All Chapters of Twelve days before the end: Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

The car door shut in my face.Blood ran down my leg in a warm line. I hit the window with my palm.“Adrian, open the door!”“Thea, go.”“You’re leaving me here? In the middle of a blackout?”Lena sat in the passenger seat wearing my jacket. The one I had given her three days ago when she said she was cold. She kept her eyes down.“Why her?” My voice cracked. “Why are you taking her instead of me?”Adrian finally turned his head. His eyes were cold and tired.“We’ve been together for a while. I didn’t know how to tell you.”The words hit harder than the dark.“So you’re just going to drive away and leave me to die?”He didn’t answer. He put the car in gear and pulled away from the curb.I stood in the middle of the black street and watched their lights disappear. Around me people were already panicking. Someone smashed a shop window. A man ran past holding a crying child. I tried calling Adrian. The phone was dead. Everything was dead.I never made it home.I died on that sidewalk with

I didn’t sleep.The apartment stayed quiet, but my body wouldn’t settle. Every time I closed my eyes I felt the edge of that vision again — the tall shape turning its head toward me in the smoke.Cole was at the window when I finally got up. He had not slept much either.“You’re awake early,” he said without turning.“Couldn’t sleep.”He glanced at me. “The mark?”I touched my forehead. It still felt warmer than the rest of my skin. “It’s quiet. But it doesn’t feel gone.”“It won’t be. Not completely.” He stepped away from the window. “We start now. Before they pick up your trail again.”June sat up on the couch, rubbing her eyes. “You’re seriously going to train her after everything that just happened?”“Especially after everything that just happened,” Cole said. “The next vision could come at any time. If she can’t control it, we won’t make it to the blackout.”I sat down at the small table. “Tell me what to do.”Cole pulled a chair across from me. His eyes were calm, focused. There

Morning came gray and quiet.I woke to the sound of Cole checking the door. June was already sitting up, arms wrapped around her knees. The training from the night before had left a dull ache behind my eyes, but the mark felt steadier.Cole turned when he heard me move.“We leave in thirty minutes,” he said. “The longer we stay, the more time they have to narrow the area.”I nodded and stood. My body felt heavy, but clear.June looked between us. “Where now?”“There’s a place farther north,” Cole said. “Old community center. Better sight lines. More exits. We can rest there during the day and move again at night if we need to.”We packed in silence. Cole handed me a small bottle of water and watched until I drank some. The gesture was practical, not soft, but it registered.When we stepped outside, the air smelled of river and wet concrete. Cole went first, scanning the street before he let us follow. We walked in a tight group, staying close to the buildings.Halfway to the next corn

Cole moved first.“Away from the door,” he said, voice low and sharp.June and I stepped back toward the far wall. Cole positioned himself where he could see both the main entrance and the side window. The engine sound outside stopped. A car door opened, then another.I felt the mark on my forehead heat up.“They’re close enough to feel me,” I said.Cole nodded once. “Then we don’t give them time to surround the building.”He pointed to a narrow rear exit half hidden behind a stack of old shelves. “That leads to a service lane. We take it. Quiet and fast.”June’s face was tight, but she nodded.Cole went first, cracked the rear door, and checked the lane. He signaled us forward. We slipped out into the narrow space between buildings. The air was colder here. Water dripped from a broken pipe overhead.We had only moved a few meters when a voice called out from the street side of the building.“We know you’re inside. Send the girl out and the others can walk.”It was the same woman from