She felt the snow beneath her feet. The white flakes falling down onto her, resting gently on her hair, her shoulders, her clothes. She felt the sun. She felt alive. She felt hope.

Hope, even though the only home she had ever known was falling in flames. Hope, even with loss weighing her down. Hope, even in the face of the most powerful, dark force in the world. Hope, even though her clothes were torn and burnt, soaked with her own blood and sweat and caked in dirt. She was alive. That was more than enough of a reason to have hope.

And she wasn’t alone. She felt the hands of her only companions grasped tightly in hers, and felt a surge of joy, knowing that they were alive and with her. Against all odds, they were really alive. Not just alive, but now, free. Almost.

The one thing that had kept her from escaping the nightmare she had lived in her entire life had been brought down. The border wall could no longer keep her trapped inside the city.

And hope, like a small flame flaring up in the deepest darkness, was reborn.

Reborn. Inside the hearts of the nine survivors, the nine fighters, the nine who were all that was left of those who dared to rise up. They felt it inside them.

It was like awakening from a long, terrible nightmare, hope of a brighter future coursing through the very air around them. Beyond the broken, smoking rubble of the border wall was a new day. A new light that, for the first time, shattered the darkness and penetrated the city.

Yes, the darkness was growing. Whatever lay ahead would not be easy, but dark and difficult. And yet, even in the midst of the storm, light broke through. It would find a way. It would never die, no matter how black the night grew. The light, the hope, the flame—it was inside all of them, and refused to be destroyed.

Her name was Ash. She stared through the smoking, crumbling remains of the border wall, at the world beyond. And simply looking at it made her feel very, very small. Because the truth that she had been waiting for her entire life was suddenly, shockingly real, and right in front of her face.

She had always known, of course, that there had to be a world outside the city. But nothing could have ever prepared her for this moment. This moment, that world became her world, as the world she had known before burned to ashes. This was all that was left.

All she had seen her entire life was the city. Its dark alleyways, gray streets, dark buildings, and the massive border wall surrounding it. That had been her reality.

It is not easy to accept it when one’s world is suddenly destroyed, and a new, foreign, dark, confusing reality replaces it. It is not easy to step away from the only world one has ever known. But Ash had no choice. All that was left was what existed beyond the border wall.

She stared at the world through unbelieving eyes. Her vision was clouded by plumes of smoke, flame, and the snow drifting gently down around her. It didn’t matter. She could barely process what lay before her.

Because before her very eyes, just on the other side of the border wall, lay a completely different world.

A vast ocean stretched as far as Ash could see. Its waters covered everything in either direction, all the way to the horizon. It was completely still and serene, as if oblivious to the anarchic darkness burning the rest of the world.

Its waters were as black as the night sky. The dark ocean filled Ash’s view, seemingly infinite, stretching to the ends of the earth and beyond.

There was something strange about the unseeing, unfeeling calm that caused the black waters to be as motionless as solid ground. It was just a black veil, smooth and flat, covering the great expanse that lay beyond the burning city. As Ash stared at it, she felt as if the endless black expanse might somehow swallow her completely and drag her into its icy, dark depths.

Ash couldn’t shake the feeling that it was watching her. The feeling that it had always been watching her, just on the other side of the border wall. Black. Cold. Unfeeling. Just like the Sovereign Supreme’s eyes.

This infinite, black ocean had surrounded Ash her entire life. And yet she had never known it.

Now, there was nothing separating her from its depths. She knew, with an eerie feeling, that nothing that disappeared into its black waters ever emerged again.

It was like one giant eye, surrounding the city, watching everything inside it. Like the eye of the Sovereign Supreme. Or like an endless pit, one that threatened to swallow and crush everything around it. Or like the darkness itself that seemed to suffocate the world, and dominate the world, and burn the world. The same darkness that stirred inside every one of them. They all felt it, all nine of them, as they stared at the black expanse looming in front of them.

For a long time, no one moved. They were all still, unable to do anything but stare at the world on the other side. The world that was now, somehow, theirs.

Ash had never seen any body of water larger than a puddle. There had been a river of sewage that ran through the city, close to where she had lived for so many years. But that was different. The river was basically just a dump of slow-moving waste, overflowing with garbage, and barely any real water. But now, she was face-to-face with an ocean so vast and flat that she could hardly believe her own eyes.

There was something familiar about the dark waters that stretched to the horizon, though. Ash couldn’t quite place it, but she knew with absolute certainty that this was not the first time she had seen this ocean. The thought chilled her to the bone.

She saw in her mind the Sovereign Supreme’s white face, his cold black eyes boring into her, and could almost hear his smooth, hissing voice in her ear, telling her the truth she never could have imagined. The truth that broke her reality into fragments too small and scarred to ever be put back together again. The truth that would change her forever. The truth that was sharper and more painful than any blade.

“You think you know who you really are. You think you remember your past. You think you have lived inside this city for your whole life. But that is a lie.”

The words the Sovereign had spoken to her inside that crimson jet as the city began to burn far below could never be erased from Ash’s mind. They had changed her permanently.

And could she even believe him? The Sovereign could have been lying the entire time, just trying to mislead and confuse her until she collapsed under the weight of it all. She didn’t know if she would ever know the full truth. It was a scary thought, if she was honest with herself. Even if she was told the truth, how would she know that it was really true? Did anyone know the truth at all?

The Sovereign was confident that everything would happen according to his plan. He was confident that, in the end, she would fulfill what he thought was her destiny and bow down to him, serve him, be his merciless executor. And the Sovereign had almost never been wrong before. His plan had almost never failed. Ash didn’t even know what his full plan was, so it was possible that it had truly never once failed or gone wrong. It was possible that every time her side had scored a victory, it was really just a victory for the Sovereign Supreme. Just part of the plan.

In that moment, a thought occurred to Ash. A simple thought, but one that pierced her heart like a knife. One she knew was true.

The only way she could guarantee that the Sovereign would not win in the end, that she would not fall to darkness, was to give up her life.

If she died, she would put an end to the Sovereign’s plan for her. There would be no possibility of her turning to the darkness. It would be over. And though she would have lost her life, it was a small price to pay for the result of her sacrifice. The Sovereign could no longer use her if she was dead.

Ash’s heart felt like it was sinking into the earth, swallowed up by the dark ocean before her. But she knew that, if it came to it, she would have to do it. She would have to sacrifice her life for something far greater than herself.

She didn’t know what would happen from here on out, but she knew that she could never let the Sovereign win. She couldn’t let him turn her into what he wanted her to be. She might die, but dying would be far better than serving the Sovereign and carrying out his ruthless commands.

And as she had reminded herself countless times before, even if she died, hope would still survive. The light would still be there.

Ash closed her eyes. The sight of the vast black ocean remained imprinted in her mind, the Sovereign’s voice echoing in her head.

Her turbulent thoughts were interrupted by a noise from above. Slowly, Ash opened her eyes and looked up. The military transport helicopter that hovered above them was descending, its two pairs of rotors chopping through the frigid winter air. It touched down on the ground behind Ash and the others, separating them from the troops a block away.

The hatch of the cargo bay slid open, and Kim and Michelson stumbled out onto the smoking street. Two of the nine survivors.

Ash slowly let go of the hands she was holding tight, and turned around to face the helicopter. Everyone else followed suit, slowly turning away from the vast black ocean stretching out before them. No one said a word.

Finally, Kim took a step forward, her hand outstretched toward Ash. After a moment, Ash took it, meeting Kim’s eyes, and stepped into the cargo hold. “Come on, everybody in!” Kim shouted over the thundering noise of the whirring blades.

Everyone staggered into the helicopter, still in a state of shock and exhaustion. Their wounds, which they had momentarily forgotten, were now painfully present. The moment everyone was inside, Michelson pulled down on a lever, and the hatch slid shut.

The cargo bay was silent other than the muffled sound of the chopping blades overhead. No one could find the strength to say anything.

The helicopter’s hold was dark, lit only by glowing blue strips on the ceiling and floor. Being a military transport, it was designed to fit a large number of soldiers. Black seats built into the wall lined the inside, plain and featureless other than straps to secure the soldiers. A gun rack was fitted into the ceiling, and there was little floor space, as most of it was taken up by rows of metal chairs.

Ash collapsed on one of the black seats, exhausted. She put her head in her hands and closed her eyes.

The only sounds Ash could hear were the chopping blades above her, the ragged breathing of all nine survivors inside the hold, and her own pulse. She was glad that she wasn’t hearing the sounds of gunfire and explosions, or the sounds of the screams of her companions. Those were all too often the noises that followed her everywhere, the noises that haunted her even when she did get a moment of quiet.

Ash felt tears wet her hands, and squeezed her eyes shut tighter. She didn’t quite understand why she was crying, but she didn’t try to stop the tears from coming. She had stopped trying a long time ago.

She was alive. She was with her friends, and they had, technically, won a battle. And yet they had lost at the same time. The price they had paid, the loss they had sustained, was unbearable. And though they still had hope, the world looked darker than it ever had before. It became increasingly harder and harder to see the light, even when it was still there. It felt, at some times, like it was gone completely. Like they were alone. Completely alone, in the face of an enemy they themselves could never hope to overcome by their own strength.

They had lost far more than Ash could have thought possible. Far more than she could bear to think about. The entire city was nothing more than a burning wasteland now. And every single person in it, save the nine inside this very cargo hold, was dead.

The Uprising was destroyed. The Insurgency was destroyed. There was nothing left of the world they had known before other than themselves. Just hours before, they had been triumphant. Ash had been so confident that the Uprising would survive. She had believed with all her heart that it would win in the end. And now, she and those with her were all that was left of it.

Ash shook with sobs, her ragged breathing and choked cries muffled in her hands. She felt the tears soaking her palms, sliding down her wrists and forearms. The Sovereign Supreme seemed more in control now than ever before. There were only nine of them left. The only people from the city who had survived. Out of millions, this small group was all that remained. How could they possibly stand up to the Sovereign Supreme?

She felt a hand rest lightly on her shoulder. Ash couldn’t find the strength to look up and see who it was.

“Ash,” a boy said quietly, his voice tentative and pained.

Ash took a deep breath and looked up, wiping the tears from her blackened face. She stared into Alex’s eyes, and saw the same things she was feeling reflected in his. Alex tried to say something, but nothing came out. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he stepped forward, hugging Ash tight.

Ash closed her eyes, hugging him back. “It’s going to be okay. I promise,” she whispered into his ear. “We’re all together. And together, we’ll survive.”

Alex hugged Ash tighter and then stepped back, wiping tears from his eyes. “Are you sure?” he asked quietly.

Ash didn’t respond for a long moment. She let out a shaky breath and shook her head. “I don’t know.”

Alex looked down at the floor, fighting back tears. Slowly, he sat down next to Ash, still staring at the dark floor of the cargo bay. He didn’t say anything for a while.

Ash put her arm around him, and looked over at the boy. “Hey,” she said softly. Alex looked up at her, his eyes wet and dark. Ash put on a small smile. “Let me tell you something. When I used to work at the factories, every evening, after the day was over, I would go to this abandoned construction site. And there, in the center of it all, was a big skeleton of an unfinished skyscraper. So, every night, I would climb to the very top of it. And there, alone, I would witness the most spectacular thing I had ever seen. Every night.”

Ash closed her eyes, and smiled slightly. “The sunset. It was beautiful. Never quite the same. I mean, you might think that after watching it for almost every night of my life it would get old, but…” She shook her head, and looked back at Alex. “I wanted to show you it. But I… never got to. It’s always there, of course, and I’m sure you’ve seen it a few times, it’s just… there’s something amazing about it, I guess. I don’t know what it is. It’s the light in the darkness. The one time I can find peace, if only for a moment, from the rest of the world.”

Ash was silent. She shook her head, and looked away. “I don’t know why I’m telling you all this, it’s just… well, we all need to be reminded that there’s still light, I guess. I know I do.”

A caw interrupted her thoughts, and Ash looked up to see a hawk flying toward her. It landed on the seat next to Alex, and looked up at the two of them with its one good eye. It cawed softly again, and Alex stroked the bird gently.

Scarlett sat down on the seat next to her hawk, and met Alex’s eyes. She didn’t say anything, and looked at the floor, fiddling with her torn and burned crimson garments.

Ash glanced around at everyone gathered in the helicopter hold. Jayden was leaning against a wall, staring at the floor with a pained expression. Zach was sitting in a corner, staring into the distance with a disturbed look on his face, unable to even gather the strength to look up at Ash. Kim and Luke sat on the floor, leaning their backs against the wall of the hold. Michelson sat next to Allison, his eyes closed. Allison was crumpled in a seat, a hard, distant look on her face.

Ash knew that, out of all of them, Allison had lost the most in the past few hours. The entire Insurgency, which she had spent years and years of painstakingly cautious and difficult work to form, was completely wiped out. She had probably lost more companions than any of them had.

Allison met Ash’s eyes. Allison’s were dark with sorrow and pain, the loss of thousands weighing on her. Neither woman said anything.

“I’m sorry,” Ash mouthed silently, and Allison bowed her head.

After a long moment, Allison spoke, her voice hoarse and weary. “One thing’s for sure. We can’t just wait here. We have to leave. I don’t know where we’ll go, but we can’t stay here. The city is gone. The lives we used to have are gone.” She looked up, staring around at everyone. “But we have to go on if we want to survive.”

“I can pilot,” Jayden said, and walked toward the door that led to the cockpit. Kim started to follow, but Jayden held out a hand. “It’s fine. You all need some rest. I’m the most experienced pilot here, anyway. I know the Authorities’ craft inside and out.”

Jayden looked around at everyone else. He started to say something, but nothing came out, and after a moment, he turned around and entered the cockpit. The door slid shut behind him.

Moments later, the helicopter rose from the ground, its blades chopping through the falling snow outside.