At noon, they agreed to stop for a while. Civilian knew of a place where they could rest in relative safety, without much risk. It turned out to be an old apartment on the first floor of a half-collapsed building. The door had been kicked in long ago, and the apartment itself had clearly been looted more than once. Almost nothing remained in its place, and nothing left was of any use. But Civilian knew the place had one advantage: from here, you could see the next stretch of the road ahead.


He settled into a gap in the wall where a window had once been and raised his binoculars to his eyes. His fingers were stiff, partly from exhaustion, partly from instinct. He knew better than to rush. Rushing meant mistakes. And mistakes, in this place, often meant death. But for now, all was quiet.


The city below breathed with deep loneliness. The wind whispered through the tree canopies, and the empty streets echoed only with the squabbling of sparrows fighting their little wars on the rooftops. Through the lenses, he scanned the still streets, examining every corner, every shadow.


Across the way, a neon sign, half-torn, still clung to a single rusted bracket, swinging with a harsh creak. A rusted dumpster sat at the curb, overgrown with vines as nature slowly swallowed everything people had left behind.


Every broken display window, every open doorway could hide a threat. An unexpected surprise could come from anywhere.


Soldier remained silent behind him. Eyes narrowed, expression unreadable. He was used to this. Waiting, hunting, never knowing whether he was the prey or the predator. The only difference now was that he didn’t know who the enemy was.


With a tired breath, he leaned back against what was left of the wall and took off his helmet to air out his head. Civilian couldn’t help but notice the flash of metal above his left ear.


Soldier wasn’t exactly human. Civilian had suspected it from the beginning, and now it was confirmed. At least that explained why he didn’t wear a mask like he did.


The discovery brought a new wave of questions, but he swallowed them and returned to surveying their route.


“See anything?” Soldier asked at last. From what he could tell, it looked like just another abandoned part of the city.


Civilian stayed silent for a moment, then slowly lowered the binoculars.

“For now, we’re lucky.”


“Doesn’t seem any different from anywhere else.”


“Trust me...it is.”

Civilian unfolded the map right in front of him.


Then he jabbed a finger at the spot they were currently in. The symbol drawn there spoke for itself.


“My brother ended up here,” he said.


“And it wasn’t a pretty end.”


The words took Soldier’s breath away for a moment.


“So now I’m doing everything I can to make sure we don’t end up the same,” Civilian finished.


Soldier swallowed hard and gave a slow nod.


Soon, Civilian stowed the binoculars back in his pack and gave his companion a firm nod.

“We should move. It’s quiet down there. And we both know luck never lasts long.”


This time, Soldier didn’t hesitate. He slung the heavy pack over his shoulders and slipped his helmet back on. He felt the familiar connection click into place.

But it still said nothing.


That didn’t worry him. They had time. And they were still far away.