Chapter 87: Ash and Warning Signs II
Aria's eyes followed Selene's movements, tracing the curve of her back as she worked to secure the last of their supplies. There was a tension in the air that Aria couldn't ignore — a static charge that clung to her skin, even beneath the thick layers of worn clothing they both wore. It wasn't the cold that made her shiver, not entirely. No, it was Selene. The way she moved, so efficiently, so carefully, as if each action had weight, had purpose, and was still somehow the calm before a storm.
But what kind of storm? Aria wasn't sure she wanted to know. She only knew that the closer she stood to Selene, the more the atmosphere seemed to shift, and it wasn't just the literal coldness in the air. It was something deeper, something that wrapped itself around Aria's chest, squeezing it with every passing moment.
She opened her mouth to say something, anything, to break the silence, but no words came. The air was too thick with unsaid things. She couldn't bring herself to voice the unease gnawing at her stomach. Instead, she settled for a soft sigh and looked down at the floor, watching as the dust danced in the air like little specters, unnoticed by both of them.
When she finally did speak, her voice sounded far too loud in the stillness. "You… you've seen people like that before, haven't you?" she asked, her words tentative, though she could feel the weight of them as they left her lips. She wasn't asking to pry. She wasn't asking to learn the details. But she couldn't stop herself from wondering.
Selene's hands paused for a fraction of a second, but it was enough. Aria caught the subtle tightness in her shoulders. The answer wasn't in the words that followed, but in the way Selene's eyes flicked over to her, quick and calculating, before returning to the task at hand.
"I've seen a lot of things," Selene replied quietly, her voice cool, but there was something like steel in it. "Some things you can't unsee."
Aria's throat tightened. The weight of that statement settled between them, heavier than the lingering frost in the air.
She wanted to ask more. She wanted to ask why Selene had said that, but she was suddenly afraid of the answer. Some things were better left untouched, better left to rot in the shadows, where they couldn't hurt. She didn't have to know everything. Not yet.
Instead, she looked away, her gaze wandering across the cold, metallic surfaces around them. It was an attempt to steady herself, to force her mind into something practical — something that wasn't tangled up in thoughts of Selene and the way the woman made her heart beat just a little too fast.
The sharp click of metal echoed through the cold room as Selene finished securing the last of the gear into her pack. She swung the bag over her shoulder with the same practiced ease she applied to everything, as if nothing had changed. Nothing, except for the fact that Aria couldn't shake the feeling that something inside her was shifting, unbalancing.
For a long moment, Selene didn't say anything, simply watching her with an unreadable expression. Then, just as Aria was about to ask if they were ready to go, Selene stepped forward, closing the distance between them. Aria's breath hitched, but she didn't step back.
Their shoulders brushed — brief, fleeting, but enough to send a ripple through Aria's chest. She couldn't explain it. She couldn't explain the way Selene seemed to make everything feel different, as though she had the power to rewrite reality with a single touch. The cold that had always surrounded Selene, that icy exterior, was somehow the thing that made her warmth seem brighter, more necessary. It was a paradox, one that Aria couldn't untangle no matter how hard she tried.
"Ready?" Selene's voice was quiet, almost a whisper, as if the question didn't quite matter as much as the way she asked it.
Aria nodded, swallowing against the lump in her throat.
The moment felt too fragile. Too fleeting. And yet, there was something about it that felt like a crossroads. Something in the way Selene was looking at her. It wasn't just the usual icy detachment that Aria had come to know so well. No, this was different. There was a flicker of something else in Selene's gaze — something dangerous, something warm, and Aria couldn't quite look away.
As they turned and moved toward the exit, their footsteps slow and purposeful against the gritty floor, Aria's mind continued to whirl with a thousand different questions. But there was no time for them now. They were moving through a world that had no answers, a world that demanded survival, not curiosity.
Yet despite the cold, despite the oppressive silence between them, Aria couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more at play here. Something she was missing. A hidden warning that had yet to surface.
The chill outside bit into her skin as soon as they stepped out of the factory, the wind cutting through the layers of their clothes, but Aria barely noticed. She was too focused on the path ahead, on the quiet urgency that seemed to radiate from Selene as she led them through the ashen remains of the world.
Aria's heart beat faster the farther they moved, though she couldn't say why. Maybe it was the way the air seemed to hang heavy around them, the weight of the unseen forces that played between them, pulling them together and pushing them apart in a dance neither of them had agreed to.
Or maybe it was the unmistakable tension that clung to the air now. The threat of something else — a storm brewing in the distance. Something larger, more dangerous. Aria's eyes darted around, scanning the shadows of the ruined city, but saw nothing.
Yet she couldn't shake the feeling that danger was close. Too close.
And then she heard it.
The faintest rustle in the distance. A soft snap of a twig. But it was enough. Enough to make her stop in her tracks.
Selene was already in motion, her body shifting into a defensive stance, her eyes scanning the horizon with the precision of a predator. Aria's breath caught as she instinctively followed her, dropping lower to the ground.
"Stay low," Selene's voice was barely audible, but it cut through the silence like a blade.
Aria nodded, her pulse quickening as she dropped to the ground beside Selene. The cold dirt beneath her knees did nothing to calm the fluttering in her stomach.
From the edge of the ruined city, figures began to emerge from the shadows—more of them than Aria had expected. Six, maybe seven. They moved in a slow, staggered line, their silhouettes dark against the gray morning sky. They were too far to see clearly, but Aria could feel them. Their presence was palpable.
"We need to move. Now." Selene's voice was sharp, her hand gripping Aria's wrist once more, pulling her to her feet. "Stay close."
Without another word, they sprinted into the cover of a nearby building, the crunch of their boots on the ashen ground a soft echo in the desolate world. Aria's breath came faster as she followed Selene through the crumbling alleyways, her mind reeling with the sudden rush of adrenaline.
They had no choice but to outrun them. There was no time to wait.
But as they moved, Aria couldn't shake the thought that this was only the beginning. The beginning of something far worse. Something that had been building in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike. And whatever it was, it wasn't going to be easy to survive. Not for either of them.
The warning signs were there, now. And Aria couldn't ignore them any longer.