Chapter 1
Chapter I – Glimpses and Prophecy
This morning the sky was a sickly yellow-gray, just like every morning I can remember. The shroud of poison hanging in the air looked thicker than usual, spreading the stench of sulfur mixed with rotten metal. Every breath felt like swallowing rust that scraped my throat raw. Here, breathing itself was already a small act of defiance against death.
“Kania, hurry! We need to cover a long distance before the black sun sets,” called Roni from near the rusted iron gate. His voice was hoarse, sounding older than his twenty-five years.
I sighed, half annoyed, half resigned. Sometimes Roni sounded like a nagging father, though he was only seven years older than me. “Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, tightening the strap of my backpack.
Its contents weren’t adventurer’s gear, just survival scraps: a spare gas filter, a bottle of murky water, a coil of rope, and a long knife. The hilt had already carved grooves into my palm. They called us Seekers—a fancy title for scavengers of a dead world. I was only eighteen, yet my life had already been wrung dry by this ruin.
“I’m ready,” I said, taking a sip of water. It tasted like rust, but I saved it carefully. In this world, thirst was the new tyrant.
We stepped out from the settlement gate—“Oasis,” they called it. The name was more of a bitter joke. The guard gave only a curt nod, no farewell. Everyone knew each journey could be the last.
Once outside, silence pressed down. Not the peaceful kind, but tense, as if the dead city itself was holding its breath, ready to pounce. Wind sighed through shattered windows, carrying whispers of the past. Ruined skyscrapers loomed like giant gravestones, while rusted car skeletons littered the streets.
“Target today’s the East Block,” said Roni, his sharp eyes scanning each shadowed window. “If we’re lucky, that old pharmacy might still hold medicine. Antibiotics are worth more than gold.”
My fingers brushed the worn silver locket in my jacket pocket—inside, a blurred photo of a woman smiling beneath a blue sky. My mother. That sky only lived in my imagination, for I had never seen it myself.
We walked cautiously, each step measured. My ears strained, sifting through the rustle of wind for something out of place.
Then I heard it: a faint scraping from a side alley, like something being dragged.
I raised my hand. Roni froze, eyes questioning. We pressed against the wall, peering around the corner.
Empty. Only dust and scraps swirling.
“Paranoia again, Kania?” Roni whispered—not mocking. Paranoia was often the reason we were still alive.
“Maybe,” I murmured. But my gut screamed: we were not alone.
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The pharmacy finally appeared ahead. Roni stood guard outside while I slipped in. My small flashlight swept the darkness. Shelves had been ransacked, the floor strewn with shattered bottles and powdery medicine dust. Yet Seekers before us were often careless. I rummaged behind the counter and found a small metal case, locked tight. Not much, but enough to trade for a week’s water.
I had just grabbed it when a sound froze me. Not Roni’s voice—something deeper. A guttural, inhuman growl.
Crawling to the shattered window, my heart pounded.
Roni stood rigid, machete drawn. At the end of the street, three zombies emerged.
Their bodies still resembled humans—at first glance. Pale, blotched skin. Milky white eyes without pupils. Mouths agape, teeth jagged and uneven. They moved in jerks, like puppets yanked by cruel strings. One tilted its head toward Roni, a flattened nose sniffing the air.
Strangely, they didn’t rush in blindly. They circled him like wolves surrounding prey, their vacant eyes fixed on one point—Roni’s chest.
I remembered the words of a Uni-Limiter: “Their souls shine bright.”
Roni was one of them, though his gift was simple—he could hear a heartbeat from thirty meters away. Useful as a scout, but now it was a curse.
“Run, Roni!” I screamed, voice cracking with panic.
A fatal mistake.
Three pairs of milky eyes snapped toward me. Their heads twisted at unnatural angles. For a moment, I felt their hunger crawl against my skin.
Roni moved instantly—not to flee, but to lure them away. “Kania, out the back!” he shouted.
The three zombies darted after him with unnatural speed, weaving through obstacles with predatory grace.
I crawled to the pharmacy’s back, found a broken storeroom window, and forced myself through. Rusted metal tore my skin. I tumbled into a narrow dark alley, slipping into a small room beyond.
There, an open safe loomed. Without thought, I squeezed inside, leaving a narrow crack.
Darkness. Silence.
Five minutes. Ten. Only the drum of blood in my ears.
Then, footsteps. Heavy. Dragging. Wet.
A shadow blocked the light through the crack. The stench of rotting flesh filled my nose. A zombie stood in the room. Its white eyes scanned slowly, then… moved closer.
Something dropped from its pocket. My eyes widened—Roni’s notebook, smeared with fresh blood.
My chest tightened. Zombies didn’t carry things. They only killed.
The creature toyed with the notebook before discarding it. From its pocket, another object fell: an old leather-bound journal, coated in dust.
It approached the safe. Its hand reached for the handle.
Click.
Panic surged. My eyes darted to the journal on the floor. Without thinking, I snatched it through the crack just as the door creaked open.
And the world collapsed inside my head.
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A vision. Sharp, vivid, more real than memory: the zombie ripping open the safe, its face filling my view. I stabbed, but its hand snapped my wrist like a twig. Agonizing pain. Foul breath smothering me. Then, darkness.
Not a dream. A future.
I jolted, slamming the door outward before its claws gripped the handle. The heavy wood cracked against its face, followed by a roar of rage. A sliver of time. I burst out, rolled, knife flashing.
My head spun, nausea rising. But the glimpse had armed me. I knew its strike. My blade slashed its arm, drawing a screech like grinding metal.
Suddenly, an explosion echoed outside. The zombie snapped its head toward the sound, then bolted out of the room.
I collapsed, gasping, trembling. The vision left a dagger of pain in my skull.
What just happened?
My hand closed around Roni’s blood-stained notebook. I couldn’t open it. Not now.
The old journal remained in my grip. I brushed the dust away. Its first page brimmed with formulas and diagrams I couldn’t understand. Beneath them, neat handwriting read:
*“November 19. Project Eden failed.
We thought we saved the world. Instead, we hastened its doom.
Ground Zero is not here. Ground Zero is in Meridian Lab.
If you read this, don’t seek the cure. Seek the truth. And destroy it all.
The world didn’t die by accident. The world died by mistake.”*
I froze. The words resonated with the painful power now coursing through me.
As I stood clutching the journal, I felt the air shift—like something vast and unseen had just turned its gaze upon me. Drawn not only to the light of my soul, but also to the knowledge I now carried.
I was no longer just a Seeker. I had become a Uni-Limiter. And prey.
Once, the sky had been blue. Now, with each tormenting glimpse of the future, my duty was no longer mere survival. My duty was to change the future I saw. Or die trying.
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END
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