When the light faded, the city was no longer a city. It was a graveyard of glass and flame.Lisa lay flat on the ground, her body aching, her ears ringing. She couldn’t tell if she was breathing at first. The air was hot, sharp with smoke, and the taste of ash coated her tongue. All around her, the sky burned red, not with fire, but with light. The air itself glowed faintly, pulsing like a heartbeat.She turned her head. Beside her, Kevin was lying still, his small hand gripping her sleeve even in unconsciousness. For one awful second, she thought he wasn’t breathing. Then his chest rose and fell, slow but steady. “Kevin,” she whispered, shaking him gently. “Hey. Wake up, honey.”He groaned softly and opened his eyes. “Lisa…?” His voice was weak. “Where are we?”Lisa looked around, though she didn’t know how to answer. The street they had been standing on no longer existed. In its place was a wide scar through the earth, deep, black, glowing faintly at the edges. The buildings arou

The city trembled long after the light faded. Dust and smoke drifted across the ruins like low clouds, carrying the smell of metal and ash. Every surface still glowed faintly red, breathing in slow pulses. It felt as though the ground itself was alive, listening.Lisa pulled herself from the rubble, coughing hard. Her hair clung to her face, her hands were bleeding, and her lungs burned from the heat that lingered in the air. Beside her, Kevin crawled out from under a sheet of broken metal, his small face streaked with grime and fear. “Lisa,” he whispered, “it happened again.”She nodded weakly. “I know.”The crater where the tower had stood was gone now, replaced by a swirling field of red dust and shifting light. The Hive’s hum was different. Slower. Deeper. Each vibration carried a strange rhythm, like a heartbeat echoing from the earth itself.Dalton shouted from nearby, his voice hoarse. “Everyone still breathing, sound off!”A few faint replies came from the wreckage. The su