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Chapter 32 - The City Hummed Back
last update2025-07-13 00:56:41

The rain hadn’t stopped since they stumbled out of the hospital that night. Now, hours later, it fell in thin, slanted needles, drumming on the hood of the old city car they’d borrowed from Khumalo’s safehouse. Marks sat in the driver’s seat, engine off, the dash lights throwing pale blue across his tired face. Siya sat beside him, knees up, staring out the window at Groote Schuur’s looming bulk across the street.

Neither had spoken for minutes. The building seemed to breathe in the dark — a single black lung exhaling static through every crack and window. Every so often, the old intercoms squealed. When they did, you could almost pick her voice out if you listened too hard.

Asanda.

Marks checked the coordinates again. Khumalo’s laptop glowed in his lap, a mess of maps and signal readouts. He dragged a trembling finger across the screen.

“Every single radio tower in the city,” he said, voice raw. “Every one of these repeaters, even the private ones — all showing interference since the
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