Hope

The World Above

The wind howled like a wounded animal.

Ash swirled through the air, stinging Riven’s eyes as he stepped onto the cracked ground. For a long time, he just stood there, staring at the sky.

It wasn’t blue like the stories said. It was pale gray—so wide it made him dizzy. Thick clouds rolled slowly across it, heavy with dust. Every breath burned his throat.

Behind him, Nyra emerged from the tunnel, her rifle slung across her back. She scanned the horizon, her face hard but tired. “So this is it,” she said quietly. “The world our ancestors left behind.”

Dray coughed as he adjusted his mask. “Radiation levels are low here. We’re lucky. Another kilometer east and we’d be glowing.”

Lio clung to Eloen’s sleeve, eyes wide as he took in the ruins. “It’s… big,” he whispered.

Eloen smiled faintly, brushing soot from his hair. “It used to be beautiful, once. Before everything burned.”

Riven turned away. “Let’s find somewhere to rest. The air’s too thin out here.”

They made their way through the wreckage of what used to be a city. Skyscrapers leaned at impossible angles. Cars lay half-melted into the road. The silence was heavy—no birds, no machines, only the faint whistle of wind through broken glass.

They found shelter in a half-collapsed subway station. The stairs leading down were cracked but stable enough. Dray set up a portable light, its beam cutting through the gloom.

“This’ll do,” Nyra said. “We’ll camp here for the night.”

Eloen and Riven gathered scraps of wood and metal to make a small fire. The flames flickered weakly, painting the walls in orange light.

No one spoke for a while. Each of them was lost in thought, faces half-shadowed by the firelight.

Finally, Dray broke the silence. “I keep thinking about Jax. He didn’t even hesitate.”

Nyra nodded slowly. “That’s who he was. Vanguard to the end.”

Riven stared into the fire, remembering Sera’s final words—Tell Mira I tried.

He clenched his fists. “We can’t let their deaths be for nothing.”

“You won’t,” Nyra said softly. “As long as you keep moving forward.”

Later, when the others slept, Riven couldn’t. He sat near the entrance, watching the dim glow of the horizon. In the distance, something flickered—like lights from a tower.

He frowned. “Dray,” he whispered.

The tech stirred, rubbing his eyes. “What?”

“Do you see that?” Riven pointed toward the faint blinking light.

Dray adjusted the lens on his scanner, zooming in. After a moment, he exhaled. “That’s not a building. It’s a signal beacon. And it’s active.”

Nyra woke when she heard them talking. “Who’s running it?”

“Could be Raiders,” Dray said. “Could be old military tech. But it’s working. Someone’s maintaining it.”

Riven stood. “Then that’s where we’re going. The recording said Mira was taken to ‘Epsilon Sector.’ That beacon might lead us there.”

Nyra hesitated. “It’s a risk. If the Raiders control it—”

“Then we’ll take it from them,” Riven said firmly. His voice shook, but his eyes didn’t.

For the first time, Nyra smiled faintly. “You really are one of us now.”

At dawn, they set out again. The surface looked even harsher under the weak sunlight. Whole blocks of the city had collapsed into craters. The wind carried a faint metallic smell—like rust and rain.

Lio walked beside Riven, clutching a scavenged mask too big for his face. “Do you think your sister’s okay?”

Riven looked down at him. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “Because she has to be.”

Eloen, walking a few steps behind, whispered to Nyra, “He’s holding on because of her.”

Nyra nodded. “And that’s what will keep him alive.”

By midday, they reached the outskirts of the old industrial zone. Towering metal skeletons stretched overhead, and puddles of dark water rippled at their feet.

Dray stopped suddenly. “Movement ahead.”

Everyone froze. Riven crouched, peering through the fog. A shape moved between the wrecks—slow, heavy, dragging something behind it.

Nyra raised her weapon. “Changed?”

Dray shook his head. “No. Too… organized.”

Then a voice echoed from the mist. “Drop your guns.”

Figures emerged—six of them, clad in scavenged armor, their faces hidden behind cracked visors. Raiders.

Nyra cursed under her breath. “Hands up. Don’t provoke them.”

The leader stepped forward, his armor marked with the same symbol from before—three lines in a circle. “Well, look what the storm dragged up,” he said. “Surface rats from the Deep.”

Riven glared. “Where are the captives you took? The children?”

The man tilted his head. “Children? Oh… you mean the ones for Epsilon. You’re too late, boy. They’ve already been processed.”

Riven’s blood ran cold. “Processed?”

The man grinned. “Ask the Overseer yourself—if you can reach him.”

Nyra moved first. She swung her rifle up and fired. The fight exploded in seconds. Bullets ricocheted off the walls. Dray’s drone flashed and dived, stunning one Raider. Eloen pulled Lio behind a barrier, firing short bursts.

Riven lunged at the leader, knocking his weapon aside. They struggled, fists and blades clashing.

The Raider laughed even as blood ran down his face. “You think you’re saving her? You’re walking right into their hands.”

Riven slammed him into a wall. “Where is she?”

The man smiled weakly, whispering something before collapsing. “North… the tower… Epsilon…”

Then he went still.

When the smoke cleared, the team was silent. Three Raiders were dead, two had fled into the fog, and one lay unconscious at their feet.

Nyra exhaled. “We move before reinforcements arrive.”

Riven looked north, where faint smoke rose against the gray sky. “Epsilon Sector,” he said. “That’s where they took Mira.”

He turned to the others. “We’re not stopping until we get there.”

Nyra nodded. “Then we find out what ‘Project Rebirth’ really was.”

The wind rose again, carrying the smell of ash and steel. Riven adjusted his scarf and stepped forward.

Behind him, Eloen whispered, “For the Vanguard.”

Riven answered without turning back. “For everyone still alive.”