Chapter 26: SEASIDE MALL SUMMER CARNIVAL.
The casino lights flickered overhead as Johnquis and the Runner crouched behind an old blackjack table, its velvet surface dusted with fresh blood and glitch-static. The jingle still echoed faintly from the floor below, muffled by screams and the sound of steel clashing with bone.
Johnquis pressed his hand against the side of his neck—he could still feel the fresh scar from where Rex’s blade nearly took his life. His fingers shook.
The Runner was still beside him, its body rising and falling with shallow, beastlike breath. Its muscles were tense, twitching under the skin as it tried to heal, limbs trembling from the strain. Its glowing violet eyes darted around, watching for threats.
But Johnquis wasn’t watching the stairs anymore.
He was staring at the bright posters flickering across the wall. A holographic screen stuttered mid-loop, showing children laughing on a carousel, riding plastic dolphins, eating popcorn. An ad for the "Seaside Mall Summer Carnival."
It hit him.
Hard.
A memory he hadn’t asked for.
It was a crumbling shelter, two years ago.
A long night lit only by broken lanterns and the red glow of dusk through broken glass. Dust drifted through the air like snow, settling on everything.
Johnquis sat on a piece of folded canvas, slowly sharpening a dull knife. Nearby, five kids huddled together. Their faces were smudged with dirt, their bellies empty, their eyes too wide.