Chapter 17: The World Was Filled With Filth
The city felt suffocating, its silence broken only by the distant groans of something—or someone—dragging its way through the rubble. The sun hung low in the sky, casting a muted orange hue over the remnants of what once had been a bustling metropolis.
This was one of the residential areas in City B, or at least it was.
Now, it was a graveyard, the bones of crumbling buildings reaching toward the heavens like the outstretched arms of the dead. The wind howled through shattered windows, the sound eerie and hollow, like the city itself was breathing.
Zara kept her pace steady, eyeing the people around her. She had been foolish and messed up, walking right up to them. How had she not noticed them until they were that close? What happened to her foresight that it didn’t alert her of the danger?
She wasn’t sure about these survivors—the five strangers who had appeared out of nowhere and decided she had to come with them. Having strangers around wouldn’t let her rest!
They had offered food, shelter, and guidance toward what they promised would be a safe hideout. But Zara wasn’t foolish. In a world like this, kindness came with a price, and she had learned to mistrust smiles that were too wide and words that were too soft.
The group was ahead of her, walking in a loose formation. Their eyes scanned the ruined city around them, alert but deceptively relaxed. The leader, a tall man with a weathered face and a shotgun slung over his shoulder, kept glancing back at her. His eyes lingered just a fraction too long as if he were trying to gauge her, assess her worth. The others seemed friendly enough—too friendly, maybe.
It started with a light comment from the older man, who kept scanning the horizon with sharp but calculating eyes.
"You been alone long?" he asked, his tone neutral but with an undercurrent of curiosity. His gaze flicked to Leo, then back to Zara.
Zara’s response was guarded. "A while. It’s not easy finding anyone in this mess." She could feel their eyes on her, but she didn’t flinch.
They didn’t press further, but Zara could sense the shift in their behaviour. They seemed more excited.