Kelvin blinked, his expression unreadable for a moment. Then, with a slight tilt of his head, he asked, "Just that?"
Hope nodded without hesitation.
Kelvin exhaled through his nose, shaking his head slightly. "Everyone wants to survive," he stated, his tone neither judgmental nor condescending, just a simple acknowledgment of fact.
Hope met his gaze and shrugged. "What ambition would I have except for surviving?"
His voice was even, but there was something beneath it—something weighty, something old.
He glanced away, his fingers absently brushing against the frayed edges of his jacket. His bloodstained, tattered clothes and mismatched boots were proof enough of the life he had lived. He wasn't like Kelvin, who spoke of protecting people. He wasn't like Walker, who harbored grudges and dreamed of revenge. He had never been someone who wanted something beyond the next meal, the next day, the next moment of peace.
"I have no one waiting for me in the waking world," he continued, his voice quieter now. "No one praying for my survival. No one who'd even notice if I never came back."
The words weren't bitter—just a simple truth.
Hope had always been alone.
There was no family, no friends, no place to return to with open arms and warm smiles. He had never known the weight of responsibility toward another person, had never felt the pressure of someone else's expectations resting on his shoulders. There was no one out there hoping for him to succeed, no one who would feel pain if he failed.
So why should he care about anything beyond survival?
His gaze flickered toward Kelvin again, who remained silent, listening. Walker, too, was watching, though his expression was harder to read.
Hope leaned back slightly, stretching out his legs. "So yeah," he continued, voice light but with an edge of finality. "I just wanna live."
A pause. Then he smirked slightly, as if realizing something. "Oh, and I almost forgot."
Kelvin raised an eyebrow.
"I want to have enough money to buy good food and get a proper night's sleep," Hope said, his voice carrying the faintest trace of amusement.
Because in the end, that was all he had ever really wanted. Nothing grand, nothing extraordinary. Just the simple comforts of life that had always been out of reach.