CHAPTER 38: THE WEIGHT OF SURVIVAL

[Travis’s POV]

...

I’ve never hated myself more than I did in that moment.

The air was smoke and gunfire, the street torn to shreds by explosions, but all I could see was Jonas... bleeding out, his chest heaving like a cracked engine.

He’d taken the shot meant for me. He’d stood there like a damn wall when I couldn’t even move, when I could do was stare like a fool.

And now he was dying, for me.

I pressed myself against the wreckage of a car, trembling so hard I thought the metal under my palms would shake apart.

My lungs wouldn’t fill. My hands were useless, shaking, bloody, and empty. Every part of me screamed do something, but I couldn’t.

I was just the cook, the medic, the useless bastard who tagged along with people way stronger than me.

Jonas roared once more, staggering, hammering through the enemy line, and then he dropped. Blood slicked the ground around him. His regeneration wasn’t working anymore. The wounds were too deep, too many.

Then I heard it; the system chimed, cold and indifferent.

DING!

~----~

[WARNING: Jonas Hale – Vital Signs Critical!]

[Estimated Survival Time: 00:20]

~----~

Twenty seconds.

My guts twisted like a wrench was jammed inside me. Twenty seconds until he was gone, and it was all because of me.

My thoughts came invasive, jagged, and relentless.

’It should’ve been me’.

’Why did he save you? You’re dead weight’.

’Every fight, you hide. Every monster, someone else kills it. Every wound, someone else bleeds for it. You just watch, like a fool’.

That’s all I’d ever been good at, watching.

I saw my parents die when the Rift tore open. I didn’t fight, didn’t even move. I just froze while the house came down and the sky screamed.

I saw friends die in the first week, ripped apart by things we didn’t have names for, and all I did was cower.

Even here, with this group, I was the one carried. Holt shot, Reid led, Kara killed, Jonas smashed, Ethan pulled miracles out of his Wheel, while Mira controlled the damn air. And me? I stirred soup and patched cuts.

I’d told myself that it mattered, that support was important.

But looking at Jonas, blood pouring out of him because I couldn’t dodge one bullet, that lie shattered.

’He’s dead because of you’.

Something snapped in me.

Not courage, not bravery, just... breaking.

"No," I whispered. My throat was raw. "No, no, no, no. Not like this, not because of me!"

And then the system answered.

DING!

~----~

[Hidden Potential Detected: Survivor’s Threshold Reached!]

[Candidate: Travis Keene]

[Qualifying Feats Recognized:]

*Survived 9 high-threat encounters as an Unawakened.

*Provided critical medical and logistical support.

*Maintained survival under lethal conditions without Awakener abilities.

[Catalyst: Survivor’s Guilt – Protective Trigger]

[Result: Awakening Initiated!]

~----~

Pain tore through me.

My chest flared like someone had driven a spike of light into it before twisting it inside. My bones shook; my skin crawled. My heart seized and then thundered back to life in double time.

I screamed, but it wasn’t fear anymore. Rather, it was raw, cracking power.

Energy flooded me, green and gold, alive, urgent.

The system spun across my vision and then split, fractals of light peeling away until they formed words.

~----~

[Congratulations! Awakener Status Achieved!]

[Rank Surpassed: Unranked ~ F Rank]

[New Ability Registered: Restoration Path]

Primary Skill: Vital Surge.

*Accelerates cell regeneration of all allies and stabilizes critical injuries within 10m radius.

*Effect (Physical Contact): Healing efficiency increases 10x with physical contact. Life-threatening injuries can be reversed within minutes.

*Drawback: Rift Energy consumption extreme. Prolonged use risks total depletion.

...

Secondary Skill (Passive): Survivor’s Endurance.

*Resistance to toxins, fatigue, and bleeding increased.

*Endurance elevated for prolonged survival under duress.

~----~

The light didn’t stop.

It poured out of me in waves, shimmering like heat off pavement but cool, so cool, settling into cuts and bruises around me.

Holt hissed as a nick on his hand closed mid-shot. Kara blinked as a shallow cut across her cheek knit itself shut, and Mira gasped when her split knuckles smoothed.

But none of that mattered. Jonas was still sprawled in the open, gasping his last breaths.

I lurched forward, hands glowing, body burning with Rift Energy.

The enemies in the fog hesitated, their commander’s voice barking sharp commands, but I didn’t hear him. All I saw was Jonas.

"Don’t you die on me!" I screamed, voice cracking.

My legs gave out, and I hit my knees beside him, hands trembling inches from his chest.

Energy howled within me, begging to pour out, begging to touch.

The system pulsed.

DING!

~----~

[Target Detected: Jonas Hale – F Rank]

[Status: Critical]

Vital Surge Available.

[WARNING: High Rift Energy Drain!]

~----~

I didn’t even think; I pressed my palms to his blood-slick skin.

Then, the world exploded in light.

Green-gold Rift Energy poured from me, flooding into him, sinking into shredded muscle and torn veins. His body convulsed once, breath hitching in a wet gasp. My vision blurred, Rift Energy tearing out of me like a floodgate opened.

Pain hammered my skull but I didn’t care, I pushed harder.

Around us, the cohort’s voices rose.

"Another one! He’s Awakening!"

"Drops, hold fire, wait for the leader’s mark!"

The ex-military voice cut through the next moment, cold and certain. "Target the healer and break the line".

I didn’t stop, I couldn’t.

Rift Energy surged, blazing, brighter and brighter, filling the ruins with emerald light. My chest felt hollow, drained, my body shaking like a leaf.

Jonas twitched under my hands. His pulse flickered, weak at first, faint but still there.

I screamed through clenched teeth, pouring everything I had until the world narrowed to my hands on his chest and the light roaring between us.

And then the system chimed one last time.

DING!

~----~

[Vital Surge Activated!]

[Rift Energy Remaining: Low]

~----~

The glow seared the street, enemies and allies alike staring in shock.

My voice cracked, raw and shaking. "If Jonas dies for me, then I’ll heal the world bloody if I have to!"

The green light flared, and the Chapter ended.