ARC’S POV:
11:46 PM
She’s getting worse.
The weight of her in my arms doesn’t register anymore. I can’t feel anything but the fever radiating off her skin, like she’s a living star trying to burn itself alive.
Jon's flashlight cuts through the thick forest ahead of me, bouncing off branches and pine needles that whip across my face. I don’t flinch. I don’t stop. Her whimpers dig deeper into me than any thorn ever could.
We reach the clearing.
It's quiet here. Untouched. The ground is soft and thick with moss, the air heavy with pine and the kind of stillness that only comes before something monumental. The sky above is black, no stars, no moon. Just clouds and her.
I kneel, lowering her gently to the earth. Her body curls in on itself, a tight coil of pain and heat. Her fingers claw
