bloodlines and bonds [I]
Chapter 8(i) – "Grey Stillness"
POV: Jane
The ride back was deathly quiet.
The engine hummed beneath us, tires crunching over broken asphalt, but no one said a word—not after that. Grey sat across from me, eyes locked on the idiot soldier who'd tried to use Luke as bait. The poor man was trembling in his seat, staring down at his blood-smeared boots like they held answers.
Grey hadn't said a word, but his glare alone could've gutted him. He didn't even need the knife still stained and dangling loosely from his gloved hand.
And this? This was the most emotion I'd seen Grey express since this whole mess began. Maybe even longer. I went to school with him four years before all this. The boy back then barely looked at anyone, barely talked, always alone.
But this rage… this fire? It probably wasn't new. Just buried.
Jonah muttered under his breath. "Damn."
The word hung in the air. We all froze for a second, then chuckled quietly like someone popped the pressure valve.
"Damn indeed," I echoed.
Even Blair cracked a nervous grin. Slowly, the silence dissolved into light chatter. Luke groaned about needing stitches. Scarlett teased him about milking the injury for sympathy. The energy was tense, but alive.
The soldiers? The ones we rolled in with?
Silent.
I couldn't blame them.
POV: Jonah
Damn.
I keep thinking it. Even now.
We knew Grey was strong. You could see it in the way he moved, the way he fought like he'd studied death itself and learned to waltz with it.
But this? Today? He went full-on apex.
One second, he was behind Jane. The next, he was a blur. Like the world couldn't keep up with him. He didn't just fight those undead—he unmade them. Flesh and bone didn't stand a chance.
We're all adapting to this new world. We have to. Some faster than others.
But Grey?
Grey's not just adapting.
He's evolving.
Luke and Scarlett are not far behind him—they're sharper, faster, more in tune with this chaos than the rest of us. But Grey's ahead of the curve. Way ahead.
I glance at my sister, Blair. She's been quiet since we left the site. Just staring at him.
I don't blame her.
"Luke whined like a baby," Scarlett quips, laughing. "Said the pain made him see stars."
Luke groans. "I did see stars! What do you want from me, stoicism?"
We all laugh again.
It's laughter. Desperate laughter.
But it helps.
POV: Grey
We rolled into camp under a blood-orange sky, shadows long and stretching. I said nothing.
Didn't need to.
I walked off without a word, straight to my tent. My jaw was still clenched. My fists ached from how tightly they'd curled since the fight.
I was still boiling.
Still burning.
The fury… it surprised even me.
Back there, when Luke was about to be sacrificed… the world didn't slow down—it just vanished. Everything became a blank canvas of instinct and movement. My body acted before thought could intervene.
That undead's scream had barely left it's lips before the knife met his throat.
Then came the undead. Then came the silence.
That speed—my speed—I remember feeling it, knowing what I was doing, but the rest of the world felt like a simulation. Like it was just watching me. Lagging behind.
The world turned grey.
Again.
Flashback
The lab was always cold.
Eva's arms were around me, her voice flooding my ears like music I didn't understand but never wanted to stop.
"You're too quiet," she teased. "One day, you'll open up. You'll see."
I didn't respond. I never did. I stood stiff, hands in my pockets, waiting for her dad, Mr. Brown, to pick us up after another long day of being poked, prodded, tested.
She never seemed to care.
She was always warm, even in that place.
She always found a way to feel alive.
Another Flashback
My father on a hospital bed.
He looked older than I remembered—frail, like time had squeezed the life out of him while I wasn't watching.
His voice cracked. "I'm sorry, Grey. I… I never meant to make you into this."
I said nothing.
He coughed, eyes glistening. "I hope it works. I hope… what I did to you—it pays for everything. I hope you survive this world."
I didn't understand.
Still don't.
Present
But I will.
I'll find the truth.
I'll tear through whatever this world puts in my way until I know what they did to me. Why I'm like this.
But right now?
I need to check on what's left of the family I do have.
Luke.