The standoff with the National Guard ended silently. Colonel Vance was thoroughly traumatized by the pixelation of his tank shell.
He ordered his men to pull back and set up a loose perimeter a mile away. They didn't attack but they didn't leave. They just watched the glowing dome of Sanctuary like terrified mortals staring at a god.
But the light of the Citadel did not just attract the military and monsters. It attracted the desperate.
By mid-morning, the smog parted slightly and the real horror arrived at their gates.
Sebastian and Valerie stood on the ramparts. They looked down at the absolute misery flooding into the five-kilometer safe zone.
The golden barrier was set to repel hostile entities. However, it allowed non-combatant humans to pass through the outer edge and stop just short of the heavy titanium doors of the inner fortress.
Thousands of surviving civilians had flocked to the light. It was a sea of broken humanity.
