They hit the dirt in pieces.
The Waypoint spat them out like chewed fragments of a single thought, scattering bodies across the familiar brown road that wound down toward the old field trip clearing.
The sudden quiet was unreal.
The above was a muted dark-sky. Clouds drifted lazily.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Not from caution;
from shock.
Just… a normal forest.
The place they had first arrived months ago.
Nolan was the first to breathe—ragged, uneven.
Phoebe pressed a hand to her ribs, one arm around Solace's shoulder because he couldn't see anything at all.
Lex sat against a tree, arms shattered, bone fragments shifting under thin skin.
Lily crouched beside Sara—blood soaking her pants, her voice hoarse as she whispered comforts to a woman who no longer had feet.
Vivi collapsed to her knees and simply cried. Quietly. As if tears had been waiting a long time to escape.
No one talked.
For thirty minutes, the only sound was breathing—shallow, wet, trembling, exhausted.
Solace, with dried blood covering his vacant eyes, leaned against a tree and tilted his head back to the sky he couldn't see anymore. He was unconscious
Sara's voice eventually broke the silence—barely a whisper.
"… It's warm."
That warmth made everything hurt worse.
They should've stayed alert.
They should've expected something.
But exhaustion had eaten through their instincts.
So when footsteps approached—crunching softly over leaves—they all looked up at once.
Startled.
Hopeful.
Five men walked down the trail, dressed in simple travel gear.
Faces pleasant.
Arms relaxed.
Like hikers.
Nolan almost cried from relief.
"Please—help! My mother—" he began.
The men exchanged a look.
Polite. Soft.
Then the first man smiled too gently and stepped forward.
Before anyone could blink—
Shhck.
A knife slid across Sara Leodra's neck.
Not deep enough to kill instantly
but deliberate.
Expert.
Precise.
A red line opened across her pale skin.
Lily screamed.
Phoebe surged forward but staggered, her ribs sending sharp agony through her body.
Vivi froze, panic choking her lungs.
Nolan didn't freeze at all.
He roared.
It was a raw, animal sound, and threw himself at the man who held the blade.
His shield manifested instinctively, glowing faintly as he tackled the attacker.
Both crashed into the dirt.
Nolan punched wildly, blindly, using the shield to bash anything that moved.
The other four men stepped in calmly.
One swung the hilt of his dagger into Nolan's jaw.
Another kicked him in the ribs.
A third pressed a boot into his shoulder, pinning him down like a struggling animal.
Phoebe reached for her something—
But a foot drove into her ribs and she collapsed, coughing blood.
Lex tried to stand, but couldn't use his arms at all; he could only curl over his broken bones as a man kicked him aside.
Sara gurgled, hands weakly reaching for her torn throat.
The "hikers" didn't even look shaken.
Finishing a job.
The tallest man, the one with the scar under his eye, raised his dagger again—aimed at Nolan's neck.
Nolan spat blood, pushing the boot off his back with the last of his strength.
"N–No… stay away—"
"STOP!"
One of the other men grabbed the attacker's wrist.
During that moment, a Nolan looked at the wrist that was about to hit him. The hand had a tattoo. The tattoo was of A snake coiled around a gun.
"We are not killing the children," he hissed.
"Mission is over."
The man with the dagger scowled, but withdrew.
"Fine."
He kicked Nolan across the face one last time.
"Your luck ends here, boy. Pray the Church never finds you again."
They stepped back as one, movements disciplined—military.
Church.
The word struck the cohort like acid.
They didn't sprint away.
They didn't even look hurried.
Not only that, but they simply walked off the road and disappeared between the trees.
Nolan clawed his way to Sarah, pressing his glowing hands to her neck, trying to stop the bleeding.
"Mom—Mom—please—please—stay awake—"
Vivi scrambled over him, tears streaking down her face as she used healing again and again, desperately pouring everything she had into Sarah.
Lex groaned, hugging his ruined arms.
Phoebe curled forward in pain and fury.
Lily held Sarah's hand, sobbing silently.
And for the first time since the mountain—
The cohort felt like they might not survive the forest below, either.