Dawn came like a breath held too long.
The light was gold, gentle, and wrong.
Every tree leaned in the same direction, every wave folded itself the same way. Even the birds circled in perfect patterns.
Seventeen days.
The number pulsed behind my eyelids each time I blinked.
Kira walked a few paces ahead, scanning the horizon with the portable sensor. The screen was all blue no noise, no interference. Absolute equilibrium. That, more than chaos, terrified me.
“Tell me you still hear static,” she said.
“Nothing,” I answered. “The world’s gone quiet.”
“Too quiet,” she muttered. “That’s what people say before they die in movies.”
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By midday we reached the remnants of an industrial district. Factories half-melted from the last energy surge jutted from the soil like bones. T
