The plain had gone quiet in that sacred way it sometimes did at dusk.
The sun was sinking low on the horizon, painting the sky in deep oranges and bruised purples that bled across the endless flatland.
The Fallen City sat a hundred meters ahead of us, a dark silhouette of broken towers and ruined buildings against the fiery sky, close enough now that we could make out the jagged outlines of collapsed skyscrapers and the skeletal remains of what had once been a thriving metropolis. Far enough that we had all silently agreed to wait for full dark before attempting to enter.
The driver's seat sat empty, the leather still faintly indented from Mercury's absence. She had stepped out minutes earlier to relieve herself behind a low dune. Richard had wandered off too, muttering about stretching his legs.
It was just me and Jenn in the car.
