It hadn’t taken long before the streets had fallen relatively quiet.
Adams had noticed it while they’d been on morning patrol.
They’d walked for nearly an hour without coming across a single monster and a month ago, they would have considered that an impossibility. Now, it was becoming common place.
Riven kicked a bit of concrete out of his path, looking down the empty street.
"We’re running out of them."
Adams shot him a glance. "Monsters?"
"Among other things." Riven shrugged as he tugged at the bag over his shoulder. "We’ve scoured the surrounding area of all but the farthest reaches and the rest have already moved or are just simply not plentiful."
Elena was watching the buildings around them. "That’s supposed to be a good thing."
"It is," Riven said, "for everyone else."
Adams understood the implication.
They were growing stronger by fighting the creatures but as of late, they hadn’t been finding as many. And eventually, to continue growing they would need a new enemy.
They returned to the building they’d been staying in before noon had rolled around and Riven tossed his bag onto the table, pulling several sheets of paper from it.
"I’ve been doing some research on the Gates."
Elena immediately shook her head.
"No."
Riven’s gaze settled on her. "You haven’t even heard what I’m going to say."
"I already know."
Adams pulled up a chair at the table and gestured for Riven to continue. "Go on."
Riven laid the papers down on the table, a majority of them being crude sketches and notes from what he had learned.
"We know that they appeared in tandem with everything else. We know that monsters enter through them, but we don’t know what happens on the other side because we haven’t had anyone properly clear one.
Elena crossed her arms over her chest. "And you’re suggesting we go inside."
"Yes."
"No."
Riven turned his gaze towards Adams.
Adams studied the papers Riven had laid out. "What makes you think it’s worth it?"
"Because the monsters outside are disappearing." Riven tapped one of the pages. "We’ve been growing stronger because we’ve been killing them but if they’re becoming harder and harder to find, than eventually, our progress is going to slow. A Gate provides us with an alternative hunting ground."
Elena stared at him.
"You’re basing this on what?"
Riven hesitated before answering. "Novels."
Elena closed her eyes.
"Riven."
"I know how it sounds," he said.
"It sounds ridiculous."
"I know." He ran a hand through his hair before continuing. "But consider this; a lot of the things that we’re experiencing are very similar to a lot of things I used to read about. Not exactly, but close enough. Gates, monsters, people gaining power; all of it. Leaving them alone usually ends up becoming a problem."
"Usually," Elena repeated.
"Exactly."
"So now we’re supposed to gamble our lives because some novels said Gates may become dangerous?"
"No. We’re supposed to go and investigate because no one knows what happens if they’re left alone."
Adams was silent.
Riven looked at him.
"There’s another possibility."
"What?"
"A Gate Break."
Elena scoffed.
Riven ignored her. "If the Gate is left open long enough, something could happen. Something such as, the monsters inside coming out in larger numbers. The Gate expanding, or something stronger walking out. I don’t know. I’m not saying that I know."
"Then why are you speaking as though it’s a fact?" Elena demanded.
"Because it might be."
There was an awkward silence in the room.
Adams looked at the papers again.
They had spent weeks fighting what came to find them.
Now there was a place where they could go looking for stronger enemies.
He wasn’t sure whether or not that was a good thing.
But he knew that they couldn’t stay where they were forever.
"The world is becoming more dangerous," Adams said.
Elena gave him a strange look. "More dangerous? We’ve been surviving for a month. The monsters are diminishing, people are coming out of hiding and the military is up and running again."
"That doesn’t mean we’re safe."
She frowned.
"We don’t know what’s going to come next. We saw one creature that nearly finished all three of us. If something stronger appears, and we’re still using the same monsters we’ve been fighting for weeks, what happens?"
Elena didn’t answer.
Riven leaned back against the chair he was sitting in.
"That’s what I’m talking about."
Adams gestured to the papers. "If Gates are where the stronger monsters reside, then they’re our best chance at continuing to grow."
Elena shook her head.
"You hear yourselves?"
Adams looked at her.
"We’re talking about going inside something we don’t understand."
"Exactly."
"Which is why we need to find out what’s inside."
Elena gave a humorless laugh.
"You really agree with him?"
"Yes."
She looked between them for a few seconds, then her expression hardened.
"This isn’t just about getting stronger anymore, is it?"
Adams frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"You’ve been like that since that day."
Adams knew what she meant.
He looked away.
Elena continued. "You always talk about getting stronger, surviving, and doing what is necessary. Now you’re willing to walk into a Gate because you think something worse might come out of it."
"We don’t know that."
"You don’t know anything about it."
"Neither do you."
"I know enough to know that we shouldn’t go looking for another way to get ourselves killed."
Adams stood.
"So what do you want us to do? Stay here?"
"I want us to be careful."
"We are being careful."
"No, Adams. You’re not."
He stared at her.
Elena took a breath and lowered her voice. "You killed those people."
Adams jaw tightened.
"I know."
"And now you’re talking about killing whatever is inside that Gate like it doesn’t matter."
His voice rose. "Do you think it was easy for me?"
Elena went quiet.
Adams stared at her, his breathing becoming heavier. "I killed people, Elena. I know that. I remember their faces. I remember what happened. I know I’m going to carry that with me for the rest of my life."
He pointed towards the floor, his hand shaking slightly.
"But what was I supposed to do? Stand there and watch them shoot Riven? Watch them execute those people? I had a choice. It was either them or the people they were about to kill, and I chose them."
Elena looked down.
Adams continued before she could answer."I didn’t kill them because I wanted to. I killed them because somebody had to stop them. I wasn’t going to stand there and let innocent people die because I was too afraid to do what needed to be done."
His voice dropped, but the anger remained. "This is the world we’re in now. I don’t like it. I never asked for it. But pretending it’s still the old world isn’t going to change anything."
Elena looked at him again. "Accepting that the world changed doesn’t mean you have to stop caring about what you become."
Adams didn’t answer.
That one stayed with him.
Riven looked down at the papers between them.
Neither of them had anything else to say.
Elena eventually picked up her bag and walked towards the door, Adams watching her go.
She paused for a moment, not turning around. "I’ll go with you."
Adams looked at her.
"I don’t agree with this," she said. "But I’m not letting you two walk into a Gate without me."
Then she left the room.
Riven waited until she was gone.
"She still cares."
Adams sat back down. "I know."
Riven gathered the papers.
"There’s one nearby."
Adams looked at him. "Where?"
"About an hour from here."
"Has anyone cleared it?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because the military tried to get close. They had to pull out after losing people."
Adams stood. "Then that’s where we’re going."
They’d reached the Gate before sunset.
It stood in the middle of an abandoned road, surrounded by a temporary military barricade and the soldiers manning it were relieved when Adams’ group arrived.
One of them checked their identification before allowing them through. "Be careful. We don’t know what’s inside."
Adams looked at the Gate.
Darkness shifted on the other side like smoke beneath water and Riven was tightening the straps on his equipment.
Elena was standing beside them, silent.
Adams rested a hand on Gravemarsh.
He had fought monsters.
He had fought people.
He had survived something far stronger than himself.
But this was different.
Nobody was forcing them inside.
There was no one to save.
No one chasing them.
They were choosing this.
Adams took the first step.
Riven followed.
After a moment, Elena did the same.
The darkness swallowed them.
And the world on the other side was nothing like the one they had left behind.