Chapter 4: Lost and Reunited

Amar city—once a vibrant megacity—was now just a tangled ruin. Broken flyovers stretched like skeletons across the city, roads covered in wild bushes, and everywhere, a deep, mournful silence… as if the city itself was mourning its own end. Arav saw all this as he searched desperately for Nia.

Exhausted, Arav finally dropped onto a slab of concrete that had once been part of a grand building. Sweat clung to his brow like pearls. The air smelled faintly of dust and sulphur, stinging with each shallow breath. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Nia! Nia, where are you?!"

No answer. Only the wind replying, sifting through empty streets.

Arav's mind raced. Thankfully, the drones I set loose can detect human heat and heartbeats, he remembered, glancing at his watch. The drones would send signals to his wrist-unit whenever they found someone.

Fifteen long minutes later, a faint ping echoed from his watch—a signal pulsing from the city's south-west, near an old train station.

Hope sparked in Arav's chest. He jumped up, brushing dust from his pants, and sprinted toward the station, lungs burning with both exhaustion and anticipation.

The old railway station stood as a forgotten relic—half the roof gone, steel tracks lost beneath grass, shadows filling every corner. In one far bench, slumped and trembling, sat Nia. Her hands were scratched, her eyes red from tears. Arav's drone lay on the ground near her feet.

"Nia!" he called, racing to her and dropping to his knees beside her.

Nia looked up, startled. But relief washed across her face, and fresh tears glistened on her cheeks.

"You…you came," she whispered, voice breaking.

Arav gently took her hand. "Leaving you alone—that's something I never want to risk again. From now on, no matter what, we stay together."

Nia tried to smile, but fear still clouded her eyes. "When we teleported, something went wrong—I blacked out for a while. I was scared I'd be lost here… Alone forever."

Arav squeezed her hand, "You're safe. I'm here. And now, together, we'll figure out what to do next."

Trying to lighten the mood, Arav grinned. "Well, at least, while searching for you, I got to explore the entire city. You know what? According to my drones, there's no one else in Amar except us."

Nia managed a small laugh. "You searched the whole city in just two hours?"

Arav tapped his shoes mischievously. "Ultra-speed shoes—my dad designed them. Take one step, you jump a block! But the catch—they use up your real energy, so now I'm wiped out."

Suddenly, his watch beeped again. Signals appeared on his laptop—from his old drones he'd sent across the planet. The signal showed up in the west, deep inside "Sona Jungle."

Arav turned serious. "We have to go west—not south. I think there might be people trapped there, especially after all those earthquakes. My drones show human activity in the depths of the forest... We can't waste time."

Nia bit her lip. "The jungle… Will we even make it out if we go in?"

Arav smiled reassuringly, "Sometimes, in this broken world, the safest places are the ones that seem most dangerous."

That night, they rested in an abandoned metro coach, huddled around a small fire. Arav handed out a few energy bars from his bag, and for a while, the two sat in silence, shadows flickering across their faces.

Suddenly, Nia whispered, "Arav… Are you ever scared?"

He stared into the dancing flames, the silence stretching between them.

"All the time," he answered softly. "But I leave my fear behind—I don't let it walk with me."

Nia edged a little closer, her voice low, "Being with you…makes me brave too."

Outside, the stars hung unsteady in the damaged sky, some flickering as if uncertain—reminders of how fragile everything on Earth had become.

Then, a new alert popped on the laptop:

Signal detected—Human activity—Sona Jungle, 19°N, 77°E.

Arav looked at Nia and nodded. "At dawn, we move out."

Nia squeezed his hand in silent agreement. In that shattered world, the two readied themselves again—for the mission that mattered most:

To find the last survivors…and bring them together.