The plan seemed as simple as Martha Crockford's journey to the Cradle. But difficulties began at the very first stage. The problem was resolved, but it was just the first of many obstacles on the way to the energy disk.
The Wanderers walked ahead in pairs. Ivan followed them, having already activated the power unit of his rifle, ready to shoot at any threat. Behind them were Amanda and Manuel, hauling a platform with equipment. As soon as they reached the hill behind which the depot was located, Amanda stopped the platform and took out a spherical drone from her bag.
"What is that?" James asked, noticing her actions.
"This will show us what's going on over there," Amanda replied, tossing the drone into the air. The device unfolded its metallic parts and smoothly ascended into the sky.
The depot consisted of several train hangars that had once stood here for technical inspection, as well as a main building with resting rooms for the engineers, a dining area, and a control room. The antenna had long been destroyed during the collapse. Time and destruction had taken their toll, but a train still stood on the tracks, which the team hoped to use. It had also suffered from time, but perhaps the main systems were still operational.
Amanda counted twenty-seven heat sources. This seemed strange — too few for a full-fledged settlement. Most likely, it was a border outpost designed to signal evacuation. However, the number of heat signatures worried her.
"That's not enough," Samantha noted, looking at the screen. "Too few for a full settlement."
Amanda nodded and began issuing instructions:
"As soon as we start the train engine, you'll need to activate the gate-opening system and return to the train. The control panel is on the upper level, but it won't work without powering the main reactor."
"The energy won't last long," Samantha warned.
"No needed to," Amanda replied. "You'll have a few minutes. That's enough to open the gates."
The Cygnus squad and the Wanderers began to execute the plan. Amanda and Manuel, leaving the platform behind the hill, headed toward the main entrance. The wall surrounding the depot had been bent by the collapse, and they slipped inside through a hole, splitting up at the train.
"What a behemoth," Manuel muttered, surveying the train.
The main gates loomed ten meters high. Moonlight barely broke through the blood-red clouds. Amanda and Manuel turned off their flashlights to minimize the risk of detection and, moving forward, found themselves at the train cabin. The train stood like the skeleton of a long-forgotten beast. The metallic parts had peeled, and rust covered all visible details. The cabin looked as if someone had tried to dismantle it but abandoned the effort halfway, leaving only an empty frame.
The cabin door was locked. Amanda glanced at the display — the Wanderers and Ivan were approaching the building. The thermal imager showed only them and Manuel on the tracks. Manuel switched the rifle to shooting mode, activating the blue lights on the body, and shot the lock. The door yielded.
Amanda climbed the stairs and headed to the technical compartment behind the cabin. Inside was the main engine, with the power core located in the center. Amanda opened the panel and discovered a dead core with time-eaten cables. Fortunately, the main unit was intact.
"At least something good," she muttered.
"Can you start it?" Manuel asked, looking out the window.
"Yeah," Amanda replied shortly.
At that moment, the Wanderers, taking advantage of their disguise, reached the building. Samantha held onto Ivan's shoulder, concealing both of them. The former Ether parking lot was destroyed and looted by marauders. Two men with rifles stood at the entrance. One of them was smoking and telling a story about a girl he liked. He tried to court her, but it didn't stop him when she rejected him. He took her by force. She screamed, resisted, but one blow — and she was dead. Realizing what he had done, he fled to the Third District — a quarantine zone where survival chances were higher.
Not allowing the storyteller to finish, Alexa and James aimed their pistols at them and fired. Two bodies collapsed to the ground.
"Are they alive?" John whispered.
"Yeah," Alexa replied. "They'll be unconscious for a few hours, then they'll bandage their wounds."
"They won't be able to," Ivan coldly finished them off. James gritted his teeth, watching Ivan's actions, but said nothing, knowing that arguing was futile. Samantha turned away, her hands trembling from the realization of the cruelty happening, but she knew — the Third District does not give second chances.
"You...?" Samantha straightened up, stunned.
"Did you hear his story?" Ivan said calmly, nodding at one of the bodies. "A rapist and a murderer. I don't forgive such."
"They could be found before we leave," Alexa whispered tensely, her voice cracking into a scream.
"Your desire to be saints will get you killed. There are rules here," Ivan shot a quick glance at Samantha, who was used to solving problems with reason, not force.
They said nothing in reply.
Opening the door, the Wanderers entered an empty room. A dismantled train cabin hung on chains, reduced to its frame. Apparently, they had tried to extract the engine but had failed. In the corner was a staircase leading to the second and third floors, where the control panel was located. However, they needed to get there by descending to the basement, where the reactor was. According to Amanda's plan, John and Samantha were supposed to sneak down and activate the reactor, then head to the control panel. But scanning showed the presence of people on the lower levels, so the plan changed: Alexa and John went to the panel, while Samantha, James, and Ivan went to clear the reactor room.
Splitting up, John and Alexa began to climb the stairs, while Ivan and the others approached the door to the basement.
"As soon as we open the door, there will be no turning back," Ivan said quietly. "We'll have to go all the way."
"Let's get started," James nodded.
Ivan kicked the door open and rushed downstairs. Four marauders were sitting at the table, drinking alcohol. Upon seeing the intruders, they immediately raised their guns. Ivan stormed into the room like a predator, his rifle releasing an energy shot with a booming sound, instantly taking down the first marauder. James and Samantha stood beside him, expanding their energy fields, deflecting the enemies' bullets. The room filled with flashes of blue light, and within moments, it was over.
Though Samantha used the stun mode, Ivan and James acted differently. The bodies were covered in burns, and some were missing limbs. Samantha and James remained silent; it wasn't the time to discuss moral principles with the reactor so close. But Ivan couldn't leave them alive, even if they were unconscious. He coldly finished them off.
"Can you... not do that?" Samantha grabbed his hand.
"If someone had killed your loved ones and was hiding here, you wouldn't hesitate to seek revenge," Ivan said calmly, meeting her gaze.
"But they..."
"You can't answer," Ivan concluded coldly. "Because you know you'd flood this place with blood."
"Enough," James placed a hand on Ivan's shoulder. "We don't have much time."
Meanwhile, John and Alexa had reached the second floor. The gunfire caught the attention of several marauders who rushed towards the stairs. Hearing the shots, a few more marauders charged towards the stairs. The Wanderers remained invisible, but there was no way back. Alexa fired two quick shots, and two of them fell. Hearing footsteps from the third floor, they headed up and reached the control panel.
"Now it's up to them," said Alexa, looking at the black screen.
Ivan kicked open another door, revealing a huge hall. In the center stood the reactor, surrounded by cables leading into the walls. Around the perimeter of the hall were beds, tables, and chairs. In the corner was a portable heater. It seemed they were heating the place with the reactor's hot core. When the reactor shut down, they stayed, believing this was the safest spot.
"You've got a minute," Ivan said to Samantha. "We'll cover you."
Samantha rushed to the reactor. The metal sphere was offline. Opening it, she connected the power module and inserted the cable into the core. Flipping the switch, she saw the module light up as the reactor's slits began to glow with blue light.
Her suit discharged and switched to autonomous mode, charging from the surrounding air. At that moment, a young man attacked her with a knife, knocking her to the floor. He reached for her throat, his eyes blazing with hatred. Samantha felt her strength fading as he reached for a pistol. She knew — in a second, it would all be over. But in that very moment, a shot cut through the air, and the attacker's head exploded into pieces. Ivan, standing in the doorway, looked at her coldly, without saying a word.
The reactor flared brightly.
The cloaking system consumed too much energy, and their suits had discharged.
"Finally," Alexa said as the control panel lit up, and the startup menu appeared on the screen. Swiping her finger across the screen, she searched for the mechanism to open the depot doors. "Where are you?" she muttered nervously.
The lights in the building flickered, sometimes turning on, sometimes going out. The lamps on the first floor exploded, sparks falling to the floor. One of the marauders, waiting for Samantha, James, and Ivan outside, looked up and saw John behind the glass of the room. He quickly aimed his rifle at him and opened fire. The rest of the marauders immediately joined in.
"I think there are more than twenty-seven of them!" John shouted, firing back with his pistol.
"Just a little more!" Alexa yelled.
"There's no time," John holstered his pistol and pulled out his rifle. "Alright, let's begin."
John laid down suppressive fire, holding back the marauders, who took cover behind the train cabin, occasionally peeking out to shoot.
Finally!" Alexa exhaled and touched the screen. A creaky female voice echoed through the hall: "Main gates opening." John understood that soon his friends would come up and face the enemies. And once again, he was faced with a choice.
He could wait a few more minutes, power up his personal shield to full capacity, and go down. Destroy them. People who had lived here for years. He could stun them, or he could kill them, so they would harm no one else. Killing for the greater good. As he shot, John only wanted this to end as quickly as possible. When one of the marauders peeked out from under the train, John shot him in the arm. Blood splattered on the floor. He didn't kill him, but the growing anger inside frightened him. Unlike the others, this man felt pain while remaining conscious. John feared what would happen when rage consumed him completely.
At that moment, Alexa placed her hand on his rifle.
"Enough," she whispered.
She drew her pistol and shot the support on the ceiling. The chains snapped, and the train cabin crashed down, crushing the marauders. Alexa struggled to hold back her emotions, realizing that she had just killed people for the first time. No matter who they were, they were still alive. The Consolidated Nation had instilled in her a respect for life. Nothing is more important than that. But now, she felt like a traitor to her world.
Puddles of blood spread beneath the cabin's wreckage. She watched it from the third floor, and something inside her broke. Perhaps Amanda had felt the same when she killed a marauder for the first time. Alexa sensed that she had changed. Did John notice? Did he understand? Her life would never be the same. This wasn't just killing for gain or pleasure, like those lying beneath the wreckage. It was killing to survive. And yet, it was still killing.
When John and Alexa went downstairs, John accidentally stepped into a pool of blood. At that moment, the doors opened, and James, Samantha, and Ivan burst into the hall. Samantha's face was covered in blood.
"What happened? Are you okay?" John asked anxiously, rushing to her.
"It's fine," Samantha replied. "Just a few minor problems."
The train horn sounded. Amanda and Manuel had started it. A female voice from the speakers reported reactor errors. Sparks continued to fall from the ceiling. "Evacuation..." was all they could make out.
"Everything's going to blow!" James shouted. "Let's go!"
They ran toward the tracks, dodging the explosions of energy nodes. Sparks rained down on them. The fire spread. Bursting out of the building, they leaped off the platform. The train hovered half a meter above the ground. It started moving — the unnecessary cars had already been detached. Manuel leaned out of the rear door of the only car and extended a hand to Samantha. As soon as she climbed in, Alexa and James followed. John and Ivan were the last, jumping over the broken rails. A train on the adjacent tracks was approaching.
An explosion echoed behind them. The depot reactor couldn't handle the overload — no one had upgraded or repaired it in decades. Fire engulfed the building, bodies burned, smoke rose to the sky. John glanced back and saw the flames of destruction.
"Faster!" Ivan shouted, giving John a push.
Manuel grabbed his hand and pulled him into the car. Ivan ran around the corner. Manuel shot the lock off the car door and kicked it open. The metal structure collapsed a meter from Ivan. The depot gates started lowering due to the explosion, and Manuel picked up speed. But when he was just five meters from the train, Ivan disappeared, evaporating into thin air. All Manuel heard was a scream, and for a moment, it seemed to him that Ivan had turned to ash. The blast wave hit the last car, shattering the remaining windows and knocking Manuel off his feet. He fell onto his back. The train shot through the closing gates at the last moment.
"What was that? What happened to him?" John asked, breathless.
"A Convergence Point," Manuel replied, staring at the closed gates. "He's gone."
"How is that possible? The sensors didn't show anything," Alexa said.
"Convergence Points just appear. Out of nowhere," Manuel said, getting up.
Amanda entered the car and noticed the fear in her companions' eyes. Ivan was gone. Realizing this, she recalled the scream she had heard in the Third District when a Convergence Point took one of the marauders. Now Ivan had become yet another victim of the collapse that destroyed the district many years ago.
"What's wrong?" she quietly asked Samantha, her voice calm as if she had long been prepared for the loss of a comrade.
"Ivan saved me," the girl replied, staring at the receding depot, where smoke mixed with the red clouds. "One of the marauders tried to stab me... He was only eighteen, maybe twenty... Ivan shot him," she wiped the blood from her face with the sleeve of her suit.
"I warned you," Amanda said softly. "They shoot without hesitation. To survive, you have to shoot first."
"What about the train?" James asked, trying to change the subject.
"We started the core," Manuel replied. "The train was left here before the collapse. Its core had been deactivated all this time, probably for repairs. We just powered it up and reignited it."
"They're dead," John said quietly, looking at the glow through the window.
"You said he was eighteen?" Amanda turned to Samantha, ignoring John's words.
"Maybe more or less," she replied, looking at her suit sleeve, where a full charge notification appeared.
"That means there were families. They were too scared to go deeper, and that means no one's waiting for us here," Amanda said.
"What's good about that?" John shouted angrily. "We've become just like them!" His breathing quickened, and he didn't know how to handle the surge of emotions.
"Did you kill them?" Amanda asked.
"I... I..." John fell silent.
"Did any of you kill anyone?" Amanda looked around at all the Wanderers.
"I did," Alexa's voice came. Everyone turned toward her. "I killed several. Shot the supports, and the train cabin crashed down on their heads. They were crushed," her voice was cold and neutral, in a way John had never heard before.
"During the assault on the reactor room, Ivan and I..." James added.
"Congratulations," Amanda said slowly, walking up to them. "You've got a better chance of surviving now," she took out a cigarette and offered it to the others. Everyone accepted. "You chose the path of the Wanderer," she said, lighting the cigarette. "It's a hard path. Taking a life isn't easy. A person can only pull the trigger in a breaking point: for themselves, for family, for friends. It's a choice." She took a deep drag. "You made that choice. Are we proud of it? Not always. But what would have happened if we hadn't?"
"They would've killed James, Samantha, and... Ivan," Alexa said, pausing for a moment.
"Samantha could have died," James agreed, looking at his friend.
"You didn't shoot for gain or pleasure, like the marauders, but to save friends. It was your choice," Amanda emphasized.
"But we invaded their territory," John noted.
"This isn't their territory," Amanda replied. "There are no owners here. They made their choice, committed crimes, and instead of going to the Tenth District, they chose to live here, where there is neither death nor life. Don't pity those who chose this path. It's hard," she addressed the Wanderers again, "but accept it."
"Those words don't make it easier," Alexa noted, taking a drag. "I still see that blood..."
"You always remember the first time," Amanda said, looking at her. "But you survived, and that's what matters."
"Just one question," James stepped closer. "Doesn't that make us the same as them?"
"No," Amanda said firmly. "It's survival. I warned you. Martha Crockford warned you. This is your choice and its consequences. Ivan also made his choice and paid the price."
"It's cruel," John whispered, but Amanda heard him.
"No, Jonathan. The old world was cruel. The Last Ones who remember it want to bring that back. But we're protected by an iron shield."
"How did they live?" John couldn't understand.
"Like this. They led the world to the last war, and now there's no one left."
"Did they kill every day?" Samantha asked.
"And every night they prayed to the gods for forgiveness, and the next day they killed again. That's how the old world lived. Remember this. Now you know what it was like. Appreciate the Consolidated Nation. These horrors must never repeat," Amanda stubbed out her cigarette and looked out the window. "Only here, in this place, have the laws of reality changed."
The train rushed toward the Cradle. Each member of the expedition had lost something and gained something. But their lives would never be the same again.