The storm came without warning.
The sky above the Meridian Zone split open, bleeding gold and violet light as if the atmosphere itself remembered Elysium’s fall. Ethan shielded his eyes against the glare, the wind biting hard through the cracked wasteland. Around him, the others crouched low behind the fractured hull of an old transport drone, its metallic skeleton rattling under the force.
Dr. Taylor’s voice cut through the static on the comms.
“Stay low. Electromagnetic discharge is spiking — the Zone’s reacting to something.”
Ethan glanced across the ridge. The ground pulsed faintly beneath the dust, rhythmic, alive. “It’s not just the storm. It’s… resonating.”
Maya, standing just behind him, frowned. “You feel it too?”
He nodded slowly. “Like a heartbeat.”
Hannah adjusted her ri
