Chapter 63 - 62: The Final Hour ( 2 )
They left the street behind without another word.
The city swallowed the brief violence as though it had never happened.
A faint breeze stirred loose papers across the cracked asphalt before fading just as quickly as it had come. Alexander kept a steady pace, his eyes moving from rooftops to windows to the intersections ahead. Cassandra followed a few steps behind, stealing occasional glances at him before looking away again.
Neither of them spoke about what had happened.
There was nothing to say.
The countdown continued its relentless march.
[Time Remaining: 00:29:48]
The glowing numbers hovered quietly at the edge of Alexander’s vision before ticking downward once more.
Twenty-seven minutes.
Twenty-three.
Twenty.
With every passing minute, the city seemed to grow quieter.
It wasn’t because the danger had passed.
It was the opposite.
The distant gunfire that had echoed throughout the morning became less frequent. The shouting between survivors gradually faded until only isolated voices remained, swallowed by an uneasy silence that spread from one street to the next.
Even the infected had begun to change.
An emaciated infected wandered into the middle of an intersection several buildings ahead.
Alexander instinctively reached for his knife.
Then he paused. The creature didn’t charge. It didn’t even seem to notice them. Instead, it slowly lifted its head. Its pale, lifeless eyes fixed on the sky. It remained perfectly still.
Another infected emerged from a nearby alley.
Then another.
None of them acknowledged the living standing less than thirty meters away.
One by one, they stopped where they were, their vacant faces turning upward as though listening to something no human could hear.
Cassandra frowned. "...What are they doing?"
Alexander didn’t answer. Because he didn’t know.
They continued walking, passing within sight of infected that should have attacked them without hesitation. Yet none of them moved.
The creatures simply stood motionless, scattered throughout the streets like abandoned statues, all staring toward the heavens.
The silence deepened.
Cassandra gradually became aware of something else.
Something that had been missing for several minutes. " There are no birds..." she whispered.
Alexander noticed it too.
Not a single chirp echoed between the buildings.
Not a single pigeon circled the rooftops.
Even the stray dogs that had barked throughout the previous night had vanished.
The wind disappeared with them.
Smoke no longer drifted naturally through the streets. Dust settled onto the pavement without the slightest disturbance, leaving the entire city frozen in an unnatural stillness.
The countdown continued.
[Time Remaining: 00:09:57]
For reasons neither of them could explain, the air suddenly felt heavier.
As if the entire world had unconsciously drawn a breath...
...and was waiting for something to happen.
Alexander stopped walking.
Not because he had heard something.
Because the city had.
The countdown in the corner of his vision continued its relentless descent.
[Time Remaining: 00:00:10]
Nine.
Eight.
Seven.
Around them, the streets fell into an impossible silence.
The infected remained exactly where they had been, their pale eyes still fixed on the sky. Survivors stood frozen in place, some halfway through running, others clutching bags of food or reaching toward loved ones. A man who had been shouting only moments ago now stood with his mouth open, but no sound came out.
It was as though the entire world had forgotten how to move.
Cassandra instinctively stepped closer to Alexander. "...What’s happening?"
For the first time since they had met, Alexander had no answer.
His eyes swept across the motionless city.
Every instinct told him something was wrong. Not dangerous. Not yet.
Just... beyond understanding.
The timer continued.
[00:00:05]
Four.
Three.
Two.
The air suddenly grew heavy.
Not enough to make breathing difficult, but enough that every breath felt strangely distant. The buildings around them seemed to waver for the briefest instant, as though the space they occupied had become uncertain.
Alexander’s grip tightened around the strap of his backpack.
Beside him, Cassandra’s fingers found his sleeve without thinking.
Neither of them pulled away.
[00:00:01]
The final number vanished. For one endless heartbeat...
Nothing happened. Then reality shifted. It wasn’t an explosion. There was no violent force. No blinding impact.
The world simply... folded.
A low hum resonated through the city, too deep to be heard with the ears alone. It vibrated through concrete, steel, flesh, and bone, as though the world itself had become a single ringing bell.
Lines of brilliant white light spread across the ground beneath every living person. They raced over roads, climbed walls, crossed rooftops, and stretched farther than the eye could follow, weaving together into an enormous pattern that covered the entire city.
No.
Not just the city.
The light swallowed everything. The city. The sky. The sound of their own breathing.
Even time seemed to lose its meaning. Then... Nothing.
*~*
The world returned all at once.
Alexander’s eyes snapped open.
Soft grass brushed against the back of his hand.
Fresh air filled his lungs.
It was clean.
Too clean.
Gone was the choking smell of smoke that had blanketed the city. Gone was the stench of blood, ash, and decaying flesh that had clung to every street since the apocalypse began.
For the first time in what felt like an eternity, the air carried the scent of earth and growing things.
Alexander pushed himself upright.
His eyes immediately swept across his surroundings.
An endless field stretched before him, its emerald grass swaying gently beneath a breeze that hadn’t existed moments before. Ancient trees towered in the distance, their trunks thicker than buildings and their crowns disappearing into the sky. Beyond them, mountain ranges rose like sleeping giants, their snow-covered peaks gleaming beneath brilliant sunlight.
The sky itself looked... different.
Alexander slowly surveyed the endless grasslands, the mountains on the horizon, and the ancient forest stretching farther than he could see.
Nothing looked familiar.
This wasn’t Earth.
His hand instinctively tightened around the handle of his dagger.
The weapon was still there.
So was his backpack.
His gaze shifted again.
Thousands of people were scattered across the enormous plain as far as he could see.
Some were already standing.
Others were only beginning to wake, confusion spreading across their faces as they looked around.
For several long seconds, no one spoke.
Then reality caught up.
"Where... where am I?"
"My wife!"
"Has anyone seen my son?"
"This isn’t the city!"
Voices erupted from every direction.
A woman collapsed to her knees, sobbing as she searched the sea of strangers for familiar faces. A little boy ran through the crowd calling desperately for his mother. Two elderly men embraced each other with tears streaming down their faces, grateful that they had not been separated.
Not everyone had been so fortunate.
Alexander continued observing. The terrain. The distant forest. The mountains. The crowd. No walls. No shelter. They were in an open field with no obvious source of fresh water within immediate reach.
Too exposed.
Beside him, a soft groan drew his attention.
Cassandra slowly opened her eyes.
She blinked several times before pushing herself into a sitting position. "...We’re alive?"
Alexander gave a single nod.
She looked around.
Her expression slowly shifted from relief... to disbelief. "This..."
Her voice barely rose above a whisper. "...isn’t Earth."
"No."
The single word settled between them.
Cassandra instinctively placed both hands over her stomach.She held her breath.
A second later, a tiny movement answered her. The baby was still alive.
Her shoulders relaxed as a quiet breath escaped her lips.
Before either of them could speak again, translucent white windows materialized in the air before every survivor. Gasps echoed across the field. Some people stumbled backward.
Others reached out instinctively, only for their hands to pass harmlessly through the floating screens.
Alexander read the words without changing expression.
[Congratulations to the 114,876,879 Aurelions who survived the Migration.]
His eyes lingered on the number. One hundred and fourteen million. Far too few.
He didn’t know exactly how many people had survived long enough to reach the final countdown.
He didn’t need to. Whatever the number had been...
Most of them hadn’t made it. The notification faded. Another immediately replaced it.
[Welcome to the Grand Continent of Eldilon.]
Murmurs swept through the crowd.
"Eldilon?"
"What does that even mean?"
"Is this some kind of experiment?"
The second notification vanished.
A third appeared.
[Protection Period Of One Eldilon Month has been activated.]
Alexander’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Protection.
The word itself implied danger.
Protection from what?
The thought had barely formed when another scream tore through the plain.
Unlike the cries of confusion that had filled the field moments earlier...
This scream carried pure terror.
Hundreds of heads turned toward the same direction. Beyond the sea of survivors...
At the edge of the ancient forest... Something moved.
It was too large to be human.
The towering grass bent as it advanced, each slow step drawing closer to the clearing.
The murmurs died.
Thousands of people watched in complete silence. Alexander’s grip tightened around his dagger.
The apocalypse on Earth was over. Their struggle to survive...
Had only just begun.