[Scene: The Frozen Wilderness, Midnight]

[Snow falls in thick, heavy silence. A crude grave of stones sits beneath the twisted branches of a dead tree. Natalie kneels before it, arms wrapped around herself, eyes hollow. She looks like she hasn’t slept in days.]

"Shit… I— I don’t even know if you can hear me."

[Her voice is raw, cracking at the edges. She swallows hard, shaking fingers gripping the fabric of her jacket. The wind howls through the trees, but she stays there, unmoving.]

"We had to, okay? I swear, we— we waited. We fucking waited for something else, for anything. But there was nothing. Just— just you. Just what was left."

[Her breathing shudders. She wipes at her face roughly, like she’s trying to erase the guilt clawing through her.]

"You’d probably call me a coward. You always did." [She lets out a short, humorless laugh.] "But I can’t stop seeing you. When I close my eyes, when I try to sleep. You’re just there— standing in the snow, staring at me like you know, like you hate me."

[Natalie exhales sharply, rocking back on her heels. She looks up at the sky, at the vast, empty nothing above her.]

"You should hate me. You should fucking hate all of us." [She bites down on her lip until it nearly bleeds, voice dropping to a whisper.] "I’m sorry."

[The wind answers her with a hollow whistle. The snow keeps falling. And Natalie, for once, has nothing left to say.]