Chapter 132
- Evan -
We hot-wired and hijacked one of the construction trucks we found dead and abandoned. It took us a minute to get it running again, but after a new battery and some fluids, she came to life. The engine groaned every time Duke so much as breathed on the gas pedal, but it kept moving—barely—down the cracked road toward the shelter.
None of us talked for a while.
We were too tired to.
Josh stared out the window, jaw clenched tight enough to crack teeth. Baby sat next to Duke with her head on his shoulder, catching some Z's. Normally, Duke would've made a big deal—teasing or complaining or acting put-upon—but right now, he didn't even react. He just kept driving.
James sat beside me, staring at his boots like he couldn't quite process that they were still attached to him. Micah hugged her knees, hair still frizzy with leftover static crackling off her fingers whenever she shifted.
The silence was heavy—the kind that feels like a weight pressing on your chest.
Duke's voice broke first, low and rough, without looking away from the road.
"We...saved a lot of them."
"Yeah…" I breathed. "And we lost too many."
No sugarcoating it, I know Duke was just trying to lift our spirits, but it was reality.
Josh scrubbed his hand over his face. "We did everything we could."
That's what we tell ourselves, and then when tomorrow comes, we get up and we do more. I couldn't help but feel pulled down. We saved so many, but so many were sucked into the vortex portal.
James leaned back, head thudding against the cold window glass.
"Look—whether we saved one or a hundred, it mattered. Every person we pulled out of there, every second we bought—that kept this city from disappearing into that thing. That wasn't small. Don't cheapen what we did."
Micah blinked at him. "James… that was… kind."
Josh smirked weakly. "Careful, he's evolving."
James rolled his eyes. "Shut up."
For the first time since the portal closed, we breathed—not easy, but together.
"So," I asked quietly, "where to next?" I asked Duke?
"First, we return to the shelter to get some sleep; the rest of the day has been spent, and so have we. It's best to go into tomorrow with a fresh mind. When we wake, we will hit the people on the list that the foreman gives us—starting with the easiest to access and closest to home. A guy named Tomo.
Micah lifted her head a little. "Oh—my uncle knows him."
That got everyone's attention.
"He vouched for him when the city wanted to shut his program down," she continued. "Tomo used to run with gangs when he was younger. My uncle helped him straighten out. Now he runs the youth center. Helps kids stay out of the stuff he came from."
Josh snorted. "So of course the city hates him."
"Of course," James echoed.
Duke nodded. "He's one of the only leaders we've got—and one with sense. Is it the cult or the mayor's influence that hit that youth center..." He exhaled slowly. "He, I think, has seen something or someone."
Baby stirred without opening her eyes. "Then we protect him."
And just like that, the air shifted.
Not lighter. we've
But steadier.
We made peace with how things were for right now and what we could control—or at least handle for now.
We arrived back at the shelter just as the sky darkened again—not from the sunset but from whatever eerie lighting passed for night now.
We didn't talk.
We didn't even shower.
We didn't have time even to clean our wounds.
We fell.
Into our cots.
Into less like a sleep and more like a shutdown.
The next morning—
We woke up to the smell of coffee.
Strong. Blunt. Definitely Uncle's doing.
Uncle stood at the shelter kitchen stove, sleeves rolled to his elbows, and his tired line was deeper than usual. His eye took us in one sweep—a silent assessment, quiet relief.
"You're all back," he said.
Duke nodded. "Barely."
Uncle slid mugs towards us, one by one.
"I already heard about the youth center," he said.
Micah stepped closer. "We're going to see Tomo."
Uncle tensed.
There was something like grief there.
Something like anger, too.
"Good," he said. "He needs someone in his corner. They're blaming him for it and calling him a failure. A danger. A lost cause because of his past."
Josh scoffed. "So—same old humanity."
Uncle didn't disagree.
He picked up his coat.
"I'm coming with you."
"Uncle grabbed his keys off the hook, but he didn't move right away. His hand rested there a moment—just breathing.
"There's something you need to understand before we see him," he said.
The room got still.
"Tomo was here," Uncle continued, voice low. "The night Thomas disappeared. He was helping distribute meals and was under watch the entire evening. So if anyone tries to suggest he was involved—he wasn't."
Micah nodded, jaw tight. "We know."
"But the city doesn't want to know," Uncle replied.
He leaned his weight on the counter, trying in a way that didn't come from lack of sleep.
"Tomo is the kind of man who worked his way back from hell. But people don't forget the version of you they hated. They remember the mugshot. The gang inks. The fear. Not the change. And now..."
His voice cracked—not much, but enough that it landed.
"Now they're looking for someone to blame. And they're calling him the reason the kids didn't come home."
Josh cursed under his breath. Micah's eyes went glassy. Baby rubbed her face awake now. Duke stared at the table, jaw set in a way that meant she was already preparing to fight someone.
I asked quietly, "Did he...break?" At all?
Uncle let out a breath.
"He tried to fight it. He tried to stand tall. But one of the kids mentored—a tiny thing—turned up at one of the gatherings. With the cult. Didn't even know what she was part of. Just...followed the wrong hand extended."
Micah's hand flew to her mouth.
"Oh no..."
"That was the moment," Uncle said softly. "The moment shame got its foot in the door."
We all understood at once.
A demon didn't need to possess you to ruin you.
It could just whisper.
You failed. They were your responsibility. You weren't enough.
And Tomo was in a position to believe it.
Duke spoke, voice steady in his strong, grounded way.
"Then we don't let him drown."
We packed quickly—our weapons and restocked on water, first aid, and Baby's other emergency supplies. We left the broken-down truck behind at the shelter and took Uncle's delivery truck. It wasn't far from its last leg either, but it had wheels.
We piled in. This time, with better sleep—not complete rest, but enough to carry on. With a drive to push through.
Duke sat in the passenger's seat next to Uncle as he drove.
Uncle gave us one last reminder.
"No kids have gone missing since Thomas. That cult made its move and vanished underground, I am guessing, after Josh and Kaysi snuffed them out. They're waiting for something, the ones that remain. Gathering strength. I just don't know for what, but that means..."
James finished the thought quickly:
"Be on our guard."
We drove toward the youth center.
Towards the man with a second chance now under siege, someone who needed our saving.
Tomorrow, we will face the mayor and the governor.
Today, we save and protect someone when others won't.