Akram walked carefully between the abandoned buildings.
Moonlight illuminated the sandy ground.
That's when he noticed them.
Footprints.
Fresh ones.
Someone had walked through the village recently.
Akram crouched down and examined them.
The tracks were clear and deep in the sand.
The pattern of the shoe sole was distinctive—large circular shapes and lines.
Definitely modern sneakers.
"Not a villager," Akram whispered.
The footprints led toward the same location highlighted on his map.
Akram followed them slowly.
The ruined houses looked centuries old, yet something about the footprints felt recent… almost urgent.
Whoever had been here had walked quickly.
The tracks stopped near a collapsed wall.
Akram looked around.
Nothing.
No person.
No vehicle.
Just ruins.
But the glowing point on his phone pulsed stronger.
Suddenly the phone vibrated.
A notification appeared.
"New signal detected."
Akram's heart raced.
He scanned the area with his phone camera.
The screen flickered.
Then an outline appeared on the display.
Something hidden beneath the ground.
A rectangular shape.
Like a buried structure.
Akram stepped back slowly.
"What is this place…?"
Before he could investigate further, his phone buzzed again.
This time it wasn't the map.
It was a sports notification.