Thank you for pointing that out! Here’s the complete ending to Chapter 8:

---

Lilia’s eyes followed the light filtering in, and she seemed calmer for a moment, nestling into her sister. But her gaze soon drifted to something in the corner of the room. She clutched Elara’s hand tightly and tugged, motioning toward one of the hospital beds half-hidden by shadows.

“Ellie…” Lilia whispered, her voice tight with fear. “Who’s that?”

Elara’s heart sank as she turned to look. There, lying in stark stillness on the bed, was the body of a girl who couldn’t have been much older than sixteen. Her face was pale and expressionless, framed by tangled hair, and her hands rested limp at her sides. A single, empty IV bag hung beside her bed, its tube still trailing to her arm. She seemed frozen in time, as if her life had ended just moments before they entered.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Elara felt a chill sweep over her. This girl had likely been alone in her last moments, just another patient lost in a world gone mad. She took a shaky breath, wondering what her story might have been, what she might have dreamed or feared before everything fell apart.

Lilia’s grip tightened, her voice barely a whisper. “Do you think she… knew?”

Elara swallowed hard, blinking away the sting in her eyes. “I don’t know,” she murmured, forcing a calmness she didn’t feel. “But she’s… at peace now. She’s beyond all of this.”

Lilia pressed herself closer to Elara, her small body trembling. Elara wrapped her arms around her sister, a fierce protectiveness rising within her. The girl on the bed was a reminder of everything they were running from, of the fragility of their safety. But Elara wasn’t going to let that fate touch Lilia—not if she could help it.

As they huddled close, Elara made a silent promise to the girl on the bed and to herself: no matter what lay ahead, she would find a way to keep Lilia safe. They had to survive. There was no other option.