THERESA
I was a zombie when I made it to the runway that morning. I had barely slept the night before, and when I woke, my pillow was still damp with tears. I couldn’t even remember how I’d made it through the full moon run and then home after. I must have just gone through the motions, my body moving while my mind drifted somewhere else entirely.
Earlier, as we prepared to leave, I walked past Kolya’s room. I paused outside his door, my hand hovering over the handle, my heart pounding against my ribs. But the silence on the other side was deafening. The room was empty. He was gone. Just like that. The air inside my lungs turned heavy, pressing down on me, stealing my breath. I hadn't even said goodbye.
After stowing my bags in the cargo hold, I climbed aboard the pack’s bush plane and
