Jaden woke to the sound of rain.
Or at least what passed for it these days water falling through broken gutters, dripping through shattered skylights, the building itself sighing under the weight. Morning light filtered through the boarded windows in fractured shafts, casting the store's dusty interior in soft gray.
He sat up on the creaky mattress, bones aching faintly. Aya had curled up in her corner, limbs tucked beneath a moth bitten blanket. Rowan leaned against a shelf with his arms crossed, half-asleep but alert. And Kael… Kael was snoring.
Jaden smiled. It was quiet. Not safe, never safe but quiet.
Then he heard the clinking.
Silas stood at the ruined countertop with two cracked mugs, pouring some makeshift brew from a rusted kettle. He wore someone's oversized hoodie, Jaden's, probably with the hood pulled up and ears poking through the top in a weird cat-ear silhouette.
"You look ridiculous," Jaden said.
Silas turned, exaggerated a gasp. "Excuse you. This is peak post-apocalyptic fashion. Cozy. Mysterious. Slightly feral."
"I said what I said."
Silas handed him a mug with a smirk. The brew was strong, bitter, and probably half mud, but it warmed his chest like courage.
"Sleep okay?" Silas asked.
Jaden nodded. "Surprisingly, yeah."
Silas lowered his voice. "That quiet last night wasn't just in the air. The system… it paused. Like something big just passed by us, decided not to look."
Jaden frowned. "Why?"
"No clue." Silas leaned on the counter. "But I've seen it before. Sometimes the world holds its breath. Then it either exhales or screams."
A sound from the stairs interrupted them.
Rowan was already moving by instinct, blade half-drawn. Aya stirred. Kael winced, sitting upright with a groan.
Then the newcomer appeared.
A girl young, no older than sixteen stood at the edge of the stairwell. Short, messy hair framed her dirt-smudged face. She wore a tattered poncho stitched with old patches: a star, a broken pair of headphones, and a pin that read "Just Vibing."
She looked like she hadn't slept in days.
Silas blinked. "Did we order delivery?"
Jaden stepped forward cautiously. "Hey easy. You alone?"
The girl's eyes darted around the room. "You're not raiders?"
"No," Aya said gently. "We're… surviving."
The girl sagged like tension had been holding her upright.
"I'm Niko," she said. "I followed your pulse flare. It bounced off the signal towers. Thought… maybe it wasn't a trap this time."
Silas gave Jaden a knowing glance. "Looks like we're collecting strays now."
Niko slumped onto the floor, hugging her knees. "I haven't eaten in two days."
Aya brought over a can of soup like a gremlin offering treasure. "Here."
Kael scoffed from the couch. "You just trust her?"
Rowan's eyes narrowed, but he didn't argue. Not out loud.
Jaden sat across from Niko. "You from the city?"
"Used to be. My family… didn't make it past the Fourth Collapse. I've been running solo since."
"The fact that you're alive means you're strong," Silas said. "Or stubborn. Or both."
Niko shrugged. "I got lucky. And I listen to my cat."
"…Your cat?" Rowan asked.
"She died before the system fell," Niko said without blinking. "But I still ask her stuff sometimes. She's usually right."
Silas clapped once. "I love her. She stays."
Kael groaned. "This group is chaos."
"You're not wrong," Jaden muttered, sipping the bitter brew again.
---
Later, they gathered near the fire again with seven bodies now. The room glowed in gold and shadow, flickering against walls still scorched by time.
Niko, her energy returning, pointed at the wall where a map had been pinned. "There's a flare zone here across the river. The system pings have been stronger near the old dam."
Jaden leaned closer. "Think it's a rift point?"
"Maybe. Could be a pulse breach. Or someone opening something they shouldn't."
Kael winced. "Like the Wraith?"
Silas was unusually quiet.
Jaden glanced at him. "You okay?"
Silas blinked. "I felt something earlier. When she came in."
"Something bad?"
"No. Familiar."
He stood, stretching dramatically like a cat waking from a long nap. "Which means we're heading to the dam tomorrow."
Rowan scowled. "We're low on supplies."
"I'll go ahead," Jaden offered.
"You'll go with me," Silas corrected. "This time, no lone wolf crap."
Aya poked her head in. "You two are really bad at pretending you're not attached at the hip."
"Lies," Silas said, putting a hand on his chest. "I am unattached. Free spirited. Wild. Like a goose."
Jaden raised an eyebrow. "A goose?"
"Yes. Graceful. Loud. Slightly terrifying."
Kael groaned. "Why do I feel like I joined a sitcom?"
Niko smiled faintly. "Because you did. And none of us can change the channel."
---
That night, the fire burned low but steady. Jaden lay staring at the ceiling, Silas beside him in his usual faded glow. The others were quiet breathing, dreaming, surviving.
"Do you think we're actually making a difference?" Jaden asked softly.
Silas turned to him, face softer than usual.
"You pulled four people back from the edge in one week, J. That's more than most do in a lifetime."
"…It doesn't feel like enough."
Silas leaned close, bumping their foreheads together gently. "The world's already broken. But you? You make people want to stay anyway."
Jaden smiled, closing his eyes.
For a moment, under the fractured sky and dying world, that was enough.
Author's note:
Niko coming with a trauma and dead family