The road leading back to the Resistance compound was a small, hidden, and tricky-to-navigate one. It was filled with mud, small stones, and broken branches that had been washed down from the mountaintop by the rain this morning. At some point, it disappeared altogether, swallowed by tall grass.

The bumping and noises from the car engine woke Kye. She didn't know how long she had been out. The last things she remembered were Michael's eyes and the warm sensation his hand had left on her forehead. She slowly sat up with grogginess and a monstrous headache. The oatmeal-colored blanket slipped down, smelling faintly like Michael. Kye sniffled and turned around to look through the back windshield. Three other cars still followed closely behind this one.

She turned back to the road ahead. Defeat and hopelessness flooded in, drowning her. There was nothing outside the car windows but moving trees. Nothing but a fluid color of green.

Two men in the front seats exchanged a look. The driver, who had short, dirty blond hair glanced at Kye through the rearview mirror.

"Sleep well, princess?" His green eyes twinkled, and the crow's feet at their corners deepened.

He was not much older than her and could be considered handsome if Kye was in a mood to admire. She exhaled and wrapped the blanket a little more tightly around her body. Her feet were frozen, and only now, Kye remembered that she had no shoes on.

She looked down at her wrinkled toes for a long minute before lifting her head and meeting the man's eyes. "Are we almost there?" She asked.

"Everything in its own time," the man hummed and turned on the radio.

"5-21. Approaching the main gate. 15 minutes. Out."

"Copy."

"3-60 at main gate. Entering."

"Copy."

"42-60. 45-60 at the main gate. Entering."

"Copy."

"32-16 on Bellow Passage. Approaching the main gate. 25 minutes. Out."

"Copy..."

The voices came in nonstop like a story that didn't make much sense to Kye. A broken chant. One by one, it told her about people, locations, and time.

The driver clicked his tongue and picked up the speaker microphone. "6-15 on Eastside. Approaching the main gate. 20 minutes. Out."

His partner in the passenger seat finally closed his small notebook and tucked the short pencil behind his ear. He had been scribbling from the moment Kye woke up.

"Ok, so we're gonna drop her off then get back out with Garth's team later. It's gonna be a long night," he sighed and combed his fingers through his thick shoulder-length brown hair.

The driver only nodded. They drove in silence for the rest of the way. After what felt like centuries, the car slowly approached the foot of the mountain. It went up a gravel road to a huge metal gate with a makeshift security booth on one side. On the other, a group of men was hanging around a maroon-colored truck, all carrying firearms. Two men sat in the truck bed, chatting boisterously, while the rest lifted their heads and waved at the convoy.

The driver slowed down and lowered the window on the passenger side. He nodded and smiled as his partner raised his hand to greet the men outside. They drove through the gate into a large dirt lot with a bunch of cars and trucks parked around. The driver stopped the car. He and his partner got out at the same time, leaving Kye behind. It took her a moment to gather her thoughts and follow them.

"Ok. So we'll see you guys in a few. Don't be late." The driver pointed at the men who got out from the other cars. Some waved without looking back as they walked away.

For a trade that was supposed to be important, these people seemed awfully casual. Nobody spared Kye a glance. Nobody cared where she was or what she was doing. It confused her.

Now, her two new travel companions turned to her. Kye quickly moved her eyes to the low hill in front of them. It was something. A three-story building that seemed to be a factory of some sort back in the day sat on top of the hill. Two huge silos were on its left while several cabins fanned out behind it to both sides. The smoke from different chimneys mixed with the cold, damp air after the rain created a thick mist that floated around.

The sky was as gray as ever, and faint thunders sounded close. It guaranteed more rain tonight. Kye's mood was already ruined so a little wetness would be just fine.

Kye and the men currently stood in the lower area where the wind didn't touch them for the most part. She was grateful for that because her teeth had chattered from the moment she got out of the car. The guy with shoulder-length brown hair gave her a look before walking to the back of the jeep and bringing out a pair of sneakers. They were old and a few sizes bigger than her feet, but they looked clean. He dropped them in front of Kye and smiled encouragingly.

It immediately felt like heaven when she slipped her feet into them. Beat walking on the freezing, mushy ground for sure. The warmth and cushiness they provided reminded her of a lifetime ago.

"Let's get you settled in," the man said with a smile that made two dimples appear on his cheeks before turning to his partner. "I'll be right back."

"Make it quick, man." The man with dirty blond hair shook his head while leaning on the jeep. "We gotta go. Garth's already blown up my phone."

Shoulder-length Brown Hair made a face and put his hand on Kye's shoulder to guide her forward. She didn't realize how tall this guy was until now. He towered over her by at least one and a half head, but his mannerisms were gentle. She couldn't read much on his partner, but it wasn't hard to see that the man disliked her. He didn't bother to hide it.

Kye looked up at the tall guy and gave him a shaky smile. He reminded her of Michael for his height, and the very thought worsened her mood. She should not be thinking about him still. Their lives had detached from one another—all thanks to her. There would be no turning back from this point. She'd better get used to it.

Kye walked slowly with the tall man. They didn't talk. The camp seemed desolate, probably because of the bad weather. Once in a while, one or two people passed them in a hurry. No one paid them any mind. That's good, Kye thought, feeling relieved. Finally, they stopped in front of a small gray cabin with metal roof. The door swung open before they could even knock. A woman with electric blue eyes and dark brown wavy bob came out to greet them with a radiant smile.

"Come on in! Took you guys long enough!"

The tall guy smiled and shook his head. He didn't seem surprised by her enthusiasm. The woman closed her long pink cardigan and fixed her multicolor scarf.

"Oh, I'm Hannah, by the way. The healer. Every camp needs one. Nice to meet you, Kye." She offered her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Hannah." Kye smiled and shook it.

Hannah went into the back room and brought out some clothes and personal hygiene items. She put them on the table next to the bed where Kye was sitting and stood back to observe her from head to toe.

"Not too bad," she mumbled to herself. "He could've done worse..."

Hannah proceeded to come closer and put her two fingers on Kye's forehead. The gesture was hauntingly familiar and shocked Kye to the core. She jumped as if burned by the woman's simple touch. Tears fell uncontrollably from her eyes, and her heart beat so fast that it could stop. The man quickly came over and wrapped his arms around her. He and Hannah both shushed her like a baby.

"I'm so sorry," Hannah said. "I should not have done that. I won't do it again. I promise. We'll just do things the traditional way then."

Kye didn't know what "traditional way" means, but the look in the woman's eyes calmed her down a little. Hannah sighed before standing up and opening several cabinets and drawers to pull out the medical tools that she needed and set them on a metal tray.

"I'm gonna clean the dirt and scratches on your skin first and then check for other injuries. After that, I will draw some blood. Ok?"

Kye nodded. The tall man looked at her owlishly.

"Do you want me to stay here?" He asked with his arms still wrapped around her.

Kye looked into his eyes. They were hazel.

"It's ok." She shook her head and smiled.

He slowly let go of her and stood up, but before he could take a step, Kye grabbed his jacket sleeve.

"Thank you," she said.

"You're welcome. Shout if you need anything. I'll be right outside." He smiled at her and walked out the door.

Kye turned back to Hannah. "I'm ready."

***

Michael watched the sunrise on the horizon through the glass wall of his loft. The sky was much clearer now and covered in a light shade of pink after a long rainy night. Flocks of birds flew past in a hurry. The world was pretty much the same—busy, noisy, dirty—but in this place and his heart, something had changed. Drastically.

Who knew one absence could have that effect? It reminded Michael of a pebble thrown into a quiet lake, and the rippling rings it created only got bigger and bigger.

The loft was always quiet, and Michael preferred it this way, but its quietness felt different now. It was eerie for lack of a better word.

Before he could spend the whole day working while being comforted by the thought of what waited for him at home: A welcoming smile and a warm hug. Home, what a concept. Michael had never thought his would be a space defined by four walls and a ceiling, shared with a mortal soul. He had not given it much thought, honestly. It just steadily became a part of him.

He had also not thought much about affection, the little nice things here and there that he received from her. They were addictive, and being addictive meant dangerous. Now, with all that being gone, Michael found himself at a complete loss and an insatiable desire to get it back.

Three knocks on the door pulled Michael out of his thoughts.

"Come in," he said.

A tall, bald man walked in with a folder in his hand. "Everything is ready, Sir. Bobby Singer said he wanted to meet at The Swan, eight o'clock sharp tonight."

"Neutral ground. He's smart."

Michael nodded, and the man bowed before leaving for the door. The archangel turned back to the city skyline. Nothing like the calm before a storm.

***

The morning was the busiest time at the compound. People came out of their cabins and headed to their designated posts. Some went to the watchtowers by the main gate and four corners of the camp, changing shifts with the people who stood guard the night before. Some practiced combat skills. Some cleaned and organized weapons while others tended to crops in the greenhouse and garden behind the main building. Lines of cars and trucks came back from nightly supplies runs or other missions with tired but relieved men and women. The rolls of smoke from the communal kitchen's chimney smelled of bacon and baked beans.

The ground was wet and covered in mud from the rainy night before. Kye had just woken up from a long, restless night. She had gone to bed quite early, but sleep had refused to come for hours. Kye had tossed and turned in bed as her head was filled with images of Michael and the memories of the four years they had spent together. Up until the moment he put his two fingers on her forehead. When she could finally drift off, the nightmares kept coming, one after another. She would be abandoned or hurt, and a pair of blue eyes would haunt her in all those dreams. She lost count of how many times she woke up during the night drenched in sweat.

Kye stretched her arms and legs and glanced at her reflection in the small mirror hung on the cabin's door. She looked like a ghost but somehow still a little better than yesterday. Hannah had cleaned and disinfected all of her wounds and then checked her thoroughly for internal injuries and contagious diseases. "It's a must for the newcomers who come to the camp. To protect everyone else," as Hannah had said. Kye warmed up to the woman in no time thanks to Hannah's upbeat personality. The woman was talkative. Within a twenty-minute conversation, Kye had learned about almost everyone who resided in the camp, men, women, and children.

Everyone came here for a different reason. The two men who had driven Kye yesterday were actually brothers. Their dad was a soldier from the old government, and their mom was a nurse. Classic love and duty story until the man died in one of the big battles against the Heavenly Host which killed thousands on both sides. Their mom took them and ran deep into the mountainous area. Away from civilization or what was left of it, she fended for herself and her sons, raised them like warriors, and taught them everything she thought they would need to survive. She died without knowing the War had ended. On her dying breath, she told the brothers to look for Bobby, one of the Resistance's directors. She and Bobby used to date when they were younger. The man had hung around even after she got married, and they remained close friends. When the War happened, Bobby and the brothers' dad fought alongside each other. He was the one who brought their dad's belongings back to their mom after the man was killed in action. Bobby had told her that if she ever needed his help, his door would always be open. He gave her his contact information, and after the woman died, the brothers, who were sixteen and twelve years old then, drove all night to the location that Bobby had told their mom. It was one of the Resistance's early camps. The rest was history.

Kye could now understand the hardened look on their faces. Even the younger brother—the tall young man with soft features and kind hazel eyes—also looked like someone who had seen too much for his age.

After finishing with Hannah, Kye walked out to see him sitting on the ground next to the door. His long back leaned against the outer wall, and his head drooped as if he was sleeping. A few rays of sunlight fought their ways through the gray clouds to shine directly on his face, turning it pink. He breathed slowly. His eyelashes shook with each breath.

Kye didn't want to disturb him. He was probably tired after the trip, and after learning about his and his brother's back story, she sympathized. At the same time, she felt guilty for knowing too much about someone's tragedies from a third party. It seemed wrong. She stood there for a while, not sure what she should do.

After a while, the guy opened one eye. He saw Kye and quickly stood up. "I'm so sorry. I must've passed out for, God..." He checked his watch. "20 minutes? Are you all done with Hannah?"

Kye smiled, "Yes, all done... Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. You can rest a bit if you're tired. It's not like I'm in a rush to go anywhere." She chuckled dryly. "I just need to take these back to Cabin...12? I think."

Kye held up a tote bag filled with clothes and personal items. The oatmeal-colored blanket was folded neatly on top of everything.

"Ok, I know where it is." The man dusted his hands and stood up. "Let's go before my brother goes berserk on me."

They arrived at a row of wooden cabins not too far from the infirmary and stopped in front of a humble one with an owl carved on its gable.

"They must've all gone to the kitchen," the man said. "I can walk with you there after you drop these things off."

Kye nodded and opened the door. Inside the cabin, four bunk beds were situated—two on each side of the room. Each one came with two bedside tables and a storage bench. The bathroom door was straight ahead, facing the entrance. Jackets and hats of different colors were piled on the hanging coat rack on the wall next to several small framed pictures, photos, and newspaper cutouts. A mauve vase filled with wildflowers sat on the right-sided window sill, giving the room a feminine hint.

Kye walked to the end of the cabin and dropped her stuff on an empty bed. It was a lower bunk close to the bathroom on the left side. The bed was made neatly with a gray blanket and a matching pillow that smelled very clean. Kye turned back to the man who was watching her from the door.

"I've kept you long enough already. Let's go to the kitchen," she said.

"Hey, if you want to change before we go, I can wait. No problems at all." He assured.

"I'm ok," Kye pulled at the new purple sweater Hannah had given her at the infirmary. "I don't want you to get in trouble with your brother."

"He's fine," the man shrugged. "We're supposed to go on a supply run, but it won't be for another four hours. Dean tends to freak out when it comes to preparations." He chuckled and shook his head, "By the way, I haven't properly introduced myself. I'm Sam. Sam Winchester."