The wind howled outside the window, rattling the thin glass like a cry that had nowhere left to go.
Ariel sat with his back against the crumbling wall, arms wrapped around his sister. Silence filled the apartment, broken only by Ilya's gentle breathing—and the distant, hollow groan of a city crumbling into ruin.
He traced a finger through the dust on the floor, drawing nothing in particular. Just something to do. Something to keep his mind off the hunger. The silence. The emptiness.
Ilya stirred. Her tiny hand reached out and grabbed his shirt.
"Are we gonna be okay…?" she whispered.
Ariel didn't answer right away. He looked toward the window. The sky was a heavy grey, weighed down by clouds that hadn't cried in weeks. Smoke still lingered on the horizon like a scar that wouldn't fade.
"I'll keep you safe," he said instead.
"Promise?"
He hesitated. Just a beat. Then nodded.
"I promise."
It wasn't the first time he'd said that.
It wouldn't be the last.
The world had cracked two months ago, but Ilya still hadn't stopped flinching at the sound of creaking walls or distant sirens.
A small girl, just six years old, lay curled in simple black clothes, her head nestled in her brother Ariel's lap. She clutched the hem of his shirt like it might disappear if she let go. Her face was tight, trembling—the kind of expression nightmares carve into sleeping children.
Suddenly, she jolted awake with a cry.
"Mother!!!" she screamed, before bursting into tears.
Ariel wrapped his arms around her, careful not to wake her fear again.
"There, there… I'm here, Ilya. It's alright," he whispered, running a hand through her hair until her sobs became sniffles, then silence.
She was just six. Too young to understand why the world kept taking and taking.
First, her father walked out—traded his wife and daughter for a younger smile and a different bed.
Then Mother… swallowed by a Gate, two months ago, leaving behind nothing but ashes and silence.
Now all she had was me. And all I had was her.
Ariel handed Ilya a piece of dry bread, one of the few rations they'd received from the military reinforcements. The entire continent was in a state of emergency.
Two months ago, everything changed.
Gates—those twisted anomalies—didn't just appear.
They flooded the world. Thousands, all at once.
Unstoppable. Unrelenting.
What was once contained turned to chaos.
Cities crumbled under the weight of the unknown.
Now, only three fortified strongholds remain—
And we were lucky. Damn lucky- the military found us before the collapse did.
The soldiers were evacuating civilians to stronger, more protected regions—places shielded by Awakened.
Suddenly, the civilian transport vehicle they were in jolted violently… then flipped.
Ariel immediately pulled Ilya into a tight embrace, shielding her from the impact. Chaos erupted around them—screams, cries, the sound of bodies slamming against metal walls. No one knew what was happening outside.
Thankfully, no one appeared to be seriously injured.
Ariel released Ilya and checked on her. But before he could speak, she looked up at him with wide, tear-streaked eyes.
"Are you… alright, brother?" she asked softly.
He nodded, forcing a calm expression. "I'm fine."
He turned to look around, trying to get a grasp on the situation.
Just then, the doors of the transport swung open with a mechanical hiss, and a soldier's voice echoed inside:
"Everyone remain calm! It's a gate outbreak, but don't panic—the Awakened are handling it. I repeat, stay calm and do not leave the transport."
His steady voice soothed the crowd. Slowly, the panic faded into tense silence.
But barely ten minutes later, a deafening explosion thundered in the distance—the same direction where the Awakened were supposed to be fighting.
The soldier from earlier rushed back and flung open the vehicle's doors, panting heavily. He scanned the crowd, then barked like thunder:
"Everyone! Escape and hide!"
The passengers stared at him, stunned.
Before anyone could ask what was happening, he shouted again, this time with panic in his voice:
"Are you all deaf?! I said get out of this vehicle and hide, now! The gate… it's too much. The Awakened can't hold it on their own. Reinforcements are coming, but until then, we're deploying every last soldier to hold the horde back. We can't protect you. Hide. Survive. Somehow!"
Panic exploded like wildfire.
People screamed. Shoved. Scattered in every direction, desperate to save themselves.
Ariel clutched Ilya's hand tightly and sprinted toward a nearby building. They climbed to the highest floor they could find, hoping that height would shield them from the chaos below.
They found a small, shadowed space in a corner of the top floor and hid there, huddled close.
Ariel kept his arm wrapped tightly around Ilya's trembling frame, afraid that if he let go—even for a second—she might break.
"W-What's happening… brother?" Ilya whispered, her voice as small and fragile as the heartbeat pressed against his side.
Ariel exhaled slowly. "It seems the gate's too much for the Awakened this time. Up until now, they were cutting through monsters like butter. But this… this is something different. Still, the soldier said reinforcements are coming, so let's hold on, alright?"
"B-Brother… aren't you scared?"
He forced a grin. "Nah, why would I be? We've got a solid hiding place. Reinforcements will be here soon."
Hopefully, he added in his thoughts.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't afraid… but if I panic, Ilya will too.
Suddenly, a scream tore through the air outside.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAA—!"
Ariel crawled to the window and peeked through the broken slats.
His eyes widened in horror.
The soldier who had told them to run… was being ripped to pieces—limb by limb—as if he were nothing but paper. A dozen monsters swarmed him, tearing him apart with monstrous claws and jagged teeth.
Ariel's blood ran cold.
But what came next nearly made his heart stop.
A monster—towering over six meters tall—stepped into view. It walked with authority, its bloodstained claws dragging through the dirt. It wasn't just part of the horde—it was leading them.
Behind it, waves of creatures crashed against the remaining Awakened, who fought back with desperate fury… and were losing. One by one, the Awakened were slaughtered.
Ariel's body trembled.
Seeing him like that, Ilya's own fear surged. She grabbed his arm, her small fingers trembling. "B-Brother…?"
Ariel quickly turned back to her, masking his panic—but the smell of blood was everywhere. The images still burned in his mind.
Below them, the street had become a graveyard.
Human and monster corpses littered the ground. Some were shredded like meat in a butcher's shop. Others were torn clean in half. The monsters feasted on both—human flesh and the bodies of their own fallen kin.
Ariel clutched Ilya tighter, his breath shaky.
This wasn't a battle.
It was a massacre.