Kelvin stretched, rolling his shoulders as he surveyed their surroundings. His expression was sharp, his eyes scanning the ruins with the practiced wariness of someone who knew danger could be lurking at any moment. The light from the strange, cloud-filled sky cast an eerie glow over the landscape, making it difficult to tell if anything had changed from the night before.
He turned toward Hope, his voice calm but firm.
"Any movement during your watch?"
Hope shook his head. He hadn't seen anything worth mentioning. There was no point in putting them on edge over shadows and silence. In a place like this, paranoia could be as deadly as an actual threat. If something had been lurking nearby, it had kept its distance.
From the corner of his eye, Hope noticed Walker stirring. The older boy pushed himself up with a grunt, wincing slightly as he sat up. His rusted dagger was still clutched tightly in his hand, as if he had slept with his fingers wrapped around it the entire time. His gaze flickered toward Hope, his lips curling into a faint smirk.
"Hopeless," Walker muttered, his voice rough from sleep. "Why didn't you wake me for watch?"
Hope opened his mouth to respond, but Kelvin beat him to it.
"You looked beaten up yesterday, so I guess he felt there was no need to wake you." Kelvin's tone was even, matter-of-fact.
Walker scoffed, shaking his head as he mumbled something under his breath. Hope caught only fragments of it—something about not needing anyone to decide things for him, about not being weak. He didn't push the issue further.
Instead, Walker shifted his focus toward stretching his limbs, rolling his shoulders as if testing for soreness. His expression was guarded, but Hope could tell he wasn't truly angry. Just annoyed, maybe. Or embarrassed.
Hope glanced between the two of them, then exhaled softly.
It was a small exchange, nothing significant. But in the Ashlands, even small things could reveal a lot about a person.
Kelvin had stepped in before Hope could answer, not because he needed to, but because he had naturally taken on a leadership role within their group—whether he realized it or not. He had a way of speaking that carried weight, of making things sound reasonable even when they weren't up for debate.
Walker, on the other hand, was prickly. Defensive. The kind of person who didn't like being seen as weak, even when he clearly was. The fact that he had slept through the night without protest probably meant he had been exhausted, but now that it was morning—or whatever passed for morning in this place—he was back to acting as if he didn't need anyone.
And Hope?
Hope was just trying to survive.
He ran a hand through his hair, pushing aside whatever thoughts had begun to form in his mind. None of this mattered. Not really. They had more important things to focus on.
Because now that the long night had passed, they had to figure out what came next.