484: IN THE CLUTCHES

LUKE'S POV Slowly, consciousness seeped back into my mind like water trickling through cracks in the earth. My eyelids fluttered open, revealing a wooden room that was unfamiliar to me. I blinked away the haze of confusion, trying to make sense of my surroundings. As I sat up, a sharp pain shot through my back, a cruel reminder of the bullets that had torn through my flesh. I winced, gritting my teeth against the agony, and instinctively reached back to touch the pain source. My fingers brushed against bandages, the fabric rough against my skin, and I realized that someone had tended to my wounds. Memories flooded back with brutal clarity; the events of that terrible moment played out in my mind like a nightmare. Ariel's face flashed before my eyes, her expression etched with defiance as we stood together against Harriet's madness. But how had I survived? Who had saved me from the brink of death? I looked around, still trying to get things clear. And if I survived, what happened to