Lina
I blamed Daniel. Entirely. The friendship had been his fault from the beginning. If he'd been rude, arrogant, or annoying, none of this would have happened. Instead, he had the unfortunate habit of being decent.
Consistently decent. The sort of person who held doors open because it never occurred to him not to. The sort of person who remembered people's names. The sort of person who volunteered for extra shifts without expecting recognition.
Frankly, it was irritating. Especially because I kept noticing. I stood in the warehouse sorting emergency supplies while pretending not to watch him. A skill I was becoming alarmingly good at. The border attacks had continued escalating.
Not enough to trigger open panic. More than enough to strain resources. Entire neighbourhoods near the o
