They walked for nearly fifteen minutes before the city began to change.
The buildings ahead no longer collapsed in chaotic angles. Instead, they stood unnaturally straight as if something had forced them upright after the world broke. Their windows remained shattered and walls were cracked. But the structures did not lean or sag. They felt arranged.
The street narrowed suddenly. The asphalt that once stretched wide enough for four lanes gradually compressed into a single path.
The cracks in the ground stopped spreading randomly and began forming long parallel lines. Burned vehicles that littered the earlier streets were gone and no debris blocked their way.
The air changed first.
Myles noticed it before anyone spoke. His steps forward from now on made his lungs work harder. Breathing did not hurt but it felt harder. Like inhaling through soaked cloth.
Victor frowned. "You all feel that?"
George nodded slowly. "Yeah. Feels thick."
