Ryland Carter's Arc

Chapter 7 of 8

Ryland sat on the bunker's front step and stared at his hands. They'd built plenty—blades, towers, memorials—but none of it kept people from leaving. The two recruits who remained were inside, probably wondering if he'd fall apart. He needed to see something that reminded him why any of this mattered. His boots scraped against stone as he stood and walked to the memorial. The fence of thorns still surrounded it, sharp and dark. Two names remained carved in the stone. He'd removed the third himself, but these two had stayed. They'd shown up every morning since. That was the answer—not the things he built, but the people who chose to return. He walked past the bunker toward the mess kitchen he'd seen other hunters use. The building had corrugated metal siding and a faded sign that barely showed its name anymore. Inside, three hunters sat at a long table eating from dented bowls. One gestured wildly while telling a story about a close call with a corpse-walker. The others laughed and argued about tactics between bites. Ryland stood in the doorway and watched them. They wore the same exhausted expressions his recruits had after hard drills. They shared food and traded stories like it mattered. This was what squads looked like when they worked—people who kept coming back because they belonged somewhere. His chest loosened slightly. His two recruits had chosen to stay. That meant something. On his way back, he passed a climbing wall built against old brick. Handholds marked the surface, worn smooth from constant use and dusted white with chalk. Someone had climbed this wall hundreds of times, maybe thousands. Each grip showed the hours spent practicing, failing, trying again. Ryland stopped and studied the worn brick. Building a loyal squad wasn't about grand gestures or perfect monuments. It was about showing up every day and doing the work until it became muscle memory. His two recruits had done that. They'd earned their spots through discipline and repetition, just like whoever had climbed this wall. He turned back toward the bunker. Two hunters were enough to start with. The rest would come when they saw what those two could do.