The crackling of the campfire was the only sound in the ruined valley as Claire pushed herself up onto her elbows.
Her red eyes fluttered open, immediately snapping to the fire, and then to Hide and Elara.
"You're awake," Hide waved.
Claire sat all the way up, rubbing her temples. The jagged gash on her forehead was entirely gone, completely healed. She looked down at her hands, flexing her fingers.
They felt a little... strong? heavy? She didn't know the actual feeling but she knew she had made it.
After years of being an Exterminator. She had finally reached the final stage of Evolution... she was an S-Ranker now. She couldn't wait to see the look on Maddox's face when he will know of it.
But as her memory caught up to the present, her eyes drifted past the fire, landing on the fresh mound of dirt marked by the stone slab with Garret's name.
A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the camp.
