Feral → newt, tmr

Extras 1: Escaping The Maze

The icy panic hits Vera like a sucker punch to the gut. Cold, sharp, blinding. It surges through her veins, makes her heart stutter. She's felt it before-too many times these last few days-but now it comes full force, no mercy.

This is it.

They're going.

She doesn't let herself think, doesn't let herself feel. Thinking means breaking. Feeling means fear. She just moves. Grabs her backpack. Shoulders it like it's armor. Her legs carry her to the West door of the Spring, through the chaos of bodies and weapons and adrenaline humming in the air.

Aris and Rachel stand near the left side of the door, talking low and fast. Aris gestures too much-he always does when he's nervous. Rachel wrings her hands like she's trying to twist the anxiety out of her skin. Next to Aris, Chris sits on the edge of a stone block, fiddling with the string of his bow, eyes on the ground. Vera notices how his fingers don't shake. A full quiver rests against his back.

Chris always looks calm. Too calm. Like he's already seen the worst of it and dared it to come again.

"You sticks ready?" Vera says as she joins them, forcing her voice to stay steady. She eyes Aris. "Aris, this was all your idea, so it better work. If not, I'll kill you before the Shades can."

Aris smirks, but his eyes betray him. There's a flicker of doubt behind the grin. "Thanks."

He turns to Rachel. "You okay?"

Rachel nods once, stiff and unconvincing. "I'm fine."

She's not. It's written all over her face. The way her foot taps uncontrollably. The way her voice trembles at the edges.

"Just anxious to get it over with."

"Amen, sister," Chris mutters, standing now, slinging his bow across his chest. He looks at Vera with a half-smile, and she envies how solid he seems. Like nothing could rattle him. Not even death.

Harriet and Sonya climb onto the steps of the West door, hands raised. The crowd goes still. Vera turns, heartbeat thudding against her ribs, to listen.

"There're eleven of us," Harriet calls out.

"That's it?" Aris frowns, brows raised.

"That's it," Sonya confirms, voice like steel. No regret. No fear.

Aris just nods, like he expected it. He shrugs on his backpack and grabs his weapon-an ironwood pole wrapped in barbed wire, its tip blackened with old blood and rust. It's brutal. Efficient.

Chris bumps him lightly with his shoulder. "Let's make it count, yeah?"

The twins share a quick look-something unspoken between them, some vow forged years ago. Vera watches it, the way Aris smirks but his fingers curl tight around the pole. The way Chris always watches his brother, like he's ready to catch him if he falls.

"Make sure you've got your weapons," Sonya says, tying her blond hair into a rough bun, fingers moving fast. "Other than that, there's not a whole lot to buggin' say. You all know the plan. We fight our way through to the Shade Hole. And then we take back what's ours. We get payback. Simple as that."