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She stepped closer, dropping to a hiss. “They burned multiple bodies a day. For decades. I wasn’t even conscious. The oxygen wasn’t enough to sustain both me and the bacteria, so it shut me off. Woke up a super-powered freak thinking only minutes had passed since I lost Andy.

“You ask how I can be okay with it, how I can do this job?” Giving in to the resentment, this festering anger, was probably the most human thing she’d done in decades.

“What other choice do I have? I didn’t ask to be part of the TCA.

I just didn’t want to die. They told me burn or work, so I work.

I’ve seen so many around me die, but I’m still alive, and that has to mean something. I have to MAKE it mean something.”

Jonah stood there, torn, his fists clenching and unclenching, but the anger still simmered beneath the surface. “I can’t watch him die,” he murmured, “Not knowing there was something I could’ve done to help.”

Ruby’s entire body shook. She couldn’t believe she had ever loved this coward.

“Like what? Cure him? There’s no cure for this.

His life will never get better. He will be stuck in a loop, his own brain attacking him, for all of eternity.

He will live through an endless fog of suffering, always waiting for his wife to come home from getting the eggs.

He will sit in the dark shop, waiting for something that will never happen.

Alone. Forever. And in his moments of clarity, he’ll grieve.

Then forget and wait. Then grieve again.

Then forget and wait. Over and over and over again.

” The words spilled out in a frantic rush, each one cutting deeper than the last. “This is what’s best for him.

This is the only mercy we can give him. So if you can’t watch, then leave.

And if you can’t do your fucking job, then do us both a favor and QUIT. ”

Jonah shook his head, then turned and left the shop, the brass bell above the door jingling cheerfully. The door slammed.

Gerald whimpered from behind the counter, and Ruby faced him. The old man stared at her, his eyes startlingly clear. Tears streamed down his face, leaving wet trails along the deep wrinkles.

“I remember,” he sobbed. He slumped onto a stool, shoulders shaking with each breath. “I remember the man who came into the shop. He killed my Esther. He made me watch. He wasn’t human. And I’m not anymore, am I?”

“It’s not your fault.” The gentle words were tender but foreign in her throat, like a language she had long forgotten. “There are people coming,” she added, struggling to find the right words. “They’ll help.” The lie tasted bitter, and it lingered on her tongue.

Gerald looked down at his lap, his tears darkening the fabric of his slacks. “They’re going to kill me, aren’t they?” His voice was small, resigned.

Ruby hesitated but nodded. There was no point in lying now.

He forced a small smile. It took every ounce of strength he had left. “Good,” he whispered, “I’m ready to join my Esther. It’s been too long.”

She tried to return his smile. It came out more of a grimace. She had to get out of here. Her anger had cooled, leaving her empty and tired. This job had already robbed her of most of her humanity. The last thing she needed was to have to watch an old man get dragged out by agents.

“Please, miss,” Gerald cried, barely louder than a whisper. “I’m ready to go, but please don’t make me go alone.”

Fuck .

Ruby closed her eyes, swallowing the lump in her throat. Even a heartless monster like her couldn’t ignore a plea like that. She walked over, taking his frail hand in hers, feeling the paper-thin skin, the tremble that ran through his bones.

“While I’m still me, do you mind if I tell you about her?”

HALF AN HOUR later, three agents appeared, clad in riot gear. Ruby shook her head, and they shot her a weird look but removed their helmets. One reached for a medical bag and pulled out a needle and IV tubing. Gerald’s eyes drooped as the needle slid into his skin.

“You know,” he muttered, weak but wistful, “you kinda look like her.”

And then he was gone, slipped into unconsciousness, a mercy for one about to burn.

The IV continued to drip as they loaded him into an ambulance-shaped black vehicle. Ruby rode with them to the crematorium, never once letting go of his hand.

Inside, they laid him on the slab, and she watched as they pushed him into the furnace.

The heat radiated off the walls, the warmth a gruesome comfort, a sharp contrast to the sterile chill she had expected.

Hospitals and funeral homes were supposed to be cold, but this room was balmy, the flames crackling hungrily from within the chamber.

The scent of burning wood mixed with something sharper, metallic, and the room hummed with the vibrations of the heavy machinery.

Ruby slumped against the opposite wall, facing the incinerator. The air was thick with warmth, but there was no smell of decay, nothing to signify the end of a life. No phlogiston released. It was as if Gerald had never existed at all.

Her foot tapped against the cool tile, the rhythmic beat the only sign of her anxiety, but she’d promised to be there for him. So she watched, her eyes never leaving the flames.

The agents moved around her, one checking the furnace, another retrieving something large and silver from a bag. The door clicked shut behind them, and Ruby’s foot stilled.

The lock was enormous—industrial, steel, and unlike anything she’d ever seen. It hung heavy on the door, and she stared at it, confusion prickling at the back of her mind. She glanced toward the agent on her left, but they refused to meet her eyes.

Did they think she would try to stop them? Were they worried about someone stealing the body? Was Edward a threat? She sat up and scanned the room, searching for answers, for anything that made sense.

And then, from within the chamber, the screaming started.