Leon stepped forward, his boots heavy on the ground as he watched the aftermath unfold. The factory was still, deathly quiet now that the battle was over. He could feel the burn in his muscles, the fatigue threatening to overtake him. But it didn't matter. Not now.
He had always known that the world didn't wait for anyone. The war with Bishop was over, but that didn't mean their fight was done. There would always be more battles, more people to destroy, more blood to spill. That was the world they had chosen.
He turned toward Aaron and Matt, both of them still standing over Bishop's body. They had done what needed to be done, but Leon could sense the unease in their movements. The war had taken more from them than they had realized.
"You good?" Leon asked, his voice hoarse.
Aaron nodded, though it was clear that the weight of everything they had done was pressing down on him. Leon didn't need to say more. He understood. They all did. They had taken down Bishop, but they had lost pieces of themselves in the process. They weren't the same people who had walked into that factory hours ago.
But maybe that was the price of survival.
Leon's eyes swept across the factory once more, taking in the devastation, the wreckage of what had been. He could almost feel Bishop's lingering presence, the echoes of his manipulations still hanging in the air like a cloud. The man was gone, but his influence? It would linger in the shadows forever.
"Let's go," Leon said, his voice firm. "We're done here."
Without another word, he turned and walked toward the exit. The others followed, Matt stumbling slightly behind, but they all kept moving forward. The fight was over, but the scars remained.