Everyone stared at the old man, their eyes wide with uncertainty and disbelief. The silence was thick, the weight of the moment anchoring their voices in their throats.
"Is he really...? Is Stone really dead?" a woman among them—Hailey—asked hesitantly, her voice trembling. She clutched her bruised arm tightly, as if afraid that speaking it aloud would shatter the fragile hope she held.
"Just as I said," Aaron replied calmly, his tone unwavering.
"Can you really give us the chance to fight back?" Barnes questioned next. His expression was one of disbelief, bordering on desperation. The man had the look of someone who had been promised too much in life but had received nothing in return.
"I wouldn't be saying so if I didn't mean it," Aaron responded.
