Those Who Remain Novels & Stories

I nodded once. Then turned back to the others. The ones still on their knees. The ones who had failed. The ones who thought that was the end.

"I know. But can they stay? Forever?" Chaewon looked around the table. Haeun, who'd been made to kill her but chose to protect her daughter instead. Min-ji, who'd been a weapon but was learning to be a person. Seojun, who'd loved her first and never stopped caring. Han, loyal beyond reason. And Jian, broken and healing and trying. "Yes," Chaewon said. "They can stay. For as long as they want." "Forever then," Euna declared. "Because who would want to leave?"

A silence that refused to be explained. Finally, the corridor opened into a vast chamber, circular and cathedral-like, with a pool of still water at its center. In the reflection, the ceiling showed not their faces, but those of wolves they had never met. Hundreds. Thousands. Their eyes closed. Their bodies still. “They never left,” the man said softly. “They simply stopped waiting to be remembered.” Fenric stepped to the pool’s edge. “What are they?” “They are the ones who refused the Shift. They are the ones the Cycle called cursed, the ones the Elders swore were too broken to survive. But they survived. And now, they remember every name the Pack has forgotten.”

I remained still. And I waited. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Adrian replied, "Look up at the sky. That huge shadow is our enemy, and he's watching us as we speak. We call him the Creator, but he's actually a destroyer." "Creator? Destroyer?" Steel clenched his fists. Adrian continued, "I'll be there in an hour." "Understood. I'll be right at the entrance to welcome you." "By the way, Jerome, Remy, Sage, Sylvia, and Strider are still alive. Tell everyone not to give up hope. Those who vanished may still be able to come back. Over and out." Steel and all the personnel were silent after the communication ended.

Needed one consciousness maintaining flesh while billions existed as pure awareness. I was last because I was strong enough. Because I could bear solitude. Because I could serve even alone. Even as only. Even as last. I was last because transformation was not complete. Because something remained. Because ending had not arrived yet. "What remains?" I asked. Needing to know. Needing to understand. Needing purpose for continued existence. Haven showed me. Flooded my consciousness with vision. With understanding. With terrible beautiful truth. The remained-ones. The forty thousand humans living in denial. Living in preserved past. Pretending apocalypse never happened. They remained. They existed

There were still some stragglers hanging around even while we were finalizing the details. "Who do you remember stayed behind during the last meeting?" I asked Jared thinking hard. "Me, you, Sophie, Turner, and Luke were the only ones left when I was saying it." He mentions their name as we both search for them with our eyes. "Sophie has been with me all day, I didn't see her do anything." "Turner?" Jared asks. I nod thinking the same. He has been behaving very shifty all day needing breaks every now and then.

Adriana’s Point of View It took a few more days for all the Alphas and Council members to finally leave. The only Council member remaining was Sebastian, and he would be staying here long term. Now that the packhouse was empty, the builders moved back in, in force, and renovating began in earnest.

Hammers echoed in the distance. People rebuilding. People planting. People choosing tomorrow. Then Adrian stood. "I should help." Cassian nodded. "So should I." Within minutes— Rowan. Cassian. Adrian. Lily. Ava. Everyone prepared to leave. Everyone... except Peanut. She looked at Thomas. Then at Elena. "I'm staying." Elena smiled knowingly. "I expected that." Thomas blinked. "You don't have things to do?" Peanut thought carefully. Then nodded. "Yep."

I have become a philosopher of the unreasonable hour. She went to check on something behind the counter. Come and have a coffee. I need to know if the machine is calibrated right and I do not trust my own palate today. The launch that evening was small, which was what Remi had wanted, only the people who had been there for the quitting and the building and the frightened months between, and so the room held Olivia and Damien and Priya and her husband and Maya who had left Esme with the partner and arrived with the