4338.211 · July 30, 2018 AD
The Bill That Follows
The heat plays tricks. A shimmer on the horizon resolves into green — grass, trees, the impossible promise of somewhere else. Kain lets himself imagine: a house, Brianne in the doorway, their daughter dancing at her feet. Then a voice slithers in with an offer. The vision could be real. All he has to do is bring them through. The refusal comes from somewhere primal. But when Luke returns with fencing supplies and explains how the settlement's resources actually arrive, Kain learns that survival here sends the bill to people who never ordered anything.
The Drop Zone stretches empty, the others gone with the chaos of Adrian's departure. Heat presses down. The crutches have left Kain's shoulders burning, his body cataloguing everything it can no longer do.
On the horizon, the air shimmers. Green emerges from the distortion — impossible, undeniable. His eyes close, and the vision expands. A house. Brianne in the doorway, belly round with their daughter. A child dancing at her feet, three or four years old, laughing across ground that shouldn't support such innocence.
Then Clive's voice arrives.
The offer is simple: bring them through, and paradise becomes real. Trade his family for the mirage. The refusal is immediate, visceral — he won't condemn them to shadow panthers and ancient entities and water that demands impossible prices. The voice retreats with a warning about consequences.
Then Luke emerges from the portal with fencing supplies and a confession.
The settlement's resources don't arrive through legitimate channels. A portal activated inside a delivery truck on Earth. A permanent connection that can be tapped whenever needed. The driver doesn't know. When inventory vanishes, someone innocent takes the blame.
Kain wants to argue. But the fence will save lives, and the alternative is dying while principles remain intact.
He says nothing.
Survival here has a way of sending the bill to people who never ordered anything.
