Illusion of Safety

The ruins of the city swallowing them whole, the crumbling buildings standing like ancient tombstones. Jason moving carefully, his grip firm around Ryan’s wrist, guiding his little brother through the wreckage. Mia leads ahead, her gun raised, her body tense.

Jason knew what she is thinking.

Those men.

They aren’t just scavengers looking for food. They are organized. Armed. Hunting.

And Jason isn’t sure if they are after supplies, or something worse.

⸻

They kept low, weaving through a burned-out apartment complex.

The walls are charred black, the windows shattered. Inside, the remains of a life before the end are scattered across the floor.. overturned furniture, torn family photos, old clothes still hanging in closets.

It felt like walking through a graveyard.

Ryan stepping carefully over a broken picture frame, his voice barely above a whisper. “What if they saw us?”

Jason didn’t answer. He didn’t want to think about it.

Mia stopping near a collapsed staircase, peering through the cracks in the wall. Jason joining her, crouching low.

Below, in the distance, the hunters are still moving through the streets.

They aren’t in a hurry.

They are searching.

Jason’s chest tightening. They are looking for something.

Or someone.

Mia whispers, “We can’t stay here.”

Jason nods. But where could they go?

⸻

They sliping through the apartment’s remains, moving toward the back exit.

That’s when Jason heard it.

A scream.

Distant. Muffled.

Human.

Ryan stiffenning beside him. “Someone’s alive.”

Mia’s expression darkens. “Not for long.”

Jason swallows hard. The scream hadn’t come from the lizards.

It had come from the hunters.

⸻

They reach the alley behind the building.

Jason wants to keep moving. To get away from whatever is happening.

But Ryan hesitate.

“We have to do something,” Ryan whispers.

Jason exhals, gripping his brother’s shoulder. “We can’t. We’re barely surviving as it is.”

Ryan’s jaw clenches, his eyes burning with something Jason recognized too well.. anger. Frustration. That desperate urge to fight back.

Jason had felt the same way once.

Before he learned that fighting didn’t always mean surviving.

Mia didn’t even look back. “If we stay, we’re next.”

Jason pulls Ryan forward.

They ran.

⸻

The streets ahead are eerily empty.. but Jason knew that didn’t mean they are safe.

The city had changed. The monsters aren’t just lizards anymore.

The people left behind?

They are just as dangerous.

And Jason isn’t sure which are worse.

They ran.

Jason kept his grip on Ryan’s wrist, half-dragging him through the ruins of the city. Mia moving ahead, her pace relentless. The alleyways twisted and stretched in every direction, leading to nowhere safe.

But stopping isn’t an option.

Not with the hunters behind them.

Not with the lizards closing in.

And not with time running out.

⸻

By the time they stopped, Jason’s lungs burning, his legs aching from the sprint. They had taken turn after turn, weaving through collapsed buildings and rusted-out vehicles until they had no idea where they even are.

Jason leaning against a wall, chest heaving. Ryan bent over, hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

Mia is already scanning their surroundings.

Jason wiping the sweat from his forehead. “Did we lose them?”

Mia didn’t answer right away. Her head tilting slightly, her eyes narrowing.

Listening.

Jason held his breath.

Nothing.

No footsteps. No distant voices.

Finally, Mia nods. “For now.”

Jason exhaling. It isn’t much, but it is something.

Ryan pushing away from the wall. “Where are we?”

Jason looking around, but the streets all blurring together. This city isn’t a city anymore. It is just an endless graveyard of broken buildings and ash.

“We’ll figure it out,” Jason said. It is the only answer he could give.

⸻

They moved again, this time slower, more careful.

The silence is too much.

Jason didn’t trust it.

They passes the rusted frame of an old bus, its windows shattered, seats covered in dust. It had probably been full of people once. People trying to escape.

They hadn’t made it.

Ryan whispering, “Do you think there’s anywhere left that’s safe?”

Jason didn’t answer.

Because he isn’t sure anymore.

⸻

Mia stops suddenly.

Jason tensing. “What?”

She pointing ahead.

A warehouse.

Still standing.

Jason frowning. “You think it’s abandoned?”

Mia shrugging. “There’s one way to find out.”

Jason hesitating. Every instinct told him that no place is empty anymore. If the lizards aren’t inside, then someone else is.

But they needed shelter. Rest. Something.

Jason glancing at Ryan. His little brother is exhausted, his arms trembling from the run. He wouldn’t last much longer without sleep.

Jason made the call.

“We go.”

⸻

The warehouse loomed over them, its metal walls rusting and covered in graffiti. Jason tightens his grip on his knife as Mia leads the way inside.

The air is stale. Dust floating through the cracks in the ceiling.

Jason’s muscles stayed tense as they move. Listening. Watching.

Mia signals. Clear.

Jason let out a slow breath.

For the first time in days, they had found a place to rest.

But as Jason glance at Ryan.. who is already sinking against the wall, eyes fluttering shut.. he knew one thing.

Safe never last.

Jason didn’t sleep.

Even though his body ache, even though exhaustion weigh down on him like a chain, he forces himself to stay awake.

Someone had to keep watch.

Ryan is curled up against a crate, his breathing slow and steady. Too exhausted to be afraid anymore. Jason envies that.

Mia sat near the entrance, gun across her lap, eyes half-lidded but still alert. She isn’t sleeping either.

Jason leans his head against the cold metal wall. They had a roof over their heads. No lizards. No hunters.

For now.

He hate that his mind wouldn’t stop thinking about what comes next.

⸻

At some point, Mia shifts. “We can’t stay here.”

Jason sighs. “I know.”

Mia glance at Ryan. “He needs real rest.”

Jason ran a hand through his hair. “He’s getting it.”

She shook her head. “I mean rest. Not just closing his eyes for a few hours before we run again.” She hesitat. “He’s getting weaker.”

Jason clenches his fists. He knew that. He saw it every day. The weight loss. The slower movements. The way Ryan didn’t complain as much anymore.. not because he isn’t struggling, but because he is used to it now.

Jason hates that the most.

“What do you want me to do?” he muttered.

Mia didn’t answer right away. Then: “We need a plan.”

Jason exhaled. Plans didn’t work anymore. Not in this world. Plans got people killed.

But he didn’t say that.

Because as much as he hates to admit it, she is right.

⸻

The morning light seep through the cracks in the warehouse.

Ryan woke with a start, his eyes darting around. “We’re still here?”

Jason nods. “You needed sleep.”

Ryan rubs his eyes. He looks embarrassed. “You should’ve slept too.”

Jason forces a small smirk. “Couldn’t let Mia kill me in my sleep.”

Mia rolls her eyes. “If I wanted you dead, you’d already be dead.”

Ryan actually chuckles at that. A rare sound these days.

Jason shook his head, standing up. “Let’s move.”

⸻

They slip out of the warehouse, keeping low.

The city is still.

Too still.

Jason didn’t like it.

They stuck to the shadows, moving through backstreets and alleyways, avoiding open spaces. Avoiding the places where monsters might be waiting.

Or worse.. people.

Then, as they turn a corner..

A gunshot.

Jason froze.

The sound echoes through the city, bouncing off the ruins buildings.

Mia grabs his arm. “Move. Now.”

They ran.

Not toward the gunfire.

Away from it.

Because in this world, whoever is shooting?

They aren’t aiming to save anyone.