In the Seach for Salvation

The rooftops stretched before me like broken ribs under a gray dawn, each one sharp, exposed, and dangerous. It had been nearly three weeks since the last encounter with the Hollowed. Three weeks since silence replaced screams and watching replaced hunting. But the tension hadn't eased—it had calcified, settled into everyone's bones like ash after a long fire. Every step forward now - it was hope measured in inches.

I crouched low on the camp's perimeter rooftop, feeling the weight of every eye on me. Kaela's voice was the first to cut through the morning static in my ear.

"Drone is live, Noah. We've got full visual. Can you please confirm if you can hear me properly?"

I tapped the side of my earpiece. "Can hear you loud and clear, my love."

"Telemetry clean," Jace added from the corner comms deck. I could picture him hunched over his jury-rigged feed console, chewing on one thumbnail while watching three separate screens. "Drone path synced to the route you mapped yesterday. It'll hover high and fall back when you stop. We will constantly keep watching you and keep guiding you over the radio."

"Just stay sharp. Please don't play around, Noah." Kaela said. "And no matter what happens, you have to come back to me."

Boss's voice came last. Rough, quiet. A pause before he spoke, like he always measured every word before letting it go. "You know the rules, Noah. If it looks like it's watching, it probably is. Keep low. Move quick. Confirm every roof you cross. And if you see anything even close to strange—"

"I'm out of there," I finished for him.

"Exactly."

I looked ahead. The city beyond the camp wasn't just a ruin anymore. It was a puzzle—unmapped angles, unpredictable silence. It breathed in ways we still didn't understand.

"Ready?" Kaela asked, a beat slower, a touch softer.

I adjusted my scarf. I felt the familiar grip of the sidearm on my hip. The drone above me beeped once, gently pulsing blue.

"Born ready."

A long silence.

"Then let's go," Boss said.

I took a breath, shifted my weight forward, and sprang across the first gap. The rooftops welcomed me like they always did—with groans, creaks, and the ever-present reminder that even the ground beneath your feet can betray you.

Jace's voice crackled in. "Thermal shows a group to your east, maybe five blocks. No movement toward you. But they're lingering. It might be stationary. But let's not take the risk and stay stealthy."

"Noted," I said, hopping onto a narrow ledge and sidestepping along a broken HVAC unit. My pack shifted against my back. It was lighter than usual—bare essentials. I needed to stay fast.

"If they're not moving, they might be tracking something," Boss added over the comms. "Or someone. Keep your eyes open."

"Noah," Kaela cut in, her voice tighter than before, "take the path under the twin ducts on your left. It'll get you out the line-of-sight faster."

"Copy. On it."

I crossed over a plank bridge we'd built years ago. It had been weathered poorly. The wood groaned underfoot, threatening to betray me. I moved fast and quietly, and when I reached the next rooftop, I ducked behind an old satellite dish.

"Bridge still standing?" Jace asked with a bit of a smirk in his tone.

"Barely. You might want to schedule a maintenance run."

"If you make it back, you're on the repair team," Boss chimed in dryly.

I smirked despite myself. Even here, surrounded by decay and ghosts, the voices in my ear grounded me.

"You're two blocks out," Kaela said. "When you pass the old post office, check the rooftop junction. That's where the second jammer could go. It has open line-of-sight to both the south corridor and west barricade."

"Got it," I said. "The steel frame looks stable. I'll confirm structural integrity as I pass."

"And look for that anchor point beside the old comms tower," Jace added. "We could loop one more signal repeater off it if we clear the rust."

I reached the post office. The structure sagged at one corner, but the roof was solid. I pressed a boot down—no give. "This one holds. We'll mark it."

"We are not seeing any movement around you so far, Noah." Kaela chimed in. "So far, everything seems normal and safe, but please don't get cocky and stay focused. If we get those blueprints for the signal jammers or any kind of schematics, we can create secure corridors to our usual scavenge sites."

Boss's voice turned sharp again. "You're nearing the target site. Use the top walkway to bypass the traffic hub below. Stay out of the sightlines. And don't get sentimental. If the Hollowed move, you move faster. You have walked out of this camp multiple times, Noah. And each time, you have been in equal danger. This is no different."

"Understood."

The city looked different now from this height. There was a strange symmetry to the way debris had settled. Like nature had tried to cover the bones of something unforgivable. Rusted vehicles lined the roads like grave markers. The buildings were hollowed-out husks, their walls scorched, and frames bent by time and violence. The air smelled like memory—dust and metal and abandonment.

"Cut across the northern chimney stack," Kaela instructed. "You'll see a rooftop venting grid. That's your safest entry point."

I followed Kaela's route—cutting west, crawling beneath broken antennas, sliding across dented steel awnings. Below me, a Hollowed slowly dragged its fingers across a car hood. Its head turned slightly, tracking sound, or maybe scent, but it didn't look up. It didn't know I was there at least not yet.

The drone buzzed once.

"Hollowed ahead. Rooftop level. Forty meters. Facing east," Jace reported. "Doesn't seem alert. Might be static."

Kaela's voice followed quickly. "You can move around using the ventilation ducts on your right. It'll take a few minutes, but it's your safest option."

"Copy."

"Noah," Jace added, his tone more serious, "we're watching. Every second. You're not alone out there."

"I know," I replied. "Let's keep it that way."

I slipped into a crawlspace between walls, the drone shadowing me overhead, watching what I couldn't. The world narrowed to grunts, metal, and breath. One wrong step and the sound would echo for blocks.

It took fifteen minutes to clear the Hollowed's line of sight. When I emerged on the far rooftop, the sun had climbed higher. The shadows were shorter. The danger is clearer.

"You're there," Boss's voice said. "Industrial zone perimeter. Any movement?"

I stood, half-hidden behind a rusted vent stack, and looked out.

The buildings loomed. Gray and still. Their windows shattered, frames corroded by acid rain. One had a crooked staircase leading to the second floor. Another had collapsed halfway in, spilling metal guts across the road. But the third... it stood tall. Intact. Undisturbed. A stillness wrapped around it like a force field.

"Main building's still whole," I said. "I'm going in."

Kaela's breath hitched. "Be careful. We've never seen power out there before."

"Noted. I'll ping if anything looks off."

"If anything looks off, get out," Boss warned. "No hesitation. We don't chase tech. We survive."

"Copy."

I crossed the final rooftop, climbed down a battered fire escape, and touched down in the alley between the structures. The ground felt wrong. Too solid. Too quiet. Even the birds avoided this place.

The building's entry hall was narrow and suffocating. The moment I stepped through the service door, my boot clicked against a clean tile. The air was unnaturally dry. Fluorescent bulbs flickered to life overhead in sequence—buzzing, steady.

The walls were reinforced with old steel supports. Surfaces free of moss or mold. This place had been preserved—either by design or something else.

I took a few steps inside. No dust. No webs. No signs of animals. I passed a series of office doors with shattered security glass. Inside were rusted terminals, paper-strewn desks, file cabinets half open.

I searched the first room. Nothing usable. The next shelves, then locked drawers. I forced one open with my multitool. Inside: diagrams. Printed schematics. Most of it unreadable, but I pocketed anything marked with relay nodes or signal design patterns.

Kaela came through the comms. "You see anything we can use?"

"Maybe. Grabbing what I can. Blueprints, wiring diagrams. Nothing complete yet."

I moved on. The corridor ahead had a signage in faded yellow: CONTROL ROOM - EAST WING.

"Heading to the Control Room. Might find network access points or backup servers."

"Keep your exit path open," Boss warned. "No reroutes. You go in, you get out."

I turned left into a larger hallway. It was colder here. Concrete floor. No windows. At the far end, a thick metal door marked with peeling hazard stripes. I approached slowly.

The door was hissed open on proximity.

The control room.

Dark at first—then alive.

Screens blinked to life across the far wall. Machines hummed. The drone drifted behind me.

And one screen at the center glowed steady blue.

It blinked.

Once.

Then the text – HELLO.