2026-01-28 10:01:28The afternoon sun hung low and heavy, turning the settlement into a maze of long shadows and warm orange light. Tony knelt on the floor of their small corner, folding his one spare shirt into a tight square before stuffing it into the battered backpack. Every movement felt different now, like his hands carried an extra weight he couldn't see. The broken trombone pieces sat beside him, wrapped carefully in an old rag so the sharp edges wouldn't cut through the fabric.
Lila worked beside him, rolling blankets into tight bundles and tying them with strips of cloth. Her hands moved fast and sure, the way they always did when she was trying not to think too hard. Every few seconds she glanced at the curtain, listening for footsteps, making sure no one was close enough to overhear. "Two water skins," she said quietly, counting out loud. "Three days of food if we stretch it. Your knife, my knife, the little first-aid kit. That's it. Anything more and we'll be too slow." Tony nodded, zipping the backpack closed. "I keep thinking about the note I played earlier. It felt… good. Like the air wanted to listen. But what if I do it again and someone hears it wrong? Or someone sees?" Lila paused, her fingers still on a knot. "Then we deal with it. We can't hide forever. But we can be smart. Small sounds. Away from crowds. And only when we need it." She looked up at him, eyes serious but soft. "You're not alone in this, Tony. Elias is coming. I trust him. He's seen things. He'll help us figure out what X-Class really means." Tony gave a small smile. "Still getting used to the idea that my sister has a boyfriend who's an S-Class wind hunter." Lila's cheeks went pink again, but she rolled her eyes. "He's not just a boyfriend. He's… good. Reliable. And he's been out there longer than most. If anyone knows how to keep something like this quiet while we move, it's him." Tony picked up the trombone bell, turning it in his hands one last time. The metal caught the light and flashed gold for a second. He slipped it into the side pocket of the pack, then stood up and stretched. His body felt strange—tired from the night before, but also full of something new, like a song waiting to be played. Lila stood too, slinging her own pack over one shoulder. She looked around their little space—the curtain, the sleeping mats, the small pile of things they were leaving behind. Her face tightened for a moment, then smoothed out. "We're not saying goodbye to this place. We're just… taking the next step." Tony nodded. "Yeah. Next step." They stepped out from behind the curtain together. The settlement was winding down—people heading inside for the evening, fires being banked low, kids called in for dinner. A few heads turned their way, but no one asked questions. Everyone knew the three of them were leaving. Rumors had already started about the beasts going quiet last night, but no one connected it to Tony. Not yet. Elias waited near the side gate, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. A soft breeze moved around him, even though nothing else stirred. When he saw them coming, he pushed off the wall and walked over, eyes flicking between their packs. "Light," he said, nodding approval. "Good. We'll move faster that way." Lila stepped up beside him, close enough that their shoulders brushed. She didn't say anything, just gave him a small smile. Elias returned it, quick and private, then looked at Tony. "Ready?" he asked. Tony adjusted the straps on his pack. "Yeah. I think so." Elias turned to the gate, lifting one hand. The breeze picked up just enough to push the heavy metal aside with a low creak. Beyond it, the highway stretched out into the growing dusk, empty and waiting. "Then let's go," Elias said simply. The three of them stepped through together—Lila on Tony's left, Elias on his right. The gate closed behind them with a quiet clang. Tony took one last look back at the settlement lights flickering in the distance, then faced forward. The road was dark ahead. But for the first time, he didn't feel quite so alone on it.
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under the big top
The big top's entrance flap parted with a soft rustle, and Tony stepped inside first, heart thumping like a drum in his chest. The inside glowed with string lights draped like spiderwebs, casting warm yellow spots over sawdust floors and faded posters of acrobats who probably never saw the end of the world. Tables ringed the center ring, piled with fresh bread, canned fruits, and even some roasted meat that smelled like heaven after days of dry rations. About thirty people and creatures milled around—humans with tired smiles, a few mutants on leashes that looked more like pets than guards, all chatting and laughing as if the apocalypse was just a bad dream.Seraphina Lune waited in the center, pink hair shining under the lights, her smile wide and genuine now, no smoke or tricks in sight. She clapped her hands together once, and the chatter died down. "Welcome, darlings! Come in, sit down. You look like you've walked through hell and back. Let me fix that."She waved them to a table,
Pink smoke and bad ideas
The three of them had been walking since the ice rain, legs heavy but spirits strangely light, when the road decided to play a trick. One minute they were passing rusted billboards promising long-gone roller coasters, the next minute a sagging big top rose out of the dark like a drunk uncle who refused to leave the party. The circus tent was battered, red-and-white stripes faded to pink-and-dirt, poles leaning like tired soldiers. Fairy lights still blinked in weak yellow pulses along the entrance arch, powered by who-knows-what stubborn generator. Music—scratchy calliope notes—floated out, cheerful and wrong, like laughter at a funeral.Tony stopped first. "That's… a circus."Lila tilted her head. "In the middle of nowhere. After the world ended. Sure. Why not."Elias's breeze tightened around them. "Patrols," he murmured. "And they're not normal dogs."They crept closer. Two shapes padded along the perimeter fence—huge, too huge. German shepherds maybe, once. Now their fur grew in p
Rain of ice
The train wreck lay quiet now, the six wolf-mutants scattered like broken toys across the gravel. Tony's heart still hammered from the fight, but the new creature—the one that used to be human—stood tall in the moonlight, claws flexing, second mouth hissing on its throat. The pack circled it, growling low, welcoming their newest member.Lila stepped forward. "Stay back," she said, voice calm but iron-hard.Tony and Elias moved behind her without a word. The air around Lila began to change. It grew colder, sharper. Tiny beads of moisture lifted from the grass, from the puddles, from the very breath they exhaled. The humidity in the night air thickened, then pulled toward her like iron to a magnet. She raised both hands, fingers spread, and the water answered.It came fast.Droplets from every direction rushed in, spinning into a tight, swirling sphere above her palms. The sphere grew, darkening, until it was the size of a basketball, then a beach ball, then bigger still. The air itself
Train wreck
The road had curved away from the highway hours ago, dipping into what used to be a small rail yard. Twisted tracks snaked through tall grass and broken gravel, leading to a long line of rusted train cars that looked like a giant metal snake someone had chopped into pieces. One engine lay on its side, half-buried in dirt, its front smashed open like a cracked egg. The cars behind it tilted at strange angles, windows gone, roofs peeled back by time and weather. Vines crawled over everything, thick and dark green, turning the whole wreck into a green-and-rust jungle under the moonlight.Tony walked slower here, eyes wide, taking it all in. The air smelled wet and sour, like old metal mixed with rotting leaves. Crickets chirped in the grass, but not many—too quiet for a place this overgrown. Lila stayed close on his left, water skin already uncapped, a thin stream ready to whip out if needed. Elias walked on the right, breeze always moving around him, listening to things the rest of them
Flames
The highway stretched dark and empty under a sky full of stars, the kind that looked too bright and too close after living so long under broken ceilings. Tony walked in the middle, Lila on his left, Elias on his right, their footsteps falling into a quiet rhythm that almost felt like music if he listened hard enough. The packs were light on their backs, but the silence between them was heavy, full of things no one wanted to say out loud yet.Tony kept his hands in his pockets, fingers brushing the trombone bell wrapped in cloth. He didn't dare hum again—not after what happened with Darius. The memory of the flames dying with one clap still made his palms tingle. He glanced sideways at Elias, who walked with that calm breeze always circling him, like the air itself was his bodyguard."You've fought S-Class before?" Tony asked, voice low.Elias nodded once. "Not really, just once"Lila looked over at him, her face lit by faint moonlight. "You never told me the details.""Didn't want to
Dusk
Dusk wrapped the highway in soft purple shadows, the air cool and thick with the scent of rust and distant rain. Tony walked between Lila and Elias, backpack straps digging into his shoulders, every step crunching on cracked asphalt that felt like walking on old bones. The settlement lights faded behind them, and ahead the road twisted through overgrown cars and vines, like nature was slowly eating the world back. Tony's mind raced with the new power humming inside him, a secret song waiting to burst out, but he kept it locked tight, focusing on the rhythm of their footsteps instead.Lila glanced over her shoulder every few minutes, eyes sharp and worried, her hand hovering near the water skin at her hip as if ready to pull a flood from thin air. Elias walked with easy grace, the breeze around him whispering secrets only he could hear, his face calm but alert. Tony felt a little safer with them, like they were a small team against whatever the night might throw, but the quiet made his
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