The sky wasn't blue anymore.
Ash rained from above, soft as snow, coating the ruins of Eden City like a mourning veil. Once a beacon of innovation and human pride, the city now stood fractured—just like the people who survived it.
I tightened my grip around the cracked leather strap of my backpack. It was heavier than it looked—not because of the contents, but because of the memories. Every step on the fractured pavement echoed with ghosts.
A broken drone buzzed past overhead, sparks trailing behind it like dying fireflies.
"Still ticking, huh?" I muttered, brushing soot from my jacket. The wind didn't answer. It never did.
My name's Kairo.
I wasn't a soldier. I wasn't a savior. Hell, I barely survived the first Collapse. But I'm still here. And if this city thinks it can drown me in silence, it's got another thing coming.
Behind me, footsteps.
I spun, hand instinctively reaching for the knife tucked in my boot.
But it wasn't a threat.
It was her.
Rin.
Short brown hair, goggles hanging around her neck, and a baseball bat resting on her shoulder like it weighed nothing. She didn't smile—not anymore—but her eyes lit up when they met mine.
"You're late," she said.
"You're early."
"Same thing."
We stood there in the ash for a moment longer than necessary. Long enough for the silence to say everything we didn't.
Then she looked past me. "You sure this place still has fuel?"
I nodded. "Old military outpost. If we're lucky, it still has power. If not—"
"We're screwed."
"Yeah."
I adjusted the strap on my shoulder and started walking. The sound of our boots crunching over shattered glass was the only rhythm we had.
The military outpost wasn't far, maybe half a mile east. But distance didn't matter in Eden City anymore. The ruins had a way of bending space. One wrong turn and you'd end up walking in circles… or worse, not walking out at all.
Rin walked beside me in silence, eyes scanning the rooftops. "Still think it's just scavengers out here?"
I shook my head. "No. Not anymore. Not since the signal."
She didn't ask what signal. She knew.
Three days ago, we intercepted a broadcast on an old ham radio—just a single sentence: "Sector Seven holds the key."
No name. No voice. Just static and that message on repeat.
We'd heard rumors, of course. A working generator. Supplies. Maybe even… other survivors. But we knew better than to hope too loudly. Hope gets you killed in Eden City.
The outpost came into view—half-buried beneath collapsed buildings, its entrance framed by jagged rebar and crumbling concrete. What was once a checkpoint now looked like a tomb.
"I'll go first," I said.
Rin raised a brow. "Since when do you play hero?"
"Since I got tired of losing people."
Her lips twitched—not a smile, just muscle memory. "Fine. But if you die, I'm not dragging your corpse out."
"Fair."
I slipped through the narrow crack between the walls. The air inside was colder, staler. My flashlight flickered to life, revealing moss-covered walls and faded warnings painted in red.
AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.
Too late for that.
I crept down the hall, flashlight sweeping from one side to the other. Debris littered the floor—broken chairs, rusted weapon racks, a dusty old helmet with a bullet hole clean through the center.
The control room was at the end of the corridor. A massive metal door sealed tight.
"Rin," I called softly. "Get in here."
She joined me with a grunt, ducking under a collapsed beam.
"You think it's locked?" she asked.
I pressed my ear to the cold steel. "…No. Not locked. But it hasn't been opened in a long time."
Rin nodded once, then kicked it.
The door groaned and cracked open an inch.
Just enough.
Inside, dust hung in the air like fog. Console lights blinked faintly—some dead, some still pulsing like a heartbeat on life support. Screens lined the far wall, most shattered, but one…
One was still on.
A single word glowed in green:
ACTIVE.
I approached it, heart hammering in my chest. "Looks like someone beat us here."
Rin stepped beside me, wiping the dust off a second monitor. Her eyes narrowed. "No… this wasn't someone passing through. This place was used."
She pointed to the corner of the room.
A sleeping bag. Ripped. Burnt at the edges.
Blood soaked into the floor nearby.
"Someone lived here," she said, voice lower now.
"Someone died here," I corrected.
We stared at each other.
Neither of us said what we were both thinking.
Was the signal a trap?
Before I could speak, the console beeped.
Loud.
Sharp.
A new message replaced the green screen.
"PROTOCOL SIGMA: INITIATING."
"What the hell is—"
The entire room vibrated. A low, grinding sound echoed from below.
Rin grabbed my arm. "We need to go. Now."
We turned—
—but the door we entered through had slammed shut.
Steel locks hissed.
We were trapped.
"Okay," I muttered, trying to think, heart slamming against my ribs. "Okay, okay, okay…"
Rin scanned the room, jaw clenched. "Kairo, over here!"
She'd found another door, hidden behind a fallen cabinet. Smaller. Less fortified.
Emergency exit?
I didn't question it.
We shoved the cabinet aside and slipped through.
Darkness swallowed us.
Only our breathing kept the silence from winning.
Then, faint light ahead.
We followed it.
Stairs.
We climbed.
And when we reached the top…
The city opened before us again.
But this wasn't Eden City as we knew it.
This was higher ground—above the choking ash and haze. A view of the ruins stretching endlessly.
And in the distance… lights.
Not fire.
Not solar flares.
Electricity.
Real, working lights.
Somewhere out there, someone had power.
Rin exhaled slowly. "Told you the signal meant something."
I didn't reply.
Not because I disagreed.
But because I'd started to feel something I hadn't in a long time.
Not hope.
Determination.
---
To Be Continued…