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The Burning 51
The air stung my throat, thick with smoke and the bitter tang of gunpowder, making my eyes water. New Haven’s walls loomed in front of us, but they weren’t the sanctuary I’d imagined. From a distance, it looked like salvation—rusted and battered, sure—but still standing. Still there. But as we got closer, the cracks started to show. The walls, once tall and imposing, were now riddled with bullet holes, blackened by fire, and the gate hung awkwardly from its hinges. The place was crumbling, barely holding on. Ben stirred weakly in my arms, his body heavy and limp. His breathing was shallow, each breath weaker than the last. I tightened my grip on him, determined to keep going even though my legs were screaming in protest. We were so close. I wasn’t going to let him die now. Not after everything. Behind us, the small group of stragglers who had helped carry Ben this far moved quietly, their faces drawn and hollow. We had barely escaped the Scorchers’ assault, slipping through
The Burning 52
I leaned against the side of the tent, my legs trembling beneath me. My mind was spinning, filled with too many thoughts, too many memories. Ben, Sarah, the Scorchers, everything we’d lost and everything we were still fighting for—it all blurred together until I couldn’t think straight anymore. And then, over the low murmur of voices and distant gunfire, I heard a voice. “Maya?” I froze, my heart slamming against my ribs. That voice… it couldn’t be. Slowly, I turned, my breath catching in my throat. A figure stood just a few feet away, half-hidden in the shadows. For a second, I thought I was imagining it. I had to be. There was no way. She was dead. She had to be dead. But then she stepped into the light, and my world tilted on its axis. It was *Chloe*. My sister. The one person I had thought I’d lost during The Burning. The one person I had mourned for, over and over, in the quiet nights when the world seemed too broken to keep going. She was alive. But she wasn’t
The Burning 53
I stood frozen in the dim light of the settlement, still processing. Chloe—my sister, my *dead* sister—was alive, had stood right in front of me. But she wasn’t the Chloe I remembered. No..... She seemed harder now, colder, with nothing but survival etched into her sharp features. The spark that once made her Chloe—the laughter, the warmth—was long gone, replaced by something dark and unrecognizable. Something lifeless... I watched as she disappeared into the shadows, her words still ringing in my ears: 'Sisters don’t mean much in this world anymore.' I wanted to scream after her, to demand answers. But I stood there, rooted to the spot, my mind spinning. How could she be alive? How could she have survived The Burning? My heart ached with the memory of the last time I saw her, screaming for me as the flames swallowed our world. I had thought she was dead. I had mourned her. And now, here she was, leading this crumbling settlement like a ghost from my past. The C
The Burning 54
“You have no idea what I had to do to survive, Maya,” she said, her voice low and cold. “You have no idea what this world has turned me into.” I shook my head, my throat tightening. “Then tell me. Tell me what happened.” Chloe sighed, running a hand through her short, choppy hair. “After *The Burning*, I was trapped. The fires spread faster than anyone could’ve predicted, and I was caught in the middle of it. I tried to get to you, but… I couldn’t make it. I thought you were dead.” “You left me,” I whispered, the words cutting deep. “I had no choice,” Chloe snapped, her eyes flashing with anger. “I did what I had to do to survive. I made choices—hard choices. I left people behind. I abandoned them because I had no other option. And yes, maybe I’m not the same person I was before, but that’s the price of survival in this world. You can’t save everyone. You have to look out for yourself.” I stared at her, my heart breaking all over again. This wasn’t the Chloe I knew. This was
The Burning 55
Chloe’s eyes, cold and calculating, never left mine.. The fires had died down, but the air was still thick with smoke and tension. I could feel the weight of everything unspoken between us—the years of separation, the choices we’d both made, the people we had become. The sister I had once known was long gone, replaced by someone harder, someone who had done things I couldn’t even begin to understand. “You don’t get it, do you?” Chloe’s voice was sharp, cutting through the heavy silence. “You still think there’s a right way to survive in this world. But there isn’t. There’s only survival, and the choices you make to keep breathing.” I crossed my arms, trying to keep my voice steady. “I know survival, Chloe. I’ve been out there, fighting every day just like you. But I didn’t—” I stopped myself, biting back the words that threatened to spill out. 'I didn’t become like you.' She raised an eyebrow, a slight smirk playing on her lips. “Didn’t what?!! Didn’t make hard choices? Didn’
The Burning 56
I stared at him, my chest tightening. “You think she’s.... dangerous?” “I think she’s hiding something,” Ben said, his voice lowering. “And I think whatever it is… it’s not good Maya.” I opened my mouth to argue, to defend Chloe, but the words stuck in my throat. Because deep down, I knew Ben was right. There was something off about Chloe, something she wasn’t telling me. And I couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever it was, it was connected to The Burning. “I found something out while I was out there,” Ben continued, his voice barely above a whisper now. “Something I didn’t want to believe at first.” I frowned. “What do you mean?” Ben looked around, making sure no one was listening, and then leaned in closer. “One of the soldiers in my unit—his name was Carter—he died in the first wave of attacks during The Burning. But before that, he told me something… something strange.” “What?” Ben’s eyes were intense, his voice low and urgent. “Carter said he’d been in contact wi
The Burning 57
Thhe smell of antiseptic and sweat hit me the moment I stepped into the clinic. It wasn’t much more than a hastily erected tent with a few cots and a couple of shelves lined with ragged bandages and half-empty bottles of medication. The moans of the injured filled the air, mixing with the low hum of voices and the occasional clatter of metal. It took me back—back to long nights in the ER, back to the controlled chaos of saving lives on the fly. But this wasn’t the ER. This was New Haven, and we were ALL hanging on by a thread. I forced myself to swallow the knot in my throat and stepped deeper into the tent. One of the settlement’s guards, a young woman no older than twenty, sat on the edge of a cot, clutching her arm. Blood seeped through the makeshift bandage wrapped around her forearm, and her face was pale, her lips trembling. “Hey,” I said gently, kneeling beside her. “Let me take a look at that.” She flinched at first, like she wasn’t used to someone offering help.
The Burning 58
Dr. Shaw glanced around, making sure no one was listening, before leaning in slightly. “We’re out of almost everything vital—antibiotics, painkillers, clean bandages. I’ve been asking Chloe for weeks to send out a team to scavenge for medical supplies, but she refuses. Says the security of the settlement comes first. She’s been hoarding resources for the guards, for the walls. Meanwhile, people in here are dying from infections and wounds that could be treated if we just had the right supplies.” I felt a surge of anger rise in my chest. “That can’t be right. Chloe wouldn’t—” Dr. Shaw gave me a sharp look. “Wouldn’t what? Put her own survival above others? Use people as pawns to keep her control? You’ve seen how she runs this place, Maya. She’s not the girl you remember anymore. whoever she was.“ I bit my lip, my mind racing. I didn’t want to believe it, but deep down, I knew Dr. Shaw was right. Chloe had changed. Drastically. Maybe more than I was willing to admit. “She’s hidi
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The Burning 65
The air was thick with smoke, the acrid scent of burning wood and flesh choking my lungs as I stumbled through the chaos. Flames licked at the edges of the settlement, casting long shadows over the walls and turning the night into a fevered nightmare. Shouts echoed across the square, the sharp crack of gunfire splitting the air as Captain Laura Wells and her soldiers clashed with Chloe’s forces. I hadn’t seen the attack coming. One moment we were being thrown into one of the holding cells, our hands still bound, and the next, explosions tore through the gates. Chloe’s loyalists scrambled to defend the settlement, but they hadn't been prepared for a full-scale assault. Captain Wells had arrived, just as Ben had said she would, and she wasn’t pulling any punches. "Move, Maya!" Ben shouted, grabbing my arm and pulling me down behind a stack of crates as bullets whizzed overhead. "We need to get to cover!" I was still reeling, my mind struggling to catch up with the violence unfoldin
The Burning 64
I stared at her, my heart pounding in my chest. "Chloe, you can't—" "I can." she cut me off, her voice cold. "And I will. You’re either with me or you’re against me." The silence that followed was deafening. I felt like I was standing at the edge of a cliff, staring down into a void. Chloe had backed me into a corner, forced me to choose between my loyalty to her and my own moral compass. But how could I stand by her side when I knew what she was doing? How could I betray everything I believed in? Before I could respond, Ben stepped forward, his voice steady but urgent. “Wait.” Chloe’s eyes flicked to him, her expression impatient. “What?” Ben shifted slightly, his bound hands clenching behind his back. “There’s something you don’t know.” Chloe raised an eyebrow, her interest piqued. “Oh? And what’s that?” Ben glanced at me, his eyes full of unspoken words. Then he turned back to Chloe. “I’ve been in contact with another group. A military unit. They’ve been tracking you
The Burning 63
The moment Logan lunged, time seemed to slow. His meaty hand reached for me, and instinct kicked in. I dodged to the side, just narrowly avoiding his grasp. Ben and Daniel weren’t so lucky. Logan’s men were on them in seconds, rough hands pinning their arms behind their backs, muffling their protests with swift, brutal efficiency. Samantha’s eyes wouldn’t meet mine as I backed away, my heart hammering in my chest. I could still hear her voice, that soft, apologetic tone she’d used when she betrayed us. I wanted to scream, to demand an explanation, but I knew it was useless. Whatever loyalty she’d once had to the settlement—or to us—was gone, replaced by her blind faith in Chloe. “Maya,” Logan growled, his voice low and menacing, “don’t make this harder than it needs to be. Chloe’s waiting.” I glanced at Ben. His face was set in a grim mask, but his eyes flickered with something else—something I couldn’t quite place. He held my gaze for a moment, then gave the tiniest nod, as
The Burning 62
She’d been a schoolteacher before everything went to hell, and even now, she still had that calming presence, that way of making you feel like things could be okay, even when they weren’t. She was exactly the kind of person we needed on our side—someone people trusted. “Did you find what you were looking for?” she asked, her eyes darting between Ben and me. I nodded, handing her one of the papers. “It’s worse than we thought. Chloe’s been orchestrating everything. The raids, the attacks—it’s all her.” Samantha’s eyes widened as she read the document, her face pale. “We have to stop her.” “That’s the plan,” Ben said, his voice steady. “But we need to be smart about this. Chloe’s got Logan and the rest of her loyalists watching every move. If we mess this up, we’re dead.” Samantha nodded, her expression resolute. “I’ll talk to a few people I trust. Quietly. We’ll need to move fast, though. Word’s already spreading that something’s off.” Daniel appeared in the doorway, his fa
The Burning 61
The moment Chloe’s cold, steely gaze locked on me, I knew I was in deep shit. My pulse pounded in my ears, and I could feel the weight of the papers tucked beneath my jacket, the incriminating evidence I’d found only moments ago. I had seconds to act, seconds to figure out how to explain why I was rifling through her things like some common thief.Damn, should've picked a better time. But there was no use lying. Chloe had always been good at sniffing out deception, especially when it came from me. “Maya,” she said again, her voice low and dangerous, a predator toying with its prey. “What are you doing?” I straightened, clutching the edge of her desk to steady my shaking hands. “Looking for the truth, Chloe. You can’t keep hiding it!” Her eyes narrowed, and for a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of something—guilt? Fear? But it was gone as quickly as it appeared, buried under the ice-cold mask she wore so well. “You’ve been listening to the wrong people,” she said, stepping in
The Burning 60
Daniel looked at me, his eyes full of quiet determination. “Because you’re her sister. And because I don’t think you’re like her. People are starting to lose faith in Chloe, Maya. The settlement’s on the verge of fracturing. If you don’t do something soon…” He didn’t finish the sentence, but he didn’t need to. The thrreat was clear. If Chloe kept pushing, if the people kept living in fear, it would only be a matter of time before everything collapsed. I stood slowly, my mind racing. “I need proof,” I said, my voice wavering. “If I’m going to confront her, I need more than just rumors.” Daniel nodded. “I know. But be careful. Chloe’s not one to take kindly to being challenged. And if she thinks you’re a threat…” He didn’t need to finish that sentence either. I already knew what Chloe was capable of. I returned to the clinic, my head spinning with Daniel’s words. Ben was awake when I walked in, sitting up on his cot, his eyes sharp.. “You were gone a while,” he said, his voice low
The Burning 59
I couldn’t sleep. The weight of everything pressed down on me—Chloe’s cold words echoing in my mind, the tension in the settlement, the gnawing feeling that something deeper was wrong. I tossed and turned on the small cot in the corner of the clinic, listening to the soft rustle of the wind outside. The fires had died down, leaving the night dark and eerily quiet. Too quiet, especially for a place like this. Ben lay a few feet away, his chest rising and falling steadily now that he was mostly recovered. He was still pale, but the strength was coming back to him, slowly but surely. Part of me wanted to wake him up, to talk through everything that was swirling in my head. But I knew his answer already: We needed to leave. But I... I wasn’t ready for that yet. I couldn’t just leave Chloe behind, no matter what she had become. She was still my sister, and some small, stubborn part of me believed I could reach her. That I could help her see what she was doing. But the more I tried to co
The Burning 58
Dr. Shaw glanced around, making sure no one was listening, before leaning in slightly. “We’re out of almost everything vital—antibiotics, painkillers, clean bandages. I’ve been asking Chloe for weeks to send out a team to scavenge for medical supplies, but she refuses. Says the security of the settlement comes first. She’s been hoarding resources for the guards, for the walls. Meanwhile, people in here are dying from infections and wounds that could be treated if we just had the right supplies.” I felt a surge of anger rise in my chest. “That can’t be right. Chloe wouldn’t—” Dr. Shaw gave me a sharp look. “Wouldn’t what? Put her own survival above others? Use people as pawns to keep her control? You’ve seen how she runs this place, Maya. She’s not the girl you remember anymore. whoever she was.“ I bit my lip, my mind racing. I didn’t want to believe it, but deep down, I knew Dr. Shaw was right. Chloe had changed. Drastically. Maybe more than I was willing to admit. “She’s hidi
The Burning 57
Thhe smell of antiseptic and sweat hit me the moment I stepped into the clinic. It wasn’t much more than a hastily erected tent with a few cots and a couple of shelves lined with ragged bandages and half-empty bottles of medication. The moans of the injured filled the air, mixing with the low hum of voices and the occasional clatter of metal. It took me back—back to long nights in the ER, back to the controlled chaos of saving lives on the fly. But this wasn’t the ER. This was New Haven, and we were ALL hanging on by a thread. I forced myself to swallow the knot in my throat and stepped deeper into the tent. One of the settlement’s guards, a young woman no older than twenty, sat on the edge of a cot, clutching her arm. Blood seeped through the makeshift bandage wrapped around her forearm, and her face was pale, her lips trembling. “Hey,” I said gently, kneeling beside her. “Let me take a look at that.” She flinched at first, like she wasn’t used to someone offering help.
