A few weeks passed by quietly after the last conversation with Nivra. Once Ewen and Jax had recovered from their colds, Xaiden called a meeting at the cabin and updated everyone on what went down with Nivra. They all agreed to monitor the radio more closely in the days after and kept the printer stocked with paper. Things between Eliana and Jax were less strained, but they still seemed to keep more distance than usual, even if they stopped outright avoiding each other.
Eventually, the group returned to exploring the forbidden woods, once the novelty of the cabin had well worn off and there was less to do in the bunker. Eliana stayed back more often than not, with the excuse of monitoring the radio and wanting to catch up on reading before school started back. Xaiden started to feel more like himself as he got back out in the woods and put the book and the radio behind him. The first few days after that conversation with Nivra, he tried reaching out but was met with silence. He had no way of knowing if she heard him and chose to ignore it or if the messages simply didn't go through, but eventually, he gave up on it and tried to let it go.
They'd almost completed the map of the woods by the time Ripening returned and just before school resumed. It was around that time that Xaiden, Jax, and Ewen returned earlier than normal from exploring and heard the distinctive sounds of the radio in the bunker.
"Eliana?" Xaiden called.
The radio cut off abruptly and there was faint rustling as Eliana yelled up the steps, "I'm here!"
"Was that her on the radio just now?" Jax asked excitedly as they made their way down the steps.
"Oh, umm… what do you mean?" Eliana replied evasively, tapping the radio lightly. "Did you guys find anything cool today?
"Why are you acting weird?" Xaiden asked, "We heard the radio, did you talk to her or not?"
"Umm, yeah. I tried talking to her, she's already gone though."
Ewen moved to the printer, then asked haltingly. "Umm, d-do you have the transcript?"
Eliana held up a folded piece of paper briefly, and nodded, "Yep, right here! I'm going to go over a few things in my notes first though."
Xaiden held out an open palm, demanding levelly, "Let me see it, Eliana."
Eliana sighed and handed the paper to him begrudgingly. "Look, before you get all upset, I was just doing what she asked."
Xaiden flicked the paper open and scanned the page filled with the back and forth between Nivra and Eliana. "You've been talking to her this whole time and didn't tell us?" he asked in disbelief, "Are you serious, Eliana?"
"Wait, what?" Jax asked, confused, snatching the paper from Xaiden's loose grip. "Where do you see that?"