Elion arrived hurriedly, breathing heavily and looking worried.
—What happened? —he asked when he saw them injured and covered in dust.
Hael, still trembling, replied in a whisper:
—A-Aslan… he… he's infected.
—What...? —whispered Elion, but there was no time to process it.
A loud noise echoed from the house. The door was violently knocked on, shaking the frame. Elion instinctively raised his weapon, pointing it toward the sound.
The silence that followed was unsettling.
Then, glass shattered. The window broke into a thousand pieces and the creature that was once Aslan emerged from the broken glass. Behind him, staggering with clumsy movements, appeared the grandparents... or what was left of them.
Aslan turned his head and began to walk toward them.
—Aslan, wait! It's me, Elion! —he shouted, taking a step back, his weapon still pointed but trembling—. You have to stop… you're not this… do you hear me? Fight it, damn it!
But the creature did not respond. Its empty gaze, its jaw hanging open, and its ferocious growls left no trace of the friend he had once been.
Elion felt despair suffocating him.
—Aslan! Remember who you are! — His voice broke, and his arms shook so much that he almost lowered his weapon.
—Elion… —whispered Hael, his face contorted with fear and pain—. It's not him… not anymore…
Elion clenched his teeth. His memories stabbed him like knives: afternoons playing games, jokes at school, impromptu dinners filled with laughter, confidences shared under the stars. All of that was in front of him now, shattered, turned into a monster.
Aslan roared and lunged.
Elion, tears in his eyes, pulled the trigger.
—I'm sorry… —he murmured.
Althea closed her eyes tightly and turned her face away, hugging the puppy to her chest and covering his head with both hands so he couldn't see anything. Max let out a small, muffled whimper, unsettled by the tension in the air.
The shot rang out sharply. The bullet pierced the skull, but the body continued to stagger forward. Elion fired again. This time, Aslan fell lifeless to the ground.
The silence that followed was unbearable.
Elion lowered the gun slowly, his hands shaking. His tears fell without him being able to stop them.
—Forgive me… Aslan… —he repeated, his voice breaking.
Hael watched the scene with glassy eyes. The blow pierced him like a knife. His childhood friend, the one who always defended him when other children bullied him, was gone. He felt a strange emptiness, a mixture of fear and anger, but above all a sadness he didn't know how to handle.
Behind him, he heard creaking. The grandparents, now transformed, struggled to get out through the same window. Their clumsy bodies were stuck between the glass and the frame, barely managing to get their arms through.
Elion raised his gun again, ready to finish them off.
—Don't do it —said Hael, lunging at Elion and hugging him tightly, his voice trembling—. They can't get out… the window is too high. They're trapped. Leave them… please.
Elion lowered his weapon after a few tense seconds, breathing heavily. He nodded, then approached Stella and helped her to her feet, placing his arm around her.
—Come on, let's get out of here.
Outside, the streets greeted them with a hostile silence, broken only by the wind.
—Now what? Where will we go? —asked Hael, looking up at the increasingly dark sky.
—There's an abandoned house, a little ways away —Elion replied firmly—. I've been there before. It's safe. We'll stay there for now. After that… we'll see what to do.
He turned to everyone with a serious tone:
—Don't make any noise. We don't want to attract those things. We'll use the narrow alleys to avoid being seen. And Althea… make sure Max doesn't bark.
—Yes —Althea nodded, stroking the puppy's head —. Did you hear that, Max? We have to be quiet.
The puppy looked at her intently, as if he understood the gravity of the moment.
—Good —said Elion —. Let's go.
They began to move. Hael lingered behind for a few seconds, looking around the neighborhood.
This had been his home for as long as he could remember. He had laughed, cried, and played here. He remembered dinners with Aslan and Elion, chess matches with Stella, and the stories his grandparents told him at night.
Now all that was behind him.
With a lump in his throat, he whispered a silent goodbye and ran to catch up with the others.
They walked for a long time, making their way through narrow, dark streets. Sometimes they encountered those things, moving in the shadows, but they managed to avoid them without being seen. Elion led them with quick, silent steps, always alert to any sound.
Finally, they reached an alley. At the end was the house.
—It's here —said Elion, opening the door carefully.
One by one they entered, with Elion going in last, making sure everything was in order and closing the door carefully, then helping Stella lie down on the sofa in the living room.
—Look for a first aid kit —he asked the children as he checked the condition of the wounds —. There must be one somewhere.
Althea set Max down on a small chair and began searching through furniture and drawers. Hael went upstairs and checked room by room until he finally found it in a dresser, inside a drawer full of old towels s.
—Here it is! —he shouted as he ran back downstairs.
Elion took the first aid kit and began to treat Stella. He used band-aids for the smaller wounds and clean bandages for the deeper ones. Luckily, nothing was serious. Once he was done, they all carried her to one of the rooms on the second floor so she could rest.
Then they went back downstairs. Elion collapsed on the sofa with an exhausted sigh.
—It's getting dark —he said—. Let's find some candles. I don't want night to catch us without light.
—Yes—the children replied in unison, and began searching the house.
They found some old candles, somewhat worn but still usable. They lit them and placed one on a small table in the center of the room. Its flickering light barely illuminated their faces.
Elion took food out of his backpack and divided it among the three of them. They ate in silence, surrounded by darkness and tension. There wasn't much to say. Words seemed too fragile to convey what they had just experienced.
When they finished, Elion stood up and began searching through the drawers until he found some sheets of paper and a couple of pens.
—Let's make a little map of the house —he said as he sat back down at the table—. That way we'll know how many rooms there are and what things might be useful to us.
—Max wants to help too —Althea joked, bringing a piece of cookie to the puppy, who was wagging his tail slightly.
— The house is big — Hael commented—. It has three floors.
—I saw four rooms —Althea added—. Two on the second floor and two more upstairs.
—Yes —said Elion as he drew—. The rooms on the second floor are larger, each with its own bathroom. On the third floor, they are smaller because there is a space with plants… like a small greenhouse.
—Huh? I didn't see that —said Althea, intrigued.
—I'll show you tomorrow —smiled Elion.
—So… on the first floor is the living room, the kitchen, and a laundry room —he added as he wrote everything down.
When they finished putting the map together, Elion got up with a candle in his hand.
—Althea, you can have one of the rooms on the second floor. Stella is already in the other one. Hael and I will sleep on the third floor.
—Okay —Althea replied.
Before going upstairs, she remembered something.
—My backpack!
She ran to the corner where she had left it and began rummaging through it. She took out her phone. She pressed the power button hopefully.
The screen lit up.
—It still works! —she said happily — I have to let Delma know I'm here!
She immediately dialed Delma's number, but the call wouldn't go through.
—I don't think there's any signal here —she muttered in frustration.
—Don't worry —said Elion, trying to calm her down—. Tomorrow I'll go out and find a place where there's signal. I'll send her a message for you.
Althea nodded, though she still frowned. She clung to the phone as if it could bring her closer, even a little, to the people she had lost sight of.
Night was falling, but at least they were safe. For now.
After making sure all the entrances were securely locked, Elion led the children upstairs. When they reached the second floor, he motioned for them to stop.
—That's your room, Althea —he said, pointing to the door on the right side of the hallway.
She nodded with a soft smile. Elion then looked at Hael.
—Stay with her for a while. I'll go check on Stella. I'll bring her something to eat.
—Can we come with you? —Althea asked, wanting to help.
—Better not —Elion said, with a serious but kind look—. She's still delicate... We shouldn't let her exert herself more than necessary.
The children understood without further ado and entered the room together.
As they closed the door behind them, they felt a sudden sense of peace, as if the room protected them from the outside world. The room was spacious, more so than it appeared from the outside.
—I came in here earlier, but I didn't look around much because I was in a hurry… —Hael commented, looking around—. It's quite large.
Althea set the candle down on a table and went straight to the bed. She let herself fall with Max in her arms, who nestled his little head against her chest.
—He's like a cloud —she whispered, letting out a little laugh.
—He seems that way… —eplied Hael, infected by her calmness. He smiled.
While she stroked Max, Hael walked around the room, exploring silently. He found a door at the back and opened it curiously: it was the bathroom. It was also spacious, with white tiles and a clean mirror that reflected a feeling far removed from the chaos outside.
—Everything here feels different… —he murmured, returning to Althea—. As if this room didn't belong to the rest of the house.
—Maybe it belonged to someone young… —said Althea, looking at the desk and the wardrobe, where some simple decorations still remained—. It has something… cozy about it.
Hael sat on the edge of the bed, then lay down too, letting the silence envelop them. It wasn't uncomfortable. It was one of those silences that feels safe, soft. Like a warm blanket.
—You're right —he said after a few seconds, in a low voice—. It looks like a cloud.
They stayed like that for a while, both staring at the ceiling, not talking. Just feeling the calm. The room, the bed, the company... for a moment, everything else stopped mattering. It was a small moment in the midst of disaster, but it was real.
Max closed his eyes. Althea gently stroked his back. Hael turned his face, looking at them both.
—Althea… thank you for staying—he murmured.
She looked at him, somewhat surprised, but moved.
—No, thank you… for helping me and for not leaving.
There was a brief silence. Althea took a deep breath, and then, with a trembling voice, said:
—Hael… I'm so sorry. For Aslan… and for the grandparents. You must feel terrible, losing them
Hael's eyes darkened. He looked down, biting his lip.
—Yes… it hurts, a lot. — He paused for a few seconds before adding—: But… I think it hurts you too, doesn't it? I noticed… you seemed to have grown fond of them.
Althea looked at him, surprised by his sensitivity. She lowered her gaze and clenched the sheets with her fingers.
—Yes… they reminded me of what I once had, and they were very good to me. —she paused, her voice breaking slightly—. They made me feel... that there was still a home possible.
Hael remained silent, listening to her. Then he sighed.
—They loved you too, you know? You could tell by the way they looked at you… as if you were part of their family.
Althea looked at him, a lump in her throat. A small, trembling smile appeared on her lips.
—Then… at least I'll keep that memory.
Hael nodded wearily. Then he closed his eyes, as if he couldn't go on talking.
—Yes… let's hold on to that.
Althea stroked Max's back again, who remained curled up against them. And for that night, even if only for a few hours, they allowed themselves to feel at peace.