Natami stayed several paces ahead with her hand never leaving the hilt of her blade as she scanned the perimeter. Behind her, Miraza clung to Hajidan's arm with a desperate and white-knuckled grip because she refused to let go after nearly losing him in the chaos.
The sun was sinking toward the horizon and leaving perhaps thirty minutes of bruised twilight before full darkness. The streets had emptied since most survivors were either evacuated or huddled in the shadows. Only the Shadow Crane operatives remained visible as they moved through the ruins in organized patterns to secure buildings and flush out stragglers.
"Hajidan," Miraza said quietly. "Whose blood is that on your hands?"
"I told you, it's complicated."
"That's not an answer." She stopped walking, forcing him to stop with her.
"It's nothing that concerns you," Natami said without turning around.
"Excuse me?" Miraza's voice went sharp. "He's my friend. If something happened to him, it absolutely concerns me."
"Your friend just went through something traumatic. Maybe stop interrogating him and let him process."
"Maybe if you told me what happened, I wouldn't have to interrogate anyone."
They were facing each other now, Miraza's chin raised defiantly, Natami's expression cold and closed off.
"Both of you, please," Zenjiro said. "We don't have time for this. We need to figure out where to go before dark."
"The evacuation bus," Miraza said immediately. "That's where we should go. They're taking people to a secure shelter in the northern district. We'll be safe there."
"He can't go to a shelter," Natami said.
"Why not?"
"Because he needs medical attention first. Private medical attention. Not a crowded shelter full of scared civilians."
"He looks fine to me. A little shaken up, but fine."
Natami's jaw tightened. She knew what Miraza could not see. The way Zenjiro's pupils had dilated during the killing. The inhuman precision of his strike. The absolute stillness in his expression as he watched the man die. Whatever was sleeping inside him would wake again when darkness came, and a crowded shelter full of vulnerable people would become a hunting ground.
"You don't know what you're talking about," Natami said.
"Then explain it to me!" Miraza's voice was rising. "Stop acting like I'm some burden and tell me what's going on!"
"Miraza," Zenjiro started, but she cut him off.
"No, I'm tired of being kept in the dark. You're hiding something, both of you. And I deserve to know what it is."
She was right. She did deserve to know. But Zenjiro could not explain what he did not understand himself. How could he tell her he had killed a man and did not remember doing it? That his hands had turned into claws? That something inside him was waiting for darkness to take control again?
"The bus is the safest option," Miraza pressed. "They have doctors, supplies, armed guards. Whatever happened out there, whatever you're dealing with, we can figure it out once we're somewhere secure."
"He's not getting on that bus," Natami said flatly.
"You don't get to make that decision for him."
"Actually I do," Natami said. "I am a Shadow Crane operative and he is a Shadow Crane operative. This is organizational business."
"What! Since when?" Miraza swung her head toward Zenjiro with a look of pure shock and a thousand unspoken questions.
Zenjiro could not meet her gaze and turned his face away while remaining silent. The weight of his secret felt heavier than the dried blood on his skin. Miraza felt a sharp sting of disappointment because she had always believed she knew him like an open book. Now she finally understood the reasons why he constantly fell asleep in class and why those dark circles always shadowed his tired eyes.
"You should have at least told me," she whispered with her voice cracking from the betrayal.
"It is organizational business that was not meant for noisy people like you," Natami interrupted as she stepped between them.
Miraza snapped her gaze back to the operative and let out a bitter laugh.
"Organizational business? Is that what we are calling it now? Because it looks to me like you are simply trying to control him."
"I am trying to keep him alive," Natami countered without blinking.
"By keeping him away from safety? That makes no sense."
Both of them were looking at Zenjiro now, waiting for him to choose. The bus or Natami. Safety or whatever plan she had that she was not explaining.
"My parents," Zenjiro said. "I need to check on my parents first. Make sure they're okay."
"That's too dangerous," Natami said immediately. "The residential districts aren't fully secured yet."
"I don't care. I'm not leaving without knowing they're safe."
"Then I'll come with you," Miraza said, tightening her grip on his arm. "We'll check on your family, then mine, then get on the next evacuation bus."
"No buses," Natami insisted. "Hajidan, you know you can't be around crowds right now. Not with your condition."
"What condition?" Miraza demanded.
"Nothing. I misspoke."
"You didn't misspoke. You said condition. What condition does he have?"
The tension was thick enough to cut. Natami's hand was still on her blade, not because she feared Miraza, but because she feared what Zenjiro might become if the argument escalated his stress. Miraza's eyes were narrowed with suspicion, searching Zenjiro's face for answers he could not give. And Zenjiro was standing between them, trying to figure out how to defuse this before it exploded.
"There's a water tap," Zenjiro said, spotting a public fountain that somehow still worked despite everything. "I need to wash this blood off before we go anywhere."
He pulled away from Miraza and walked to the fountain, turning on the tap. The water came out cold and clean, and he held his hands under the stream, watching the dried blood dissolve and swirl down the drain.
Miraza appeared beside him. "Talk to me, Hajidan. Please. I'm scared and confused and you're acting like a completely different person."
"I'm fine. I promise."
"You're not fine. You're covered in blood and you won't tell me whose it is. That's not fine."
Zenjiro scrubbed harder at his hands, focusing on getting every trace of blood from under his fingernails. But he could still see it in his mind. The father's face. The little girl crying. The way his hand had moved without his permission.
"It was self defense," Natami said suddenly, moving closer. "He was attacked. Had to fight back. The blood is from the person who attacked him."
It was a lie. A convenient lie that explained everything without explaining anything. But Natami needed Miraza to accept it. Needed her to get on that bus and be far away when nightfall came and Zenjiro's eyes turned red again.
"Is that true?" Miraza asked him.
Zenjiro looked at Natami, who gave him the smallest nod.
"Yes," he said. "That's what happened."
"Oh my God." Miraza's hand flew to her mouth. "Are you hurt? Did they bite you? Scratch you?"
"No. I'm not infected."
"Are you sure? Because if you are, we need to get you to the medical bus right away. They have treatments, protocols for people who've been exposed."
"He's not infected," Natami said firmly. "I already checked him. He's clean."
Another lie. She had checked him, yes. But what she found was not infection. It was something far worse. Something that had no treatment, no protocol, no cure. Something that made the infection look merciful by comparison.
"Then why can't he get on the bus?"
"Because..." Natami hesitated, clearly searching for another lie that would satisfy Miraza's questions. "Because he's wanted for questioning. About the attack. The operatives need to debrief him before he goes anywhere."
"Questioning? For self defense?"
"Standard procedure. Any time force is used, there has to be an investigation. It's protocol."
Miraza did not look convinced, but she did not push further. Instead, she turned to Zenjiro. "Then we'll wait with you. However long it takes. I'm not leaving you alone to deal with this."
"You should get on the bus," Zenjiro said, turning off the water. His hands were clean now, but they still felt wrong. Like they remembered being claws even if he did not. "Get somewhere safe. I'll find you after I finish with the debriefing."
"No. We stick together."
"Miraza, please. It's not safe for you to be around me right now."
Her eyes widened. "What does that mean? Hajidan, you're scaring me."
Zenjiro realized his mistake immediately. He had said too much. Revealed too much of the fear coiling in his chest like a living thing.
"I just need some space. Some time to process everything that happened. Can you give me that?"
She looked like she wanted to argue, but something in his expression must have convinced her. She stepped back, hurt flashing across her face.
"Fine. If you want me gone, I'll go."
"That's not what I meant."
"Sounds like exactly what you meant." She turned toward the medical bus in the distance. "I'll be on the bus if you change your mind. If you decide you actually want people who care about you around."
She walked away before Zenjiro could respond. He watched her go, guilt twisting in his stomach.
Natami watched too, but with different eyes. She saw Miraza's shoulders shaking slightly. Saw the way she wiped at her face as she walked. Saw the last person who genuinely cared about Zenjiro disappearing toward safety.
Good, Natami thought. At least she'll survive what comes next.
"You did the right thing," Natami said quietly. "She's safer away from you."
"I know. That doesn't make it feel any better."
"Hajidan!"
Both of them turned to see a Shadow Crane operative jogging toward them. He was maybe mid twenties, wearing the standard tactical gear, his face showing the exhaustion of someone who had been fighting all day.
"Operative Hajidan," he said as he reached them. "We need your assistance with a situation on one of the evacuation buses."
"What kind of situation?"
"Infected civilian. Male, approximately forty years old. He's showing signs of transformation but hasn't turned yet. Hour Eighteen, maybe Nineteen. We're trying to get him to the containment facility before he fully transforms, but he's becoming aggressive. We need someone to help restrain him during transport."
Zenjiro's blood went cold. "Restrain him? On the bus? With other civilians?"