It was dark and quiet. Almost soulless. But she remained wide awake. The girl tangled her arm through the cold bars. She grabbed the boy’s hand and his body instinctively wrapped around it while he slept.

That was her only source of heat. The small boy in Cell 13.

Sometimes she was afraid to fall asleep. She didn’t want to wake up to find her only friend gone. If he turned out to be another dream she conjured up to cope with the lonely night, she’d truly lose her mind.

“Seth?” she called out in a hushed tone. Her whispers in the dark went unanswered. She called out again, this time shaking her arm to wake him.

The boy stirred and snuggled closer against her arm. It caused heat to blush her cheeks but it also annoyed her. She threaded her free hand through the bars and pinched his side.

He startled straight up as if someone had stabbed him. His head frantically turned about, looking for the source and she couldn’t help but giggle as he did.

“Sorry,” she whispered, concealing her smile with a raised hand.

“Huh?” He wiped the tiredness from his eyes with his unoccupied hand. One thing the girl had noticed after a few weeks with him, he was obsessed with holding her hand. But she wasn’t complaining. After years of being deprived of touch, she discovered she craved it.

“It isn’t morning, Sunshine,” he grumbled, voice ridden with sleep.

“I know.”

He glared. “I’m going back to sleep.”

She pulled at his arm so he couldn’t lay down. “I can’t sleep,” she said, scooting closer to the bars.

His brows furrowed. “What’s wrong?”

What wasn’t wrong?

“Do you think we’re gonna be friends forever?” she asked in a shy whisper.

“Well obviously. Why else would we be friends now?” He said it with such prowess she thought it had to be true.

She smiled as she finally laid against the concrete floor. He copied her actions and the two watched each other from their side of the bars. She stuck her hand through again and held up her pinkie finger. “Promise?”

He hooked his finger around hers. “Promise.”

-//-

Emryn’s eyes drifted open. It was just a dream. Another memory hidden in the back of her mind. She didn’t know why she was remembering it now of all times.

“Are you going to take her out?”

Emryn froze. It was Malcolm’s voice. But who was he talking to? And who were they going to take out? Emryn lifted her head and peaked over Zaiden’s side. Luckily the voices didn’t seemed to have woken him yet.

Malcolm sat on the same rock as before, Seth right next to him. Emryn was taken back. How could Malcolm, of all people, talk to Seth civilly.

“It’s a complicated situation. Should I?” Seth cocked a brow, his own facade of arrogance returning.

“Leave her be.” Malcolm seemed torn by the topic as well, which only piqued Emryn’s interest.

Seth chuckled. “Well since you asked so nicely.” He said it in a way that made Emryn think about when he was younger. Before he became what he is now.

Their conversation seemed to stop there, neither one wanting to pick up the discussion. Emryn settled back down against Zaiden’s uninjured shoulder. It was likely she wouldn’t be able to sleep again.

They were talking about taking someone out and Emryn had a sneaking suspicion it was about her. She stayed listening for any more hints of interaction between Seth and Malcolm but there was none. Whatever Seth had planned to do, Malcolm had warned against it. Emryn's heart pounded in her chest. A mix of hurt and comfort. Malcolm, someone who had near hated her when they first met, had defended her against Seth, the person who used to be her only source of comfort in this world.

But she should know by now, the boy she knew was gone.

Emryn drifted her focus to Zaiden’s heartbeat. She found solace in its strong rhythm. Zaiden was her new home. And she would do anything to keep it. She didn’t want to lose any more people.

After an hour Malcolm switched with Alex for watch and Seth was replaced by Eiji, the energetic soldier who liked to lie. Emryn was a little put off by how the two got along so well. She heard Eiji whisper all kinds of stories about his life, all of which were lies. Alex ingested them like an odd meal.

It wasn’t long after that for both groups to wake and start moving again. Simone had to drag Alex away from Eiji mid conversation. Emryn was glad she too disapproved of the pair.

Softly, Emryn nudged Zaiden awake. Eyes still tired with sleep looked up at her completely dazed. His hand came up and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. Emryn felt her face flush. It didn’t matter how long they had known each other, she was still surprised by affection.

“We’re gonna start moving again,” she said.

Zaiden nodded and stood. She watched as he strapped weapons on his back and sides, tucking them away underneath his jacket. Emryn stayed close to his side as he moved to Seth. His soft features morphed and the kindness was gone. Zaiden was back to being a commander.

“You are to stay by my side at all times, O’Connor. If you step a foot out of line, I shoot.”

Seth smiled. “Do you enjoy my company that much, Amin?”

“Don’t flatter yourself. You’re still equivalent to a rash.”

Seth chuckled and with a carefree stride began the journey out again. Zaiden looked back at Emryn, full of concern.

“Stay by Malcolm,” he whispered in a level only she would be able to make out.

Emryn nodded. The group moved past her, a mix of insomnia and energy as they walked. As Malcolm brushed past she grabbed his wrist. He planted himself in place instantly, looking back at her confused.

She waited until they stood behind everyone else before walking. The creeping feeling that everything was going to go wrong kept swirling in her stomach. Emryn never took Seth for someone who gave up easily.

Malcolm stayed back with her. The two watched the crowd ahead and remained silent. It seemed that was how their interactions usually went these days.

“Emryn,” Malcolm said, grabbing her wrist. She halted to a stop, confused at the sudden contact. “You care for Zaiden a lot, right?”

“Of course I do.” Why would he bring this up? Were her affections not obvious? It felt like everyone knew.

Malcolm looked troubled, like something had been plaguing his mind for a long time. “And Seth?” he asked. “Do you still care for him?”

Emryn’s steps faltered. The reality of her situation was not one she wanted to share with Malcolm, or anyone really, but it seemed as though he already knew. Emryn recalled the night of her reunion with Seth, moments before she had confided in Malcolm about the name she used to yell out in her nightmares. It probably wasn’t hard for him to put the pieces together.

She knew she wasn’t the best liar so she settled on telling half-truths with vague feelings. “What I felt for Seth is long gone, Malcolm. He is not the boy I once knew.” She sighed and pulled away from Malcolm’s hold. “I need you to believe me when I say that if it comes down to it, above all else, I will protect Zaiden.” She took a shallow breath before adding, “Protect you all. Alex, Simone, Braun, and you.”

“Even if it was from Seth?”

Emryn hesitated for only a moment. “Yes.”

Malcolm stared at her. Eyes so blank it reminded her of when they first met. “But you wish you didn’t have to.” It wasn’t a question, but rather pure intuition.

Emryn looked ahead to where Seth walked side by side with Zaiden. “Sometimes I wish he’d go back to just being a nightmare.”

He grew quiet at that. The only things Emryn heard now were the movement of dirt and the weight of heavy steps. Malcolm didn't say anything for a long time and the two continued in silence. Though his troubles didn’t go away as quickly as their conversation. “Do you love him?”

Both of them stopped. She didn’t know if he was referring to Zaiden or Seth but either way her answer was the same. “I don’t think I know what love is.”

Malcolm’s eyes were softer than she had ever seen them. It was like he was the only one who saw her for who she was.

Malcolm cleared his throat, looking suddenly away from her. His hand found its way to her back and gently nudged her forward. “We should keep walking. Don’t want to fall behind.”

-//-

Their steps echoed. Both groups had finally reached a point of reality. Emryn knew by the slower way Seth was walking that they were nearing the end. If he had a plan now would be the time to enact it.

Emryn kept eyeing the walls. Every now and then bits of dirt would skim down and something would creek. Anytime she brought it up to Maloclm he’d say it was probably the Abrax underground plates turning on again, that someone must have fixed whatever was wrong with them.

She was having trouble buying that. It might have been the pain coursing down her back or flooding her arms, but Emryn knew something wasn’t right. That feeling only got worse once she spotted sunlight ahead.

A few people cheered, while others, the more less complacent ones, wore gloomy expressions.

“Wow Boss, you weren't kidding,” Eiji said, smiling proudly. “You really did know the way out.”

Seth smirked over his shoulder, eyes lingering a second too long on Emryn. “Would I ever lie to you?”

Emryn’s breath hitched. It briefly gained Malcolm’s attention but he swallowed down any words he was going to say.

Both Zaiden and Seth still led the pack towards the exit. An exit so close Emryn could already feel the heat of the sun. But things never went this smoothly.

Seth hooked his arm around Zaiden’s back, hand lingering far too close to where Emryn watched Zaiden strap his gun. Her eyes widened and her heart stopped.

It happened in an instant.

Long black colored arms shot out from the sides. Mallax soldiers ducked to the ground, like they knew this was coming. Seth swiped Zaiden’s gun quick enough to already aim it at his head before anyone could react.

Something slithered around Emryn’s waist and she was pulled against the wall, a loud hissing in her ear. Wolf-spiders. Simone got tacked to the ground by one as she swung her ax around. Alex couldn’t even scream before one of the wolf-spider’s legs wrapped around his mouth. He clawed at it relentlessly, dropping his gun, but it was no use. Malcolm seemed to be in shock and hadn’t moved at all.

Emryn reached out her arm to him and he finally looked at her, eyes wide and breathing heavy. It took a second for him to register anything but he latched onto Emryn’s arm and tried to pull her away from the spider’s hold on her. The chakram at her back twisted in an odd angle and she tried to grab it. The blade started to cut her and she let out a small cry.

“Stand down, Abrax!”

Emryn and Malcolm looked up at the voice. Seth stood tall above the chaos with a pistol pointed towards Zaiden’s head. But Zaiden stood against him, a spare gun in his hand, not ready to back down. A face off. But one that stood in Seth’s favor.

“We had a deal,” Zaiden seethed.

Seth shrugged. “Did we?”

The pain in Emryn’s chest reminded her how helpless she was. It left like she was back in the labs watching Seth get dragged away. Her ability had a drawback and she had convinced herself she was invincible. How could she be so stupid?

“The blade at my back,” she whispered. “Take it and cut me out.”

Malcolm looked weary. “You can’t fight in your condition,” he whispered back.

The wolf-spider’s limb tightened around her causing a whimper to leave her lips. That was all it took for Malcolm to reach behind her and pull her chakram free. He sliced through the spider’s flesh, trails of gold blood fell to the floor and the wolf-spider stopped looking at Seth to launch at the two of them. Emryn plunged her arm forward as its chest hit her. She felt the tearing of skin and the crackling of bones as her hand pierced through the monster’s core.

There was a mix of cries from both her and the wolf-spider. It swung its limbs helplessly around, knocking Malcolm over. Emryn’s arm was most likely broken. Her body was slowly becoming numb. She had no idea if she was healing or not.

“Emryn!” Zaiden shouted. She looked up to find everyone’s eyes on her. Then she saw Zaiden turn away and shoot Seth. The bullet lodged itself into his chest but he hardly reacted. Seth glanced down his chest while Zaiden stood frozen. It was the first time he saw Seth’s ability in person. Seth reached into his own wound and tore the bullet out.

Then he grinned, lowered his own gun, aimed for Zaiden’s leg, and pulled the trigger. Emryn wanted to scream. She wasn’t going to lose him. Not by Seth’s hand. Against her better judgment, Emryn reached for her ability.

The faint glow of her power filled the room. She focused her power on Seth, applying enough pressure to kill anyone else.

“Boss!”

Seth squirmed but once again didn’t yell out. It was a different kind of pain on his face.

The Mallax soldiers finally gathered their bearings and the wolf-spider’s holding back Alex and Simone abandoned their previous prey for Emryn. She shifted some of her focus to them and held them back. But she was weaker than usual. Three targets was all she could hold. Emryn stood, chest heaving and eyes blurring. She was losing her balance and fell to the side. Malcolm was quick to catch her and held her up with his own body weight. She knew she was pushing it, but seeing Zaiden bleed on the floor, arms clenched around his new wound, she didn’t care. Even if it meant dying, she’d get the rest of them out.

A Mallax soldier held the gun Alex dropped to aim it at Emryn. Malcolm moved in front of her and acted as a human shield. The Mallax soldier hesitated and that was all Simone needed to swing her ax. Alex’s gun fell to the floor in sync with her head. She was dead in an instant and their numbers had finally evened out. Five Mallax soldiers and five Abrax.

Emryn and Simone’s eyes met and in that moment they both knew they’d fight for each other.

Kiarra grabbed the discarded gun and aimed it at Simone. Alex tried to jump to her but Eiji twisted his arm back and held him down. Kiarra shot but Simone’s movements made her hard to catch. A few bullets struck Simone’s ax and it flew out of her hand. Kiarra tried to fire again but her shots were blank. No more bullets to hide behind, leaving room for Simone to fight back.

Simone threw a punch, landing it against Kiarra’s jaw and she fell to the ground. Blood was already dripping from her mouth. The other two Mallax soldiers Emryn couldn’t name moved to help Kiarra, making it a three on one fight.

Emryn drew her mind back to the hissing wolf-spiders trying to claw their way to her. She clenched her fist. The killcraft she had mastered of physically crushing her appointments had gotten suddenly harder. She could see the blood pouring out of her forearms, felt it dripping down her spine. But she didn’t have enough power. She didn’t have much choice.

Emryn used Malcolm’s body to steady herself and leg go of her hold on Seth and he dropped to the floor. She knew he’d recover soon so she acted quickly. She pulled the wolf-spiders closer and drew their limbs in on themselves. The creatures cried out again and then slowly withered as she crushed them.

Without Malcolm there, Emryn would have crumbled to the floor with them. Her head buried itself into his shoulder as she tried to hide her own pain. Both his arms hooked around her. She couldn’t move. If she did she felt like she’d pass out.

“Emryn?” Malcolm held her up around the waist and she winced. “Emryn?”

“Face me towards the ones trying to kill Simone.” Malcolm shifted her weight and turned her towards them.

“Don’t push it,” he warned. Too late for that. “You don’t need to go for the kill to win.”

Emryn focused what little power she had left around the Mallax soldiers just as they were about to hit Simone again. Their bodies hit the wall and each yelled out. She held them there but couldn’t do anything else.

“Drop them, Emryn,” Seth ordered. He was already back to his full strength. Her eyes started to water. She was going to collapse at any moment. Sethy pointed his weapon at her. “Drop them. I won’t ask again.” She tried to take in his words but her mind was preoccupied with the look he was giving her. She had never seen him glare like that. Not since the labs. Memories of him warning the doctors not to touch her came back to her head. They used to be the enemy. Now she was.

“Emryn,” he warned. She knew she was getting delirious when all she could think about was the way he said her name.

A gun clicked. Seth’s hand was bleeding and his weapon cluttered to the floor. Zaiden’s glare was cold from his spot on the ground but his gun was held high. He shot him. Seth didn’t seem to register pain which made it take a second to notice the state his hand was in. Zaiden took advantage of that moment of hesitation to kick Seth to the floor. He was quick to get on top of him and wrap his hands around his neck. “You’re coming with us O’Connor.” Zaiden looked up at the rest of the Mallax soldiers just as Emryn’s hold broke. “As for all of you, stand down. I will not give you another warning.” He held up his gun and pointed it at them one by one. “I’ll just kill you.” Eiji and Zaiden locked eyes and Eiji finally removed himself from Alex.

The soldiers looked ready to continue the fight but Seth, voice raspy from Zaiden choking him, ordered them to stand down. They each held their hand above their heads and kneeled on the floor.

“Get something to tie him up,” Zaiden ordered Simone. Alex moved with her, taking the jacket from the dead Mallax soldier and cutting some pieces up then bringing the makeshift rope to Zaiden. Seth’s hands were bound tightly behind his back and then he was dragged up from the flood.

With a gun pointed at the Mallax soldiers, Zaiden led them all out of the tunnels. Malcolm had to almost carry Emryn out but she was still awake. It wouldn’t be long before she fully lost consciousness. Malcolm walked them both to Zaiden, who looked almost as bad as Emryn felt. Zaiden looked like he wanted to pass Seth over to Malcolm to hold her but he must have thought he was the only one suited to hold their prisoner. Instead he looked towards Malcolm, a silent urge for him to speak.

“We can’t take them all back with us. Let's release the others and head back to Abrax as soon as possible. I don’t think she can last much longer.”

“You want me to let them go?” Zaiden asked, Seth unusually quiet at his side.

“They’ll die out there anyway. It isn’t worth the trouble,” Malcolm reasoned. Emryn wasn’t so sure he believed that.

Zaiden signed and turned to the crowd currently being guarded by Simone and Alex. “Unlike your leader I’m a man of my word,” he started. “O’Connor led us out and will be coming with us. The four of you will get the pleasure of wandering through the wilderness.” Kiarra and Eiji exchanged some weary looks. “If I see anyone following us, I’ll shoot your boss and kill whoever dared to spy on us.” Zaien eyed them to make sure they understood. “Now get out of my sight before I change my mind.”

They all watched the Mallax soldiers walk away, and didn’t move until they were a good distance away. Zaiden kept Seth close to his side, almost using him as a crutch. With his bad leg there was no way he’d make the journey back.

Emryn turned her head against Malcolm. Not having much energy left she whispered, “Tell Seth to heal Zaiden’s leg.”

Malcolm’s brows furthered. “How do you–” He stopped himself and nodded. “O’Connor,” Malcolm called out. “Use that gift of yours to heal our commander.”

Seth’s eyes glossed over Malcolm to land on Emryn. “Very well,” he said with a vacant cold stare that tore straight through Emryn’s heart. Then with a sadistic grin he added, “Anything to make this go by faster.”

And Emryn knew her best friend was gone. This was all that remained.