We left early.

The fires in the Wasteland had long burned out, leaving only smoke and ash curling through narrow alleys. Most people were still asleep. Some already working. Everything returned to what it was before. As if yesterday didn’t even take place.

Lilith didn’t say much. She walked beside me, coat drawn tight around her shoulders, steps steady. She knew exactly where we were going.

I’d never walked this path before. It’s one of the ones officers use—and the rest of us avoid. It was way cleaner than anything back home. The path leads to roads that officers utilise as transport. There are only few that exist, but are heavily guarded. 

When we got closer to the roads, that’s where the cars were waiting.

The car itself was sleek, too shiny for this side of the world. A uniformed officer stood beside it, looking impatient, tapping something on a board. Lilith stepped forward and said something I couldn’t hear. He gave me a look—just a flicker of distaste—and moved aside.

We got in the back.

The seats were too soft. The air smelled like polish and metal. I sat stiffly, afraid to move too much. The windows were dark-tinted, but I could still see the Wasteland fade behind us. It felt… wrong, leaving it behind like that.

Lilith didn’t look out the window. She sat with her hands folded neatly in her lap, eyes forward, jaw tight. Filling out some kind of paperwork.

We didn’t speak.

The road stretched long, too smooth, too quiet. Then, ahead, the checkpoint.

A heavy gate, tall walls, wires coiled along the top like vines. There were guards everywhere—at the tower, along the posts, standing in front with guns slung at their backs. The car rolled to a slow stop, just before the line.

This was the part Lilith had warned me about.

The doors unlocked with a hiss.

She stepped out first, already reaching for the folder. Papers. I followed, heart pounding.

An officer came up to me immediately, taller than I expected, face hidden behind a black visor. “Step forward.”

I did.

The moment their scanner picked something up, things moved fast. A second guard shouted, “Weapons!” and in seconds, I was surrounded. Hands grabbed my arms, shoving me down on my knees. They took my knife and then-

They found a gun in my boot.

Someone cursed. Then cold metal pressed to the side of my head.

“Don’t move.”

Lilith’s voice cut through the chaos, sharp and furious. “She’s with me! Her clearance is already processed!”

I heard her arguing. Her voice rising. She didn’t sound afraid, but angry. Fierce.

Eventually, one of the guards checked the folder again, scanning over the forms she’d filled in. “She’s registered,” he muttered, then lowered his weapon. 

After a long pause, they handed me a metal badge. Heavy. A dull bronze color, with an unmistakable red mark across the front: Wastelander.

“Wear it around your neck at all times while in Golden territory.”

I slipped the thin chain over my head. It was cold against my skin.

We got back into the car. The doors locked behind us.

I didn’t look at Lilith. Not at first. I sat in silence, staring ahead.

She finally spoke, her voice low. “Why didn’t you tell me you had that many weapons on you?”

I turned slowly. “You ever had a pistol to your head?”

She didn’t answer.

“Exactly.” I kept my eyes on her. “No one walks around wasteland without a weapon. Unless you’ve got a death wish.”

She didn’t look away. But she didn’t say anything else either.

Silence stretched between us as the car started rolling again, past the checkpoint, into a world I didn’t know.

Then, softer, she asked, “Have you ever even ridden in a car before?”

I huffed. “Do I look like someone who’s ridden in a car?”

A beat passed.

“…You look like someone who would fight the car before getting in it.”

That surprised a small smile out of me. I glanced out the window again, tension still burning under my skin.

The Wasteland was gone behind us.

The Golden Land lay ahead.

And I had no idea what waited for me on the other side.