Chapter 10 - The Horizon
The sun began to dip below the western ridge, casting a brilliant orange and purple glow across the wide Tennessee sky.
Silas had stayed for dinner—a simple, warm meal of roasted chicken and fresh bread around a wooden kitchen table where no guns were permitted and no secrets were whispered. After he left for his hotel in town, the house settled back into a deep, comforting silence.
Cora sat on the porch swing, wrapped in a thick wool blanket, watching the stars begin to punch through the deepening twilight. The rhythmic creak-creak of the swing was the only sound in the cool night air, save for the soft, steady breathing of Nero, who was curled up asleep right across the wooden planks of the porch, his massive head resting comfortably across Cora’s bare feet.
Heavy footsteps sounded behind her, and the warm weight of Dante’s wool jacket settled over her shoulders. He sat down on the swing beside her, pulling her close against his side.
"Penny for your thoughts," Dante whispered into her hair.
"I was just thinking about that first day at the iron gates," Cora said softly, looking out across the dark, peaceful expanse of the lawn. "When I heard Nero barking. If someone had told me then that this is where we would end up... I never would have believed it."
Dante kissed the top of her head, his arm holding her tight against him. "Neither would I. For a long time, I thought monsters were the only ones who survived in this world."
"And now?" she asked, turning her face up to look at him in the starlight.
May you like
Dante looked down at her, his dark eyes filled with a profound, unshakeable peace. "Now I know that survival is just the beginning. The real victory is finding someone who makes you want to live."
Down on the grass, Nero let out a soft, dreaming huff, his paws twitching as he chased ghosts in his sleep. The past was gone, buried under the rich, quiet earth of the farm, and the future stretched out before them—open, boundless, and entirely their own.
