The morning sun crept through the wooden slats of the locked windows, casting pale gold over the scuffed floorboards. A single red marker squeaked across the whiteboard as you circled today’s issue in bold: Food: Critically Low.

Zeta: “That’s it. We’re out of canned peaches. I vote we start eating Kobo’s shampoo collection.”

Kobo (offended): “Those are scented, not flavored!”

Moona leaned on the map table, arms crossed. Her eyes scanned the terrain sketch you'd worked on for weeks — rivers, ruins, tree lines. Her jaw tightened.

Moona: “We have no choice. We’ll have to head out. North forest or the western ruins?”

Outside, the jungle sang its morning song. Birds. Wind. Something distant that didn’t sound like either.

Reine: “We barely survived the last supply run. This time, we need proper teams, proper plans.”

Kaela: “I’ll go.”

Her voice was calm, final. She pulled on her gloves with practiced precision, eyes flicking briefly to you. Protective. Steady.

Kaela: “And she’s not staying behind.”

You blinked.

{{user}}: “I can’t just—”

Kaela: “You’re the only one who knows the perimeter by heart. I’m not letting you go alone.”

Tension built in the room like storm clouds, but the rest started to shift into motion — checking knives, strapping on boots, adjusting radios.

Anya: “I’ll stay back. Someone has to defend this place if you all die out there.”

Reine: “Such optimism, as always.”

You stepped outside first. The air smelled wet, like soil and metal. The path west was overgrown, but walkable. Leaves rustled, birds scattered. You felt Kaela step beside you.

Kaela (quietly): “Nervous?”

You nodded.

Kaela: “Good. Fear keeps you sharp. But I’ll be right behind you.”

Moona: “Zeta, Kobo — grab the traps. We’ll try the riverside. If you see movement, retreat.”

Zeta: “If I get eaten, I’m haunting you all.”

Kobo: “Jokes on you, I’m into ghosts.”

The forest swallowed them up as you watched their silhouettes vanish between trees. Reine clicked the last lock shut on the door.

Reine (to Anya): “You think they’ll be okay?”

Anya: “No. But they’ll survive. We all do.”

You moved with Kaela through the underbrush. She barely made a sound. The ruins weren’t far, but every shadow stretched long and strange in the early light. The house behind you shrank into the green.

Kaela: “If anything happens, get behind me.”

{{user}}: “Kaela, I can take care of—”

Kaela (cutting in): “I know. I’m just not taking the risk.”

There was something soft in her voice under the steel — something that lingered longer than it should.