Aden Aden Aden -

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."

The truck bounced violently as Elias turned off the main road onto the dirt path leading to the ruins of the Aden cannery. He killed the lights a quarter-mile out, coasting the rest of the way in the dark, guided only by the faint, pale glow of the moon breaking through the mist. Aden Aden Aden

"What about you?" Elias gripped the cold handle of the case.

Elias sat up, the chill of the room biting at his bare shoulders. His heart hammered against his ribs. He looked over at Elena, still breathing softly, oblivious. He carefully rolled out of bed, grabbing his jeans from the floor and his jacket from the back of the chair. Marcus looked back toward the access road, his

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.

Marcus stepped forward into a thin shaft of moonlight. He looked terrible. His coat was torn, a dark smear of what could only be blood staining his left side, and his eyes were wild with a brand of fear Elias had never seen in him. He was clutching a small, metallic briefcase to his chest like a shield. "If the world falls apart," Marcus had said,

"Marcus?" Elias called out, his voice barely louder than a whisper, swallowed by the crashing of the waves against the rocks below.