Day twenty. No one asked about the rescue team anymore.
Not because they had accepted their fate, but because no one had the strength left to imagine something that didn’t exist. Each passing day had stripped away another fragile layer of hope, leaving behind only the instinct to survive, no need for visions, no need for an end, just a meal and a breath that didn’t break.
This morning began the same way all the others had been swallowed into routine. Ethan had been up long before anyone else stepped out, as always, and was again the first to set foot beyond the edge of the shelter, where the damp earth still bore scattered traces from the night before.
Emily followed next, no words, no greeting. She simply handed Ethan a coiled rope, neatly bound with an old root. She placed it at his f
