The Rest Point

By the time everyone reached the next rest point, the group looked like a mildly organised hiking club that had somehow accidentally formed through trauma, memes and questionable humour.

People dropped onto logs, benches, blankets and whatever vaguely resembled seating.

Dogs wandered between legs.

Bags were opened.

Snacks immediately appeared.

Because apparently, Lifted couldn’t survive longer than forty-five minutes without food.

Off to one side, Susie, Heidi, Andy, Karen, Mark, and Sam had gathered together.

Mostly because they’d naturally drifted into the same kind of chaos.

And mostly because Mark was being mocked again.

“You cannot tell me,” Heidi laughed, “that actually happened.”

“It did!” Mark protested.

Karen shook her head dramatically.

“Honestly, your life sounds made up.”

Sam smiled quietly beside them.

“You genuinely sound like one of those people, weird things just happen to.”

Mark sighed.

“I don’t know whether to feel offended.”

“You should,” Andy said immediately.

The group laughed.

Mark pointed accusingly at him.

“Unbelievable.”

“Tell the one about—”

Susie immediately cut in.

“Oh God, not that story.”

Karen was already laughing.

“No, go on.”

Mark folded his arms.

“You lot just take the piss.”

“Correct,” Karen said proudly.

Heidi nodded.

“Completely.”

Sam smiled softly.

“But we’re invested now.”

Mark sighed dramatically like a man who had accepted his fate.

“Fine.”

He shifted slightly on the log.

“So, I’m driving down the motorway…”

Karen immediately interrupted.

“Already sounds dangerous.”

Mark ignored her.

“And suddenly, this massive piece of wood just comes flying through the air.”

Andy frowned.

“What?”

“Like genuinely flying,” Mark said. “Out of nowhere.”

The group went quieter.

“There’s this car in front of me,” he continued, “and before anyone can even react—”

He slapped his hand against his leg.

“BANG.”

Everyone jumped slightly.

“It goes straight through the windscreen.”

The laughter disappeared instantly.

“Oh my God,” Heidi said.

Susie stared at him.

“No.”

Mark nodded seriously.

“Yeah.”

Sam looked horrified.

“What happened?”

“The car swerved,” Mark said. “Straight off the road.”

He pointed vaguely upwards.

“Went right up this hill.”

Karen’s face dropped.

“Oh my God.”

“I honestly thought…” Mark paused briefly.

“I genuinely thought they were dead.”

The group had gone completely quiet now.

Even Andy.

“No way they survived that,” Andy said quietly.

“That’s what I thought.”

Mark shook his head.

“So I pulled over.”

“Course you did,” Karen said softly.

“I ran over to check.”

He looked at them.

“And somehow…”

He exhaled.

“They were alive.”

Nobody spoke for a second.

“I swear,” Mark said quietly, “someone was looking after them.”

The words landed heavier than expected.

Because somehow, everyone had either seen something awful…

Or almost lost someone.

Or knew what it felt like to sit with the what ifs.

Then Mark reached for his phone.

“You wanna see it?”

“Yes,” Andy said immediately.

“No,” Karen said at the same time.

Which made everyone laugh slightly.

Mark ignored them and pulled the photo up.

Then turned his phone around.

Silence.

Proper silence.

“Oh…”

Susie blinked.

“Jesus Christ.”

The damage was horrific.

The impact looked impossible.

The kind of thing that made no sense when paired with the words:

They survived.

Heidi physically covered her mouth.

“How?”

“I know,” Mark said quietly.

Sam shook her head.

“That’s insane.”

Karen stared at the screen.

“No, genuinely…”

She looked back at him.

“How did they survive that?”

Mark shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

He looked back at the image for a second.

“But honestly?”

He shrugged.

“Someone had to be watching over them.”

The group sat quietly for a moment after that.

Just letting it settle.

Even the chaos of KTC slowed briefly.

Until—

From somewhere nearby—

Beppe shouted:

“WHO’S GOT BISCUITS?”

And just like that—

The moment broke.

Karen sighed.

“Ah.”

“There’s the emotional support goblin,” Heidi said.

Andy pointed.

“He sensed carbs.”

And somehow…

The laughter returned.

Because that was KTC.

One minute deep conversations.

The next?

Absolute nonsense.

A little further over from the chaos surrounding Mark’s motorway story sat Naomi, Dan, Danny, Ryan, and Nina.

Or at least…

They were trying to sit.

Because Fawkes had other ideas.

The giant white furball was being deeply dramatic about the entire concept of stopping.

He wanted to walk.

Immediately.

Preferably forever.

And he was making his feelings known.

Loudly.

Fawkes huffed.

Whined.

Then dramatically threw himself onto the ground before immediately standing back up again like sitting down had personally offended him.

Dan sighed.

“Oh my God.”

Naomi laughed.

“You’d think we’d starved him of exercise.”

Fawkes let out another deeply theatrical sigh.

Danny pointed.

“He’s raging.”

“He is raging,” Ryan agreed.

“He’s got FOMO,” Nina laughed.

Fawkes barked.

Like he was personally offended nobody understood his suffering.

Dan shook his head.

“Mate, we’ve walked for ages.”

Fawkes looked at him.

Completely unimpressed.

The expression practically screamed:

Move your arse, father. We walk.

Meanwhile—

At Naomi’s side—

Tiberius was living his absolute best life.

Unlike Fawkes, he had no interest in movement whatsoever.

He had discovered cuddles.

And therefore the day was perfect.

Curled tightly against Naomi’s side, the little French Bulldog mix looked deeply content with himself while she absent-mindedly fussed over him.

Every now and then he’d glance over at Fawkes dramatically.

Like he couldn’t believe the big idiot was wasting valuable cuddle time.

“He’s so smug,” Danny laughed.

Naomi smiled.

“He knows he’s winning.”

Tiberius snuggled in further.

Entirely unbothered.

Meanwhile, Nina had somehow become Fawkes’ emotional support human.

She sat gently brushing through his fur while softly fussing him.

“There you go,” she said quietly. “You’re okay.”

Fawkes, who had been moments away from staging a full emotional protest, slowly settled.

The brushing clearly helped.

His breathing eased.

Tail slowing.

Body relaxing.

Dan blinked.

“…You’re a witch.”

Nina laughed.

“No, he just likes attention.”

Fawkes practically melted against her hand.

Ryan folded his arms.

“Mate.”

He looked at the dog.

“You were causing scenes five minutes ago.”

Naomi laughed.

“He just likes being involved.”

“He likes being dramatic,” Dan corrected.

Danny grinned.

“To be fair…”

He gestured at the dog.

“He fits the group perfectly.”

That made everyone laugh.

Because honestly?

If Lifted had a mascot—

It was probably Fawkes.

Chaotic.

Loud.

Attention-seeking.

And somehow impossible not to love.

Tiberius let out a tiny snore beside Naomi.

Danny looked over.

“And there’s the introvert.”

“Honestly,” Naomi said, stroking him gently, “he’s only happy if he’s getting attention.”

Dan snorted.

“Pot, kettle.”

She narrowed her eyes.

“You’re brave today.”

Ryan grinned.

“This whole group survives purely on sarcasm and emotional damage.”

“Mostly snacks,” Nina corrected.

“Fair.”

Fawkes stretched dramatically, finally calmer now Nina had fussed him enough, before immediately trying to stand up again.

Dan sighed.

“No.”

Fawkes paused.

Thought about it.

Then sat back down with the energy of someone filing a formal complaint.

Danny burst out laughing.

“He’s absolutely judging you.”

“Oh, he hates me right now,” Dan replied.

Naomi smiled softly, looking around at everyone sat together.

Dogs settled.

People laughing.

Conversations overlapping.

The weird warmth of people who had somehow gone from usernames and voice chats…

To something real.

Something solid.

Something that felt suspiciously like family.

Even if—

As KTC repeatedly proved—

It was a slightly dysfunctional one.