Mathis exploded over the rise, his eyes feral, twin pistols clutched in white-knuckled fists. "HELLO?" The bellow tore from his throat, echoing across the desolate clearing. "IRENE? KENDALL? LILLY?"

"Mathis!" I waved frantically, rounding the corner at a sprint. He froze, chest heaving, as a motley platoon crested the hill behind him - humans, reavers, changelings, faces I recognized. Geela brought up the rear, her massive bulk rising high into the trees. Relief flooded my veins at the sight of allies.

Mathis jammed his pistols into the holsters strapped to his thighs and hurtled down the slope. "Lilly? What happened? Where's Irene?" Desperation strained his words.

I crashed into him, shoving, grappling, struggling to halt his momentum before he could witness the devastation. Kendall's footfalls pounded at my back.

Mathis writhed against my grip, the horrible realization dawning. "Irene? IRENE?! Lilly, let me go!" His roar reverberated with anguish.

Kendall rammed into us, his arms encircling our thrashing forms. Even together, dragging Mathis to the dirt took every ounce of strength. He battled savagely before collapsing to his knees with a wrenching gasp. "Irene... Irene... No, no, no..." The broken whisper spilled from his lips.

"She's gone, Mathis," I choked out, my voice splintering. "Irene... She didn't make it."

Mathis wrenched his head up, eyes bloodshot and haunted. "I should've been here. I could've protected her, I could've-"

A soul-rending howl shattered the air as Mathis crumpled, massive frame wracked with sobs. I clung to him desperately, my tears cutting tracks through the filth caking my cheeks. Kendall's arms constricted around us, a stalwart bulwark against the grief.

The scavengers stood paralyzed, faces contorted in horror as they absorbed the sanctuary's ruin. Some dropped to their knees, weapons tumbling from nerveless fingers. Others gazed vacantly, eyes hollow with incomprehension at the magnitude of loss.

Long minutes passed before Mathis' tremors subsided. Sniffling, he extricated himself from our embrace and tilted his head heavenward. "I miss the stars. Been ages since I've seen 'em. Before the clouds, the fallout..." A faint smile ghosted across his lips, lost in memory. "Irene and me, we'd sit atop ol' Beast, just watchin' the sky. I remember the first time she kissed me. Heh, yeah, she made the first move. I was too chicken."

His gaze roved the shattered haven. "Guessin' Alec took out whatever caused this? Least we brought him back. Where is he?"

Silence stretched between Kendall and me, our eyes sliding away from Mathis' probing stare. He leaned forward, voice tight. "You sayin' we didn't bring him home? That Irene died for nothin'?"

I swallowed, my throat constricting as I contemplated my next words. "The thing that did this, Mathis... It took Alec. Him and Ragger together couldn't stop it. And Mathis, I'm so sorry but..." My voice fractured, each syllable lacerating my tongue. "Irene was already gone when we got here. It was like-" I flailed my arms at the surrounding carnage, the devastation defying description. "-this."

Mathis' shoulders slumped, his hulking frame deflating like a punctured blimp. "So that's it then. We're done. I'm done. I'm sorry guys. I don't have it in me without Irene here."

"Hey, don't talk like that." Kendall knelt beside Mathis, placing a tentative hand on the grieving man's trembling back. "I know what you're feeling. I do." His voice held a forced steadiness, but I caught the waver beneath the surface.

Mathis lifted his head, bloodshot eyes boring into Kendall's. "You lost Amanda too then?" The question dripped accusation, each word a barbed dart aimed at Kendall's heart.

Kendall flinched, his hand falling away. "I... Well. No. Amanda is... Amanda is doing some research for me. She should be back soon, she was due today. I spoke to her yesterday on the radio." He fumbled through the explanation, the words ringing hollow even to my ears.

"Then you don't know what I'm feeling." Mathis wrenched his gaze away, propping his elbows on his knees and burying his face in his hands. His fingers knotted in his matted hair, white-knuckled with anguish.

Kendall didn't reply, instead sighing and rising to his feet, glancing at me and shaking his head.

The hairs on the back of my neck prickled, an instinctive awareness of being watched. I pivoted to find Antony - no, Kondura - wait, could it be Antony? I searched his eyes, finding more humanity than alien. Antony, then. He was standing behind me. His gaunt face held an expression of strained politeness, at odds with the desolate surroundings.

"I'm terribly sorry ma'am, but you had mentioned some food...?" Kondura's inquiry emerged in a reedy wheeze, his vocal cords still adjusting to their new host.

I stared at him, uncomprehending. Food? In the midst of this nightmare, with Irene dead and Alec taken, our whole way of life destroyed, this changeling child wanted to find some food? A hysterical laugh bubbled up my throat, but I swallowed it back down, the sound too close to a sob for comfort. I drew a shuddering breath, forcing my fractured thoughts into some semblance of order. My words upon greeting him came back to me. "You're safe... Are you hungry?" A pang of guilt punched me in the gut as I realized I had been about to take out all my frustrations on him.

"I... Yes. Food. We'll need to... to search the ruins. See what supplies survived." I nearly choked on the word 'survived', a cruel mockery in light of the lives extinguished here today. "Kendall, can you..." I jerked my chin towards the huddled scavengers, their faces slack with shock. The Turncoats gathered around Geela, clambering at her feet, clinging to her legs like frightened children. The Matriarch, true to her name, had her arms wrapped around them, rocking back and forth softly.

Squaring his shoulders, Kendall strode towards the dazed group, rallying them to action with clipped commands. I turned back to Kondura, his sunken eyes watching me with unsettling intensity.

"Come on," I ground out through gritted teeth. "Let's see what we can find." With that, I spun on my heel and marched towards the crumbling ruins of the once-thriving Sanctuary, Kondura shuffling at my heels.