Sixty years ago, the Earth changed forever. A plague swept across the world, twisting the natural order beyond recognition. Creatures once thought to be re legends now road freely—giant, bloodthirsty mammoths the size of mountains, ice wolves capable of freezing entire villages with a single breath. Humanity, once the apex predator, was now a fading echo in a world overrun by monstrous evolution.
To survive, mankind retreated behind towering walls. But even inside these walls, safety was an illusion. Humanity was no longer the master of the planet. They had beco prey.
Fortunately, the discovery of the original stone—a rare stone of special power—gave so humans the ability to tap into the Force that drifted through the universe. Awakeners, as they were called, erged, their powers enough to hold their own against the legendary beasts and keep humanity's fragile fla burning. But even the strongest awakeners couldn't protect the entire world. They could only defend the land within the walls.
And that was enough to keep the human race alive—for now.
....
Axel sat in the back of the classroom, his eyes unfocused as the teacher droned on about the past. The students around him scribbled notes, their pens moving in sync with the rhythm of history lessons. They dread of becoming awakeners, of stepping into the world of the powerful, the elite.
But Axel wasn't like them. He wasn't dreaming about the awakening test. He wasn't imagining himself as so hero, standing tall against the beasts in the wild. He just wanted to keep himself and his sister safe from the chaos of the slums.
The teacher's voice cut through his daydreams.
"If our class can produce two awakeners, I'll wake up with a smile in my dreams," the teacher said, his voice full of an enthusiasm Axel could barely muster. "But rember, it's not as glamorous as it sounds. You'll fight the creatures of the wilderness, and you'll need to be careful not to beco infected."
Axel snapped out of his trance and glanced up. The teacher asked, "Who can tell what an infected person is?"
A student raised their hand. "When an awakener lose control of their power, they would turn into monstrous creatures, feeding on human flesh."
"If you are scratched or bitten by them, even if you don't die, you will turn into a zombie-like monster in a short ti."
The teacher nodded, pleased with the answer, and continued lecturing. Axel's gaze wandered again, out the window.
A month from now, all the children who were about to turn eighteen would be tested for their potential to awaken. Only the lucky ones would be selected.
Axel knew he had no chance. His family had never been wealthy, and without the resources to get the right education or support, his future was already decided. He could barely afford to keep his sister alive, let alone aspire to a life behind the walls.
His thoughts were interrupted as the bell rang. The classroom emptied quickly, leaving Axel alone to pack his things. As he gathered his worn books, his eyes wandered to the trash can in the corner. There, among discarded paper and lunch wrappers, were small, broken fragnts of original stone.
Axel hesitated for a mont, then walked over and picked up the remnants, and wrapped them carefully in a scrap of paper. Only when you had a higher Force in your body could you reach the critical point of breakthrough and had a higher probability of becoming an awakener. Therefore, students with good family conditions would carry it with them for absorption.
These fragnts, though small, still contained so of the Force to help soone like Axel.
Once his bag was packed, Axel made his way out of the school. The sun was beginning to set, casting a golden glow over the crumbling city.
Although there were awakened humans, their overall strength was not at the sa level as the monsters in the wilderness. Therefore, nowadays, major cities had built huge walls, to resist mutant beasts.
However, the land inside the city wall was very expensive, and not everyone could afford a house.
Axel's eyes flicked toward the city wall, where a small, hidden door allowed those who couldn't afford housing to slip out into the wilderness.
Life outside the walls was never kind. The slums were dangerous, a lawless place where survival ant taking risks every single day.
As he walked past, his eyes fell upon a crumbling courtyard. It had once been ho. Three years ago, his father—an awakener—had vanished without a trace. His team, too, had been wiped out.
When the investigation turned up nothing, his father was labeled a traitor to humanity, and Axel and Annabelle were also cast out into the streets.
That year, Axel had been fifteen, and Annabelle had been ten.
.....
Axel continued down the road until the sound of raised voices caught his attention. People were gathered outside the slums, their faces anxious, filled with fear. Axel pushed through the crowd, his heart pounding.
"Closure zone?" Axel asked, overhearing the murmurs around him.
The sign in front of the gate confird it: "Closure Zone: No One May Enter or Exit."
The guards stood firm, their armored forms blocking the entrance, and the crowd pressed forward.
"There are infected people inside! You can't leave us here!" soone cried.
"Please, I can stay, let my child go out!"
There are at least thousands of people in the c-zone slums. At this mont, they are holding the iron gate and crying desperately.
Everyone knows how terrible the infected are. Infected people have appeared in other slums before, and hundreds of civilians have been devoured.
Axel's eyes swept through the crowd, saw a thin little girl wearing a thin linen dress and a long braid, also holding the iron gate, looking out blankly.
The mont he saw her, Axel felt relieved.
.....
Skye from the law enforcent bureau felt a surge of anxiety as he watched the crowd rush out in a frantic panic. With so many people packed together, if one of them was scratched by an infected person and suddenly mutated...
It was impossible to predict how many would die before they could contain it.
"Everyone, go ho! We'll lift the blockade once we've confird the infected!" he shouted, his voice carrying over the chaos, but the panicked crowd couldn't hear him over their own fear.
"Stop lying! There was an infected person in District F last ti! Hundreds died!"
"You don't care about us! You just want to trap us here!"
Skye hadn't expected his words to make things worse. The anger in the crowd grew, and a section of the barbed wire began to bend under the pressure.
Suddenly, a figure zipped past him.
"Hey! Watch out!" Skye shouted, but the man didn't stop.
Axel glanced back at Skye as he kept running. "I know. But I need to get ho."
Ho? Skye froze for a mont. Before he could process it, Axel darted past him, his hands gripping the wire as he vaulted over it.
"Wait, what—?!" Skye's voice caught in his throat. Was this guy crazy? Didn't he know that this was a quarantine zone?
"Brother," ca a soft, weak voice from behind Axel.
Axel stopped, and a fragile, pale figure pushed her way through the crowd, timidly pulling at his sleeve.
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