Chapter 30: Shattered Loyalties
The trees blurred into a dark green haze as Ethan sprinted through the forest, his breath harsh and ragged. Every step sent pain shooting up his legs, but he pushed through, fueled by a mix of adrenaline and a gnawing sense of dread. The echoes of gunfire still rang faintly in his ears, growing distant as he led the enemy away from Alex and Mason. His muscles screamed for reprieve, but there was no time to stop. Not now. Not when everything was so close to falling apart.
He cursed under his breath, ducking low beneath a canopy of branches, blending into the thick undergrowth like a ghost. Gabriel's men were relentless, their shouts echoing through the woods as they closed in on him. But Ethan had been through worse. Much worse.
Memories clawed their way to the surface—flashes of his past that he had buried deep, locked away in the darkest corners of his mind. The day everything changed. The day the world turned to ash and blood.
Six Years Earlier
The sky was on fire.
Ethan remembered the smell first—the acrid stench of burning metal and flesh mingling in the air as the city crumbled around him. He'd been only 19, a foolish kid with no sense of the world's cruelty. His only real concern had been surviving the hellhole of a neighborhood he'd grown up in, dodging gangs and petty thieves.
But when the first bombs fell, when the world descended into chaos, all of that seemed insignificant.
He remembered running through the streets, his lungs burning from the smoke and dust. His younger sister, Lily, had been beside him, her small hand gripping his tightly as they fled through the city. The sound of explosions rocked the air, the ground trembling beneath their feet. There had been no warning, no chance to prepare. Just panic. Just survival.
He'd promised her—sworn to her—that he'd protect her. That no matter what happened, he would keep her safe.
But promises were fragile things in the apocalypse.
They had made it as far as the outskirts of the city before the soldiers found them—Gabriel's soldiers. Not the merciless, trained killers they were now, but brutal and chaotic even then. Desperate to control whatever piece of the broken world they could.
He could still feel the bone-crunching impact of the rifle butt against his skull, the metallic taste of blood filling his mouth as they beat him into submission. Lily's screams echoed in his ears as they tore her away from him, and he was powerless, a crumpled heap of blood and bruises on the ground.
That was the last time he saw her. That was the day Ethan died, and something colder, harder took his place.
Ethan blinked the memory away, forcing himself back to the present as the forest closed in around him. He couldn't afford to lose focus. Not now. But his mind was already spiraling, the past threatening to consume him.
Gabriel had been there. Not just a name whispered in the shadows, not just the enemy leader they'd fought against for months—he had been there that night. And he had taken everything from Ethan.
Everything.
A snap of a twig behind him pulled him from his thoughts, his instincts kicking in as he whirled around, drawing his knife. A figure darted through the underbrush—a soldier, one of Gabriel's men, rifle raised.
Ethan moved like lightning. In one swift, brutal motion, he lunged forward, his knife sinking into the soldier's throat before the man could fire a shot. The soldier gurgled, blood spilling from his lips as he crumpled to the ground, dead before he hit the dirt.
No hesitation. No mercy.
Ethan wiped the blood from his blade, his jaw clenched tight. He couldn't afford to think about the past. Not now. Not when Alex and Mason were still in danger. But the weight of it clung to him, heavy and suffocating, like chains he could never break.
He started moving again, faster this time. The setting sun cast long shadows through the trees, the orange and pink hues of twilight staining the sky. Evening was approaching, and with it, the ever-present danger that came with the dark. He needed to get back to Alex, to regroup, but something gnawed at him—something Gabriel had said before the mission.
"We all have our secrets, Ethan," Gabriel had whispered, his voice low and insidious, like poison dripping into his ear. "Even those closest to you. How long do you think you can keep yours from her?"
Earlier that Afternoon
It had been just before they set out for the rescue mission. Ethan had gone to scout ahead, ensuring the path was clear, when he'd encountered Gabriel, alone in the woods, waiting for him. The bastard had been too confident, standing there as if he knew something Ethan didn't.
"You think you can protect her from me, from this?" Gabriel had sneered, his eyes dark with a twisted amusement. "You're hiding more than you think, soldier."
Ethan had kept his face blank, refusing to let Gabriel's words get to him, but the truth had twisted like a knife in his gut. Gabriel knew. He knew about Ethan's past, about the secrets he had worked so hard to bury. And now he was using them to manipulate him, to get inside his head.
"She doesn't know, does she?" Gabriel had continued, his voice a mocking taunt. "She doesn't know what you did, what you lost. If she did, she'd never trust you. Hell, she might even turn on you. People like us, Ethan? We're built to betray."
Ethan had wanted to kill him then and there, to silence him once and for all, but Gabriel had slipped away into the shadows, leaving those words hanging in the air like a curse.
Now, as Ethan approached the clearing where they had planned to regroup, Gabriel's words echoed in his mind, louder and more insistent. He didn't want to believe it, didn't want to think that Alex would ever turn on him, but the doubt was there, festering like a wound.
He broke through the trees and saw them—Alex and Mason, huddled by a small fire, their faces tired but alive. Relief washed over him, but it was quickly tempered by the tension that still clung to the air like smoke.
Alex looked up as he approached, her eyes narrowing slightly as if she could sense the storm brewing inside him.
"You made it," she said, her voice steady, but there was an edge to it, something wary.
Ethan nodded, his mouth dry. "We need to move. Gabriel's men are still out there."
"Agreed," Alex said, standing up and pulling her jacket tighter against the evening chill. But her gaze lingered on him for a moment longer than usual, as if she was searching for something beneath the surface.
Something was wrong. She could feel it. He could see the doubt creeping into her eyes, the same doubt that Gabriel had planted in his mind.
They started walking, moving quickly through the forest, but the silence between them was suffocating. Ethan could feel the weight of Alex's gaze on him, could feel her suspicion growing with every step.
And then, as the last rays of sunlight dipped below the horizon, she spoke.
"What aren't you telling me?"
The question hung in the air, heavy and accusatory. Ethan stopped, his heart pounding in his chest. He had known this moment would come, had tried to prepare for it, but now that it was here, he didn't know what to say.
He turned to face her, his jaw clenched, his fists at his sides. "Alex, I—"
"Don't lie to me," she interrupted, her voice sharp, cutting through the tension like a blade. "I can see it in your eyes. You're hiding something. Something big. And if we're going to survive this—if we're going to beat Gabriel—I need to know what it is."
Ethan's throat tightened, the words sticking in his mouth. He wanted to tell her, wanted to lay everything bare, but the fear—the fear that she would see him for what he really was, that she would turn her back on him—was too strong.
But he couldn't run from it anymore. Gabriel had made sure of that.
"I was there," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "The night the bombs fell. I was there when everything went to hell."
Alex's eyes widened, surprise flickering across her face, but she didn't interrupt. She waited, letting him speak.
"I tried to protect my sister," Ethan continued, his voice thick with emotion. "But I failed. Gabriel's men took her. And I—" He swallowed hard, the words burning in his throat. "I've been running ever since. Hiding. Trying to forget. But Gabriel knows. He knows everything."
Alex stared at him, her expression unreadable. The silence stretched on, heavy and oppressive.
Then, finally, she spoke.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want you to look at me like this," Ethan admitted, his voice raw. "Like I'm broken. Like I'm someone who can't be trusted."
Alex shook her head, her eyes softening just a fraction. "We've all lost people, Ethan. We've all done things we're not proud of. But keeping secrets—that's what breaks trust. Not the past."
The weight of her words hit him like a punch to the gut. She was right. He had been so focused on hiding his pain, on shielding her from the darkness inside him, that he hadn't realized he was pushing her away.
"I'm sorry," he said, his voice barely audible.
Alex sighed, running a hand through her hair. "We'll talk more later. But right now, we need to focus. Gabriel's playing us, and if we don't get our shit together, we're all dead."
Ethan nodded, the tension easing just a little. They had a mission to complete, and for now, that was all that mattered.
But as they continued through the darkening forest, Ethan couldn't shake the feeling that the secrets between them weren't done unraveling yet.
And Gabriel? He wasn't finished with them either.