𝕯𝖊𝖆𝖉𝖘𝖍𝖔𝖙

Wretched

Things had finally slowed down. Life felt way quieter.

But the silence wasn't peaceful. It almost felt like.. it was too quiet.

Nathan sat in the garage, his back against the cold brick wall, watching the dust motes swirl in the beam of sunlight that stretched across the floor. 

Two days had passed since the United Nations raid. They didn't touch a single document yet.

Across the room, Caleb was perched on a chair, his face calm and unreadable as he cleaned his gun. He had arrived just the day before, completely out of the blue.

While his presence brought back memories of older times, it also felt kind of.. unsettling.

Caleb had always been calm, always the rock in their friend group when they were kids, but now, his calmness felt strange—almost out of place.

"Hey," Caleb said softly, looking up at Nathan. His voice sliced through the silence like a knife and butter.

Nathan glanced over but didn't respond at first. He was spaced out. Eventually, he nodded. "Hey."

The conversation fell flat, both of them too tired to dive into anything deeper. Nathan had so many questions for Caleb—about how he had survived, how he had made his way back here—but for now, the questions stayed locked inside. There would be time for answers later.

Emma was sitting on the floor near the corner of the room, her back pressed against the wall as she stared down at a map spread across her lap. She had been going over their next steps for hours, though her eyes seemed distant, like she wasn't really looking at the map at all.

Julian was nearby, hunched over his laptop, sifting through data they had pulled from the United Nations servers. He hadn't slept much since the raid. His fingers tapped methodically on the keyboard, the glow from the screen casting his face in harsh light.

The files they'd stolen hinted at something bigger than just the blood moon—a massive conspiracy that had shaken everyone to their core. But today, there were no meetings. No plans. No battles. Just.. silence.

Kaylin sat on the floor of her room, methodically cleaning and sharpening her chainsaw, the blade reflecting the dim light from the single bulb overhead.

The soft scraping noise was calming, rhythmic, filled with some sort of dopamine.

Ever since Gian's death, she felt weird. About everyone else. People she loved could die at any moment. It already happened to most of them. They weren't soldiers. They were kids—thrown into a world where they had to grow up too fast.

Her mind wandered to Gian, who had been so confident and strong.

She wondered if she could keep holding on, keep fighting, or if it was only a matter of time before she died, just like him.

The sound of footsteps pulled her out of her thoughts. She glanced up to see Lorenzo standing in the doorway, his hands in his pockets, his face a mask of weariness.

"Hey," he said, his voice low. "You alright?" Kaylin shrugged, wiping the blade clean. "I don't know HOW I feel like." Lorenzo stepped inside, sitting down beside her with a sigh. "It's weird having Caleb back. Feels like I'm dreaming."

"Yeah," Kaylin said, her voice quiet. "It must feel good to see him. I don't know him well, but you do. You guys seem close." They sat in silence for a while, just listening to the sound of her chainsaw as she ran the cloth over it again and again.

Later, Nathan and Caleb found themselves outside, sitting on the lookout on the roof. The wind was picking up, cool and crisp, brushing against their faces. It wasn't freezing, but it was cold enough to make them pull their jackets tighter.

Nathan stared out at the overgrown trees that lined the edge of the property.

"I used to miss this place," Caleb said softly, breaking the silence. His eyes were distant, staring at the same trees, but Nathan could tell his mind was somewhere else. "I missed Queens when I moved to Georgia. Missed you guys. But now... I don't know."

Nathan nodded, not trusting himself to speak just yet. 

"Remember that one time," Caleb started, a small, tired smile tugging at his lips, "When we made that 'Nerf Gang', and you turned 7, and you were able to join?" Nathan chuckled softly, the memory surfacing in his mind like a ghost. "Yeah. I thought was so cool after that."

"Good times," Caleb said, his smile fading. "Feels like forever ago."

Nathan didn't respond. He just let the memory linger between them, letting it bring a brief moment of warmth before reality crashed back in.

On the other side of the lookout, Paige was keeping watch. Her eyes scanned the horizon, though there wasn't much to see, crimson fog clouding above the sky. The area around their base was quiet, but she knew better than to let her guard down.There was always something lurking out there, waiting to strike when they least expected it.

Her fingers tapped idly against the rocket launcher leaning beside her. She knew the others didn't exactly trust her with the heavy firepower, but they didn't say anything either. She had proven herself more than capable of holding her own—probably more than most of them could.

As she took another drag from her cigarette, her mind wandered to Addison. She still couldn't get over how everything had changed. Addison, who had been one of them, one of their own, was now the leader of the lunarists.

It was too much to take in. How could someone flip so completely? Was there anything left of the girl they used to know? "I can't hear anything out here but the wind," she muttered to herself, letting out a slow breath. "Can't even hear the city anymore. It's like everything's dead. Or waiting. Whatever. I don't care."

The silence unnerved her, but it also made her sharper. She crushed the cigarette under her boot and stood up, ready to move to the next part of the roof to continue her watch.

As the day dragged on, the group found themselves in a state of limbo, just thinking and some small conversations that ended quick.

In the living room, they gathered, one-by-one. Julian sat at the table, staring at the maps and documents, though his eyes were glazed over, unfocused. He was there, but not really.

"We need to figure out what's next," Emma said softly, though her voice carried the weight of a command. She hadn't been sleeping, and it showed in the dark circles under her eyes. "The blood moon... everything we learned, it's only going to get worse."

"Uh-huh," Nathan agreed, though the words felt hollow.

"Whatever happens next," Caleb added, his voice calm and steady, "We'll face it together, man."

Together.

They weren't kids anymore, but they weren't alone either. That had to count for something. The next step loomed in front of them like a dark shadow, but for now, they had time to think, time to breathe—if only for a moment.