4338.208 · July 27, 2018 AD
The Crack Before the Break
The hardest thing isn't fixing the injury—it's deciding who gets to lead once the bleeding stops. Joel has a broken finger and a memory that won't cooperate. When Glenda asks what he remembers, his answer comes too fast: No. Just that. A clipped end to her hopes of clarity. Has Jamie told him what not to say? The suspicion settles like smoke she can't wave away. Meanwhile, breakfast burns, tempers flare, and somewhere near the Portal, a woman screams.
Morning brings clarity, tension, and a quietly defiant patient.
Joel is sitting up—impossible, remarkable, alive by some definition Glenda can't explain. His finger is broken. His throat is healing. And when she suggests Paul should lead camp development, Jamie bristles like she's drawn a line he didn't ask for.
Setting the finger is straightforward. The question that follows isn't. Do you remember what happened? Joel's eyes flick toward her, a flash of something unreadable. "No." The word lands too quickly, too rehearsed. Is he protecting himself—or has someone told him what not to say?
Later, burnt bacon and fire control lessons from Kain. Duke accepts food like a gentleman. Henri nearly takes her fingers. She's just found her rhythm when a scream tears through camp—female, unfamiliar, from the direction of the Portal.
She runs toward it. She doesn't know what she'll find.
