Path of Death: Awakening
Chapter 35: The Edge of Hope

Chapter 35: The Edge of Hope

The sun had not risen.

But the darkness no longer belonged to the night.The sky was a heavy, gray curtain, slowly unfolding—casting the echo of day across the land.Scattered stones, broken branches, and weary bodies—all carried the weight of yesterday into today.

The camp was silent.But this silence was not empty.It was filled with meaning—things unseen, unspoken, yet shared. A quiet bond etched in fatigue and survival.

Fade was the first to awaken.

He rose from the edge of a curled rock, brushing the dust from his clothes.The strange vibration in his legs remained—but by dawn, it felt just a little more like his own.

Zeyna opened her eyes next. She sat up quietly, glancing at Fade. She didn’t speak.Her expression had settled into a quiet acceptance—not out of understanding, but routine.She knew he’d changed. And she’d stopped fighting it.

Kaela sat with her data device in her lap, its screen glowing faintly."Satellite layers are still unstable," she muttered."But something... might be approaching."

Darin nudged Arven with a grunt."Wake up, man. Gray hell turned morning again."

Arven rubbed his eyes. "Starting to get used to the gray... but it still smells the same."

For a while, everyone went about their routine.No one spoke. Yet somehow, they moved in sync.Words were no longer the glue between them—survival was.

Fade looked ahead.

The earth had hardened.The path rising westward left no footprints anymore. But even without tracks... the direction was clear.

Kaela walked up beside him."The signal’s still coming from the same heading. Direction hasn’t changed."

Fade nodded."Then neither will we."

And he took the first step.

Their journey had begun.

But this wasn’t a march—it was a quiet exodus.Every step wasn’t a retreat from what was left behind, but a devotion to what lay ahead.

The ground was cracked. No mud—only hardened earth with fractures beneath, as if the world had no breath left to give.

Zeyna followed a few paces behind Fade.Sometimes her foot caught on a stone, but she corrected herself quickly.Arven and Darin trailed further back. Kaela walked in the center, her device guiding like a compass.

"Do you think the sun will ever come out again?" Arven asked, his voice strained.

Darin didn’t answer. He pulled out a crumpled cigarette filter, looked at it, then tucked it back into his pocket.

Zeyna glanced over her shoulder. "When you first stepped out here... did you ever imagine it’d be like this?"

Kaela shook her head. "When the System activated... I thought it was a game. Then I realized we weren’t the ones writing the rules."

Darin grinned. "So we’re just pawns, huh?"

Fade stopped.

So did everyone else.

Ahead of them stood the collapsed remains of a tunnel—probably an old highway underpass.Half buried in earth, the rest sealed off by a cave-in.

Fade squinted. "We can’t go through. But we can go around."

Kaela scanned the wall markings. "We’re close to Sector Delta-30.From here on, the signal might start breaking down."

Zeyna murmured, "So... no more map."

Fade nodded. "We still have direction. That’s enough."

They kept moving.

The land around the tunnel grew rougher. The sounds of nature—once absent—had begun to return, just barely.Something stirred in the bushes. A shadow passed overhead.

Kaela glanced upward. "We might not be alone out here."

Zeyna’s gaze swept the terrain. "If something else jumps out, I’m not talking this time."

Fade said nothing. But his eyes followed the dust hovering over the rubble.

He didn’t look back—because what they’d left behind wasn’t just their path...but who they used to be.

Beyond the ruins, the land dipped into a cracked pathway.The air remained dry and tense.

Kaela suddenly stopped."The System’s no longer transmitting data," she said, "shutting off her device. But... there’s something here."

"Like what?" Zeyna asked.

Kaela pointed at the ground—footprints.

Not a straight trail, but scattered, erratic steps.A group had passed through, but their direction was... lost.

"Crowd movement," Arven muttered. "But no formation."

Darin crouched. "Even their shoes dragged. Like they barely stayed upright."

Fade lifted his gaze.

Smoke.

A faint column drifting upward.

They exchanged glances, then moved toward it.

Over a ridge, nestled in a hollow, sat a scattered camp. Torn tents. Makeshift shelters. Half-burned fires.People. But not soldiers. Not warriors.

Worn, hollowed, cautious.

As the group paused on the hill, a man stepped forward from the camp—hands raised, voice low, laced with something like... resignation.

"Newcomers?"

Fade didn’t answer.

The man introduced himself."I’m Toril. We’re the ones outside the city. The unlucky ones. The ones not let in."

"Last Hope?" Zeyna asked.

Toril chuckled bitterly. "Hope? Maybe for those inside. For us... it’s just a wall. They shut the gate. We remain."

Arven leaned toward the group. "They’re not doing anything. Just... existing."

And it was true.Most people sat listlessly. Some stared at the sky. Others rolled stones in their palms.No production. No guard duty. No unity.

Only... the remnants of being.

Toril spoke again."They won’t let us in. The System says we’re unqualified. Low level. No skills. No loyalty.But we survive. And sometimes... we help people who want in.If they can offer something in return."

Kaela narrowed her eyes. "So not a passage... a trade."

"That’s survival," Toril said. "If you’re not strong, you have to be clever."

Fade’s voice came after a long silence."And sometimes... cleverness is just a mask for weakness."

Toril met Fade’s eyes—and backed off slightly.He bowed his head."If you wish... you’re welcome to rest at our camp. We have little food. But the fire’s warm."

Fade didn’t reply.He looked around once more.

These people weren’t just broken physically.Their spirits had collapsed.

And that... was contagious.

"We’re moving on," he said.

And began to walk.

The others followed.

Zeyna murmured, "They never entered the city... but somehow, they’ve lost even more."

As they crested the ridge, the wind shifted.

Dust parted like a veil—and they saw it.

Rising on the far horizon was a massive dome.It tore through the sky like a wound. The barrier shimmered with life—lightning dancing in web-like veins.A sphere of electricity wrapped in fire.

Kaela squinted."That energy field... it shouldn’t be this big."

But it was.

Zeyna held her breath. "Is that... real?"

Fade didn’t speak.But his eyes searched the sparks for meaning.The dome didn’t cut the sky—it bent it. Filtered it.As if something still lived beyond the gray.

Kaela checked her device. Signals clashed and stuttered."Seventeen kilometers," she whispered.

Darin asked softly,"Can we even get in?"

No one answered.

Because the answer was buried behind the dome.And in the towers that rose beyond it.

Metallic spires pierced the clouds. Lights flickered on glass walls—not signs of life, but dominance.And at the edges of the dome?

Another world.

Faded buildings. Tin rooftops. Mud-streaked roads.

The city called Last Hope... was also a mirror of injustice.

Fade whispered,

"Last Hope..."

He didn’t look back.

The word left his lips like a prayer—or a curse.

And in that moment, Zeyna took the first step forward.

"The road’s clear," she said."But whose hope this really is... we’ll see."

Fade looked one last time.

Then face toward to west.

And walked.

Beyond the ridge, sparks still danced along the muted sky.