Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Burning: Kabanata 61 - Kabanata 70

The moment Chloe’s cold, steely gaze locked on me, I knew I was in deep shit. My pulse pounded in my ears, and I could feel the weight of the papers tucked beneath my jacket, the incriminating evidence I’d found only moments ago. I had seconds to act, seconds to figure out how to explain why I was rifling through her things like some common thief.Damn, should've picked a better time. But there was no use lying. Chloe had always been good at sniffing out deception, especially when it came from me. “Maya,” she said again, her voice low and dangerous, a predator toying with its prey. “What are you doing?” I straightened, clutching the edge of her desk to steady my shaking hands. “Looking for the truth, Chloe. You can’t keep hiding it!” Her eyes narrowed, and for a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of something—guilt? Fear? But it was gone as quickly as it appeared, buried under the ice-cold mask she wore so well. “You’ve been listening to the wrong people,” she said, stepping in

The moment Logan lunged, time seemed to slow. His meaty hand reached for me, and instinct kicked in. I dodged to the side, just narrowly avoiding his grasp. Ben and Daniel weren’t so lucky. Logan’s men were on them in seconds, rough hands pinning their arms behind their backs, muffling their protests with swift, brutal efficiency. Samantha’s eyes wouldn’t meet mine as I backed away, my heart hammering in my chest. I could still hear her voice, that soft, apologetic tone she’d used when she betrayed us. I wanted to scream, to demand an explanation, but I knew it was useless. Whatever loyalty she’d once had to the settlement—or to us—was gone, replaced by her blind faith in Chloe. “Maya,” Logan growled, his voice low and menacing, “don’t make this harder than it needs to be. Chloe’s waiting.” I glanced at Ben. His face was set in a grim mask, but his eyes flickered with something else—something I couldn’t quite place. He held my gaze for a moment, then gave the tiniest nod, as

The air was thick with smoke, the acrid scent of burning wood and flesh choking my lungs as I stumbled through the chaos. Flames licked at the edges of the settlement, casting long shadows over the walls and turning the night into a fevered nightmare. Shouts echoed across the square, the sharp crack of gunfire splitting the air as Captain Laura Wells and her soldiers clashed with Chloe’s forces. I hadn’t seen the attack coming. One moment we were being thrown into one of the holding cells, our hands still bound, and the next, explosions tore through the gates. Chloe’s loyalists scrambled to defend the settlement, but they hadn't been prepared for a full-scale assault. Captain Wells had arrived, just as Ben had said she would, and she wasn’t pulling any punches. "Move, Maya!" Ben shouted, grabbing my arm and pulling me down behind a stack of crates as bullets whizzed overhead. "We need to get to cover!" I was still reeling, my mind struggling to catch up with the violence unfoldin

The fires had long since died, but the smoke still lingered in the air, clinging to the ruins of the settlement like a ghost that wouldn’t leave. The once-bustling streets were now eerily silent, littered with debris, abandoned weapons, and the bodies of those who hadn’t made it through the night. Captain Wells’ soldiers moved through the wreckage, their faces grim, collecting the dead and tending to the wounded. And then there was me. I stood at the edge of what used to be the main square, staring at the smoldering remains of the settlement, feeling like I was standing on the other side of a chasm I couldn’t cross. My hands still shook, my clothes were stiff with dried blood—*her* blood—and I couldn’t get the image of Chloe’s face out of my mind, the way her eyes had gone wide with shock, the way her voice had trembled in those final moments. I had killed her. My sister.My own sister..... The weight of it pressed down on me, suffocating, an unbearable ache that made it hard

I made my way through what was left of the settlement. Every step was a reminder of the destruction that had unfolded here—buildings burned to their foundations, homes reduced to rubble, and people.... well, the people were shattered. Their faces were gaunt, their eyes hollow from sleepless nights and the weight of grief. But they were still here. We were still here. I hadn’t slept in what felt like days. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Chloe— her face, her voice, the last moments of her life playing on an endless loop in my mind. I knew I should talk to Ben about it, or at least let someone in, but the guilt weighed me down, keeping me silent. There was no undoing what I had done. No bringing Chloe back. So instead, I buried myself in the work. I knelt beside a young girl, barely old enough to remember the world before everything had crumbled. Her arm was wrapped in a makeshift bandage, blood seeping through the fabric. Her mother sat next to her, eyes wide and frantic,