Enemy Revealed

The news came at dawn.

Leila had barely closed her eyes when the urgent rap on her door shattered the fragile remains of sleep. She was up in an instant, her fingers brushing against the rifle at her bedside out of habit.

Kai's voice came through the wooden door, steady but urgent. "Leila. We have a confirmation."

She hesitated only a second before pulling the door open. Kai stood there, his expression grim, his usual steadiness edged with something sharper. Concern. Tension. Readiness.

Her stomach clenched.

"Tell me," she said, voice hoarse from lack of sleep.

Kai exhaled through his nose, motioning for her to follow. They moved swiftly through the dimly lit corridors of the compound, past survivors who had started their morning routines—boiling water, sharpening blades, reinforcing barricades.

Darren and Mark were already waiting in the watchtower, their faces drawn tight. A pair of scouts stood beside them, one shifting uncomfortably under the weight of the message he carried.

Leila stepped forward, her voice firm. "Report."

The scout, a young man named Tobias, swallowed hard before speaking. "We confirmed it. Jace is alive."

Leila didn't flinch. She had prepared for this. Had known it in her gut the second the raiders had shouted their warnings. Still, hearing it said aloud made it real in a way that whispers never could.

She nodded once, waiting for more.

Tobias licked his cracked lips. "They're operating just past the river bend, about two days from here. At least thirty men, possibly more. Well-armed. They raided a survivor outpost two nights ago, left no one standing. Burned everything."

Leila felt the blood drain from her face, but she didn't react beyond a slow, controlled inhale. Jace had always known how to erase a problem.

Mark stepped forward, arms crossed. "It gets worse."

Leila met his gaze.

"They're not just some scattered band of thugs," Mark continued. "Ellie's at his side."

Leila's breath hitched. Ellie.

The name alone was a wound reopened.

The scout continued, unaware of the way Leila's world had constricted into that single, painful revelation. "Locals say she's been strategizing their movements. Every raid is surgical—quick, ruthless, no wasted effort. They leave nothing behind."

Ellie had always been smart. Calculated. Even back when they were just two college girls sharing notes and late-night laughs over coffee, Ellie had been the type to study the board long before making a move.

And now she was doing it again.

But this time, Leila was on the other side of the board.

A heavy silence stretched between them all. The weight of the news settled in their bones, an invisible force pressing down like an approaching storm.

Leila turned to Kai, who had remained quiet through the exchange, his gaze locked onto her like he was waiting for her to crack. Waiting to see if she could handle this.

She straightened. "We need to verify the numbers ourselves. I want another scouting party watching them for the next twenty-four hours. No engagement, no risks. Just intel."

Darren nodded. "I'll organize it."

Leila turned to Mark. "Increase patrols. I want double rotations through the night. If they're moving toward us, we'll know before they get close."

Mark muttered a curse under his breath but nodded.

Then she turned to Kai. "And we prepare. If they come, we don't let them catch us unguarded."

Kai held her gaze, searching for something in her expression. He didn't ask if she was okay. Didn't press the raw emotions she was barely keeping at bay.

Instead, he nodded. "Understood."

The Weight of Old Ghosts

Leila didn't speak much after the meeting. She worked. Focused. Pushed past the gnawing ache in her chest.

But the past had been unearthed, and no matter how much she tried to drown it in preparation and strategy, it lingered.

That night, sleep didn't come.

Instead, the nightmares did.

Jace's voice, soft and warm, whispering promises that had meant everything once.

Ellie's laughter, bright and unguarded, the sound of home.

Then blood. Then betrayal. Then cold hands shoving her toward the undead as the ones she trusted most turned their backs.

Leila jolted awake, sweat slick on her skin, breath uneven.

She pressed her hands over her face, forcing herself to breathe. The room was still, save for the faint crackling of a distant fire outside the walls.

A soft knock.

She stiffened.

"Kai," came the quiet voice. "I know you're awake."

She considered pretending otherwise, but that was pointless. With a sigh, she ran a hand through her tangled hair and moved to the door, cracking it open.

Kai stood there, arms crossed, his usual quiet intensity softened by something unreadable.

She let the door swing open wider, stepping back without a word.

He walked inside, eyes scanning her face. If he noticed the remnants of the nightmare lingering in her expression, he didn't mention it. Instead, he settled into the chair against the far wall, resting his forearms on his knees.

"They confirmed Jace is alive today," he murmured. "Ellie, too."

Leila exhaled sharply. "I was there, Kai."

"I know," he said. "I also know you haven't processed it yet."

She tensed. "I don't have the luxury of 'processing' anything right now."

Kai leaned back, stretching his legs out. "Bullshit."

Her glare was sharp enough to cut steel. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me." His voice was calm, but the sharpness was there beneath it. "You think you can just shove this down and keep going? That pretending this doesn't hurt will make it easier to fight them when the time comes?"

Leila ground her teeth, fists clenching at her sides. Because yes. That's exactly what she thought.

Kai sighed, rubbing his jaw. "You can't ignore it, Leila. What they did. What they still mean to you. That's not weakness. It's human."

She hated him for saying it. Hated that he wasn't wrong.

She sat down heavily on the edge of her cot, elbows on her knees, fingers laced together. The words came before she could stop them.

"I should've seen it," she whispered. "The way they looked at each other behind my back. The way she was always there, always waiting for her moment. I was blind, Kai. And now—" She swallowed. "Now they're out there, doing it to someone else. Taking, destroying. Leaving nothing."

Kai watched her for a long moment. Then, with slow, deliberate movements, he reached over and rested his hand lightly over hers.

Not demanding. Not pushing. Just there.

Leila could've pulled away. Maybe she should have.

But she didn't.

The silence stretched between them, the war inside her quieting for the briefest moment.

Kai didn't ask if she was okay. Didn't tell her to let it go or move on.

He just stayed.

And for tonight, that was enough.

Jace was alive. Ellie was at his side. War was coming.

But for one stolen moment, in the quiet before the storm, Leila wasn't alone.