Chapter 2

The world tilted.

Sarah, pregnant.

He looked from her swollen belly to Mark, who stood defiantly, the rifle still aimed loosely in Alex' s direction.

A cold certainty settled in Alex' s gut.

"Whose is it?" Alex' s voice was flat, devoid of the warmth he' d felt moments before.

Sarah wouldn't meet his eyes. She looked at Mark.

Mark puffed out his chest slightly. "It's mine."

The words hit Alex harder than any physical blow.

"We thought you were dead, Alex," Sarah finally said, her voice barely audible. "Three years... no word. Nothing."

"Dead?" Alex echoed, a bitter laugh escaping him. "I was fighting a plague, Sarah. Helping to find a cure. A cure that' s probably keeping this town alive."

"We had to move on," Mark said, a smug tone in his voice. "I took care of her. I took care of the family."

"Took care of her?" Alex' s eyes burned into Mark.

His parents shuffled uncomfortably.

"Son," his mother, Mary, began, her voice pleading, "it was a hard time. We were scared. Mark... Mark was here."

"So you just replaced me," Alex stated, the full weight of their betrayal crushing him. His wife, his brother.

"It wasn't like that," Sarah whispered, tears welling in her eyes. "We grieved you."

"Grieved me by sleeping together?"

Mark' s face hardened. "Watch your mouth, Alex. You come back here, looking like death, expecting what? A parade?"

"I expected my family," Alex said, his voice dangerously low. "Not this."

He looked at Sarah again, at the undeniable proof of her new life. A life built on the assumption of his death, a life with his own brother.

The medal, the commendation, it all felt like a sick joke now.