CHAPTER 244: Alaska, a Safe Place - 11 END

CHAPTER 244: Alaska, a Safe Place - 11 END

The cave existed again all at once.

The cold.

The dampness.

The smell of blood and gunpowder.

Fenix opened his eyes while his breathing was erratic and painful. The burning in his neck was still there, as was the metallic taste of blood in his mouth. His muscles trembled from exertion and blood loss.

In front of him, Marcus was barely still standing.

The first flare had destroyed much of his face. Charred flesh, exposed bone, and that unnatural glow in his eyes, now weakened. His body swayed like a marionette with broken strings.

Nothing of the monster remained.

And, perhaps, not too much of the man either.

Fenix slowly raised the flare gun.

His only hand steady despite the tremor running through his entire body.

Marcus looked at him.

For a brief instant, just one, Fenix believed he recognized something in those deformed eyes.

A glimmer.

A last trace of the man he had known.

Of the brother he had lost so many years ago.

There was no need to say anything.

There never had been between them.

Fenix clenched his teeth.

His finger rested on the trigger.

The shot resonated like thunder inside the cavern.

The flare impacted directly in Marcus's head.

The explosion illuminated the walls with an intense red glow.

The body was sent flying backward and fell heavily against the rock.

Then it remained motionless.

Completely motionless.

Fenix did not move.

He did not even breathe.

He watched in silence as that corpse began to come apart. The blackened skin cracked, turning into ashes that the air slowly dragged through the cave. The bones crumbled shortly after, reduced to dark dust.

Until nothing was left.

Nothing except a handful of ash dispersing in the darkness.

The weapon fell from Fenix's hand with a dull sound.

His shoulders dropped.

His gaze remained fixed on the empty place where seconds before his friend had lain.

His lips parted barely.

And, with the voice of a man too tired to keep crying, he murmured:

—Once again I lose a friend…

The words dissolved into the echo of the cavern.

Fenix remained there, motionless, while the last particles of Marcus disappeared into the air.

Alone.

Once again.

As so many times before.

The world returned in fragments.

First, a constant beeping.

Then, the smell of antiseptic.

After that, a pain so intense that it seemed to come from every bone, muscle, and fiber of his body at the same time.

Fenix opened his eyes slowly.

The white light of the ceiling forced him to squint. He tried to sit up, but a lash of pain ran through his torso, neck, and arm, drawing an immediate grimace from him.

He looked down.

His body was covered in bandages. His chest, shoulder, neck, even part of his face. His throat felt dry and his head throbbed with brutal force.

—Great… —he murmured in a hoarse voice—. I feel like I've been hit by a train. Twice.

The door of the room opened.

Selene entered first, followed by Hank. Both had the appearance of those who had been awake for too long. Stained clothes, tired faces, superficial wounds, and dark circles that spoke for themselves.

But they were alive.

And that was already enough.

Hank let out a laugh upon seeing him conscious.

—Look at him. The idiot is still breathing.

Fenix tried to smile, though the simple gesture hurt.

—Sorry to disappoint you.

Selene approached the bed and crossed her arms, though the tension in her face relaxed slightly.

—You've been unconscious for almost a full day.

—I've taken worse naps.

Hank shook his head with a tired smile.

Then his expression became more serious.

—We won.

Fenix observed him in silence.

Hank nodded.

—By pure luck, but we won. The mutated lycans began dying out of nowhere. One after another. As if something inside them had simply collapsed.

Fenix understood immediately what it meant.

Marcus.

His death had finished them.

Hank continued.

—Barely more than a hundred of us are left standing.

The figure hung in the air.

From hundreds…

To barely a hundred.

The victory had an obscene price.

But it was still a victory.

—Even so —Hank added—, we survived.

Fenix closed his eyes for a few moments.

An invisible weight settled in his chest.

Marcus.

Vanessa.

Lucian.

So many names.

Too many.

He tried to move his arm and regretted it instantly.

A burning pain ran through his entire body.

—Ow, for all demons' sake…

Selene raised an eyebrow.

—You have several cracked ribs, muscle tears, a bite on your neck, considerable concussion and, miraculously, you're still complaining more than an old man.

—That explains a lot.

Hank leaned against the wall.

—You should also know that your regenerative factor did overtime.

For the first time in a long time, the room felt… calm.

Painful, yes.

But calm.

Selene took a seat beside the bed, watching him with that serene expression she had always had, even in the middle of chaos.

For a few moments, neither said anything.

The silence was no longer uncomfortable.

It was the kind of silence that only those who had survived together shared.

Finally, Selene broke the stillness.

—And now what?

Fenix turned his head slightly toward her.

—What do you mean?

—Your life.

The question hung in the air.

Fenix contemplated the ceiling for several seconds. It was a simple question, but after everything that had happened, it seemed almost impossible to answer.

However, deep down, he already knew the answer.