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.

drew my attention, and I squinted, my heart leaping into my throat as a cluster of familiar figures emerged from

names tore from my lips in a breathless torrent as I

as I clung to them, reveling in the tangible proof that they were alive, that they had somehow survived the nightmare that had unfolded. Over their shoulders, I caught sight of Matt and Daphne, their faces etched

behind them were Luke and Tyler-whole, unharmed, and

and Jessica, pulling Tyler into my arms and holding him close, as if afraid he might vanish into the

cracking as

found some stragglers last night," Luke explained. "They told us about this group of refugees, and we've been

to find

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

Enzo.

ash-covered faces with

asked, my voice barely above a whisper, dreading the

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