Ruth spotted Maya from afar and hurried toward her. The woman's face, already weathered by fear carved into her skin, bore even deeper lines of exhaustion today.
"You... you're still alive," she said, voice trembling like someone waking from a nightmare. "I thought they would—"
Maya placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, feeling the coldness of a body aged by terror. "I'm fine," she said softly but firmly. "And I'm still here."
Ruth nodded quickly, tears welling and wiped away as if the act of crying itself was forbidden. Her hands shook as she folded them close to her chest, trying to anchor herself. She glanced around the market with the instinct of someone who expected danger to emerge from any corner. The relief in her eyes was mixed with dread—proof that in Holston, hope always came tangled with fear. Maya felt that truth settle heavily in her chest.
A nearby vendor lowered his gaze as Maya passed, but after a moment's hesitation, he lifted it again. "The night Brooks died," he whispered, "none of us dared touch him. We just watched." His breath hitched as he continued: "Because Hale stared at every single one of us. Anyone who took a step closer... just one look from him felt like a death sentence."
Maya absorbed each word, knowing how silence had been forced into these people like a second skin.
Omar stood behind his cracked wooden cobbler's table, shoulders hunched with the weight of something long hidden. When Maya approached, he glanced around and motioned her into the back. The small room smelled of leather, dust, and fear that had lived too long behind closed doors.
Omar opened the lid of an old wooden box. Inside lay a single small silver USB, the metal catching light like something dangerous. "I've kept this for a long time," Omar said, voice heavy, almost breaking. "But I think now is the time."
He placed it into Maya's palm, his hand trembling as though he stood at the edge of a cliff. The moment felt like a confession, a surrender, and a rebellion all at once. Maya closed her fingers around the USB, aware she was holding a piece of the truth so many had fought to bury. Omar exhaled shakily, as if releasing years of fear with one breath.
Ruth tugged Maya toward a wall near the market entrance. "Here," she said, voice tightening.