All Chapters of The Burning: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

I was starting to think that the night would never end. The moon hung low in the sky, casting an eerie glow over the forest, and the fire we’d fled from was now a distant memory, just a faint orange glow on the horizon. But the weariness clung to me like the smoke still tangled in my hair, every step a reminder that we were far from safe. Ben and I had been walking for what felt like hours, the silence between us heavy and uncomfortable after everything that had come to light. His confession about knowing something was coming—the apocalypse, The Burning—still gnawed at me, twisting my thoughts until I couldn't tell where my anger ended and my exhaustion began. But then, we found them. Or rather, they found us. It started with a rustle in the trees. At first, I thought it was just the wind—the kind of sound you could ignore in a forest full of shadows. But Ben stopped dead in his tracks, his whole body going rigid, and I knew instinctively that it wasn’t the wind. Something

The morning light filtered through the cracked windows of the cabin, casting a pale, golden glow across the room. I woke with a jolt, my pulse still racing from the memory of Harlan’s voice echoing in my head. His words from the night before haunted me. (We’ll take them by force if we have to.) I sat up slowly, my muscles stiff from sleeping on the lumpy cot. Ben was already awake, standing by the door with his rifle slung over his shoulder, his expression grim. He didn’t need to say anything. We both knew what we had to do. "We’re leaving, today." Ben said, his voice quiet but firm. "Before they realize we overheard anything." I nodded, my mind spinning. But as much as I wanted to get out of Eagle’s Nest, something held me back. Maybe it was the hunger that gnawed at my insides or the exhaustion that weighed on my limbs. Or maybe it was the people. The faces I’d seen last night as we were led through the camp—tired, worn, but somehow... hopeful. Despite everything, there was

The morning air had a bite to it, the kind that cuts through layers of clothing and settles into your bones. I stood among the crowd gathered in Eagle's Nest's main square, the dirt beneath my boots frozen solid from the night’s chill. People were pressed in on all sides, faces drawn and tense, eyes fixed ahead. I could feel the weight of their collective dread, the suffocating sense of inevitability that hung over the crowd like a storm cloud. At the center of it all was Harlan. He stood on a platform made of stacked crates, his broad shoulders and commanding presence impossible to ignore. His voice boomed across the square, authoritative and unyielding, as he addressed the crowd. But it wasn’t Harlan that held my attention. It was the young man kneeling in front of him, hands bound behind his back, his face streaked with dirt and sweat. His name was Caleb, one of the newer arrivals we’d seen just a few days ago. He couldn't have been more than nineteen, with shaggy brown hair an

The scream cut through the silence like a knife, sharp and jagged, sending a tremor down my spine. I froze, my breath catching in my throat as the sound echoed through the camp. It was coming from Harlan's main cabin, the one he used for meetings—and for punishments... I didn't want to go. Every instinct screamed at me to turn away, to pretend I hadn’t heard anything. But my feet moved on their own, drawn toward the noise like a moth to a flame. Maybe it was morbid curiosity, or maybe it was the part of me that needed to see the truth—the real truth about what Harlan was capable of. The closer I got, the more I could hear. The low murmur of voices, the steady thud of boots on the wooden floor, and then another scream, this one more desperate than the last. My stomach clenched, and I felt the bile rise in my throat, but I kept walking, my steps slow and deliberate. By the time I reached the door of the cabin, I could hear Harlan’s voice, low and menacing. "You want to steal

We ran until our legs burned, until the sounds of Eagle's Nest faded into the night and were replaced by the rustle of wind through the trees and the distant call of night birds. The forest was dense, the shadows thick and impenetrable, but it was our cover. Our sanctuary. For now. It wasn't until we reached a small clearing—a space barely big enough for the three of us—that we stopped. I doubled over, hands on my knees, gasping for air. My lungs felt like they were on fire, my muscles trembling from the strain. Ben was right beside me, his chest rising and falling with heavy breaths, his eyes scanning the darkness for any sign of pursuit. Sarah collapsed against a tree, her face pale and sweat-soaked, but her eyes burning with determination. "We did it!" she gasped, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "We actually made it out..." "Not yet," Ben said, his voice low and tense. "We're not safe until we’re far away from here. Harlan won’t just let us go. Not after