Zone One
Aria and Zero moved through Zone One of the Arian kingdom, searching for a way out.
The more they walked, the more ruins they found broken buildings, collapsed walls, empty streets.
There were no soldiers. No people. The whole zone felt abandoned.
They searched every corner, every narrow alley, every shattered hallway but found nothing.
"Maybe this place has been emptied out," Aria said aloud. "Everyone moved away."
Zero replied quietly, "If there's no one here, then let's find somewhere to hide for now. An abandoned house will do."
Aria nodded, though worry shadowed her face. How could the district be so silent?
They sat for a while, dropping their guns and trying to rest. Zero looked like he didn't care like nothing mattered. Aria sat beside him, uneasy, but she put her weapon down too. After some time their stomachs began to ache with hunger.
Zero rose and began to search for food among the ruined houses. Since no one had been here for a long time, most supplies had spoiled. He moved past collapsed tables and overturned cupboards, checking every possible place.
Aria watched him go, trying to hide how hungry she felt. She followed at his back, keeping close as he turned left and disappeared into a narrow courtyard. A moment later, Aria lost sight of him and panic flickered through her but she kept moving, scanning for him.
When Zero found a small, broken store, the shelves were mostly empty. The only thing left that looked remotely edible was a sack of flour and a few baked loaves gone stale. He grabbed one loaf, split it roughly in two, and handed half to Aria.
Aria stared, surprised. "What is this for? Do you think I'll eat this?"
Zero's face was blunt and tired. "Then die," he said coldly. "I don't care if you starve."
The words stung, but there was no cruelty in them—only a hard edge born of exhaustion and the kind of cold logic that keeps people alive in war. Aria hesitated, then took the half-loaf. They ate in silence, the ruined city watching them like an old, indifferent sentinel.
Zone One Shadows in the Silent Kingdom
Aria: "So… what are we going to do now?"
Zero, cold and silent as usual, waited a moment before replying. His voice came out calm, almost empty.
"What do you mean, what are we going to do? We just ate bread. Now we find a way out out of enemy territory."
Aria frowned. "But we're already inside their walls. How can we escape from the heart of our enemy's kingdom? We're trapped here… in this empty city."
Zero's gaze didn't shift. "Then we stay for the night. We don't have a choice. When morning comes, we'll find a way out of this dead zone."
They walked again through the deserted streets of Zone One, their boots echoing softly against the stone. Broken windows watched them like hollow eyes. The air was still, too still as though the entire place had been left behind by time itself.
But in the shadows, unseen, two men watched them.
One of the men leaned forward, whispering,
"They're just kids…"
The other man the Commander of Arian's Zone One narrowed his eyes.
"Are they alone?" he asked quietly.
"If those two have made it this far, then their commander or their unit must be somewhere nearby. Search the outskirts. But don't move yet. Let's watch and see what happens."
Meanwhile, Aria and Zero continued walking through the ruins, unaware of the eyes tracking them from the darkness.
Zero carried his rifle tightly, though his mind was elsewhere.
He knew the truth there were no more bullets left in the gun.
But he didn't know how to tell Aria.
So they walked in silence. Aria searched for a path out of Zone One. Zero searched for the words he couldn't say.
Above them, the moonlight broke faintly through the broken roofs, and the wind carried whispers of the war that had not yet ended.
In the shadows, the Arian soldiers waited watching, measuring, deciding.
The Silent Night — Zone One
As the night came, the wind moved quiet, calm, and still.
The moon shone against the abandoned buildings and ruins of Zone One the dead heart of the Arian Kingdom.
Aria and Zero had been walking for hours. Their feet ached. Their hearts were heavy.
Zero kept thinking of the right moment to tell Aria the truth that they were trapped inside enemy territory, with no way out… and with no bullets left to defend themselves.
Just an empty gun.
But before he could speak, Aria's voice broke the silence.
"I found a room," she said with a spark of relief. "It's clean and empty… there's even a bed. It's dusty and broken, but… we can manage for now."
They entered the ruined house, unaware that somewhere beyond the walls, their enemies were watching, studying every move they made.
Zero didn't want to break Aria's small moment of happiness even if it was just because of a bed.
He placed down his gun carefully and helped her clear the cobwebs and debris from the mattress.
They laughed for a moment tired, weak laughter as they tried to clean it, but the dust rose everywhere, clinging to their faces.
Aria hit the bedframe playfully, but the wood snapped, and the dust splashed dust into Zero's face.
"Not the door again…" Zero muttered softly.
Aria laughed for real this time.
For a moment, it felt like they were just kids not soldiers.
Not survivors.
Zero watched her, quiet and still. The sound of her laughter touched something distant in him a memory, faint and fragile.
He tried to remember the face of the girl he once saw… but her image was fading, swallowed by the darkness in his mind.
He forgot again forgot the bullets, forgot the gun.
He only remembered that he had someone to protect.
"Aria, stop for a while," he said softly.
She turned, confused but before she could ask, sleep overtook her.
She dropped onto the bed, her breathing calm and steady.
Zero stared, surprised.
"How can she sleep… so peacefully?" he whispered.
But that was Aria the kind of person who could still find rest in the middle of war.
Zero stood, silent. He didn't care if there were enemies nearby.
He walked outside, sitting by the door, his eyes scanning the moonlit ruins.
He thought about his team about the others.
Were they alive? Were they lost like him?
He didn't know. All he knew was that he had to protect Aria, no matter what.
He moved into the darkness, the cold wind brushing his face. The moonlight guided his steps.
He began setting traps around the area simple snares and wire traps he somehow remembered from before.
He didn't know why he knew how to make them only that his hands remembered even when his mind did not.
He worked through the night, circling the entire zone, laying ropes and spikes across the paths.
When he reached an old Arian military post, he searched through the wreckage but there were no guns, no bullets.
Only two short, rusted twin blades.
He picked them up and tied them to his back.
Then, without a sound, he returned to the house.
Inside, Aria slept like a child, her face calm and soft. The moonlight touched her hair and glinted off the small necklace at her neck a strange symbol, shining faintly.
Zero leaned closer.
It was royal the crest of the Arian Kingdom's royal family.
He didn't understand what it meant, and he didn't care.
He turned away, taking his post by the door.
All through the night, Zero stayed awake.
He watched, waited, and worked his hands steady, his heart cold.
He didn't rest, not even for a second.
By morning, exhaustion caught him. He sat by the doorway, gripping the rusted blades tightly, and fell asleep sitting upright.
When Aria woke, the sun had already climbed over the ruins.
She stepped outside quietly and found an old water pump nearby.
It creaked and groaned, but still worked. She filled a bucket and smiled faintly she wanted to do something good for once.
When she came back, Zero was still asleep.
She knelt beside him and gently poured some of the water to clean his face
But before the drops even touched him, Zero's eyes opened.
In a flash, his blade was at her neck.
Aria froze, trembling.
Zero's reflexes were faster than thought his eyes empty and sharp.
For a second, she could see death in them.
Then he recognized her, and stopped. He lowered the blade slowly, his breathing heavy.
Aria's voice shook.
"What's your problem?! I was just trying to help!"
Zero's voice came out cold and broken.
"Do you think I need your help?" he said. Then louder almost shouting,
"Why do you sneak around like that? Don't you know how close we are to the enemy's zone?!"
Aria's eyes filled with tears. She stepped back, frightened.
No one had ever shouted at her before not even in the war.
Zero had always been the one who saved her, the one who stayed beside her.
To hear that voice raised against her felt like losing the only family she had left.
She turned and ran not from Zero's anger, but from the pain in her chest.