39:58:42 — Safehouse | Inner City Grid, Unknown Location
We didn’t say it aloud, but we were grateful to hear traffic again.
City noise. Sirens in the distance. Neon bleeding through rusted blinds. A neighbor’s bad music pulsing through walls that hadn't been patched in years.
It wasn’t home, not really. But it was far enough from Umbra, and that made it close enough.
Matteo was the first through the door, shoulder pressed to the frame like he expected it to explode. Luca checked the corners before he even blinked. I just stood still, breathing it in — that musty, metallic city air. Oil. Rain. Warm dust.
This place had been prepped months ago. Just in case. Different IDs. Clean clothes. Weapons. A freezer full of things none of us trusted enough to touch.
But the water worked. The lo
