The city thinned faster than Zubair expected.
The concrete jungle faded into long stretches of yellow grass. Houses appeared farther apart. Fences leaned under their own weight as if they, too, had given up on everything. Barns slumped in the distance, their roofs and walls partially collapsed.
Sera was the one to stop walking first.
"I'm done with this," she said simply with a shrug of her shoulders.
Before he could ask, she snapped her fingers, and one of the matte-black trucks popped into existence.
"Get in," she smiled. "I'm not walking anymore."
Zubair took the driver's seat without asking if she wanted someone else to drive. She climbed into the passenger side and pulled her hair over one shoulder. Lachlan, Alexei, and Aerenyx piled into the back seat as Luci hopped into the truck bed with a single thud of approval.
Zubair started the engine.
The sound broke the stillness like a pulse returning to a dead limb.
