Graves had been walking for a while now. Truth be told, he didn't know why he was walking, when he had started, or where he was going. The NHF soldier had left him a short while ago after barking some instructions. Graves had heard the words, but his mind hadn't processed them. His world was completely consumed by a sorrow so vast he didn't even know how to express it.
He walked further, stepping on shards of glass and splinters of wood that pierced the soles of his feet. But even that sharp physical pain couldn't compare to the agony tearing through his chest.
Why was he still alive? Why didn't he just die instead? Why did he even go outside to check the noise when he literally had no power to stop anything? Why hadn't he just stayed with his mom when she begged him to? He could have saved her...
Tears finally spilled over, blurring his vision. All around him, the world remained trapped in chaos and carnage. Not far off, an unlucky soldier exhausted his ammunition, only for a horde of devils to dive in and tear him to shreds. In another alley, a mother was being eaten alive while her young child wailed in horror.
Graves sank down against a crumbling wall and rested his head.
What was a human without a purpose supposed to live for? A life without an anchor was just endless, meaningless wandering. Graves had never taken his own life seriously; in fact, he had frequently thought about ending it over the years. But his mother... she was the only thing that gave him a reason to breathe. She was the shield that distracted him from this cruel world. All he had ever cared about was taking care of her. Now she was gone. And with her departure, all those years of depression and compressed frustration finally erupted.
He picked up a jagged shard of glass, pressing the sharp edge firmly against his neck.
As a thin line of blood began to drip down his throat, he closed his eyes, envisioning his mother happily reading her books with the missing pages. Fresh tears poured down his cheeks.
Suddenly—
"Hey! Hey, hey, boy! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
Graves recognized that voice instantly. It was none other than Old Man Lee.
A strong, calloused arm clamped down on his wrist, forcing his fingers open, wresting the glass shard away and tossing it into the debris. Graves opened his hollow eyes to look at the familiar face.
"Old Man Lee..." Graves muttered softly.
"What are you doing, boy? Trying to kill yourself?!" Lee panted, looking around frantically. "You're lucky to even be breathing! What happened to you? You look completely devastated."
The truth was, everyone in the outskirts looked devastated on a normal day. But Old Man Lee had known Graves longer than anyone else; he could tell at a single glance that the boy's spirit was entirely broken.
Graves just kept sobbing. He tried to formulate words, but his throat locked up. The more he tried to explain, the clearer the horrific image of his mother being crushed and eaten played on a loop in his mind.
Old Man Lee went quiet for a moment, observing the boy's silence, before blurting out, "Trying to kill yourself? You still owe me five NHF coins! At least pay me back before you die!"
Then, Lee paused, squinting his eyes as he scanned the immediate area. "Hey, boy... where's your mom?"
Suddenly, a heavy, horrifying realization dawned on the old trader. He knew Graves inside and out. He knew the kid's entire existence revolved around keeping his mother alive. Graves would never lift a hand against himself if his mother still needed him.
"Don't tell me..." Lee whispered.
Graves simply let his head fall forward, a broken nod confirming the old man's worst fears.
Old Man Lee's tough demeanor completely dissolved. He let out a heavy, solemn sigh and sat down in the dirt right beside the boy. "I'm sorry, kiddo."
Seeing a young boy lose his mother—the literal center of his universe—was heart-wrenching. Lee truly didn't have any grand words of consolation; he didn't know how to fix a broken soul. So, he simply reached out and patted Graves firmly on the shoulder, letting his presence do the talking.
After a few quiet moments, Lee stood up and looked out at the burning skyline. "We have to leave this place. There are refugees heading toward the other sector. This area is uninhabitable down to the very atom."
In reality, living outside the Great Wall was always inherently uninhabitable, but right now, the only major difference was the roaming hordes of devils actively hunting them down.
"Get up, young man," Lee said, extending a hand to pull him up. "We have to get moving. You can only mourn her if you're alive to do it."