Heavy silence loomed over the VIP room as Jinx stood there, staring at Black’s face. "I have to tell Kai."

Black held Jinx’s arm as she tried to move toward the door. "He’ll know. But first," he paused and lowered his eyes to Jinx’s lips. "We need to know who this lady is and why she’s been looking for him."

Though Jinx wanted to move, Black’s statement made her mind travel back to the days she spent in Gilgal Village searching for Kai’s background.

...

Two hours bled by quickly.

At the eastern side, the RedBull camp sprawled across what had once been a farmer’s field, now churned into mud by thousands of feet. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Tents of different sizes and colors stretched in every direction, their canvas stained with smoke and dust.

Kai stood there, hands in his pockets, remembering what Merlin had told him earlier.

"You’re no good to anyone sitting in the dark, Yung Chin. Go out there and help others to remember what it feels like to be useful."

He kicked the marbles beneath him as he moved through the camp like a shadow. He handed out rations, carried water jugs, and said nothing to those he helped.

Due to Kai’s height, the refugees who had turned themselves into volunteers didn’t even look at him twice. They simply thought he was just another weak soldier trying to act useful.

A young woman with big breasts shoved Kai into a tight hug after he had helped her carry wood.

"Thank you very much. You’ve saved me from going back and forth for these. Thank you." She invited Kai over with a smiling face. But Kai just shook his head, then walked away from her.

Her body lingered in his head even as he was helping a soldier who had lost his left arm in one of the recent missions.

As soon as he bent down, filling a bucket at the central well, a voice rose from a short distance behind him.

"You’re harder to find than I expected."

He froze, lowered the bucket, and turned slowly, wondering who the person could be.

"Clara," Kai breathed, releasing his hardened muscles.

Clara walked toward him like she was approaching something that might disappear if she quickened her pace.

"You look terrible," she said in a teasing tone.

Kai nearly laughed but muffled his voice. He stopped the tap from overflowing and carried it to the soldier.

Clara stood at the well and watched as Kai walked back from the soldier’s tent. "You seem to be more productive than I thought."

Kai’s brow furrowed as he looked at her.

Clara laughed. "I’m just saying what I heard from your sister."

She joined Kai in helping the injured, the weak, and the broken-hearted—those who had lost their wives or husbands to the monsters and had come to get strong to seek revenge.

Birds’ chirps filled the air as they stopped under a tree, seeking the shade of its branches.

For a moment, neither of them spoke; they simply stared at the colorful birds hopping from one branch to the other.

When a little bird moved from its nest, tried to follow the bigger one, and dashed back into its nest after it nearly fell, Kai’s chest cracked with laughter.

"How life moves on as if nothing even happened." He leaned against the bark of the tree, crossed his arms on his chest, and closed his eyes.

Clara watched Kai’s chest rise and fall slowly, then leaned against the tree. She shifted her gaze from Kai and focused on the leaves and the ripe oranges.

...

After thirty minutes, they walked away from the crowds until they found a quiet spot beneath a half-collapsed wall at the edge of the camp.

Shades of gold and grey lingered on the ground as the afternoon sun’s rays slanted through the dust.

Clara allowed the silence to deepen between them, then turned to Kai with curious eyes.

"How did you survive?" Kai asked, staring back.

Clara closed the little space and sat right in front of Kai, making sure she could feel the warmth of Kai radiating through her.

"I ran," she said and slowly lifted her head to the sky.

"Ran?"

"When the News Industry building began shaking, I ran. I didn’t fight or try to save anyone as Jinx did. I just ran."

The thought of Team Alpha soldiers dying flashed into Kai’s mind and caused him to lose the warmth he had gained throughout the day.

"I didn’t run, but I still couldn’t save them," he said, lowering his head.

"That’s not the same," Clara stated, shifting her focus to him.

"It’s the same result," Kai said in a voice that caused Clara to turn mute.

Silence stretched between them until a child ran past laughing. The sound was so ordinary and so painful that Kai felt something twist deep in his chest.

"I looked for you," Clara stated, breaking the barrier of silence. "After Jinx told me about you, I searched through the web trying to find you. When everyone thought you were dead, I nearly believed them."

Kai lifted his head and looked into Clara’s eyes. "I thought you and Jinx were dead, too."

"We almost died." She pulled up her sleeve, revealing a lattice of scars she got on her forearm. "The world we’re in now is not kind to people like us."

Kai touched his chest and grabbed the necklace that rested beneath his shirt.

Clara looked at Kai’s saddened face, then placed a hand on his shoulder. "I’m glad you’re alive, Kai."

He looked at her hand, and then at her face. "I’m glad you’re alive too."

...

The calm moment between Kai and Jinx’s friend was broken by the sound of engines, the kind that accompanied wealth and power.

A convoy of black SUVs that seemed to absorb light rolled into the camp. Soldiers scrambled and began clearing paths, while the volunteers in the tents all came out with wide eyes.

When the door of the third SUV opened, a lady in a tailored white coat got out. Her dark hair sang as it whipped through the air.