Eva woke to sunlight.
Her vision was blurry, the edges of her sight still swimming with the remnants of whatever had happened. She blinked, trying to focus. The sky above her was clear—blue, cloudless, indifferent. Her clothes were torn, hanging off her body in shreds.
Next to her, a folded set of clean clothes. And beside that, Zoey. Unconscious. Breathing. Alive.
Eva reached out, pressed her fingers against Zoey's neck. A pulse. Steady. She let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.
She sat up slowly. Every muscle screamed. Her head pounded. Something had happened—something bad—and she couldn't remember the details. Just flashes. Tentacles. Rage. The taste of blood.
She looked around.
Selene sat a few feet away, her back against a broken piece of rubble, her longer hair falling across her face. She was staring at nothing, her expression distant, her usual cheeriness completely gone.
"Where is everyone?" Eva's voice was rough.
Selene pointed. A direction. Nothing else.
Eva waited. Selene didn't speak.
She changed into the clean clothes, wincing with every movement. Her body was healing, but slowly. Too slowly.
She walked.
The ground was uneven, the rubble treacherous. She climbed over broken concrete and twisted metal, following the path Selene had indicated. The pain was constant, sharp, but she pushed through it.
Finally, she found the facility. Or what was left of it.
The main building was gone—reduced to a skeleton of steel and shattered walls. Survivors moved through the debris, picking through the wreckage, searching for anything useful. Lena was among them, her clothes torn, her face smudged with dirt.
Eva turned away.
She walked further, and the world opened up before her.
A massive area of complete destruction stretched as far as she could see—miles of nothing. No trees. No buildings. Just cratered earth and grey ash. The scale of it made her stomach drop. Whatever had happened, it had happened here.
She saw them in the distance. Small figures against the emptiness.
Derek. Leo. Jordan. They were circling Sasha, trying to hit her. She was only dodging—effortlessly, easily, like they were moving in slow motion.
On the other side, Wolfen and Ab 2 Eva.
Wolfen was hitting her. Full force. His fist connected with her body, and she didn't move. Didn't flinch. Didn't even acknowledge it.
He pulled his arm back, all the way, and hit her with everything he had.
She stood there. Like nothing had happened.
Then she touched his head with one finger.
He flew backward—not far, just ten feet—and landed on his back, staring up at the sky.
Eva walked toward them.
Her footsteps were heavy. Her body screamed. But she kept moving.
Wolfen saw her first. His eyes found her across the distance, and something in his posture shifted—relief, maybe, or just recognition.
Ab 2 Eva turned. Her expression was unreadable.
Derek, Leo, and Jordan stopped their training, their eyes following Eva's approach.
Eva reached them. She looked at Wolfen. At Ab 2 Eva. At the destruction around them.
"What happened?" she asked.
No one answered.
Wolfen got to his feet. His body was still healing, but he was standing. He looked at Eva, his golden eyes tired but clear.
"It's a long story," he said.
Eva looked at the destruction. At the cratered earth. At the miles of nothing.
"Then start talking," she said.