Marcus looked back toward the access road, his eyes narrowing. In the distance, the faint, synchronized hum of high-end engines began to drone through the fog. Headlights, sharp and blue, cut through the trees.
"If the world falls apart," Marcus had said, half-joking over cheap drinks, "and you can only get one word out before they cut the line... say the location thrice. No questions asked. Just run there." Aden Aden Aden
Elias looked at his oldest friend, then down at the heavy case in his hand. He didn't waste his five minutes on a goodbye. He turned and ran into the dark. What kind of genre or plot twist Marcus looked back toward the access road, his
"You came alone?" The voice was Marcus's, but it was strained, thin. "Of course. What happened?" "If the world falls apart," Marcus had said,
Twenty minutes later, Elias was pushing his rusted truck through the dense coastal fog. The headlights barely punched through the grey soup, reflecting off the skeletal pine trees that lined the cliffside road. His mind raced back to the academy, to the four of them—Elias, Marcus, Silas, and Clara. They had promised to look out for each other, no matter where life scattered them. Marcus was the one who came up with the emergency protocol.