No one slept.
Not really.
Some sat with their backs against the walls.
Others pretended.
Eyes closed.
Hands tight.
Joren hadn't moved.
Still tied to the pillar.
Still breathing.
Still… something.
The door held.
For now.
But the silence didn't feel like safety anymore.
It felt like waiting.
"We can't sit like this," Rorik said.
His voice wasn't loud.
It didn't need to be.
People looked up.
Tired.
Hollow.
"If we wait," he continued,
"we die the same way the others did."
That got their attention.
"We hold this place," he said.
"But we don't stop moving."
He looked around the room.
Measuring.
Assigning.
"We need eyes outside," Rorik said.
"Not far. Not reckless."
"But we need to know what's moving out there."
Malek stepped forward immediately.
"I'll take that role," he said.
Rorik held his gaze.
Then nodded once.
"You don't go alone," Rorik added.
"I wasn't planning to," Malek replied.
Torvin let out a breath.
"Guess I'm not getting out of that one."
Rorik's eyes shifted to me.
"You know the docks," he said.
"You read movement better than most."
I nodded slowly.
"Then you're with them."
That caught me off guard.
"I thought I was staying on the water," I said.
"You will be, but for now, at least until we have the area secured."
Rorik gestures towards his head.
"Right now, I need people who notice things."
That didn't feel like a compliment.
"I'm going too," Freya said.
Malek glanced at her.
"You should stay and observe, you're good at that."
"I am observing," she replied.
"Out there."
She gestured toward the door.
"We don't understand what we're dealing with."
"I'm not learning anything sitting in here." Freya folded her arms.
"It's dangerous," Malek said.
Freya raised an eyebrow.
"That's rich coming from you."
That ended that.
Rorik didn't argue.
He just nodded once.
"Then you move together," he said.
"All of you."
"We'll need people ready to fight," Rorik said.
"Quick engagements only."
"No drawn-out fights."
Harven stepped forward.
Hesitant—
but committed.
"I'll take a group."
Rorik studied him.
Then nodded.
"Food doesn't stop mattering," Brenna said.
"If anything, it matters more now."
A few heads nodded.
"Fields are exposed," someone added.
"Then we don't work them alone," Rorik said.
"Small groups. Armed."
"What about the ones inside?" someone asked.
The room shifted again.
Subtle.
But there.
Rorik didn't hesitate.
"No one moves freely."
"Pairs at minimum."
"No exceptions."
"You think we're going to turn on each other?" Harven asked.
Rorik didn't answer right away.
"That thinking is a luxury now, you've all seen it yourselves." he said.
Joren shifted slightly against the pillar.
Rope tightening.
Everyone noticed.
No one said anything.
This wasn't a plan.
Not really.
It was a way to hold together, but we needed a miracle if we were going to survive whatever this was.
After some time gathering supplies and other essentials, we were ready.
The door opened slower this time.
Not out of caution—
out of memory.
No one wanted to be the one who rushed it again.
Cold air slipped into the longhouse as the gap widened.
Thin.
Quiet.
Waiting.
Malek stepped out first.
I followed.
Then Freya.
Then Torvin.
The others came behind us—
slower.
Less certain.
The square looked the same.
And completely different.
Fires still burned where they had been left.
Low now.
Dying.
A cart lay overturned near the well.
One wheel still spinning slightly—
like it hadn't realized everything had stopped.
No shouting.
No movement.
Just quiet.
The kind that pressed in on your ears.
This wasn't peace.
It was absence.
"Stay close," Malek said.
No one argued.
We moved as a unit—
not tight enough to trip over each other,
but not far enough to be alone.
Like we'd already learned the rule.
Freya wasn't looking ahead.
She was scanning everything else.
Doors.
Windows.
Corners.
"Nothing's disturbed," she said quietly.
"That's not a good thing, is it?" Torvin muttered.
"No," she replied.
"It means they're not moving randomly."
We passed a body near the well.
One of the villagers.
I didn't recognize him right away.
He lay on his back—
eyes open.
Not clouded.
Not empty.
Just… staring.
"Don't touch him," Freya said immediately.
I hadn't moved.
But part of me wanted to.
As we passed—
his fingers twitched.
Not rising.
Not turning.
Just… reacting.
Like something inside him was still deciding.
"Where are we heading?" Torvin asked.
"Docks," I said.
The word came out before I could stop it.
Malek glanced at me—
but didn't question it.
"Then we check the shoreline too," Freya added.
"If this spreads, it doesn't stop at the village."
The closer we got to the water—
the quieter it felt.
Not less sound.
Less life.
The waves still moved.
Slow.
Rhythmic.
But even that felt… off.
I'd spent my whole life near this water.
It had never felt like this.
Like something beneath it—
was listening.
Maybe it felt off because Sten was no longer here.
It could be the lack of sleep.
But one thing was for certain, it wasn't the same as it was.
"Stop," Freya said.
We froze.
She crouched slightly near the edge of the dock.
"Look at this."
I stepped closer.
There—
along the wood—
was residue.
Black.
Thin.
Spread unevenly across the planks.
Like something had dragged itself out of the water.
Or into it.
"This wasn't just Sten," I said quietly.
"It's concentrated here," Freya said.
"But lighter further out."
She pointed toward the edge of the dock.
"Like it started in the water."
"You're saying this came from the sea?" Torvin said.
"I'm saying it didn't start on land," she replied.
The water shifted.
Not a wave.
Not wind.
Something beneath it.
We all saw it.
No one spoke.
Malek took a step forward.
"Malek—" I started.
"I'm not jumping in," he said.
"Relax."
He crouched at the edge—
watching.
I looked past him.
Out across the water.
Toward the far end of the shoreline.
And there—
just for a second—
I saw movement.
Not in the water.
On the shore.
Something stood there.
Not like the others.
Not stumbling.
Not searching.
Just… watching.
And then—
it moved.
Fast.
Too fast.
Gone before I could point it out.
"They're not just wandering," I said quietly.
Malek stood.
Tension back instantly.
"No," he said.
"They're scouting."
I looked back at the water.
At the black residue along the dock.
And for the first time—
I realized something worse than them getting stronger.
They were learning where to grow next.