SEVEN DAY LATER [Part-2]
The fourth day had been realization.
Not a grand epiphany delivered by banners or bells. Not a single speech echoing through the squares.
It was quieter than that.
Shops unbarred their doors.
Stalls creaked open.
Shutters lifted one by one, as if the city itself were peeking out from beneath a blanket of fear.
Markets reopened.
At the gates, guards stood straight-backed. No hands slipped forward. No muttered demands. No familiar cough that meant pay up or turn back.
Guards no longer demanded bribes at gates.
In narrow alleys where shadows once ruled, something felt… wrong.
Too open.
Too visible.
Too dangerous.
Thieves stopped operating in daylight.
A drunken squad of soldiers tried to drag a fruit seller from his cart before noon.
They didn't finish the attempt.
Steel flashed.
Orders were barked.
Bodies hit the stones.
Drunk soldiers were executed on the spot if they harassed civilians.
No trials.
No negotiations.
