The city had gone silent.
For the first time in years, the neon skyline was dark. No drones, no surveillance lights, no hum of the Facility’s machines. Just the wind moving through the ruins like a ghost.
Haven Outpost was still standing — barely.
The blast from the Vault had flattened the lower sectors, and smoke still rose in the distance where the energy surge had burned through everything mechanical. The Resistance had survived by inches, protected only by the reinforced bunkers beneath the old transit tunnels.
Inside, dim lanterns flickered across tired faces. The wounded were scattered along the floor, and the air was thick with the scent of burned ozone and oil.
Ethan sat alone against the concrete wall, his skin still faintly marked by blue veins that pulsed beneath the surfac
