Chapter 163 The flight home

Chapter 163: Chapter 163 The flight home

Again, the aircraft lifted off the strange island, its engines roaring as it climbed through the darkening sky. Below them, the twisted forest and bone-like trees shrank into the distance, swallowed by the shadows of the approaching night. The island—that horrible, woman-shaped landmass—grew smaller and smaller until it was nothing more than a dark smudge against the horizon.

Luna didn’t look back.

She kept her eyes fixed forward, her hands steady on the controls, her jaw set with determination. But inside, her heart was still racing. The reunion had been everything she had hoped for and more—but it had also reminded her of how close they had come to losing everything.

Kai sat beside her, his presence a warm, steady comfort. He hadn’t stopped smiling since they had boarded the aircraft. Every few minutes, he would glance at her, as though reassuring himself that she was still there, still real, still his.

"You keep looking at me," Luna said without turning.

"I can’t help it." Kai’s voice was soft. "I spent so long thinking I’d never see you again."

Luna’s grip on the controls tightened. "I know the feeling."

Behind them, Adrian sat in silence, his eyes fixed on the window. He hadn’t said much since they had taken off. The exhaustion was finally catching up with him—Luna could see it in the way his shoulders slumped, in the way his head kept dipping forward before jerking back up.

Rowan sat across from him, watching. "You should sleep."

Adrian blinked. "I’m fine."

"You’re exhausted."

"I said I’m fine."

Rowan sighed. He knew better than to argue with Adrian when he was like this. The man was stubborn—almost as stubborn as Luna herself. But Rowan also knew that stubbornness was often the only thing keeping people alive in this world.

Ethan, who had been quiet for most of the flight, finally spoke up. "So." He looked at Kai. "What happened down there?"

Kai’s smile faded. He exchanged a glance with Adrian, something dark passing between them.

"A lot," Kai said quietly. "We found people. Survivors."

Luna’s eyebrows rose. "Survivors?"

"From the plane crash. There were others—a woman named Talia, and some people with her." Kai paused. "They had been living on the island for a while. Hiding from the creatures."

"Had?" Ethan caught the past tense.

Kai’s expression tightened. "The cave collapsed. We got separated. I don’t know if they made it out."

The cabin fell silent. Luna’s hands tightened on the controls until her knuckles went white.

"They might still be alive," Rowan said carefully.

"Maybe." Kai didn’t sound convinced. "But even if they are... they’re still on that island. And we’re not going back."

The words hung in the air, heavy with implication. Luna understood what he wasn’t saying. They had made a choice—to leave, to save themselves, to prioritize their own survival over strangers they barely knew.

It was the kind of choice that haunted people. The kind of choice that left scars you couldn’t see.

"I’m sorry," Luna said quietly.

Kai looked at her. "For what?"

"For leaving them behind."

Kai shook his head. "We didn’t have a choice. The creatures... the island... it was a death trap. If we had stayed, we would have died too." He paused. "That doesn’t make it easier. But it’s the truth."

Luna nodded slowly. She understood. She had made similar choices before—choices that had saved her life but cost her pieces of her soul. It was the nature of survival. The apocalypse didn’t care about morality. It only cared about who was left standing at the end.

Adrian’s voice cut through the silence. "We should have brought them."

Everyone turned to look at him.

"Talia. Mark. The others." Adrian’s jaw was tight. "We should have tried harder."

"Adrian—" Kai started.

"No." Adrian’s voice was sharp. "I know what you’re going to say. That we couldn’t have saved them. That we barely made it out ourselves. But that doesn’t change the fact that we left people behind. People who trusted us."

Kai was silent.

Adrian continued, his voice lower now. "Mark died in that cave. I found his body. He was crushed. He probably suffocated before he even knew what was happening." He paused. "And I felt... relieved. Because for a second, I thought it was you."

The confession hung in the air like a blade.

Kai stared at him. "Adrian..."

"I know how that sounds." Adrian’s voice cracked. "I know it makes me a monster. But in that moment, all I could think was—at least it’s not Kai. At least he’s still alive." He looked down at his bandaged hands. "What kind of person thinks like that?"

Luna’s heart ached. She had seen that look before—the look of someone who had survived when others hadn’t, who was drowning in guilt and didn’t know how to swim.

"Adrian," she said softly.

He looked up at her.

"You’re not a monster." Her voice was gentle but firm. "You’re human. And humans... we do whatever it takes to protect the people we love." She paused. "That doesn’t make it right. But it doesn’t make you wrong either."

Adrian stared at her for a long moment. Then he let out a shaky breath. "That doesn’t make any sense."

"I know." Luna smiled faintly. "But it’s the truth."

The cabin fell silent again, but this time it was different. Softer. The tension that had been building since they had left the island slowly began to dissipate, replaced by something that felt almost like peace.

Kai reached over and placed his hand on top of Luna’s. She didn’t pull away.

"We’re going to be okay," Kai said quietly. "All of us."

Luna looked at him. "You don’t know that."

"No." Kai’s smile returned, small but genuine. "But I believe it."

*****

The flight continued through the night. The strange, too-bright sky of the island gave way to something more familiar—dark clouds, distant stars, the pale glow of a moon that looked almost normal.

Almost.

Luna kept the aircraft steady, her eyes scanning the instruments for any signs of danger. The system chimes quietly in the back of her mind, its presence a constant reassurance that it hasn’t abandoned her again. The Sovereign Interface was still new, still unfamiliar, but it was there, It was hers to control.

[Level 2 — Agricultural Department unlocked, she thought. Level 3 — Medical Department next]

The possibilities were endless. Farms. Livestock. Crops that could feed dozens of people. Medicines that could heal wounds and cure diseases. The supermarket had been a lifeline before, but now... now it was something else entirely.

It was a foundation. A future.

Luna glanced at Kai. He had fallen asleep, his head resting against the window, his breathing slow and even. He looked peaceful—younger somehow, despite the exhaustion etched into his features.

She thought about everything they had been through. The apocalypse. The system. The four men who had somehow become her family, despite everything she had done to push them away.

"I am your family now." she had told Ethan. "And you guys are mine."

She had meant it. Every word.

But family wasn’t just about words. It was about actions. About staying when it would be easier to leave. About fighting when it would be easier to give up. About believing in someone even when they didn’t believe in themselves.

Luna had never had a real family before. Her past was a graveyard of broken promises and shattered trust. But these men—Kai, Adrian, Rowan, Ethan—they had somehow found their way past her walls. They had seen her at her worst and stayed anyway.

Maybe that was what family meant.

Maybe that was what love meant.

Luna’s cheeks flushed slightly at the thought. She quickly pushed it aside, focusing on the controls, on the flight, on anything but the confusing tangle of emotions in her chest.

There would be time for that later.

For now, she had a job to do and it was to get them home.

******

The first light of dawn began to creep over the horizon when the familiar landscape of their own world finally came into view.

Luna’s heart lifted at the sight of it—the scorched earth, the twisted ruins, the blackened sea that had once been so terrifying but now felt almost like home. At least it was familiar and she couldn’t believe she was saying this but they were getting used to it now.

"Wake up," she said, her voice soft but firm.

Kai stirred. "Hmm?"

"We’re here."

He blinked, looking out the window. A slow smile spread across his face. "Home sweet apocalypse."

Luna laughed—a genuine, unguarded laugh that surprised even her. "Something like that."

Behind them, the others began to stir. Adrian woke with a groan, his body stiff from hours of sitting. Rowan stretched, his joints popping. Ethan yawned loudly, running a hand through his messy hair.

"Did we make it?" Ethan asked, his voice groggy.

"We made it," Luna confirmed.

She guided the aircraft downward, toward the island that had become their refuge. The massive land figure loomed ahead, its outstretched form still reaching toward the sky. The water had receded, leaving the base of the island exposed—a small mercy in a world that rarely offered any.

The landing was smooth. Luna powered down the engines and sat back in her seat, letting out a long, slow breath.

They were home, at least that was what they thought unaware they were in an illusion created right then in their mind. And they might not have left the strange world as they thought.