Chapter 292: The Road North
The heavy crawler engines ground against the cracked asphalt of the northern trade road.
It was a long, bruising journey back to the safety of the walls. Draven sat in the dimly lit transport carriage, watching the gray fog of the Wildlands roll past the reinforced windows.
Strike Team Zero was completely quiet. The war was finally behind them. The adrenaline had bled out of their systems hours ago, leaving only a deep, suffocating physical exhaustion.
Reina Frost sat on the opposite metal bench.
She was no longer unconscious, but she was heavily bound in rigid leather splints and thick white gauze. She stared down at the metal floor, her hair plastered to her forehead with sweat.
Every severe bump in the road caused her to wince in pain, but she remained completely silent. She was awake, she was upright, and she was alive. That was all that mattered.
Draven leaned back against the steel wall, letting the rhythmic hum of the engine carry them home.
