A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead Novels & Stories

“That goes without saying. We should now discuss the deployment plan. " Josh stretched comfortably in his bed and slowly opened his eyes. The sun shone brightly on his face, he enjoyed the warming rays for a moment and then got up with a yawn. He loved it when the sun woke him up. His gaze automatically slid to the window. Over there everything was quiet, nothing moved. A quick glance at the clock told him it was only a little before seven. He quickly put on his sports pants and went topless downstairs into the training room. He turned on the treadmill and jogged barefoot, actually he much preferred to run outside in the woods or in the park, but unfortunately that wasn't possible here with

He yanked the passenger door open and said, "I'm riding shotgun." Mute as a shadow, Elaine slipped into the back seat and pressed herself against the window. Stephen settled in beside her. The car glided through the darkness, its steady pace carrying them toward the hospital. Out of the blue, Stephen's voice cut through the silence. "Are you pregnant?" Elaine's response was a tangled mess of words, her voice barely a whisper. From the front seat, Jasper's icy tone delivered a reply. "Not so fast. We don't know yet."

Just walked past me to the trunk, where he tossed in my overnight bag like it weighed more than it did. Truth was… I didn’t want to be alone. Not yet. Not with the hollow ache still living in my chest like it paid rent. The drive was quiet. The kind of quiet where the radio plays low and everyone pretends to be okay with the silence, but no one really is. Outside, the city hadn’t woken up fully. The sky stretched pale pink and sleepy across the horizon, casting everything in this strange in-between light, like it couldn’t decide if the day was beginning or ending. I knew the feeling.

A silent rebellion against the unspoken rules of our home. Sometimes, after school, if Zane was distracted, Zye would linger near the main gate. Morison, bless his heart, would find an excuse to be busy nearby. Zye would talk, her voice soft, about her day, about her dreams of far-off places. I’d listen, offering quiet observations. Those moments, few and far between, were oxygen. They reminded me that not everyone in the world, not even in that house, saw me as an infection of poverty.

It was Fiona's house. We drove out to the town around noon. Instead of being calm and quiet like it usually was, the place was packed with people. Men and women, both young and old, were all heading in the same direction. Thankfully, we were in a squad car. Once people saw the flashing lights, they moved aside and let us through. Because of that, we quickly made it to Fiona's house. From inside her home came loud shouting mixed with a woman's sharp, painful screams. I turned on my body cam and got out of the car. None of the other units had arrived yet.

Kian’s POV: “Anything special about this place?” We were walking slowly, on a deserted road. It was silent. A less chosen path by the passengers. It was quiet. Not that I didn’t like it. But I didn’t expect it. “umm, don’t you like it? It’s quiet. away from the city lights, traffic noise.” She was walking backwards facing me. Just like an iconic movie scene, her hair flowing, dramatically. “Don’t you think it’s a little bit dangerous?” I pushed my hands in my jacket. It was cold.

Xavier muttered, though he crossed the room, his massive frame radiating heat as he settled a heavy, comfortable hand on the small of Selah’s back. Selah leaned into his touch, her heart fuller than it had ever been. She looked at the faces of the people surrounding them—Damaris, laughing and vibrant; Isaiah, proud and protective; Marcus, quietly content. This wasn't just an executive board. This was a family. And for the first time in her life, she felt entirely, unconditionally safe. Five hours north, the warmth of the city was completely swallowed by a dark, howling wilderness. The headlights of a rented black sedan cut through the dense, fog-heavy pine forests of northern Michigan, close

The road stretched ahead, empty and dark. Aria held on.

She had never been in a car this quiet. Not silent — the engine ran, the road moved beneath them, Rowan shifted in the front seat every twenty minutes with the restlessness of someone not built for stillness. But the quality of the quiet was different from anything Lyra had experienced. In the Selwyn packhouse, silence was a warning system. It meant something was wrong, or about to be. She had spent years reading the texture of quiet the way sailors read water — looking for what moved underneath.

The lantern dimmed slightly. "...someone else will call." The words lingered. Hope tilted her head. "From where?" The traveler looked beyond even the endless roads. Toward a place none of us could see. A place beyond the light itself. When they answered, even the Foundation became still. "From the place where no road has ever reached." Silence. Absolute silence. The endless golden roads stretched into forever. The First Gate shimmered. The Heart of Lumora beat steadily beneath us. And somewhere beyond every known path—