Two days had passed since Angelo, Hale, and Ryan had driven through the terrified city. With each mile farther from civilization, the world grew quieter—but not any safer. The creatures still followed them, always lingering just out of reach.
Angelo's body had begun to heal. The constant pain dulled, his muscles stopped aching with every step, and even the deep gash in his palm had mostly closed up. Though his powers remained faint—barely a fifth of what they once were—he pushed himself every night, experimenting, practicing, relearning everything from scratch.
One quiet night under a canopy of stars, Angelo trained alone. He stood in the clearing near their camp, palms glowing faintly with flickers of elemental energy. The air shifted with each attempt—small bursts of wind, flickers of flame, gentle swirls of water—but it was all a pale echo of his former strength.
The sound of a tent zipper rustling behind him broke his focus.
Ryan emerged, rubbing his eyes. "Couldn't sleep," he said with a shrug. "Mind if I watch?"
Angelo gave him a nod. "Sure. Just don't get too close."
Ryan sat on a nearby rock, watching curiously as Angelo worked through a sequence of elemental combinations. "You ever try using fire and water together to make heavy mist? Could hide your position, maybe even mask your scent."
Intrigued, Angelo gave it a shot. Fire bloomed in one palm, water in the other. He brought them together slowly, controlling the balance. Steam hissed between his fingers, then thickened into a dense mist that blanketed the ground.
"Nice," Ryan said, impressed. "Tactical and dramatic."
Angelo smirked faintly. "Not bad."
Ryan leaned forward, eyes gleaming with curiosity. "What about fusing other elements into your flames? Like… magnesium?"
"I can create it," Angelo said. "In small amounts."
Ryan grinned. "Alright, imagine this. You toss a tiny fireball and ignite some magnesium dust in it. Boom. Flashbang level of brightness. Could blind a whole squad."
Angelo chuckled, then shook his head. "Wouldn't work. I can only generate materials close to my palms, not mid-air. Not yet, at least."
"Bummer. Okay, what about enhancing your gun? Could you superheat the gunpowder in the bullet and spike the output?"
Angelo raised a brow, intrigued. "That… might actually work."
He pulled out his sidearm, held it in his hands, and focused. His palm glowed faintly as he honed in on the chemical structure inside the bullet. Carefully, he manipulated the gunpowder, adding a volatile cocktail of elements that would react explosively when triggered.
He aimed at a thick tree, took a deep breath—and pulled the trigger.
The shot cracked like thunder. The bullet tore through the trunk, splintering it clean in half. The recoil nearly yanked the gun from Angelo's hand, and the barrel hissed with heat, a spiderweb of cracks running down its length.
Both of them burst into laughter.
"What the hell was that?!" Hale shouted from the tent, storming out half-dressed, her rifle in hand. "Are we under attack?!"
Angelo and Ryan were still laughing, unable to speak.
Hale's eyes narrowed. "You idiots!" she barked. "I thought we were ambushed!"
"Sorry!" Angelo wheezed. "Just… testing something new."
"Yeah, no kidding," she snapped. "If you two ever pull a stunt like that again without warning me, I swear I'll beat both of you senseless."
"Yes, ma'am," they said in unison, flinching like guilty schoolboys.
The next morning, as Nomad cruised along the cracked highway, the three rode in relative silence. Ryan and Angelo sat in the back, the rumble of the engine beneath them, while Hale focused on the road ahead.
Angelo had his sidearm resting across his lap, inspecting the cracked barrel from their late-night experiment.
"Think you can patch it up?" Ryan asked, leaning in with interest.
Angelo gave a small smirk. "Watch this."
He took a steady breath, focusing his energy. A faint red glow spread from his fingertips into the weapon, slowly sealing the fractures, smoothing the damage. Within seconds, the barrel looked untouched—flawless.
"Boom," Angelo said with a satisfied nod. "Like new."
Ryan's eyes widened. "That's awesome! You can just mod your weapons like it's nothing."
Angelo gave a tired shake of the head. "Not quite. That took more out of me than I'd like to admit. At my current strength, I've got to be smart about when and how I use this."
From the driver's seat, Hale's voice drifted back with dry sarcasm. "Great. One Grant wasn't enough—we brought a second one with us."
Ryan grinned like a proud sidekick. Angelo chuckled softly, shaking his head.
Hale added, "If I catch you two cooking up another experiment behind my back, I will beat the shit out of you."
"Yes, ma'am," they chorused again, sheepish but still amused.