Chapter 9: Breaker, Breaker
The thin morning light filtering through Ben’s grimy window felt different. It wasn’t hopeful, but it was… quiet. The frantic, suffocating panic that had driven Tim through the night had receded, replaced by a heavy, grim clarity. He was on a mattress on a moldy floor, and for the first time in days, he felt a sliver of solid ground beneath him.
Ben was already awake, pulling a semi-clean hoodie over his head. “You snore,” he stated, without malice.