The gas station stood at the edge of town, rusted, forgotten, but structurally sound. The pumps outside had long since dried up, but the building itself had potential. Two rooms in the back, a small bathroom.
Perfect.
"You're sure about this?" Ariana asked, doubting herself now, standing beside him in the morning light. Her hand found his automatically, their fingers threading together like it was the most natural thing in the world.
"Yeah." Levi squeezed her hand. "We need our own space. For now, at least."
They'd already talked to Miguel and Elena after they returned from the barn. The conversation had been awkward, Levi stumbling over explanations about privacy and independence while both parents tried very hard not to smile. Finally, Miguel had just clapped him on the shoulder and summarized his points perfectly, "You're married. You need your own space. We understand."
From there, they simply said they would always be at the main house. It was simply embarrassing for both of them to always break it up in front of her parents.
"Come on," he said, tugging Ariana toward the door. "Let me show you what I'm thinking."
The backrooms were as he had expected, small enough to fit a queen bed, which there was one, a battered nightstand, and a metal shelf that had seen better centuries.
Ariana looked around slowly, taking it in with her arms wrapped lightly around herself. "It's… small."
"It is," Levi admitted, terribly so, but the plan was simply to use it as their nest for a bit. Their own honeymoon, even if it's in a terrible place. "I plan to change the smaller bedroom as well," Levi spoke up, walking to the second bedroom, followed by Ariana.
"I want to make a hiding place underneath the floor."
Ariana knelt, running her hand over the floor, before standing up. "How long will it take?"
"A week, maybe less if I work at it." He knelt beside her. "But it'll be worth it."
After that, they went back to Miguel's place, letting them know that they would pick up the gas station for a while. While it was on the other side of the town from where they were, thankfully, the entire place had maybe fifteen buildings, and it would take a five-minute walk.
"I can help you inspect the place." Miguel offered, both men sitting at the dining table while the women were in the living room, on the couch. "I'd like that." Levi nodded, a grateful smile on his face.
"I've got some tools in the basement-"
"I'll bring them up for you." Levi interrupted, already heading downstairs, deciding to give his in-laws some time with their daughter. The basement was still its creepy self, dirt floor, fridge in the corner of the room that worked without a socket, and some junk in the corners.
He searched for a moment for the supposed tools and found them under the stairs. Levi shifted his weight, and the ground beneath him gave slightly.
He froze.
"The ground…" He stood slowly, moved a few feet over, then back to the same spot. The difference was subtle but unmistakable. Hollow. Like there was empty space beneath.
His blood went cold.
"No," he breathed. "No, no, no."
He was already moving, dropping to his knees, scraping away the loose dirt with his hands, tools forgotten, until-
There.
A wooden edge. A handle. A trap door...
Understanding dawned on his face. "They're everywhere."
He stood, started pacing, and his mind was racing. If all the basements had the same design, then they would for sure have the trap door in the same place. But he still needed to check, to confirm.
…
…
The abandoned house three doors down had one. Same location, under the stairs, hidden by dirt.
The house after that had one too.
And the next.
Every single basement Levi checked had a trap door in the exact same spot, covered by the exact same amount of dirt, like someone had gone through town systematically and installed them all at once.
The storm cellar felt different in daylight, less malevolent, but no less wrong. Levi descended the stone steps. He had shakily told his new family that he needed to check something, and they let him.
Now that he was here, he gulped and took a step forward.
The corridor was exactly as he remembered, tight, almost claustrophobically tight. Stone walls. The smell of earth and old terror.
But now, knowing what to look for, he found it quickly. A room he'd missed before, hidden behind a closet that he only noticed because he was looking. And inside-
A bed, some candles around the walls, and a nightstand. Levi walked around for a bit and then felt it again underneath him. That same shift and hollow feeling. He swiped the dirt, and there it was. Another trap door. Larger than the others. Older, maybe.
"They're all connected," Levi said, his voice echoing off the stone, but this confirmed his theory. There really were tunnels running under the whole town, linking almost all buildings together.
He climbed back into sunlight, and Levi felt like he could breathe again. But the knowledge sat heavy in his chest. Trap doors. Tunnels. A network beneath the town that no one knew about.
Another blue. Another piece of the nightmare.
…
…
Back at the gas station, he found Miguel already working on reinforcing one of the windows. He looked up as they entered, took in his expressions, and set down his tools.
"What happened?"
Levi told him. About the trap doors, the tunnels, the systematic nature of it all. Miguel's face grew graver with each word.
"You didn't open any of them?"
"No."
"Good." Miguel ran a hand over his face. "I'd feel better if you… Both of you moved here from the house…" Levi told him, hesitated how to call Miguel and Elena now that he was part of their family.
Miguel smiled, nodding. "We will, thank you."
"We don't tell anyone else," Miguel said quietly. "Not yet. Not until we understand what we're dealing with."
Levi nodded. "Agreed. No sense starting a panic."
Abby's POV
The voices were a chorus now. Constant. Overlapping. Some high, some low, all saying the same thing in different words.
Kill them. Wake them. Set them free.
Abby sat on the porch, the gun heavy in her lap. Boyd's service weapon. She'd taken it from his pack while he slept—or pretended to sleep. He didn't stop her. Maybe he knew. Maybe he'd given up too.
Ellis was inside, making breakfast she wouldn't eat. Trying so hard to hold together a family that had already shattered.
They're not real, the voices whispered. None of this is real. You're the only real one. You have to save them.
Her fingers traced the gun's grip. Cold. Solid. Real.
More real than anything else in this place.
Levi's POV
The barn was private. Secluded. And most importantly, Ariana had looked at him with those eyes when Miguel and he returned, the ones that said I want you, and Levi's brain had short-circuited.
They gave her parents a barely thought excuse and just left them at the house. Though he might have heard something about being in heat from them. He ignored it and just raced with Ariana to the barn.
Some people stopped and looked at them, hopeful, in love, and smiled before going back to what they were doing. By the time they did reach the barn, they put up a pretence, as if they were caring about the new livestock.
Feeding them, petting them, but in reality, they were just trying to distract each other from what they really wanted. But in the end, Levi couldn't handle it anymore. "Let's go." He whispered to Ariana, a shiver going down her spine.
In a poor attempt to be sneaky, they looked around, walking towards the door of the barn. Once inside, they locked the door and lunged at each other.
Contrary to the previous kisses, this wasn't tender, but rough. Hungry and needy. A logical part of Levi thought it wasn't normal. How much he craved her, to do it with her. He attempted to use context, that they had been in a life and death situation for weeks now. They were in a nightmare, and it must've awakened the instincts that their society has suppressed.
But the other part just didn't care. She was his. Completely. And he was hers. That's all they needed.
She pushed him until his back hit a support beam, her fingers fisted in his shirt, and-
"Wait," she gasped, pulling back. "I don't… how do we-"
"I don't know either," he admitted, just as breathless, looking up at her fierce eyes.
They laughed, nervous and ridiculous and completely in love. Then they figured it out. Fumbling, awkward, perfect.
It was far from anything they had been told, but at the same time, it was everything they had been told. They had to stop multiple times, so as not to end too soon, breathless in each other's embrace.
Afterward, lying in the hay with Ariana curled against his chest, Levi felt something he hadn't felt in years.
Complete.
"We need to shower," Ariana said after a while, her voice lazy and content.
"Yeah."
Neither of them moved.
Finally, she propped herself up on her elbow, looking down at him with a grin. "Together?"
Heat flooded through him again. "Yeah?"
Her smile was wicked. "Yeah."
The walk back towards the house was awkward and slow, with Ariana being sore from her first time. They felt like thieves being caught red-handed, but thankfully, instead of taking the main road, they entered the forest and circled the town. A walk that should have taken ten minutes had taken thirty minutes.
Both exited the forest content and breathless, and giggling like children. The shower was supposed to be practical. Cleaning off the hay and sweat, and evidence.
It wasn't practical.
At all.
Evening found them at Elena and Miguel's house, the old house, since they hadn't finished moving yet. Elena took one look at her daughter and pulled her aside for a quiet conversation that made Ariana's cheeks flame red.
Levi found himself alone with Miguel in the living room. It was, at best, an awkward moment for both men, not knowing how to interact after they both knew what had happened. So, they simply ignored each other, thinking it was best for the moment, until Elena and Ariana came back downstairs.
Both with wide smiles, while one was bashful. "Hungry?" The older woman asked, getting nods from everyone. Food was heated, and the table was set a few minutes later. Ariana stabbed her potatoes. Levi tried not to smile. Tried and failed.
Elena glanced up, caught the exchange, and her grin widened. "You two look very… rested."
Ariana nearly choked. "Mamá."
Miguel cleared his throat, shifting in his seat. "Let them eat, cariño."
"Yes, yes," Elena said, waving him off. "They need the energy."
Levi coughed into his plate. Ariana kicked him under the table.
But the warmth in the room was real. Comfortable, even with the awkwardness. A small island of normalcy in a place that had none. For a moment, Levi let himself sink into it, family, food, laughter simmering under the surface. All the things he had never expected to have again.
After dinner, Ariana drifted to the kitchen with her mother. Levi stayed behind, helping Miguel clear the table. The quiet between them wasn't tense this time, just… there.
Miguel finally spoke. "You care about her."
It wasn't a question.
Levi stacked two plates. "More than anything."
Miguel nodded once, like he'd already known and only needed to hear it spoken aloud. "Good. Then keep her safe."
"I will."
He said it with the same certainty as breathing.
Miguel clapped his shoulder, not hard, but with the weight of trust. Then he moved to join Elena and Ariana, leaving Levi standing in the dim light, realizing how quickly these people had become essential.
Later, when the house settled and conversation faded, Ariana tugged him upstairs. Not for more, just to be close. To curl into each other on the narrow bed, her head tucked under his chin.
Boyd's POV
He wasn't going to make it.
The realization hit with perfect clarity as the sun was starting to die completely and the creatures' screeches were about to fill the forest. Boyd pressed himself against a massive tree trunk, panting as he looked at the sky.
He wasn't going to make it. Until he saw it. The dog.
Back in the town, Ellis, Donna, and Khutri were running around on the edge of the town, crying out Boyd's name, hoping that it would be a beacon for him to find his way back in time. But nothing. No matter how much they called.
The commotion had Levi, Miguel, and then Elena and Ariana leave the house to see what was going on. "Boyd's not back." The priest told them.
Ellis was there, pacing, his expression tight with worry. "He should've been back hours ago. Something's wrong."
"He knows how to survive," Khatri said gently, "He'll find shelter, wait for dawn."
"Or he's dead," Ellis shot back. "Or hurt. Or—"
"We can't search in the dark," Donna interrupted, her voice hard. "You know that."
Levi felt their eyes turn to him at her words. He'd gone into the forest before. Had survived when others hadn't, even if it was just once. They expected him to volunteer.
But Ariana was right behind him. Her parents stood nearby. His family.
"I'm not going," he said quietly. "I'm sorry. But I can't."
Understanding and disappointment warred on their faces. Ellis looked like he wanted to argue, but the first screech cut through the evening air.
Time to hide.
They scattered to their spots. Levi, Ariana, Miguel, and Elena made it to the hole behind the diner, the first one Levi had dug, his second day in town. It felt like a lifetime ago.
As darkness fell and the monsters emerged, Levi held his wife close and hoped Boyd was smart enough to survive the night. To climb and just remain unmoving throughout the night.
---
AN: Not gonna lie, my weakest chapter yet.
There was a lot going on in this chapter and instead of writing it to be long and have the pace be steady, I took the lazy way out and just sped through it. Mainly because I had been writing 5 chapters that day, this being the last one and I was tired of it.
Sorry for that and hopefully, in the future, I'll fix this chapter.