The road ahead was silent, but the storm had followed them.
The cracked highway leading out of the city was cluttered with rusted vehicles — remnants of the lives lost before the Fracture. Jax had the wheel, eyes set forward. Beside him, Rhea leaned out the passenger window, scanning for any signs of Therma HQ survivors.
"Yo, you know where the other base is?" Jax asked, glancing at the rearview mirror.
Leo didn't answer — he kept flipping through a thick, battered notebook, pages scrawled with frantic notes.
"Nuh-uh," Mika answered for him. "Alice knows. And she's out cold."
Jax sighed. "Hana?"
"I'm still alive," Hana whispered, weak and pale.
"She's lost a lot of blood. We need to find the others, fast," Mika muttered. "They'll have blood for her. Or a donor. Hopefully."
"And a place to rest," Rhea added, pulling herself back into the truck. "That hill up ahead. We can camp there."
—
The fire crackled beneath the star-drenched night.
Hana lay in Mika's arms, sweat beading on her forehead. Alice, unconscious, rested beside Jax as he cleaned her shotgun, shell by shell. Rhea sat on the roof of the truck, scanning the valley below. Aesthetic City blinked far in the distance, taunting them with its silence.
Haruka sat apart, quietly cleaning his katana. His mask hissed in sync with his breath, alive in its rhythm.
"Leo," Jax called, "Pass me that cleaning rod."
But Leo didn't respond. His eyes were locked on Haruka.
"Leo!" Jax hissed louder.
Mika nudged him. "Keep it down, will ya? You'll wake Hana or attract more biters."
"Not my fault—"
"No, it's his," Leo interrupted, nodding toward Haruka.
"Huh? He hasn't even said a word," Jax muttered.
"Haruka," Leo called, voice sharp. "That mask. Start talking."
"Oh come on, let it go," Mika groaned.
"No," Leo stood now, rising to his full height. "You don't understand how dangerous he is."
"Good," Jax said with a grin. "Dangerous is good when he's on our side."
"Leo, sit down," Rhea called calmly from the roof.
But Leo was already walking — slowly approaching Haruka, who never looked up. His hands kept moving along the katana's surface, calm, composed.
"Leo, what the hell are you doing?" Mika stood up now too.
"Tell them," Leo snarled. "Tell them why Therma got hit."
"LEAVE. HIM. ALONE," Hana coughed out, barely raising her head.
Leo stopped but didn't back down. "How'd you even find him, huh?"
"He saved me," Hana said faintly. "I was surrounded… they were going to—"
"Shh," Mika whispered gently, holding her tighter. "Rest. Don't force it."
"He saved her twice," Jax added. "And saved you too, Mika."
"And Alice," Rhea added as she dropped down from the truck bed.
Mika turned quickly. "Did you see anything?"
"Yeah. Tracks. Leading out of Aesthetic City. They made it."
"Good." She nodded. "So sit your ass down, Leo."
But Leo just chuckled bitterly.
"I'm grateful. I am. But we're in a war with Obsidian. And this guy?" He pointed at Haruka. "He's their goddamn magnet. Why the hell should we keep him around?"
No one answered.
"Obsidian wants him," Leo spat. "We've been followed ever since rescuing Hana. Militias I get. But zombies? That's not random."
"Why do they want you so badly?" he asked again, now crouching close to Haruka.
Hana sat up, teeth gritted against the pain.
"At the market," she said, "I helped Haruka stay hidden. We met this… gross, old guy. Knew things he shouldn't. Including stuff about someone in Obsidian."
Leo's face twisted. "So… you're searching for them. While they're searching for you."
"Does Mother know?" Leo growled.
"I do," came a raspy voice behind him.
Alice was sitting up.
"Mama!" Jax exclaimed, dropping the shotgun and rushing to support her.
Silence fell like dust. Only the fire dared to crackle.
"I know," Alice repeated. "That's why I let him stay. He's one of us. A Fang."
She glanced at Hana, brow furrowed. "What happened to her?"
"She stabbed herself by accident," Mika said, trembling. "When I said Therma might have a blood match… he offered his own."
Alice looked at Haruka. "You did?"
Haruka finally looked up.
"I am," he said, voice firm, eyes calm.
"Looking for someone."
He sheathed his katana with a clean snap. "Someone in Obsidian."
"Who?" Rhea asked.
Haruka didn't answer. He only stared into the fire — the flame staring back with haunting memories and a goal etched deeper than words.
"I think I know," Leo muttered. "I've got two names in mind. And Mother knows too... don't you?"
Leo turned to Alice. Her eyes met his, then shifted to Rhea.
"That's enough for tonight," Alice said, firm but tired. "We'll put a pin in it. If there were any survivors left, they likely retreated to the Heart of Therma. Outside the city."
She turned back to Haruka, concern flickering behind her usual steel.
"We move at first light."
Jax leaned beside Alice, his breathing steady. Rhea curled up close to Mika and Hana — who lay silently watching Haruka's resting face, the mask's cylinders still rising and falling... like they breathed with him.
Slowly, her eyes grew heavy. Sleep took her.
At the back of the truck, Leo scribbled into the thick book of notes, then gently closed it. He pulled a massive duffle bag to his side, pulled out a drone, and scanned the stars.
"You're on watch tonight, buddy."
He tossed it into the air.
The drone buzzed to life, lifting into the sky above the campsite. Its signal light turned green.
Leo lay back, resting his head on the duffle.
Not far away, Alice stared at the glowing drone above.
"Michael. Evelyne..." she whispered — just before her eyes drifted shut.
Morning.
H.O.T – Heart of Therma HQ.
The flames still danced on what was left of the Heart.
Half the structure had collapsed, black smoke trailing toward the sky. Rubble coated the ground. The once-mighty headquarters was now just another scar on Aesthetic City.
The group stood frozen, staring at the wreckage.
"No... way," Alice breathed.
"How...? When...?" Mika collapsed to her knees, her voice cracking.
"Obsidian," Jax muttered, jaw clenched. His grip on Hana tightened.
Haruka didn't move.
He just stared at the burning ruins. The flames shimmered in his eyes — not with fury, but with dread.
The cylinders on his mask rose. Fell. Then rose again — too fast, too shallow. Unsteady.
His breath hitched. One hand hovered near the hilt of his katana but didn't grab it.
His legs felt weak.
He looked like he'd seen a ghost.
Or worse — expected one.
A single name slipped from his lips, quiet, trembling:
"Raito..."
And in that moment, Haruka didn't look like the warrior who saved them all.
He looked like a boy again — scared, unready, shaken to the core.