The group continued up the hill, filled with sorrow and horror about what happened inside the facility. The wind was gently blowing through the pines, dragging along ash and dead leaves. The facility seemed to be still coughing smoke, as if it was a wounded animal.
The trucks were still there Chris said subconsciously, waited where they left them, only under a film of dust and pine needles, seemingly untouched. For a long time, nobody moved. Stepping into the clearing would make the absence of Valez real.
Jess took the first step. She not looking at anyone, just circled both vehicles, crouching to check the caps and hoses. Her fingertips brushed the fuel tanks, the locks still tight. "No one's touched them," she said quietly, half-relief, half-habit. "We're good."
Dev paced behind her, boots grinding gravel. He flexed his hands again and again, like he could still feel blood there. Every few steps he wiped them on his jeans. The motion didn't stop anything.
Elara followed then dropped beside the front tire of the lead truck, sitting with the chained case across her knees. She stared at the dirt, eyes glazed, barely blinking.
Chris stood a few feet away at the ridge line. The labs smoke seemed to be gray now, stripped of the strange green hue it had as they escaped. He watched it drift until he could almost convince himself the laughter he'd heard underground was gone with it.
"Five minutes," he said. "Then we move."
Dev laughed, sharp and brittle. "Move where? Into more graves?"
"North," Chris said. " The Castle should still be our goal. We get distance. We don't stop until we can't even see the smoke from that place."
Dev said nothing. Jess brushed dust off her jeans and opened the truck's side door, using the repetitive motions as armor. "Fuel's seems to halfway , and the tires are fine.
Dev opened the tailgate hard enough to make it bounce. He started unloading whatever he could reach, rope, the med kit, a tarp, setting it down in rough rows that meant nothing. His breathing came ragged. "I should've been watching," he said. "He told me to move and I just froze."
Jess turned, quiet. "He made that call, Dev. You know that."
"No," Dev barked, spinning on Elara. "He wouldn't of had to make that call, he died because of her."
Elara didn't flinch. Her voice stayed small. "He died to get all of us out."
Dev's throat worked. "He died because you ran for that damn cube instead of staying down!"
The words cracked through the air. Jess took a step forward, Chris didn't move. Elara lifted her head. Her eyes were bloodshot but steady. "If I hadn't gone, everything in that lab , and I mean everything would of been for nothing. He bought us time to escape. We would have been buried along side him. Do you think that's what he would of wanted?"
Dev rushed towards her grabbing at the chain on her wrist. The case jerked, metallic clatter echoing. "Let's see how much meaning it's got when it's smashed on the road!"
Chris was there before he realized it, catching Dev's arm mid-swing. "Enough."
Dev jerked, trying to pull free. "You're really taking her side?"
"I'm taking the only side left," Chris said. "The one with people still breathing."
Dev's shoulders sagged, then stiffened again, tension, grief and anger seemed to be ricocheting inside him. He turned and slammed his fist into the truck door. Metal rang. Hissed through his teeth at the pain, jess moved in and caught his hand before he could pull away.
"Let me see," she said. She cleaned the scrape with a bit of old cloth, wrapping it in silence. "He made his choice. Don't steal it from him."
"I didn't want a choice," Dev muttered.
Jess tied the knot and let go. "No one did."
Elara still hadn't looked up. "If you want to throw it," she said, voice thin, "throw me with it."
No one answered.
Chris finally exhaled and looked toward the trucks. "Load up. We're done here. I know it sucks, and I'll miss him too but he chose this so we could see tomorrow Dev. I hate him right now just as much as you for being as brave as he was. I will miss him, we all will!"
Dev slowly bent down and, gathered the supplies he'd thrown, shoving them back in the bed with small, angry care. When everything was packed, Chris climbed into the driver's seat of the lead truck. Elara hesitated, then opened the passenger door and slipped in beside him, the chained case resting on her lap like a wounded animal.
Jess started the second truck. Dev slid into the passenger seat beside her without a word, jaw tight enough to ache. The engine caught and rumbled; the noise filled the space where Valez's voice seemly should've been.
Chris waited until both engines steadied. "North," he said into the radio. "Stay two car lengths back."
Jess's voice crackled through static. "Okay Chris."
The lead truck rolled forward. Gravel popped under the tires, the world swallowing them in dust. Elara stared out her window, watching the smoke fade. "You think it'll stay buried?" she asked.
Chris kept his eyes on the road. "Nothing seems to stays buried anymore."
The shard beneath his skin pulsed once seemly to agree.
They drove until the ridge broke behind them and the only thing left of Harrow Point was the sound in their heads that wouldn't quiet down. Of what they all could of done differently.