason moved.
Fast.
Tyler swung the chain.
It struck Jason across the shoulder.
The impact echoed sharply.
Jason staggered—just slightly.
Rennie stepped in and drove the steel rod forward, trying to push him back.
Jason grabbed the rod.
Stopped it.
Like it was nothing.
"BACK UP!" Tyler shouted.
Jason shoved Rennie backward.
She nearly slipped on the wet platform.
Barely catching herself on the railing.
The river roared beneath her.
Tyler swung again.
This time hitting Jason's arm.
The chain wrapped slightly around it.
Jason yanked hard—
Tyler was pulled forward violently.
"WOAH—!"
He crashed onto the platform.
The chain slipped from his hands.
Jason stepped toward him.
Rennie rushed forward.
"HEY!"
Jason turned.
Back to her.
She stepped backward slowly.
Toward the edge.
Toward the roaring water below.
Her heart pounded.
But her face stayed steady.
"Come on," she whispered.
"Follow me."
Jason did.
One step.
Then another.
Tyler struggled to get up.
"Rennie… what are you doing…"
She kept backing up.
Closer to the edge.
The railing pressed against her back now.
The drop behind her.
The storm raging around her.
Jason in front of her.
No more space.
No more running.
Jason raised the machete.
And Rennie made her choice.
She grabbed his arm.
And pulled.
Both of them went over the edge.
Tyler's scream was lost in the storm.
"RENNIE!"
They hit the water below.
Hard.
Violent.
The river swallowed them instantly.
Tyler ran to the edge.
Looked down.
Nothing.
Just raging water.
Dark.
Endless.
Seconds passed.
Then more.
No movement.
No sign.
Tyler's voice shook.
"No… no… no…"
The storm roared on.
The river surged endlessly.
And beneath it—
Something had finally been dragged into the depths.