Chapter 25: Conversations in the Ruins
The quiet hum of flickering streetlights filled the air as Morgan and Ryan sat on the edge of a broken rooftop overlooking the wreckage below. Neither had spoken since the confrontation, both of them lost in their thoughts. The air was thick with the weight of unsaid things, heavy like the aftermath of a storm.
Morgan rested his forearms on his knees, a cigarette dangling between his fingers. He hadn't bothered to light it. Beside him, Ryan's breath was still uneven, his body tense from the effects of his recent transformation.
"So…" Ryan's voice broke the silence. "This is what it feels like."
Morgan glanced at him out of the corner of his eye but said nothing. Ryan's bare chest gleamed under the dim light, his muscles still rippling unnaturally beneath the surface.
"It's intoxicating," Ryan continued, clenching his fists. "For a moment, I thought I was unstoppable. I couldn't think straight—just rage, and everything in my way was... gone." He shook his head. "How do you live with this?"
Morgan finally lit the cigarette, inhaling deeply. "You don't." He exhaled smoke, watching it drift into the night air. "You survive. One day at a time."
Ryan scoffed, rubbing the back of his neck. "You make it sound easy."
"It isn't." Morgan leaned back slightly, propping himself up with one hand. "You have to fight every moment not to let it take over. The beast inside... it doesn't sleep. It waits. The moment you slip, it takes control."
Ryan stared out at the ruined city below. "So what happened to you? Why didn't you slip?"
Morgan smirked, but there was no humor in it. "Who says I didn't?"
The words hung between them, heavy and unspoken truths swirling in the silence. Ryan didn't press for details, but his gaze remained fixed on Morgan, waiting for an answer.
Morgan took another drag from his cigarette. "It was a long time ago. Ted and I thought we could handle it—thought we were invincible." His voice was low, laced with old regrets. "We fought wars, built cities, broke nations. And for what? The world was still the same. Still broken."
Ryan shifted uncomfortably. "What happened between you two? You and Ted?"
Morgan stared at the glowing ember of his cigarette, as if the answer lay somewhere in the ash. "He changed. Or maybe I did. I told myself we were doing the right thing, but... sometimes, you don't notice you've lost yourself until it's too late."
Ryan nodded slowly, understanding more than Morgan expected. "So, he went all in."
"Yeah." Morgan's jaw tightened. "He embraced the beast. And I couldn't stop him."
For a long moment, neither of them spoke. The night stretched out around them, vast and silent, like the space between stars.
"Is that what you think is going to happen to me?" Ryan asked finally, his voice barely above a whisper.
Morgan didn't answer immediately. "I don't know, kid. But I do know this: if you don't figure out who you are—what you want—then yeah, it's going to eat you alive."
Ryan laughed bitterly. "Great pep talk, old man."
Morgan chuckled, the sound rough but genuine. "I've been called worse."
Ryan leaned back, letting the tension drain from his body, at least for the moment. "And what about Pod?"
Morgan's smile faded. "Pod's different."
"How?"
Morgan crushed the cigarette beneath his boot, grinding it into the rooftop. "Because he didn't ask for any of this. And because the churches are already sharpening their knives for him."
Ryan's expression darkened. "He's going to be hunted, isn't he?"
Morgan nodded. "They'll come for him. Sooner or later."
"And you? Are you going to come for him too?"
Morgan didn't answer right away. Instead, he looked out over the city, his mind drifting to the vial hidden beneath the floorboards. "I hope it doesn't come to that."
Ryan studied him, searching for something in Morgan's expression. "You care about him, don't you?"
Morgan smiled faintly, a rare flicker of warmth in his otherwise stoic demeanor. "Yeah. I do."
The two of them sat in silence once more, the weight of the conversation settling between them like a thick fog. For the first time in a long while, Morgan allowed himself to feel the burden of everything he carried—the wars, the betrayals, the lies.
And maybe, just maybe, a flicker of hope.