Chapter 10 - The Thaw
The machine powered down, its cycle permanently broken.
Maya rushed forward, pulling Sam away from the glass. The intense glow in his eyes faded, and he collapsed into her arms, utterly exhausted, but alive. His skin was finally a normal temperature.
Silas limped over, clutching his bleeding shoulder. He looked up at the ceiling. The heavy blast doors leading to the surface were grinding open.
"The Enforcers?" Maya asked, terrified.
"No," Silas smiled, listening to the echoing footsteps pouring into the cavern. "The Dregs."
Thousands of people, armed with pipes, chains, and the fury of generations, flooded into the Core. They had felt the warmth return. They had seen the Zenith Sector go dark. The rebellion had begun.
Three days later, Maya stood on the shattered glass of the Zenith Promenade. The opulent displays of the bakeries and boutiques were smashed, their goods distributed among the starving.
The sky above was gray and filled with natural, biting snow, but Maya didn't feel cold.
She held Sam’s hand. He was wearing a thick, fur-lined coat salvaged from a Zenith mansion, happily chewing on a sweet brioche.
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The city of Altara was broken, chaotic, and scarred by violence. But as Maya looked out over the crumbling elite towers and the rising smoke of the Dregs' cooking fires, she knew one thing for certain.
The age of ice was over. They were finally going to build a world in the warmth.
