The road west was a scar cutting through dead land.
For hours, they drove in silence. The city had vanished behind them, swallowed by fog and distance. Ahead stretched cracked pavement and the skeletons of suburbs long abandoned—empty houses with blown-out windows, streets buried under vines and ash.
The rain had stopped, but the clouds still hung low, dull and heavy. Everything felt muted. Even the engines seemed quieter here, as if the world itself was holding its breath.
Riku's hands stayed on the wheel. His eyes moved constantly—side mirrors, rearview, skyline. The Rezvani's engine hummed steady beneath him, reliable as ever.
Suzune sat beside him, rifle resting across her knees, scanning the roadside with practiced eyes. She broke the silence first.
"Two kilometers ahead, there's a fork. North leads to the industrial sector. West cuts into the hills."
