The first thing I noticed when consciousness slowly crept back was the absence of back pain I should have after working a lot in the Municipal Office. Instead, there was something else—a peculiar lightness in my limbs, as if my body had somehow been recharged overnight.
I stretched, feeling my muscles respond with an ease that surprised me. The soreness I'd grown accustomed to from our daily struggles against the Infected was notably diminished. Last night with Elena lingered in my mind like a warm echo, and I couldn't shake the feeling that it had been more than just physical release. There had been something deeper, more primal about the connection we'd shared.
