The community center is different now.
Arden feels it the moment she walks in. The air. The silence. The way people look at her.
Some stare. Some look away. None smile.
Eight survivors sit in the circle. Yesterday there were fifteen. Today? Eight.
Margaret's gone. Obviously. Fled after the knife. After the exposure. After everything.
But seven others are missing too. Dmitri. Three of the unnamed ones. Marcus. The Empty girl.
Gone. Vanished. Chose Margaret's side.
The fracture is real.
"Where are the rest?" Arden asks. Knows the answer. Asks anyway.
Jin-Hwa stands by the coffee maker. Surgeon hands steady. Face hard. "They left. Last night. Right after you boarded Bus 000. Said you were insane. Said you'd get everyone killed."
"Did they go with Margaret?"
"Don't know. Don't care." Jin-Hwa pours coffee. Drinks it black. "They made their choice. We made ours."
