Echoes In The Shadows

Chapter 11: Echoes in the Dark

The city lay shrouded in an unnatural quiet. Streetlights flickered sporadically, their intermittent glow casting jagged shadows on the pavement. The usual symphony of urban life—honking horns, hurried conversations, the distant wail of sirens—was gone. In its place lingered an eerie silence, broken only by the occasional shout or crash as looters seized the momentary chaos to take what they could.

Anna stood on the rooftop of a crumbling building, the city sprawling before her like a broken labyrinth. Each breath she took felt heavy, as though the weight of what they’d done pressed down on her chest. Below, groups of people huddled around flickering lanterns and makeshift fires, their faces drawn with fear and uncertainty. The darkness felt alive, a reminder that this was a world unmoored, cast adrift without the omnipresent grip of Project Echo.

“You did what you had to do,” Alex said behind her, his voice steady but distant.

“Did I?” she murmured, not turning to look at him.

Alex m