The building groaned like it had something to say but had long forgotten how to form words. Each step Jaden took down the cracked staircase was matched by a soft creak overhead. Concrete dust drifted down like snow, settling in his hair and collar.
It had been two days since the System Wraith.
They hadn't seen another like it but the tension had grown thicker, like the city was holding its breath.
"Sure we're going the right way?" Jaden asked, glancing behind him.
Silas, floating slightly above the ground in his usual lazy, dramatic fashion, held up a tattered map of the local zone. It looked like it had been part of a child's geography homework at some point.
"Well," Silas mused, "I did find this pinned to the wall next to a sign that said 'Definitely Not A Trap,' so... we're probably fine."
"Silas."
"I'm joking," he grinned. "Mostly. The signal you picked up through the system pulse it came from this direction. Either it's another survivor or someone forgot to turn off their haunted Bluetooth speaker."
"Seriously," Jaden muttered, checking his blade, "I have a bad feeling."
"Ah, the classic Jaden gut instinct. We should write it down somewhere: 'When the gut twitches, stay out of ditches.'"
They turned a corner into a subway entrance, its mouth yawning like something had bitten a hole into the city. Old posters peeled from the walls, their colors muted by time and ash. One ad still clung stubbornly to a pillar:
> "You don't have to be lonely at the end of the world. Download LuvMeNow."
Silas paused in front of it, raised one brow, and muttered, "The real horror."
Jaden snorted despite himself.
They descended carefully. The signal was growing stronger faint pulses vibrating through the System like sonar. Jaden could feel it now, low and steady in his bones. A distress beacon, maybe. Or bait.
Halfway through the platform, they heard it: a soft, stuttering cough. Followed by footsteps. Then someone groaned.
Jaden signaled to Silas, crouching low behind a cracked column. Silas faded into a shimmer of light.
Peering out, Jaden saw a figure in scavenger gear slumped against a bench. Their breathing was shallow. Blood soaked one leg, and their hands were wrapped around a broken piece of metal like a dagger.
Jaden stepped out, slow and deliberate.
"I'm not here to hurt you."
The figure flinched, tried to lift their weapon. Failed.
"Don't move," Jaden said, raising his hands. "I just want to help."
The voice that came out was sharp with pain but firm.
"I swear, if you're another scav bot trying to bait me "
"I'm human," Jaden said. "Real. You sent out a signal. We picked it up."
Silas materialized beside him with a little shimmer and a wink. "And I'm his emotionally unstable guardian angel with a thing for cat memes. Hello."
"…You weren't kidding," the stranger muttered.
Jaden crouched and inspected the wound. The leg was shredded, but not beyond saving.
"What's your name?"
"Kael," the stranger rasped. "Used to run with a team up north. Till a Manifest turned half of them into red paste."
"Nice imagery," Silas muttered. "I'll make that the title of my next mixtape."
"Quiet," Jaden said, already wrapping the leg with a clean bandage from his kit. "Can you walk?"
"Not far."
"We'll carry you if we have to," he replied. "We have shelter."
Kael blinked at him. "You'd just take me in?"
Jaden shrugged. "World's already hell. No point in letting it turn us into monsters."
Kael's jaw worked silently, as if they weren't used to hearing that anymore.
---
It took nearly an hour to get back, Kael leaning heavily against Jaden while Silas kept watch and cleared obstacles with casual flicks of power. When they arrived at the old storefront, Aya rushed out first, nearly barreling into Jaden.
"You found someone!"
Rowan followed, eyes narrowing as he took in the injured stranger. "They armed?"
Kael raised an eyebrow. "Only if sarcasm counts."
"Then you'll fit right in," Silas said.
They set Kael up on the couch with a makeshift brace, Aya fussing over them like a nurse who'd decided she was in charge now. Rowan watched silently, arms crossed.
Later, they all gathered around the fire again, the glow of it flickering like a pulse in the gloom.
Kael spoke first.
"Didn't think I'd end up around people again."
"Didn't think I'd end up around this people," Jaden said, glancing at Silas, "but here we are."
Silas raised an eyebrow. "You say that like I'm not the emotional support celestial being holding this mess together with duct tape and diva energy."
Aya passed Kael a cup of hot broth, humming quietly. "It's nice to have someone new. We needed a change."
Kael sipped it slowly, something unreadable crossing their face. Grief, maybe. Or gratitude too heavy to put into words.
"I used to think surviving meant staying alone," Kael admitted. "But you guys feel this feels… different."
Jaden nodded, watching the fire. "Yeah. I used to think that too."
Rowan broke the moment. "We need more defenses. If more Wraiths show up "
"They won't," Silas interrupted, eyes distant. "Not tonight."
Jaden looked at him. "You sure?"
Silas's voice softened. "Because the system's quiet right now. Like the world's finally gone to sleep."
For once, no jokes. No quips.
Just stillness.
The kind of quiet that hurt a little, but healed too.
Author's note:
Jaden: Can you walk?
Kael with shredded leg ಠ_ಠ