Day 8: The Attack
The warehouse seemed to collapse under the weight of the approaching creatures. The screeches of the Wraithkin pierced the night, echoing off the cracked walls and broken beams. Eli's hands shook as he clutched the small blade, his heart racing so fast it felt like it would tear through his chest. His mind screamed at him to run, to slip through the cracks in the wall and disappear into the shadows, but Cass's words echoed in his head: You can't run forever.
"Get ready!" James barked, his rifle already raised as he motioned the others to fan out. His voice was calm, too calm, considering what was coming. Eli watched as James, Sarah, and the rest of their group moved with the kind of confidence that unnerved him. They didn't seem scared, not like they should be, and that only made Eli's stomach twist with doubt.
"Stay low and stay quiet," Cass muttered under her breath, her eyes locked on the entrance as she pulled out her bone knife. "We need to be smart. They'll come fast."
Luke crouched beside Eli, his breathing uneven but controlled. His knuckles were white as he gripped his weapon, a rusty machete he had scavenged from somewhere. He shot Eli a sideways glance, his earlier laid-back demeanor gone. Now, his eyes were filled with the same dread Eli felt gnawing at his insides.
"You ever fought one up close?" Luke asked, his voice low.
Eli swallowed hard, shaking his head. "No. Not like this."
The Wraithkin were upon them.
The first of the creatures burst through the rusted entrance of the warehouse, its pale, elongated form twisting unnaturally as it screeched, its empty eyes glowing in the dim firelight. It moved with an eerie grace, gliding across the floor as if it were weightless, its mouth stretched wide in a silent scream.
James fired a shot, hitting the creature square in the chest. The Wraithkin jerked back, but didn't fall. It hissed, its body twitching as it shook off the impact.
"Why isn't it going down?" Eli gasped, panic clawing at his throat.
Cass didn't answer. Instead, she lunged forward, her knife flashing as she slashed at the creature's legs. The blade struck true, cutting deep into its pale, brittle skin. The Wraithkin shrieked and collapsed, its body disintegrating into black ash. Cass didn't hesitate, already turning toward the next one. Her movements were precise, efficient, as if she had done this a thousand times.
And she had.
Eli watched her for a split second, something about the way she fought—her timing, her familiarity with every movement—sent a shiver down his spine. Cass knew these creatures too well. There was a confidence, a grim resignation in how she fought, like she had seen this all before. It wasn't just experience. It was something more.
But there was no time to dwell on that. More Wraithkin poured into the warehouse, their screeches filling the air as they descended on the survivors. James and his group fought back, but something about their movements, their reactions, felt off. They weren't panicking. They weren't scared. If anything, they seemed almost… prepared.
Eli's mind raced as the chaos unfolded around him. He ducked as one of the creatures lunged toward him, its skeletal fingers grasping at the air where his head had been. Instinct took over, and Eli scrambled backward, narrowly avoiding its strike. Move. Just keep moving.
He could hear Cass somewhere behind him, her voice sharp as she barked orders to the others. The sound of metal clashing with bone, of gunfire and screeches, filled the space, but there was something else. Something quieter, just beneath the surface—the exhaustion in Cass's voice.
Eli darted behind a collapsed beam, his heart hammering in his chest. He could barely breathe, the panic creeping up his spine like ice. He glanced around, trying to locate Cass in the chaos, but then, a shriek—deeper, more guttural—ripped through the warehouse.
A new Wraithkin, larger than the others, pushed its way through the broken entrance, its body twisting and convulsing as it moved. It was taller, more grotesque, with thick black spines protruding from its back. Its many eyes, red and glowing, darted around the room as it searched for prey. The other Wraithkin seemed to fall back, almost in reverence, letting the new creature take the lead.
"Shit," Cass hissed under her breath, her voice barely audible over the noise.
Eli's blood ran cold as the creature's eyes fixed on Cass, its body twitching as it stalked toward her. She was already preparing for it, her body tensing, but for a moment, Eli saw something flash in her eyes—something that looked too much like resignation. Like she knew what was coming.
The creature lunged, faster than anything Eli had seen. Cass tried to dodge, but she was a second too slow. The Wraithkin's claws slashed through the air, catching her across the side. Cass hit the ground hard, blood staining her shirt as she clutched her side.
"No!" Eli shouted, his voice hoarse with fear.
Without thinking, he ran toward her, his legs pumping faster than they ever had before. The creature loomed over her, its many eyes blinking in eerie unison as it prepared to strike again. But before it could, Eli threw himself in front of Cass, holding his blade up with trembling hands.
The creature's eyes shifted, focusing on him now. Eli's legs felt like jelly, his heart thundering in his chest as he stared into those empty, soulless eyes. His mind screamed at him to run, to get away, but his feet wouldn't move.
And then, in an instant, Cass was up again.
"Eli, move!" she barked, her voice sharper than he had ever heard it.
He barely had time to react before Cass lunged forward, her knife flashing in the dim light as she drove it into the creature's neck. The Wraithkin screeched, its body convulsing violently before crumpling to the ground, dissolving into ash.
Cass fell to her knees, clutching her side again, her face pale. Eli crouched beside her, his heart still racing, his breath coming in ragged gasps. "Cass… are you okay?" he asked, his voice shaking.
Cass didn't answer right away. She looked at him, her expression unreadable, but there was something in her eyes—something broken, something Eli couldn't quite understand. After a long pause, she finally nodded, her voice low. "I'm fine."
But Eli wasn't sure he believed her.
The fight eventually ended, the last of the Wraithkin falling to ash under the combined efforts of James and his group. The warehouse was quiet again, save for the heavy breathing of the survivors. James holstered his rifle, wiping sweat from his brow as he looked around at the wreckage.
"Well," he said with a wry smile, "that was… intense."
Eli barely heard him. His mind was still reeling from what had just happened, from the sight of Cass being knocked down, from the way she had risen, almost as if she knew she had no choice but to keep going. He couldn't shake the feeling that there was something she wasn't telling him.
Cass stood, wincing slightly as she pressed a hand to her wound. It wasn't deep, but it was bad enough. Eli wanted to help her, to ask if she needed rest, but the way she held herself—rigid, composed—made him hesitate. She wasn't someone who asked for help.
As they regrouped with the others, Eli's mind raced. He had been so focused on his own survival that he hadn't really thought about what Cass was going through. But now, seeing her injured, seeing the toll this world was taking on her—it made him realize just how much she was hiding.
She knows something, he thought, watching her out of the corner of his eye. She's been through this before, somehow. More than any of us.
And the worst part? He didn't know if she could take much more.
Later that night, after the group had settled back down, Eli approached Cass as she sat by herself, far from the others. She was sharpening her knife again, her movements slow and deliberate.
"You should rest," Eli said softly, sitting down beside her. "You're hurt."
Cass didn't look at him. "I'm fine," she repeated, her voice cold.
Eli hesitated. He wanted to ask her about what had happened earlier, about the way she had looked when the Wraithkin had attacked. But he didn't. Something told him that Cass wasn't ready to talk about it, and pushing her wouldn't get him any answers.
Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something bigger going on.
"Cass…" he began, his voice hesitant. "Why do you keep helping me? You're stronger than all of us. You could make it on your own if you wanted to."
For a long moment, Cass didn't answer. Her knife scraped against the stone, the sound filling the silence between them
Finally, Cass stopped, lowering the blade as she stared into the fire, her expression hard to read. The tension between them hung heavy in the air, thicker than the silence that followed. For a moment, Eli thought she might brush off his question, might shut him out the way she always did when things got too personal.
"You wouldn't understand," she said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. Her words were cold, but there was something fragile beneath them, something Eli hadn't heard from her before.
Eli frowned, leaning forward slightly. "Try me," he said, softer than he meant to. He didn't know why he was pushing. Maybe it was because he was tired of feeling like a burden to her, tired of being the one who was always saved. Or maybe it was because he had seen the way she looked after that Wraithkin attack—like someone who had been fighting for far too long.
Cass let out a breath, her grip on the knife tightening for a moment before she shoved it back into its sheath. Her eyes, when she finally looked at him, were exhausted—more than just physically. There was a weariness in them that made Eli feel like he was seeing a side of her he wasn't meant to see.
"Do you think I want to help you?" Cass asked, her voice sharp but not angry. It was more like frustration mixed with something deeper, something raw. "You think I haven't tried going on my own? It doesn't work. No matter how strong you are, no matter how good you think you are, this world will crush you if you try to survive alone. I've seen it. I've lived it."
Eli blinked, taken aback by her sudden openness. There was a heaviness in her words, something unspoken. He felt like she was on the edge of saying more, but she held herself back, like there was a line she wouldn't cross.
"Then why…" Eli started, unsure how to ask without sounding ungrateful. "Why do you keep fighting? Why help me? You could've left me behind a hundred times by now."
Cass's jaw tightened, her gaze dropping back to the fire. "Because," she said, her voice strained, "there's no other choice. You fight, or you die. And I've died… enough times."
Her words sent a chill down Eli's spine, but she said nothing more. He wasn't sure what she meant by died enough times, but the way she said it—it wasn't a metaphor. It sounded like the truth. Like she had lived through this hell more than anyone could possibly imagine. But before Eli could press her further, Cass stood abruptly, cutting the conversation short.
"We leave at first light," she said, her tone cold and distant again. "Get some rest."
Eli watched her walk away, disappearing into the shadows of the warehouse. His mind raced with questions, but none of them had answers. There was something about Cass—something she wasn't telling him, something that made her different from the other survivors. But he couldn't figure out what it was.
And then, there was the way she had said she'd "died enough times." The words echoed in his head, gnawing at him. What did she mean? How could someone die more than once?
The night passed slowly, the quiet of the warehouse broken only by the distant sounds of the city groaning under the weight of destruction. Eli lay on his makeshift bed, staring up at the cracked ceiling, his thoughts swirling in the darkness. He couldn't shake the feeling that something big was happening—something he didn't fully understand.
Cass had always been tough, resilient, but now he saw the cracks in her armor. Whatever she was carrying, whatever she had been through, it was taking its toll on her. She wasn't invincible, even if she seemed like it most of the time. And the way she fought—the way she knew every move the Wraithkin would make before they made it—it was like she had been fighting them for a lifetime.
Eli turned onto his side, glancing toward the spot where Cass had been sitting earlier. It was empty now, her silhouette no longer visible in the dim light. He wondered how many times she had been through this, how many people she had helped only to watch them die. And why, out of everyone, she kept choosing to help him.
Day 9: Secrets in the Light
Morning came with a dull red glow from the sky, casting long shadows across the wreckage of the city. The warehouse was quiet, the survivors still resting after the brutal attack the night before. Eli rubbed his eyes, sitting up slowly as the ache in his body reminded him of everything they had gone through.
Cass was already awake, as expected. She was standing near the entrance, checking her knife and looking out over the ruins, her face set in that same hard, distant expression she always wore when she thought no one was watching.
Eli stood, stretching his sore muscles, before quietly making his way over to her. "You didn't sleep," he said, more of a statement than a question.
Cass didn't look at him. "I don't need much."
Eli frowned but didn't push it. Instead, he leaned against the wall beside her, staring out into the ruins of the city. The destruction seemed endless, the once-tall buildings now crumbled, the streets cracked and broken. It felt like a different world from the one he had known, a world that had no place for people like him.
"We should move soon," Cass said after a long silence, her eyes scanning the horizon. "The Wraithkin will come back. They always do."
Eli nodded, his gaze drifting to the survivors behind them. James and his group were stirring, but none of them seemed as tense as Cass. They were too calm, too collected for people who had just fought off a Wraithkin attack. Eli couldn't shake the feeling that they knew something he didn't.
"Cass," Eli said hesitantly, keeping his voice low. "Do you trust them?"
She glanced at him, her eyes narrowing slightly. "I don't trust anyone."
Eli nodded, biting his lip. He had expected that answer. But something about the way James and his group acted—it bothered him. They weren't like the other survivors they had come across. They didn't seem afraid of the Wraithkin, not in the way most people were. And while they had fought well enough last night, Eli couldn't help but feel like they were holding something back.
"Do you think we should stay with them?" Eli asked, his voice uncertain.
Cass didn't answer immediately. She turned her gaze back to the city, her expression unreadable. "We'll stay long enough to get what we need," she said finally. "Then we leave."
Eli nodded again, though the pit of unease in his stomach didn't go away. He trusted Cass more than anyone, but he couldn't ignore the connection he had felt with Luke last night. Luke had been different from the others—honest, even if he was guarded. And he had hinted at secrets, things the group wasn't telling them.
Before Eli could say anything else, Luke approached, his easygoing smile back in place despite the tension in the air. "Morning," he said, giving them both a nod. "How's the body holding up after last night's excitement?"
Eli smiled faintly, though his legs still ached. "Could be worse," he admitted.
Luke chuckled. "You did better than most. The first time I saw one of those things, I couldn't even move. Froze up like a statue."
Eli glanced at Cass, wondering how much she had picked up on, but her face remained impassive. "What about you?" Eli asked. "You seemed… I don't know, like you weren't as surprised by the attack as the rest of us."
Luke's smile faltered for just a moment, but he quickly recovered. "We've had our fair share of run-ins with the Wraithkin. You learn to adapt, you know? It's the only way to survive."
Eli didn't press further, but the unease inside him grew. There was something Luke wasn't telling him, and it was more than just fear. It was as if he was walking a fine line, torn between loyalty to his group and whatever connection he felt with Eli.
"We're planning to head out soon," Luke said, glancing at Cass. "If you want to stick with us, you're welcome to. Safety in numbers, right?"
Eli looked at Cass, waiting for her to answer, but her gaze remained fixed on the horizon. He could tell she wasn't going to commit to anything yet. But before she could say anything, James called out from the other side of the warehouse.
"Let's get moving, folks! We've got a long way to go today."
Cass gave a curt nod to Eli and Luke, her hand resting on the hilt of her knife. "We'll see."
As they prepared to leave the warehouse, Eli couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to happen—something that would test everything they had learned about survival. And whatever it was, Cass was preparing for it. She always was.