The sun was harsh out here.
It hit the street hard, bouncing off broken glass and metal, making everything too bright. Iyisha squinted as she stepped out, pausing just enough to check both sides before moving.
They went deeper.
The damage showed more the further they got. Buildings weren't just worn down. They were pushed. Walls cracked straight through, parts of structures leaning like they never settled back after the blast. Some roofs were gone, the inside exposed, left to rot under the open sky.
No one had been here for a long time.
Or at least no one stayed.
The stores told the rest.
Shelves uneven. Back doors broken. Things taken in pieces, not clean. People had tried to live here after everything happened. Took what they could.
Then moved on.
Iyisha kept her pace steady.
"Stay close," she said.
There were fewer trees now. Less cover. Longer lines between buildings.
Harder to move unseen.
