When they set out again, it was with determination in their step and a cloud of thick, black smoke in their wake.

They left Jonah's body to burn as per his wish and though Jae was still devastated at the loss, she was starting to understand his choice. A heavy ache filled her heart and rage sat on her shoulders as she walked. She knew that she would avenge all the people that had been killed. Martha, Kenji and Jonah. Lorenzo would pay for their lives with his own, she would make sure of it.

Revenge coursed through her veins like a wildfire that refused to be tamed. Grief and sadness came second to the burning desire of vengeance that coursed through her entire being. A red haze covered her vision as she walked, tinting everything in scarlet.

Elias walked beside her, the map in his hands as he occasionally pointed out a familiar landmark or street name to ensure they were heading in the right direction. Keenan and Tyrell trailed behind them, both seemingly lost in thought.

"Jae." Keenan finally spoke up as they rounded another corner onto a long street that was dotted with potholes. "I'm beginning to wonder if this is a good idea. In the last two days, we have lost three of our own. I don't want to risk anyone else."

"You should have thought of that before you burnt Jonah to ash!" she shouted, turning around to face him. Her anger, barely simmering beneath the surface, lashed out, eager to have something to focus on.

Elias stopped as well, lowering the map down slightly. From the corner of her eye, Jae was sure she saw him take a step back, as though he was scared to face her wrath. To his credit, Keenan didn't even flinch, eyeing her carefully and speaking in a calm voice.

"You can be as angry at me as you like, Jae," Keenan said. "But I did what was asked of me. If you think you're the only one who is hurting, you are sorely mistaken."

"You were supposed to be our leader, Keenan," she accused, even though she knew that none of it was Keenan's fault. "You promised to keep us safe. We trusted you."

"Let's all take a breath and calm down," Tyrell intervened. Jae threw him a nasty look, which he took in his stride, responding with a small smirk.

Keenan took a step forward closer to Jae. For a moment she wondered if he might strike her for her awful words. Instead he did the opposite, pulling her close in a tight hug and resting his cheek on the crown of her head.

"You have lost so much and I am truly sorry that you are in so much pain," he soothed, stroking her hair softy. "I know I've failed, but I promise you this, everything I have done has been with my best intentions. I'm just a man, and I make mistakes too."

Jae found herself cracking underneath his kindness, her anger dissolving like sherbet. Her shoulders slumped in defeat as she allowed him to comfort her. Keenan was right, as always. They were all human, and all of them had made mistakes.

Jae herself had made the worst of all, a fact that Elias now knew thanks to her confession last night. And yet, both he and Keenan still trusted her, even though they were aware that she was a murderer. Maybe she owed Keenan the same level of respect. His only real mistake had been caring too much about all of them.

"I don't want anyone else to get hurt." She sniffled against Keenan's chest, allowing him to comfort her and ease her worries. She was sure that Elias and Tyrell were watching her breakdown, but at the moment she really didn't care if they saw her being weak.

Too much had happened in too little time. It was a lot for anyone to handle, but especially for Jae, who had her fair share of tragedies since the world turned to chaos. She was tired of pretending that she wasn't in constant agony and that she didn't miss her parents every day. She was tired of fighting for survival in a world that wasn't really worth living in. She was tired of the people she cared about getting hurt.

She was so, so tired.

"Death is inevitable, Jae," Keenan muttered sadly. "Especially in this world we live in. It's what we do when we're alive that counts."

She pulled herself together as best she could, nodding her head and stepping out of Keenan's embrace. Yes, she was tired, but right now the people she cared about were in danger and she had to do something to help them. She managed a small smile, glancing at Keenan as she agreed with his statement. "Exactly. Like taking out bad men who kill people."

She expected him to argue again, to bring up how much they had lost. But he didn't. Instead, he nodded towards Elias. "Like make friends. And help them save the people they love."

Jae turned towards Elias who was watching their exchange with a smile on his face. He held out his hand and she stepped forward to take a hold of it. Looking into his eyes, she felt the slightest glimmer of hope, and she knew whatever came next, they could handle it.

Together.

"Let's go get Eden back," she said, feeling extremely grateful for his companionship. When she had first met him, she never would have imagined how important he would become to her, especially in such a short amount of time. But that's the thing about tragedy, it binds people together in ways they would never have expected.

"Let's get her back and take out the bad guys." His grin matched hers as he squeezed her fingers before releasing his hold and lifting up the map again.

"Wait. I'm still not sure about this," Keenan interrupted. "Maybe we should discuss what we are going to do when we get there. We're still heavily outnumbered and I think this is too risky."

"How about this," Jae suggested after a moment's thought. "Elias goes to find Eden, I go to put a stop to Lorenzo and that other lady-,"

"Delta," Elias threw in helpfully.

"You and Tyrell will go to the other members of the Pride," Jae continued as though there had been no interruption. "Tell them what Lorenzo is doing. Maybe you can convince them to leave him."

"If you think I'm going to let you go after that maniac alone, you are horribly wrong, kid." Tyrell said. "I'm coming with you."

"I will be fine." Jae resisted the urge to roll her eyes, knowing that he just wanted to protect her. Tyrell was a gentle giant really, and one of the kindest people she knew.

"Jae, I want your word that you won't kill him." Keenan insisted. "I don't want you to carry that burden."

She eyed him for a long moment, weighing up her options. Though she was hell-bent on revenge, she wasn't entirely sure she would be able to take his life anyway. The thought of intentionally murdering someone scared her. But she would never know until she was actually in that situation. "I won't kill him, Keenan. But I will stop him, one way or another."

+

A few hours later, when the sun was high in the sky and sweat was clinging to them all like a second skin, Elias nudged Jae, pointing to a small plume of smoke that rose in the distance.

Jae's heart clenched as she remembered the scene she had arrived home to the day before. That had started with a similar sighting. But, this one was smaller, a wisp that rose vertically through the sky, the black standing out against the light blue. It was coming from the direction they were already heading; the hospital.

It could only mean one thing. Survivors.

But whether it was Lorenzo and the Pride, they wouldn't know until they got there. It was at least another two hours, if not more and Jae's burning curiosity would have to wait to be satisfied. She was hopeful that it was them, that they would arrive there and find Eden safe and sound and that Elias would be reunited with his sister.

They trudged along in silence, Elias putting away his map as they followed the direction of the smoke. They wound through the empty roads and streets until finally, they arrived at an abandoned parking lot with a boom at the entrance.

Jae's body tensed as they paused just outside, surveying her surroundings. The lot was devoid of cars, empty except for a large pile of wood in the center that was the source of the smoke. Dread settled in her stomach as she looked at it.

The pile was big, and yet only a small plume of smoke came out of it, as though someone intentionally only lit one piece of wood, or possibly tried to put out a small fire that had started. But, that wasn't why Jae felt a sense of foreboding as she started to approach it cautiously ahead of the others.

She pulled out the knife she had stolen from the house they had stayed at the night before, the same one she used to open the baked beans. Underneath the numerous pieces of wood, she could see the color scarlet, standing out against the black tar.

Her heart leaped to her throat as she finally got close enough to see. There was a corpse in the middle of the pile, clearly it had been set up to be burnt. A large cut ran from one side of its temple to the other, its scalp pulled back, revealing the ivory skull beneath it.

Her blood turned to ice as she looked at the face. At the extremely familiar dark brown eyes which stared lifelessly at the sky and the gentle slope of his nose. Her breath caught as she took in the strong curve of his chin and tan skin marred only slightly by wrinkles.

She had never met the man, but there's was no mistaking who it was. The resemblance was uncanny, he looked exactly like an older version of his son.

Elias' father.

She immediately turned around, grateful that Elias was till a few meters away, trailing behind Tyrell and Keenan as he put away his water bottle. She closed the distance between them, reaching out to grab his arm, desperate to stop him in his tracks. "Let's go round that way."

He sidestepped her easily, eyeing her suspiciously. "Why?"

She tugged on his hand, determined to get him to avoid the pile of wood. Bile swirled in her stomach as she thought of Elias' dead father just a few feet away. Tears of desperation filled her eyes as she started to yank hard on his arm in her attempts to get him to follow her. "Elias, come on, we don't need to see another dead body."

"Jae, what are you-," But he came to a halt, as he looked towards the pile of wood, clearly recognizing the corpse beneath it. His cheeks drained of color and he wrenched away from her grasp, taking the last few steps forward and staring down at his father's lifeless face.

"Dad?"

"Elias." Keenan tried to grab his shoulder, his panic stricken eyes meeting Jae's as though looking for confirmation. She nodded once, the tears now flowing freely down her cheeks.

"No." Elias shrugged him off, taking a few steps closer and falling to his knees in front of the dead body. He cradled the head in his hands, the blood smearing the front of his shirt. An awful squelching noise made Tyrell rush to the side, dry heaving, as the loose skin on Emmanuel's head flopped forward.

Unsure what else to do, Jae knelt down beside Elias, wrapping her arms around him from behind and leaning her head against his back. She clung on tightly, her tears seeping into his shirt, ignoring the cold blood she could feel coating her own hands.

Eli's shoulders heaved as he sobbed relentlessly, his entire body shaking with the effort and moving Jae with it. But she refused to let go, determined to let him know that she was there for him in whatever way she could be. They stayed like that for a long time, as Tyrell and Keenan watched awkwardly in the background.

Eventually, Eli's sobs calmed down and Jae reluctantly released him, leaving one hand resting on his back.

"I'm so sorry, Eli," she muttered, though she knew the words would never be enough.

She knew, first-hand, the pain of losing a parent.

Elias turned to her, a different person than he had been a few minutes ago. It reminded her of the Elias she saw in the warehouse, except this one was scarier somehow. Rage burned beneath the surface, setting his skin alight so that he was warm to the touch. His eyes were devoid of emotion, expressionless and dead, like The Risen.

"I'm going to kill him." He spoke through gritted teeth, and Jae believed every word he said. "Lorenzo is going to die today."