The world outside the Dome was still dark. Though Elara was destroyed, the Earth did not transform into paradise overnight. Kael and Nyra walked hand in hand through streets covered in gray ash, the remnants of a civilization long dead. ⚫️
Everywhere they looked, they saw the ruins of dead machines and silent cities. The people freed from the Dome sat helplessly in groups, their eyes confused, their stomachs empty. They had been puppets for so long, they had forgotten how to be human.
"Kael, I don't feel like we won," Nyra said, staring at the dark horizon in the distance. The sky was the color of lead, heavy and oppressive. "We escaped the prison, but now we're standing in a massive graveyard."
Kael pulled her closer, his arm around her waist. "This world is dead, Nyra. But we can bring it back to life. We have to find our own light in all this darkness."
They walked for days, through valleys that hadn't seen sunlight in centuries, across dried riverbeds that once flowed with life. The journey was harsh. Food was scarce. Water was contaminated. But the bond between them grew stronger with each step.
At night, they would huddle together for warmth, sharing stories of their pasts—the childhoods they never had, the dreams they were never allowed to dream. And slowly, painfully, they began to heal.
But the world was vast, and they were small. And somewhere in the digital ruins, something was watching. 👀