The sky hadn't moved, but time had.
The stars above the lean-to flickered in slow pulses, like dying embers cast too far from the fire. I lay there, unmoving, eyes open to the black canopy of night, each breath a deliberate, even drag through my nose. I didn't dare close my eyes. Not because I was afraid of what I'd see—nothing haunted me worse than what I saw while awake—but because I couldn't afford to lose another minute.
Six hours. That's all I had left before the System reactivated. Six waking hours. And I was burning them by the second.
Beside me, Sienna slept in fits. Her hand rested against my forearm, a reflexive contact she made without realizing. Every time I shifted, she'd stir, tighten her grip for just a moment, then fall still again.
