The fire was small—just enough to fight the cold, not enough to be seen.
The night around us was a wall of silence, the kind that pressed against the skin. Smoke curled upward, carrying the faint smell of gasoline and damp pine.
Eli sat across from me, knees pulled to his chest, staring into the flames.
He hadn't said much since we left the grain fields.
When he finally spoke, his voice was barely louder than the crackle of burning wood.
"You don't remember me, do you?"
I blinked. "What?" My eyes caught the firelight. "You mean from the camp?"
He shook his head slowly. "From before that. A few months ago."
The words caught me off guard. My pulse stumbled.
Eli thinks I'm Lily.
I forced a half-smile. "So that's why you didn't turn me in at the camp—you recognized me?"
He nodded, hesitant, studying my face like he was trying to line up two versions of the same picture.
"But… you're different somehow," he said finally, brows furrowing. "Your eyes. The way you talk."
I looked at him for a long moment, deciding that now wasn't the time to explain the impossible.
"Well," I said, exhaling slowly, "I was in a car accident and hit my head hard. Been having some issues with my memory."
I leaned forward, warming my hands. "Why don't you remind me?"
Eli hesitated, as if he were deciding whether to trust me.
Then he nodded. "Okay."
He poked at the fire with a stick, sending sparks spiraling upward.
"You were with this group of men," he began. "They were like soldiers—but not the kind from before things changed. Their gear didn't match, and they didn't wear flags. You saved us—me and my mom. We were trying to get to my dad and got stranded when our car broke down."
He stopped, swallowing hard.
"But my mom died later. From the sickness."
"I'm sorry," I said softly.
He nodded without looking up. "My dad's the one you wanted. He refused to help you unless you found me and Mom." He paused; sadness reflected in his eyes.
"Anyway, my dad? He knew things he said could save everyone. You guys brought us back to this underground place. It was big, clean, and had lots of lights. The safest place I'd ever seen."
The bunker. The voice in my head. My heartbeat quickened, "Lily?" Nothing.
"I wished we could've stayed," he went on, "but I was playing with my toys under the table in my dad's lab when you and he started arguing. He was yelling, and you kept saying they were coming. And we had to go. Then everything got worse fast."
He picked up a small stone and tossed it into the fire. It hissed, popped.
"My dad begged you to hide me. He told you about the camp near the water tower—that they'd take me in, keep me safe. He said he'd find a way to meet us at the big city camp—the one with the radio tower, and supplies."
Eli's eyes lifted to mine.
"He promised you food. Transport. Safety for you and your family—your sister, your parents—if you helped us."
My throat went dry.
Is that where we were headed, Lily? When you said we had a stop to make? A promise you needed to keep.
Nothing.
The voice that had haunted me since the crash—her voice—was quiet now.
Eli stared into the flames again. "You told him you would you'd take me to the camp, no matter what. But after we got out, you dumped these people off at the water tower and disappeared. I thought you were dead."
He looked up again, eyes glassy. "So, when I saw you at the camp, I thought maybe you came back for me."
I couldn't breathe for a second.
The story poured through me, connecting fragments that had never made sense—the map, the key, the ID card.
Lily hadn't been running from something. She'd been running toward a promise.
I stared at the fire until the shapes blurred. "So, your dad," I said slowly. "He's alive?"
Eli nodded. "He must be. He's smart. Smarter than anyone. He said he could fix what went wrong."
"Project Eden," I murmured before I could stop myself.
Eli frowned. "What's that?"
"Nothing," I said quickly. "Just… something I found in Lily's files."
He studied me again, suspicion flickering behind his eyes.
"You really don't remember, do you?"
"No," I said. "I don't."
And for once, it wasn't a lie.
The fire burned low. The night pressed closer.
Eli curled up against his pack, exhaustion winning the battle against fear. Within minutes, his breathing evened out.
I sat there watching the embers fade, thinking about everything he'd said.
The pieces fit.
Lily's disappearance. The underground facility. The promise to protect the boy.
This kid wasn't just some stray I found on the road—he was the reason Lily came back out here.
Her mission hadn't ended with her death. It had passed on to me.
I whispered into the dark, "Was this what you were trying to finish, Lily? Were you saving him… or something else?"
No answer came—only the whisper of wind through the trees and the soft hiss of the dying fire.
But deep down, I knew.
Lily had been saving someone—and killing for that exact cause.
Whatever she started, I was already too far in to turn back.
I tightened my grip on the gun resting beside me and stared into the shadows beyond the firelight.
"Tomorrow," I murmured, "we find that city and that tower."