Chapter 0785

Nina

The thick veil of mist hung heavy in the air, enveloping our makeshift camp in a shroud of eerie stillness. The acrid stench of smoke still clung to our clothes and hair, a lingering reminder of the inferno we had barely escaped with our lives.

Two days. We had spent two days traveling, and I hadn't seen or heard from my friends or my husband all that time.

I was beginning to lose hope.

Finally, we had managed to make our way out of the burnt portion of the forest, although the place we found was still trampled by animals trying to get away from the hot blaze. We found a spot near a running stream, and set up camp there.

As I hammered another tent stake into the damp earth, my muscles ached with exhaustion, but I refused to rest. Not until we had some semblance of shelter, some fragile sense of safety amidst the chaos that had consumed the world.

And after all, this had been my fault. I had failed; I had let things get out of control. And now, innocent people were paying for it.

in the mist drew my attention, and I squinted, my heart leaping into

torrent as I dropped the mallet, rushing forward to

they were alive, that they had somehow survived the nightmare that had

were Luke and Tyler-whole, unharmed,

I released Lori and Jessica, pulling Tyler into my arms and holding him close, as if afraid he might vanish into the mist if I let

my voice cracking as

last night," Luke explained. "They told us about this group of refugees, and we've been following your trail

to find

of relief and sorrow-because I noticed that there was one person who was missing during

Enzo.

I scanned their ash-covered faces with my heart pounding in my

Enzo?" I asked, my voice

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