A breath.
A dull pain in his chest.
A heartbeat, faint… but real.
Jason opened his eyes.
Everything was blurry. The sky was grey, choked with ash. His throat was dry, his muscles aching. He couldn't tell if he had slept for an hour… or a week.
The village hadn't changed. He was still lying among the ruins… but nothing around him breathed anymore. Even the wind seemed to be mourning.
He slowly sat up. Blood tasted in his mouth. The sun barely pierced through the lingering smoke.
— "Why?..."
His voice was barely a whisper.
— "Why them? Why not me?"
He stood, staggering forward through the wreckage. He passed what was once his neighbor's house. A child's toys peeked out of the scorched earth. A melted doll. A deflated ball.
Everything he had ever known… was gone.
Then suddenly, anger took over.
Not the loud, explosive kind.
No.
A cold anger. Silent. Bone-deep.
— "I'll make them pay… all of them."
He turned away, not daring to look back at the improvised graves of his parents.
He couldn't. Not yet.
He wasn't ready to say goodbye.
[Parallel Scene – The Children Flee]
Leon walked at the front. His jaw clenched.
Around him, the children were struggling. Some cried silently. Others stumbled from exhaustion.
— "Are we there yet?" a small voice asked.
Leon stopped. The land stretched out before them: a vast plain swept by the wind. In the distance… a line.
The border.
— "Almost," he replied softly.
— "And after that?" another voice asked.
Leon didn't answer.
Because he didn't know.
Because even if the border offered hope, it couldn't erase the pain.
He thought of Jason. Of Tailer. Of Isaac. Of all they had lost.
He clenched his fists.
— "I promise you this..."
— "No one will ever hurt you again."
[Back to Jason – The Decision]
Jason had washed in the river. He had collected the few things that remained intact from his home.
An old jacket.
A notebook that had belonged to his father.
A nearly empty revolver.
He sat down, and opened the notebook.
Inside were rushed scribbles. Simple lines.
Memories. Lessons.
"A man becomes great only when he knows what he must protect."
"Forgiveness is a path, not a weakness."
Jason closed the notebook.
He stood, his gaze harder than ever.
He knew what he had to do.
He knew what he had to do.
Find the rebels.
All of them.
And wipe them out, one by one.
Jason had nothing left to lose.
No home.
No family.
Only this burning rage inside his chest — a fire that kept him standing.
He set out at dawn, eyes dark, face cold.
Each step through the dead earth brought him closer to his goal.
He remembered the path.
The sounds.
The smell of the camp.
Tailer's scream.
And that man... the one with the empty eyes, who had ripped his parents away from his life.
His hand clenched tightly around his revolver.
— I'll erase them. Every last one.
[Hours later – The rebel camp]
Jason finally arrived.
Thirsty. Heart pounding hard.
He was ready to kill. To fight. To die.
But to his surprise…
the camp was empty.
Silence.
No fire. No shouting.
No signs of life.
Only abandoned scraps: a half-burnt flag, torn tents, footprints already blurred by the wind.
He searched the camp furiously.
Opened crates, slashed tents, screamed.
— WHERE ARE YOU?! COME OUT! COWARDS!
He fired a shot into the sky, another into a tent. Then kicked over a barrel, spilling it in rage.
His scream echoed into the emptiness, with no reply.
They were gone. All of them.
And in that unbearable silence…
something cracked inside Jason.
— No... no... you don't get to run. Not after all this. NOT LIKE THIS!
He dropped to his knees, breath ragged, jaw clenched.
Then lifted his head.
A flicker burned in his eyes.
— Léon...
[New goal – The Hunt Begins]
If he couldn't destroy the rebels, then he'd destroy the ones who had taken everything from him indirectly.
He began to run, breath uneven.
— Léon... you took everything from me too. If I had never met you... my parents would still be alive.
Each step through the ravaged land was no longer driven by justice… but by vengeance.
He no longer thought of the pain.
Nor of Tailer.
Nor of the children.
Only of one thing:
— I'll find you. You won't get far.
[Meanwhile – At the border]
Léon and the children, exhausted and dirty, had finally crossed the line.
In front of them: another world.
A land greener, calmer — but unfamiliar.
The neighboring country wasn't at war.
But it wasn't expecting them either.
Léon looked at the children around him. Some had empty stares. Others clung to his arm, searching for comfort.
— We made it across, he whispered, almost to himself.
Silence.
Then a little girl asked:
— Where are we going now?
Léon didn't answer right away. He looked up toward the horizon.
He had no answer.
But he knew one thing: they could never go back.
And behind them...
a wounded wolf was already tracking their scent.
"JASON"
TO BE CONTINUED