(LOCATION: Bilal's secret shelter. The four heroes are sitting in a tense silence, listening to the sounds of the outside world.)

MADDAH: (With a theatrical sigh) "This quiet is more unsettling than the screaming."

(Suddenly, they hear it: the sound of steady, metallic footsteps approaching. Four breaths are held. Their eyes exchange worried glances.)

(The camera cuts to the outside. Three members of the Bee Gang advance cautiously down the alley.)

GANG MEMBER 1: "I swear I saw them disappear down here."

GANG MEMBER 2: "The place is tight and the echo is suffocating… I don't like these kinds of places."

(They reach the metal door of the shelter.)

GANG MEMBER 1: (Nodding at the door) "Check this one."

[SCENE 2]

(We cut back inside. The heroes hear the sound of someone trying to force the door open. The sharp screech of metal echoes inside the tank. They get into defensive positions in the darkness.)

MADDAH: (Whispering sarcastically) "Do you think if they catch us, they'll let us choose our last meal?"

MERENJI: (Hissing back) "Be quiet."

(The door begins to buckle inward. Light from the guards' lamps pierces through the cracks.)

[SCENE 3]

(Suddenly, a loud, terrifying groan of metal comes from above. A massive section of the old, rusty walkway overhead cracks and breaks off. It comes crashing down with a deafening roar of twisting steel and crumbling concrete, blocking the entire alleyway in front of the guards.)

GANG MEMBER 3: (Jumping back quickly) "Get back! The ceiling isn't safe!"

GANG MEMBER 1: (Angrily, cursing) "Fall back! Inform the others, we'll return when we get support to clear this!"

(The sounds of the guards retreat. Silence returns to the tank.)

TAHER: (After a few moments, whispering in disbelief) "What happened?… Are they gone?"

(Bilal, who was peeking through a small crack, sighs in relief.)

BILAL: "Looks like it… but that was no coincidence."

[SCENE 4]

(Later, after they are sure the coast is clear, Qassem cautiously opens the door. At the threshold, he finds something strange: a loaf of fresh bread wrapped neatly in a clean, dark blue cotton cloth, embroidered with a simple spiral pattern in silver thread.)

(Qassem picks it up and brings it inside.)

QASSEM: "Bilal…? Was this you?"

BILAL: (From inside, sharing some water with the others) "No. I swear I was with you the whole time."

(Maddah takes the cloth and inspects it with curiosity.)

MADDAH: (Whispering to himself) "Either it's a generous thief… or a guardian shadow."

(Qassem takes the cloth back from Maddah and holds on to it, feeling a strange, comforting sense of familiarity that he can't explain.)

[SCENE 5]

(FINAL SHOT: The camera pans up, high above the shelter, across the alleys, to settle on a distant, shadowed rooftop. A lone figure stands there, cloaked in the same dark blue as the cloth. They are watching the alley where the shelter is located.)

(The figure takes one step into the dim light. The camera slowly moves in to reveal her face. It is HAIBA. Her hair is tied back, her expression unreadable but her eyes are filled with concern, determination, and a deep, sorrowful love as she looks down at the place where she knows Qassem is safe.)

(She turns, and without a sound, melts back into the shadows of Tiaret.)

NARRATOR (V.O.):

"They didn't know who saved them… nor who fed them. But the world, no matter how dark it became… sometimes held a shadow, unseen… that guarded without asking for anything in return. And in that shadow… the first thread of hope was born."

(The screen cuts to black.)

(END OF EPISODE)