Astrid Serenova & K4Tharsis: DIS.ORDER.LY

CH.3: Next City

The night had settled deep over the broken city, and Stella found herself sinking into an uneasy sleep. She drifted in a familiar dream, a haze of forgotten memories and fleeting images.

Where am I...?

She was standing in the middle of a lush meadow, the sky above a clear, cloudless blue. The air smelled sweet, and sunlight bathed everything in a soft golden hue. In the distance, she heard laughter—innocent, childlike.

She turned to see a little girl in a purple dress, spinning and laughing in the grass, her joy unrestrained and pure. But there was another. A second girl, identical to the first, joined her, their movements synchronized as if they were mirrors of each other. The two girls danced and played, their voices blending with the wind.

Who are they? Stella’s thoughts gnawed at the scene, a knot tightening in her chest. Why do they look so familiar?

The laughter faded. The sun began to dim. Shadows crawled in from the edges of her vision, the once vibrant meadow turning cold and lifeless. The girls stopped playing, their heads turning slowly toward her, their faces obscured by the growing darkness. A deep sense of dread gripped Stella as the dream collapsed into nothingness.

Her eyes snapped open.

The park was eerily quiet, the cold air biting against her skin. The remnants of the fire they had set earlier were nothing but dying embers, casting a weak, flickering glow. Stella lay still for a moment, her mind adjusting to the real world again. But something was off. The silence was wrong.

Then she heard it—a low, guttural growl, distant but unmistakable. Her body tensed instantly, heart pounding. She glanced down at the girl, still asleep on her lap, oblivious to the danger creeping through the night.

More sounds followed—shuffling footsteps, too close for comfort, and another, faint but unmistakable growl that sent a shiver down Stella’s spine.

Shit.

Carefully, she shifted the girl, lifting her small, fragile form into her arms. The girl stirred but didn’t wake. Stella held her close, standing slowly, her eyes scanning the dark outlines of the park. The infected were out there, prowling through the city, and they were getting too close. Much too close.

With deliberate steps, Stella began to move, keeping low, her gaze flicking toward every shadow, every whisper of movement. The city’s outskirts weren’t far, but each second felt like a lifetime. She could hear her own heartbeat, heavy and loud in her ears, mingling with the distant sounds of the infected.

Keep it together, she muttered to herself, her mind teetering between sharp focus and the ever-present darkness that clawed at the edges of her sanity. Just get out of the city. Don't let the girl get eaten... yet.

The cold wind swept through the deserted streets, the once-great city of Berlin now nothing more than a graveyard of crumbling buildings and silent memories. Stella’s boots crunched lightly on the cracked pavement as she moved through the abandoned park, her breath steady despite the tension coiling inside her.

She could still hear them, the infected, closer now. Their grotesque forms moved aimlessly through the city, hunting for anything living. Anything breathing. She tightened her grip on the girl, her pace quickening.

I hate this place. Stella’s lips twitched into a small, humorless smile. Should’ve left ages ago. But no, had to stay, had to see the ruins. Had to play hero...

Her mind drifted into an erratic jumble of thoughts as she moved through the city’s decaying skeleton. The infected were always there, lurking, waiting. She could feel their presence crawling over her skin, a constant reminder that they were never safe. Not for a moment.