“It’s never so bad that it can’t get worse.”


Civilian said it quietly, almost to himself. But Soldier heard it anyway.


They stood side by side on a worn metal platform, once part of the city’s rail system. The train they had spent the night in had already pulled away, leaving only empty tracks behind. From what they’d heard, it wouldn’t be back for another month. A different station for every night.


Below them, the dead city stretched out once more. The same crumbling concrete and steel, the same cracks overgrown with grass, where life crept in where it didn’t belong. But it wasn’t the view below that held them frozen in place.


It was the sky.

In the distance, a mass of heavy black clouds was gathering on the horizon. It stretched from the edge of the ruined factories on the city’s outskirts all the way east, where the sun was struggling to rise. But through those dense clouds, its light was only a sickly, dim echo of a real morning.


The air trembled, just slightly.


Soldier frowned. “It’s just rain,” he said, his voice full of solid logic. Rain wasn’t pleasant, sure. But that couldn’t be the problem. He’d been through worse weather.


Civilian let out a dry chuckle. Humorless.


“Trust me…”


He leaned over the railing, as if trying to see something more.

“There’s no such thing as just rain around here.”


Soldier turned to look at him.


Most of the time, Civilian seemed to drift through the world without a care. But now... Now, there was a shadow across his face.


This wasn’t a casual warning. This was experience.


In the distance, something flashed.


But it wasn’t lightning. No jagged bolt. No instant thunder. Just a sudden, silent burst of light behind the clouds, like the sky had flared open for the briefest second.


And then silence.


Soldier tensed.

“What the hell was that?”


But Civilian was already moving. He didn’t look back.

“Keep moving. We don’t want to be out when it starts.”


Soldier glanced once more toward the horizon.


Something wasn’t right.


The clouds weren’t behaving like a normal storm. They hung too low. Too still. Too heavy.


And then...the ground shifted.


Or… had it?


A faint tremble beneath his feet, barely noticeable. Like something far below the surface had stirred.


Instinct. That was all he had left to rely on. A tight, sick knot twisted in his gut. And yet, he had no reason to be afraid.


No reason.


And still...he was.


He caught up to Civilian, matching his pace.

“What happens if it catches us out here?”


Civilian didn’t answer right away. He just kept walking.

“Do you want to find out?”


Soldier shook his head.

“No.”


“Then stop asking and move.”


Behind them, the darkness deepened.


And far off, the light flared again.


Just as silent. Just as wrong.