Morning light spread slowly across the highway.
The diner parking lot looked very different in daylight.
What had felt like a safe shelter during the night now looked abandoned and fragile. Cracked pavement stretched toward the silent highway, and beyond that the dark edge of Blackwood Forest loomed like a wall.
Ryan stood near the SUV, checking the spearhead one last time.
The curved boar tusk was still sharp.
Good enough.
Behind him, the others were waking up.
Marcus stepped outside the diner first, stretching his arms above his head.
His back cracked loudly.
"Alright," he groaned. "Sleeping on diner floors officially sucks."
Elena walked out behind him.
"You snored the entire night."
Marcus blinked.
"I did not."
"You did."
Marcus scratched the back of his head.
"…Okay maybe a little."
Ryan smirked faintly.
Alice appeared next, carrying a small pack of supplies.
"Sarah says Daniel's arm will be fine," she said.
Ryan nodded.
"Good."
Daniel stepped out of the diner at that moment, flexing his arm carefully.
The bandage wrapped around his forearm was already slightly stained, but he rotated the joint slowly and gave a small nod.
"Still works."
Sarah followed behind him.
"Just don't swing anything too hard yet."
Daniel chuckled.
"Pretty sure the monsters won't wait for my arm to heal."
Ryan glanced toward the forest.
The trees stood perfectly still in the morning light.
"…You still think that wolf had friends?" Marcus asked.
Ryan leaned lightly against the SUV.
"Predators rarely hunt alone in territories like this."
Marcus frowned.
"That's not comforting."
Elena crossed her arms.
"You wanted exciting fights."
Marcus pointed toward Ryan.
"Yeah, but that was before I saw the size of that thing."
Ryan looked down the highway.
The road stretched straight ahead for miles, disappearing between rolling hills and scattered forest patches.
Something felt different today.
The mana in the air had thickened again overnight.
Not drastically.
But enough that Ryan could feel it.
Iris spoke softly in his mind.
[The planet is still adjusting.]
Ryan kept his eyes on the road.
Mana density is rising faster than before.
[Yes.]
Ryan frowned slightly.
That confirmed his suspicion.
The timeline had already started changing.
Behind him, Marcus climbed into the pickup truck.
Robert Kane settled into the passenger seat beside him while Linda climbed into the back.
"Convoy ready," Marcus called out.
Daniel started the engine of the van, the vehicle rumbling quietly as it pulled onto the road.
Ryan opened the SUV door.
Alice paused beside him.
"Ryan."
He turned.
"What's wrong?"
She studied him carefully.
"You're worried."
Ryan considered the question for a moment.
Alice had always been perceptive.
Even before the Awakening.
He exhaled slowly.
"The world is moving faster than I expected."
Alice frowned slightly.
"What does that mean?"
Ryan glanced toward the forest again.
"It means stronger things will appear sooner."
Marcus overheard that from the truck.
He leaned out the window with a grin.
"Good."
Elena sighed.
"You're unbelievable."
Marcus shrugged.
"Hey, if the world's ending, I'd rather go out punching something cool."
Ryan chuckled quietly.
"Let's try to avoid that outcome."
He climbed into the SUV.
The convoy rolled slowly onto the highway.
Daniel's van took the lead.
Marcus followed behind in the pickup.
Ryan drove the SUV at the rear.
The road was quiet.
Too quiet.
Abandoned cars dotted the roadside every few miles.
Some had been left with doors open.
Others sat crashed into guardrails.
Alice watched the scenery pass by through the window.
"It's strange."
Ryan glanced at her.
"What is?"
"The world feels… empty."
Ryan nodded slightly.
"For now."
Alice turned toward him.
"What happens later?"
Ryan didn't answer immediately.
He kept his eyes on the road.
"Later," he said quietly,
"people start fighting over what's left."
Alice didn't ask another question.
The convoy drove for nearly twenty minutes without stopping.
Then Ryan felt it.
A faint ripple of mana.
Ahead.
His eyes narrowed.
Iris.
[Yes.]
Something's on the road.
The air ahead felt… wrong.
Tense.
Like something waiting to snap.
Ryan slowed slightly.
Daniel's van was already approaching the bend ahead.
The road curved around a low hill.
Whatever was there—
was just out of sight.
Ryan's hand tightened on the steering wheel.
"Something's wrong," Alice said.
Ryan nodded.
"Yeah."
Daniel's van rounded the bend first.
Then suddenly—
the brakes slammed.
Rubber screamed against asphalt.
The van skidded sideways across the road.
Marcus's voice shouted from the pickup behind it.
"Ryan!"
The SUV screeched to a halt.
Ryan jumped out instantly.
"What happened?"
Marcus pointed ahead.
"Look."
Ryan stepped past the vehicles.
Then he saw it.
The road ahead was blocked.
Not by wreckage.
Not by monsters.
But by people.
Six of them.
Armed.
None of them looked surprised to see the convoy.
Marcus stepped out beside Ryan.
"…Well," he muttered.
"Looks like we found the first bandits."
Ryan studied the group ahead.
Their weapons were crude.
Pipes.
Knives.
One man carried a hunting rifle.
But what concerned Ryan more—
was the mana flowing through them.
All six had awakened.
And they didn't look like frightened survivors.
They looked organized.
Prepared.
One of the men stepped forward.
A tall figure with a shaved head and a scar across his cheek.
He smiled.
Like he already knew how this would end.
"Morning."
Ryan said nothing.
The man rested his rifle casually against his shoulder.
"Road's closed."
Marcus snorted.
"By who?"
The man's smile widened.
"By us."
Ryan slowly stepped forward.
The mana around the man was stronger than the others.
Not a fighter.
A leader.
Ryan tilted his head slightly.
"You planning to rob us?"
The man shrugged.
"Let's call it… a toll."
Marcus cracked his knuckles.
"Oh good."
His grin returned.
"I was starting to get bored again."
Ryan sighed softly.
"Marcus."
"Yeah?"
"Try not to wreck the cars."
A faint smirk played across Ryan's lips as he said it.
Marcus blinked.
"Wait, that means—"
Ryan lifted the spear.
"We're not paying the toll."
Author's Note:
First bandits 👀
Do you think Ryan handles them differently than monsters?