The armored vehicle growled across the cracked plain, headlights cutting pale tunnels through the darkness. Sinn claimed the front passenger seat. Mercury gripped the wheel, shoulders tight, eyes bloodshot. Harmione squeezed into the middle front, her body pressed against both of them, one arm draped awkwardly over the seat back.
In the rear, we packed in tight but not crushed. Code claimed the far left, already sealed off, head against the window, long hair curtaining half his face. May sat beside him, posture still somehow precise even in exhaustion. Sherry slotted between May and me, her warm thigh pressed firmly against mine. I took the right end, window glass cool against my shoulder.
The map glowed soft green on the dashboard. The plain stretched endless ahead, flat, black, indifferent. Behind us, the boot held the specimen, those bright blue eyes still burning behind my own eyelids.
