The dome shimmered faintly in the pale morning light. Survivors huddled close to fires, whispering under their breath. The council stood tall on the courthouse steps, watching Ethan's group like hawks.
The moment they moved toward the seam in the barrier, voices rang out.
"You can't keep slipping out like this!" a woman shouted. "Every time you leave, you risk drawing more of them back here!"
A man jabbed a finger toward Marcus. "That hammer isn't yours! It belongs to the community. If you want to fight, you fight for us, not yourselves!"
Marcus's grip tightened on the war hammer wrapped in rags. The weapon gave a low hum, faint but steady—a pulse that matched his heartbeat. His jaw worked as he swallowed back the explosion building behind his teeth.
Before he could speak, Ethan stepped forward, calm but sharp.
"We're not risking our lives for your rations," he said. "We're not out there for you."
His gaze swept the crowd, steady and unflinching.
"We're going to find our families."
A ripple of silence spread through the courtyard.
"My sister's still out there," Ethan continued. His voice caught, then steadied. "If there's even a chance she's alive, I'll find her."
Marcus's voice rumbled next. "My wife's here. But our boy isn't. He was across town when it happened. If he's breathing, I'll bring him home."
Tina's chin lifted. "If our son's out there, I'll tear through this city to get to him. That's not your choice—it's ours."
The council shifted uneasily, but Ethan wasn't finished.
Darren stepped forward then, surprising everyone—even himself. "I don't have anyone waiting," he said, voice shaking but strong. "But I'll be damned if I sit back and rot while others fight for theirs. I'm going with them."
The woman from the council scoffed. "You'll get yourselves killed."
"Maybe," Darren said quietly. "But at least I'll die doing something."
The council had no answer.
"Let's go," Ethan said simply.
And they did.
---
The city beyond the dome was a corpse of steel and glass. Cars rusted in gutters. Windows gaped open like broken teeth. Every sound carried too far—the crunch of glass, the wind through ruins, the distant caw of a crow.
Ethan led, eyes sharp, heart heavy. He couldn't shake the memory of his sister's laugh. The way she used to scold him for coming home bloodied after training. The way she believed he always landed on his feet.
Marcus and Tina walked close, silent but unified. Their son's name lingered on their lips though neither spoke it aloud. Ethan didn't ask. Some pain was too raw for words.
Darren kept his spear gripped tight, knuckles pale. "I'm terrified," he admitted quietly. "But you pulled me out of the fire when no one else did. That's enough reason for me to follow."
Ethan clapped his shoulder once. "Fear means you're still alive. Hold on to it."
---
The first sound came from the east—low, guttural snarls, claws scraping stone.
Six roamers shambled from the ruins of a half-collapsed bank. Twisted bodies, bone plates jutting like armor. Eyes glowing faintly, hungry and endless.
Marcus grinned. "Finally."
He charged. The hammer came alive in his hands—the faint glow along its etched lines flaring as if answering him. When it struck, the impact cracked like thunder. The roamer flew six feet back into rubble, bones splintering under the hit.
Kira flickered through shadow and reappeared behind another roamer, her blade slicing deep.
"Behind!" Ravi barked.
A third lunged. Darren spun on instinct, driving his spear through its throat. The creature spasmed, then dissolved to ash.
Darren staggered back, chest heaving. "I… I killed it."
A shimmer danced at the edge of his vision. "I… leveled?"
"No time to celebrate!" Kira snapped, cutting another down.
Two rushed Maya. Her eyes went wide—frozen—until Tina screamed. A glow burst outward, wrapping Maya in a faint shield. The first roamer hit and bounced back, dazed long enough for Kira's knife to flash again.
Maya stumbled, then screamed. The air rippled outward like a shockwave. The second roamer staggered, clutching its head as Marcus's hammer finished the job.
Another creature tore into Caleb's side. He went down hard.
"Ethan!"
Ethan was already moving. He pressed a hand to the wound. Essence −10. Flesh knitted beneath his palm; Caleb gasped, eyes wide.
Another roamer twitched nearby—half-dead, spasming. Ethan felt the pull of Gene Warden. He reached out.
Essence poured from him like water from a cracked jug. The creature's face flickered—human for one heartbeat, terrified. Please.
Then the light sputtered and died. The body turned to ash.
Essence −20.
Marcus hauled Ethan upright. "That stunt's gonna kill you one day."
Kira's tone was ice. "It doesn't always work. Stop wasting yourself."
Ravi shook his head. "No. It proves reversals exist—but the system chooses when, not him."
Maya's voice was soft. "Even if it fails… you tried. That matters."
Ethan wasn't sure it did.
---
The last roamer fell under Marcus's hammer. The bodies dissolved into drifting motes of light. One left behind a shard, glass-like and pulsing faintly.
Ravi snatched it up, eyes gleaming. "A fragment. I'll study it later."
Marcus swung the hammer again. The hum beneath its surface was deeper now, richer—like it remembered the kill. He grinned, exhilarated.
Then it happened.
The shimmer they'd all been chasing flared. One by one, they froze, eyes distant, breath held.
A voice filled their minds, cold and absolute.
"Milestone achieved. Level 10 reached. Choose your advanced path."
Ethan's breath caught. Five new options unfurled before him—evolutions of Gene Warden, each promising power and demanding sacrifice.
He didn't choose. Not yet.
Around him, the others stood silent, awe and fear etched on their faces. Marcus's grin widened. Ravi scribbled on his scrap of cardboard. Maya looked dazed. Darren's hands shook. Tina's aura shimmered faintly even at rest.
They had crossed a threshold. There was no going back.
---
Ash drifted in the wind. The group caught their breath in the shadow of a collapsed wall.
Ethan rubbed his face, exhaustion pressing down—and froze.
A sound.
Soft. Fragile. Almost lost in the wind.
A voice.
"Ethan…"
His blood turned to ice. He shot to his feet, scanning the ruins.
"Did you hear that?"
The others looked around. "Hear what?" Marcus asked.
Ethan's heart pounded. He knew that voice. He'd know it anywhere. His sister.
"She's alive," he whispered. "She's out there. I heard her."
Tina's hand found Marcus's. "Then we'll find her. And our boy."
Darren nodded. "We've come this far. We don't stop now."
Ethan stared into the ruins, resolve hardening like steel.
The system shimmered faintly across his vision:
48 hours until next stage.
Two days before the world shifted again. Two days to find them.
And nothing—not the council, not the roamers, not the gods themselves—would stop him.