Novels by Ricky_writes

They didn’t go far from the research site.The air was cooler in the trees, but the hum still reached them from below.It never stopped, not even for a breath.They set camp near a dry creek bed where the ground felt solid.Caleb built a small fire. The light made a circle around them that faded into the dark.The forest was quiet.Too quiet.No insects. No birds. Only the soft hiss of the wind moving through dead branches.Dr Hale sat apart from the group with the laptop he had carried from the lab.A cracked battery powered it, the screen faint but readable.Lines of code and numbers filled the screen.He typed slowly, whispering to himself.Dylan watched him. “You think he can still pull something useful from that thing?”Caleb poked at the fire. “He’s the only one who understands what’s happening. Let him try.”Nora sat with Luke beside her, wrapped in a blanket.The boy’s eyes were half closed.Every few minutes he looked at the sky, then at the trees, as if expecting something t

The forest grew thinner as they moved north.The air smelled sharp, like metal after lightning.Every few minutes the ground hummed, soft and steady, as if something deep below was breathing.They had walked since morning.The trees looked wrong now.Some had twisted trunks that bent toward the ground.Others grew in perfect straight lines.The pattern made Caleb uneasy.He stopped when he saw the smoke.A thin column rose above the trees a few miles ahead.It was not black like fire but grey and steady.“Someone’s burning fuel,” he said.Dylan looked through his scope. “Could be a crash.”“Or a camp,” Nora said.They followed the smoke.The closer they came, the stronger the smell of oil became.The trees opened into a clearing filled with old trucks and broken walls.Ahead stood a small complex of concrete buildings.The fences around it had collapsed in places.The sign on the gate was faded but still readable.FEDERAL RESEARCH SITE – RESTRICTED ACCESS.Caleb studied the symbol ben

The road north started through a narrow pass. Broken rocks lined both sides, and the ground was soft from the storm. The group moved in silence. No birds. No wind. Only the steady hum seemed to come from under their feet. By midday, the light changed. The sun faded behind thick clouds. Caleb walked ahead, watching each step. He heard a deep crack before he felt it. The ground shifted once, then dropped away. He fell with the others. The noise of breaking stone filled his ears. Then everything went dark. When he woke, his head hurt. Cold air touched his face. He sat up slowly. A beam of pale light cut through a hole above him. Dust drifted in it like smoke. Nora was beside him, coughing. Dylan was farther back, pulling Luke out from under a piece of wood. Everyone was bruised but alive. They were standing in a tunnel. Metal rails ran along the floor. Pipes lined the ceiling. Water dripped from somewhere unseen. Dylan looked up at the hole they had fallen throu

They left the observatory at first light.The air was colder than before and smelled faintly of metal. The sky was grey but still, no wind at all. Every few minutes a low roll of thunder passed across the mountains, soft at first, then sharper, as if the sound came from underground.Caleb led them down the rocky slope. The path turned through old pine trees and broken fences. Far below, the valley spread wide and empty. Patches of mist clung to the ground like smoke.They walked until noon.The thunder grew closer. Clouds pressed together above them, layered and dark. The light on the ground changed from silver to blue.Nora stopped to drink from a canteen. “You think it’s safe to keep going?”“Not if we stop here,” Caleb said.Dylan pointed ahead. “There’s a road down there.”It led to a flat stretch of land where a handful of buildings stood close together. The roofs were dented from years of weather. A tall metal frame marked what had once been a loading yard. Beyond it, the mouth

The climb took most of the day.The sun hung behind the clouds, pale and cold. The forest had thinned to stunted pines and rock. Caleb kept his eyes on the ground, counting steps, listening for the hum that never truly stopped.They reached the hilltop near sunset. The observatory rose ahead of them, round and grey, half swallowed by vines. Its metal dome was split down one side like an open shell. A cracked road led to it, littered with rusted cars and pieces of broken fencing.Dylan stopped first. “The place looks empty.”“It’ll do,” Caleb said.They crossed the lot and pushed through the main doors. The air inside was dry and heavy. Dust hung in the light. Desks, monitors, and tangled wires filled the control room. Old coffee cups sat where they had been left.No bodies. Only silence.Caleb found a set of stairs leading upward. The dome above had collapsed, but part of the walkway was still intact. From there he could see the valley stretching south. The river glowed faintly, even

They followed the narrow trail north until the trees thinned and the ground turned rocky. The climb was hard. The air smelled faintly of smoke from the valley behind them. Each time Caleb looked back, he saw the blue haze rising from the river. It pulsed with the rhythm of a slow heartbeat. No one spoke for a long time. Every word felt heavy in the air. Nora kept close to Luke, her arm steadying him when he slipped. Dylan walked behind, scanning the trees with a broken rifle he had found in the bunker. Caleb led them uphill toward the ridge where the relay tower should be. By midmorning, the mist began to lift. The forest opened into a clearing covered in ferns and fallen branches. In the middle stood a chain-link fence, half buried under vines. A warning sign hung crooked on the gate: RESTRICTED AREA – FEDERAL COMMUNICATION SITE. “This is it,” Caleb said. They stepped through the gap in the fence. The ground was soft with ash and scattered bones of small animals. The tower ros

The wind moved softly through the clearing as the light settled around them. Kaelen didn’t move right away. He just breathed, slow and deep, taking in the quiet that finally felt real. The kind of quiet that didn’t threaten to disappear. The kind that felt earned.Selene stood a few steps away from him, watching the sky shift from gold to the deep, warm blue of evening. Her shoulders finally loosened. Her hands relaxed. Her breath evened out. For the first time since everything began, she wasn’t preparing for the next fight. She wasn’t bracing for another loss. She simply stood there, alive, steady, and free.Lyra stepped closer, her presence soft but certain. There was something different in her eyes now. Not the frantic alertness she used to carry, not the edge of danger that made every moment feel like it could collapse. She moved with a calm that came from acceptance, from return, from finding herself again after everything had been torn apart.Kaelen looked at both of them, letti

The world around them was still settling.The light that had erupted moments before was fading into something softer, a pale glow that hovered over the newly formed horizon. The land pulsed gently, breathing like a body learning to wake for the first time.Selene stood at the center of it, her chest rising and falling in slow, unsteady breaths. She had felt the world break. She had felt it heal. And she felt it now, waiting for her, listening to her, shaping itself around every choice she made.Kaelen was the first to step toward her. His movements were quiet, nothing rushed, nothing forced. The last echoes of the fight clung to his skin, faint traces of energy fading from his hands. His eyes stayed on her, calm and steady in a way that pulled something deep inside her into focus.Lyra approached from the right.Her steps were softer. Her breathing uneven. She looked at the sky like she still expected it to collapse again. But when her gaze finally settled on Selene, everything in her

Selene didn’t move from where she stood between them. She didn’t want to. The closeness felt too steady, too charged, too right. Kaelen kept one hand against her waist, fingers relaxed but sure, as if he didn’t want to risk losing the connection they had finally allowed themselves to feel. Lyra stayed behind Selene, her arms wrapped softly around her, her cheek resting against Selene’s shoulder like she belonged there.None of them broke the moment. They just breathed in the same slow rhythm, bodies warming into each other.Then Kaelen lifted his head slightly, his eyes still on Selene. “Come here,” he murmured, guiding her closer with a gentle pull.Selene followed the movement without hesitation, her body melting into his. His lips met hers again, slow and deep, the kind of kiss that made her knees feel unsteady. Lyra tightened her hold from behind, steadying Selene as if she could feel her body reacting.Kaelen’s hand slid up Selene’s back while Lyra’s hands smoothed along her hips

Selene felt the warmth of both their bodies holding her there, keeping her steady between them. There was no hesitation anymore. No second-guessing. Just the closeness they’d been circling for too long finally settling into something undeniable.Kaelen’s hand slid up her waist again, slow and sure, guiding her even closer. Lyra stayed right behind her, the shape of her body fitting against Selene’s back with a quiet confidence that made Selene’s breath deepen. She felt every small movement from both of them, every shift, every soft pull, like they were learning her at the same time.Kaelen lowered his forehead to hers for a moment, letting their breaths mix. He wasn’t rushing anything. He seemed to understand that this needed to build naturally, that Selene needed to feel every part of it without being overwhelmed. His thumb traced her cheek as if he was memorizing the exact way she reacted to his touch.Behind her, Lyra’s hands moved slowly down Selene’s arms, fingertips grazing her

None of them moved at first. It wasn’t hesitation. It was the kind of moment where everything lined up so precisely that no one wanted to disturb it too quickly. Selene felt Lyra’s fingers tighten around hers, gentle but certain. Kaelen’s presence in front of them was steady, the kind of steady that came after fighting too hard against himself for too long.The silence wasn’t empty. It held all the things they had been avoiding, all the questions they had tried to outrun. Now they were standing in the same place with nowhere left to hide from what they were becoming.Kaelen was the first to break the stillness. He reached out slowly and brushed his knuckles against Selene’s cheek. His touch was warm, familiar, but heavier tonight. Like he needed her to feel the sincerity behind it. She leaned into him without thinking, her breath catching as her eyes met his.Lyra watched them quietly, not stepping back, not pulling away. She seemed to understand exactly what this moment meant for all

The air in the room stayed tight around them, like everything had been waiting for this exact moment. Kaelen didn’t speak at first. He just stood there, shoulders tense, eyes locked on Selene as if he was trying to read every emotion flickering through her. She wasn’t looking away this time. She felt too raw, too aware of the way everything between them had been shifting.Selene drew in a slow breath. Her hands were still trembling from the last conversation, from how close everything had come to breaking. Kaelen noticed. He stepped closer, not touching her, just standing in her space. The kind of closeness he only used when he was being completely honest.“You don’t have to be afraid of what comes next,” Kaelen said quietly.She didn’t answer right away. It wasn’t fear holding her back. It was everything she hadn’t been able to control. Every choice they’d made that kept pulling them deeper.Before she could respond, the door opened.Lyra stepped inside.The moment she appeared, the