The group proceeded deeper into the area. Following the streets between rows of warehouses, moving slowly weapons at the ready.
Dev made a comment pointing out how the sunlight seemed to carry no warmth just providing almost superficial basically.
Almost as if like we're walking in a photo.
As the group continued on the shard inside Chris continued to give off a low hum that seemed pulsed with every few steps.
"Keep your eyes open," Valez whispered. "If something moves, get our attention as quietly as possible. Don't yell unless you have to."
As they passed an old foundry they noticed the machines sat frozen in dust; half-melted brass poured out of the crucibles like frozen rivers. Outside, the walls bore scratches deep enough to bend metal siding.
A smell suddenly hit them as the walked up to the a building , it smelt of burnt flesh and decay. They reached the loading bay. The roll-up door was buckled halfway open. Inside, the dim light revealed overturned tables, empty cans, and bodies scattered across the room.
Dozens of them.
Some of the corpses were half-mummified, skin drawn tight as if they have lost all moisture; others looked days old, blackened and cracked. Each one bore the same wound. Adeep horizontal slash across the chest, carved with precision, ribs split wide like they'd been opened for display.
Dev gagged and turned away. "Jesus. What could've done this?"
Jess swallowed hard. "Not what. Who."
Chris stared at the far wall. Symbols covered it in looping chalk lines and streaks of dried blood. Circles within circles, slanted crosses, runes burned into the concrete. Between them, dark handprints climbed toward the ceiling.
The shard throbbed under his collarbone as if it was angry.
He took a step closer, feeling the heat rolling from the wall in uneven waves. "Someone drew these, but why " he muttered.
" Some fucked up Ritual probably?" Jess said.
"Looks like it," Valez said grimly. "Or something worse."
The closer Chris got, the louder the shard hummed seemingly to vibrating his bones. The marks seemed to twist when he stared too long, edges shifting like they were alive.
Trace of Worship Detected. Assimilation Blocked.
The words flashed across his vision in faint blue light gone almost as soon as they appeared. He blinked hard, stepping back. "It's reacting," he said under his breath.
Jess frowned. "Reacting? What do you mean?"
He didn't answer. The shard pulsed hotter, the skin at his chest glowing faintly through his shirt. It wanted something. He didn't know what, but the urge to act clawed at his mind until his hands trembled.
He readied his metal rod off dragging it hard across the nearest symbol, cutting the line open. A screech tore through the room.
The air changed instantly. Cold air seemed to rush in, and the shadows on the walls rippled like something behind them had moved.
Whispers rose from nowhere. Hundreds of voices, tangled together, pleading, sobbing, laughing, praying.
Shapes bled out of the symbols like smoke. Translucent figures, flickering in and out. Faces that twisted between agony and relief. Dozens of them floated upward, pale light glowing from within their chests.
Chris stumbled back, eyes wide. "What the hell"
Dev raised his flashlight, its beam trembling. "They're"
"Souls," Valez cutting him off quietly. "They're trapped souls he said while gripping his necklace."
The ghosts drifted higher, silent now, moving as though searching for a way out. For one breath, the moment almost felt holy, no peaceful, like ashes rising into sunlight.
Then the shard screamed.
Chris doubled over, clutching his chest. Blue light burst under his skin, veins glowing like lightning trapped in glass. The ghosts froze midair.
One by one, they turned toward him in horror.
And then they began to burn.
Flames ignited inside their chests, silent at first, then roaring. The air pulsed white-hot, the smell of char filling the space. Jess cried out, shielding her eyes. Dev cursing, stumbling backward.
When the light faded, nothing remained but drifting ash and the charred outlines of human shapes on the walls.
+37 XP (Condensed Energy Absorbed)
Chris laying down still, panting, the shard burning beneath his skin with a heavy, almost satisfied rhythm.
Assimilation Complete.
Energy Stored. Fragment Strengthening.
"Chris!" Jess grabbed his shoulder. "What was that? What happened?"
He forced himself to look at her, still trembling. "They just… went up. Maybe the air pressure maybe"
Dev shook his head. "No. No, man, they burned. Like something lit them from the inside."
Valez's jaw tightened. He glanced at the wall, at the symbols half-smeared and smoking. "We're done here. Whatever this was, we're leaving now."
Outside, the air felt heavier. Even the distant hum that always lingered seemed muted, as if the world itself had gone still in horror.
Jess pointed toward a truck that was on the other side of the building. It seemed to have several crates and barrels sat stacked beside it. The cab door half-open, keys still dangling from the ignition. The people who did this everyone was thinking were just some psychos, but the evidence of camp extended farther than they'd thought: tents, bedrolls, scattered weapons, and boxes of canned food. As if they have been preparing for this for a long time.
They moved quickly, filling duffels with anything usable, fuel cans, bottled water, rations, tools. Dev climbed into the truck, twisted the key, and the engine sputtered once… then caught.
"Still runs!" he said, shocked.
"Valez exhaled, tension breaking for the first time all day. "Good. Load it up. We take everything we can carry and get back before the sky changes again."
As they began their slow trek back, Chris felt the shard pulse beneath his skin again, one long, low vibration, like it was trying to tell him something. He looked over his shoulder. The foundry was shrinking behind them, sinking into a haze. But the shard didn't calm. It kept pulsing, steady and low.
Jess caught his expression. "You okay?"
He hesitated. "Yeah. Just I have a bad feeling is all."
"About what?"
He didn't answer. Because deep down, he already knew. Whatever horror they'd found in the foundry wasn't waiting for them anymore.
It was already home. Why else would the camp be currently empty.