Shards of Tomorrow

Shattered Dreams

The last echo of the bell rattled against the empty streets, a hollow sound that drifted through the crumbling brick alleys of Sector Seventeen. The thick smog of the late night clung to the ground, curling around the boots of the last few workers trickling out of the factories and back into their concrete hovels. Elias watched them from his usual perch, a jagged remnant of what used to be a fire escape ladder, rusted and sagging against a cold, damp wall.

He had been out there for hours, waiting in the shadows, watching the smoke stack grow until the dark, poisonous clouds became nearly indiscernible from the twilight sky. It was his ritual, to watch them filter out at the end of their shift. A habit he couldn't shake, born from the curiosity that gnawed at him daily, driving him to wonder what lay on the other side of the Wall.

Tonight, he wasn't there just to wonder, though. Tonight, he was waiting for someone.

As the last figure disappeared into the maze of buildings below, Elias glanced down at his hands, clenching and unclenching them in his lap. The cracked skin and faint scars caught the pale light from a nearby floodlight, their familiar pattern a reminder of his years in the factories. He had earned these hands, and he was done letting them go to waste.

The scuff of boots knocking on the stone pathway drew his attention. He looked down, spotting a wiry figure creeping along the side of the building. It was Luca, his childhood friend, whose lanky silhouette was unmistakable even in the shadows. Elias's heart picked up its pace. After weeks of whispers and hurried exchanges, it was finally time.

"Luca," I called softly, climbing down the last rung of the ladder to meet him.

Luca's face was pale, the hollows under his eyes casting a haunted shadow over his face.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he whispered, glancing around the deserted street.

I nodded determinedly. "If there's really a way inside the Sanctum, we have to try. It's what we've dreamed about, remember?"

Luca looked at me, almost as if he was peering into my soul. HIs eyebrows scrunch and tight lipped, reluctantly he gave me a singular nod. "Yeah, but dreams don't usually come with guards that shoot first and ask questions later." He held up a device—a simple, square screen, sleek and foreign, the kind of thing only a black-market trader might get their hands on. It was rare, probably illegal, and exactly what they needed. "Got this from a trader two sectors over. Coordinates are already loaded."

Elias's breath caught. He hadn't expected Luca to follow through, not after weeks of cautious questions and vague promises. But here it was, real and tangible, proof that maybe, they could escape the grip of Sector Seventeen.

He took the device from Luca's shaking hands. "We'll need to plan this out."

Luca's hand shot out, gripping his wrist. " The patrols are always out, I don't exactly see how you'll get through without them catching us. You're not the first to try to leave Sector Seventeen , Elias..." His voice dropped to a strained whisper. "If you get caught,they don't just throw you in the cells. They make you disappear."

He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small, wrapped bundle, handing it to me. I unwrapped the package carefully, to reveal a small vial of thick, clear liquid. "What is this?"

"It's a toxin," Luca whispered. "They call it the 'sleep of mercy.'" He smiled grimly. "If we get cornered, drink it. They say it's... painless."

I stared at the vial, its innocuous appearance betraying the deadly promise it held. He tucked it into his pocket, feeling its weight press against his leg like an anchor. It was a morbid gift, but he understood why Luca had given it to him. In this world, freedom was an illusion, and sometimes, survival meant finding the least painful way out.