Eventually Zan found himself around the mid-level slums, in a run-down area they called Moss Town. It was a small area, made up of a few streets and decaying buildings, situated on the roof of a giant, colossal skyscraper that stretched all the way down to The City.

He wandered aimlessly in the low light, the world beyond little more than glinting metals and dull shapes. The sky was completely black. No stars showed. Even though Zan knew that the sky was a domed roof, and stars were a series of connected bulbs, they were all he had never known. The world as he knew it was gone. He passed several couples and families, all with bewildered, frightened expressions. Somewhere nearby a screaming child called out for its mother. Smoke billowed from a building, where a construction crane had toppled into it. Zan kept going, his mind numb, as if he was walking through a dream.

All around him the city was falling apart, but his whole world had already ended. Despite the warm air, a chill ran through him and he hugged himself. His instincts were to ask his da what they needed to do. Now without him, Zan had nothing left.

He came to a large square where dozens of people were huddled together. An Eclipse Guard stood on a platform and spoke to them all, raising his arms and attempting to calm them.

"The Mayor is currently fixing the Grid," the Guard called out, his voice enhanced through speakers in his helmet. "There is no need to be alarmed. It is best that you remain indoors; it should not be long until the machines are back up. There is no need to panic."

Zan shuddered and moved away from the Guard, not wanting anything to do with them or the Mayor.

Making his way up a muddy incline, he came to a stop at the edge and looked over the small town. In the distance he saw a small park, which consisted of little more than a leafless tree and rotting carousel. There he saw a group of kids, with Marcin near the centre of them. Zan perked up and made his way down to them.

"Zan," Marcin said, sounding surprised. "Didn't expect to find you down these ways."

Priya poked her head out beside a large boy, her eyes widening. Zan found himself smiling when he saw her, that familiar sense of calm creeping through him.

"Oh, big bro," Gosaline said, running up and wrapping her arms around Zan. "I was so scared. I'm so glad you're okay."

Zan patted her long hair. "I'm fine. It's alright."

Gosaline wiped her eyes and looked up at him. "Oh, but it's not fine, is it? Everything's broken."

Marcin pulled her closer to him, curling an arm over her. "We're all a little freaked out." He nodded to the others with him. "You know these guys? Wes and Priya you know. That's Dallos, Edrund, Keithan and San over there."

The tallest of them, Dallos, was a beefy boy with a large jaw and an indifferent air about him. "I've seen him around," he said coolly.

Beside him was Keithan, a quiet boy, tall and lanky. He must have been a new member of Marcin's gang as Zan had never seen him before.

"You live up in the Pipelands," the boy called Edrund said. He was shorter and younger than Zan, maybe around sixteen or seventeen, with round shoulders and messy brown hair. "You're the mechanic's son, right?"

"This here," Marcin said, gesturing, "is Zan the Grid Runner."

The girl called San scoffed, but she was smiling. "And what does that mean?"

"It means that no one knows the Grid as well as him," Marcin said, his tone hardening defensively. "Zan can move through this city like smoke. We're lucky he found us."

Zan felt his cheeks redden and he looked away.

"Great to have you," Dallos said sarcastically. "Anyway, we were just deciding on what should be done."

San shook her head, her short hair swaying. "Right, because Dal thinks that the city's problems are up to us. Not like there's hundreds of Eclipse all over the place."

"Yeah," Edrund said. "After thousands of years, the city finally breaks down because we weren't in charge."

"You might be okay with leaving it up to the Eclipse," Dallos said. "But I'm not. Look around you. This is what happens when you leave things to other people. To the adults. It all goes to hell."

Gosaline whimpered under Marcin's arm. Zan noticed Priya watching him closely, as if she wanted to say something.

"So the city broke because we weren't in charge?" Edrund said. "Right, of course."

Dallos looked down on him with a haughty sneer. "I didn't say that. But we should do something to fix it."

"As much as it pains me to say," Marcin said. "I agree with Dal."

Wes looked up at them. "What can we fix?" His large blue eyes shook with concern. At only sixteen years old, he was one of the smallest members of Marcin's gang, besides Gosaline.

Marcin shrugged. "We have to try and do something, anyway. I don't much like the idea of leaving it up to the Mayor."

The mention of the Mayor sparked a fire within Zan. His da had spoken of the Mayor yesterday. Herrik hated the man more than anything in this world.

"The Mayor," San spat, like it was a curse word. "For all we know it's him that's shut the machines down. My da always used to say not to trust him."

"What do you know about it?" Dallos said.

"What do you know about it?"

They bickered back and forth until the fire in Zan exploded. "My da didn't trust the Mayor either." He spoke quickly and fiercely, trying to keep his breaths under control. "He used to work for him, actually. My da maintained the machines a long time ago. He set up the current iteration of The Grid. But since he retired early, he never had one good thing to say about the Mayor. I don't think we can trust him to save the city either."

"Why should we listen to you?" Dallos said. He stood a head taller than them, and must have been in his early twenties, but to Zan he seemed soft, still child-like. "You might even be working with the Mayor yourself."

"That's stupid," Priya said. "If Zan was working for the Mayor why would he say not to trust him?"

Keithan chuckled, but quieted when they looked at him.

Dallos huffed, searching for a comeback. "Anyway we don't need his advice," he said, turning to Zan. "Why don't you just go back up to your old man. I'm sure there's something that needs fixing."

Zan's chest tightened, a deep sorrow taking hold of him. He realised his hands were clenched. "I can't," he whispered. "They killed my da."

Someone gasped. Gosaline whimpered quietly and sniffed. Dallos paused, but he seemed hardly troubled. Zan couldn't meet Priya's eyes.

"Zan," Marcin said. "I'm so sorry. What happened?"

Zan kept his eyes low, searching for his words. His head burned with the memories. "I dunno. I came home, and... some men were there. Black armour and big guns. I never seen them before. They tried to get me too, but... I got away."

Marcin blew out a low sigh. "Why would they...?"

Zan shook his head. He stood there, defeated, unable to say anything.

"I seen em before," Edrund said. All eyes turned to him. "The black armour guys. I seen em. But we're not meant to know who they are."

"Who are they?" Marcin asked.

"They're Mayor's guards," Edrund said. "Not like the Eclipse. These are different. Like, assassins. Or like super Eclipse. I dunno. But, they do his dirty work sometimes. I seen em once. We saw them, didn't we, Keith?"

The tall boy nodded, remaining quiet and trying to make himself look smaller.

"Someone nearby told us who they were," Edrund went on. "They're not even people, but more like.... monsters. Demons. Only the sky knows what's under their armour. Anyway, we're not meant to know about them, and those that do just look away."

"The Mayor..." Zan said quietly. The Mayor. Why would he want his da dead?

"And they were after you, too?" Dallos said. "Oh great, that's just what we need. Super soldiers after us."

Marcin glared at Dallos. Gosaline shouted, "You shut up, you!"

"I told you we can't trust the Mayor," San said, scrunching her face at Dallos.

Zan caught Prya's eyes, and as expected she was staring at him, her brows furrowed with a severely sad look. He wilted under her stare and had to look away. She had always asked about his da.

"The machines might not be as broken as we think," Marcin said diplomatically. "It might be a glitch that gets fixed within the hour."

"Nothing like this has happened before, though, right?" Edrund said. "I never heard of the machines shutting down."

"Not in our lifetime. Or anyone else's. But I'm saying we should at the very least find out what the status of the machines is." Marcin held Gosaline closer, a fierce determination tensing his eyes. "Look," he said to them all. "If we don't do something – if someone doesn't do something – then this city will die around us and leave us dead with it. Like our own coffin, just waiting for us all to die."

"He's right," Priya said. "The air has already begun to thin. Can't you feel it?"

"It feels hotter, yeah," Wes said. "We only got days left. Maybe a week."

"A week, yeah," San said. "My ma always said that if these machines ever went off, we'd only have enough air for a week or so."

"The crops, too," Marcin said gravely. "Food and water will run out, and forget about the sun coming back. The city sun, that is, not the real one outside. It'll be night-time until we all die."

"None of us have a lot of time," Edrund said, sounding dull and hollow, as if the extent of their situation was dawning on him.

"So I say we go for it," Marcin said. "We have nothing to lose, but everything to gain. There's a diagnostics tower not too far from here. We can go there and find out the status of the machines. See what we find out."

"That sounds dangerous," San said, sounding unsure.

"It sounds like a good plan," Priya said. "When we get to the diagnostics machine, Zan can have a look at it. He'll be able to read it and use it like none of us can."

Zan felt their eyes on him, his cheeks flushing.

"Right," Marcin said. "Zan can do it."

"All hail the Grid Runner," Dallos drawled. "But I have a better idea. We go outside."

This brought a silence over them.

"Outside of the city?" Gosaline asked quietly.

"Right," Dallos said. "Think about it. We've been told our whole lives that the air outside isn't safe. That the sky is burned and we'll die within seconds if we go out. But who actually can confirm this? When was the last time anyone went out?"

"I don't know," Marcin said. "Years and years ago, I guess."

Zan knew the last person recorded to have left the city, but he kept that to himself. He had shed enough tears for the moment.

"I say the world outside is fine," Dallos said. "And I say we prove it. We send a drone out there, and see what it says. I've got one stashed. I found it ages ago and been meaning to use it. You wanna go to that tower, we can go there together. It's a high point where I can send the drone up from."

"Living outside..." Wes muttered. "Sounds scary."

"No," Marcin said. "It's how we're meant to live. How we used to live. People, that is. Not in this closed-up city."

Wes raised his brows, considering the information. Everyone knew that people didn't always live in this domed city, but no one really gave it much thought anymore. It certainly wasn't something that Zan thought about. The city was founded thousands of years ago, and whatever life was like back then had all been forgotten about. It even had an old name, Terrun Edun, but people just called it the city, or the world.

"Drone," Dallos said decisively. He raised his hand. "Let's put it to a vote, then. All who want to send a drone out and prove the world outside is safe, raise their hands."

At first no one moved, but then, surprisingly, Keithan raised his hand. He reddened from their looks. "I want to go outside," he said meekly.

"Good man, Keith," Dallos said, clapping him on the back.

San huffed and raised her hand. "It beats waiting for the Mayor to help us," she said. "And who knows, Dal might be right."

"Stranger things have happened," Dallos said, smiling at her.

After a moment Wes sheepishly raised his hand, and everyone looked down at him. "I... I want to go outside."

Dallos looked over them all triumphantly.

"Okay," Marcin eventually said. "That's everyone for Dallos?"

"Everyone else with us," Gosaline said quickly. "Team Fix. You guys are Team Drone."

Dallos shrugged. "Team Drone. Fine. Well, we're all heading the same way, so I say we get ready and go. It's gonna be a long day."

Zan looked over them, feeling like he wasn't really with them. The world seemed like a nightmare around him, dark and ominous. It was as if he was watching himself with this group, hearing them and seeing them from a far. He was really somewhere else, lost and alone. Nothing really mattered, anyway. His da was gone, and he had nothing left in this world. He convinced himself that checking on the machines was the right thing to do. His da would have wanted him to fix the machines. Zan allowed himself to be led along with the others, trapped in his chaotic thoughts.

It really was going to be a long day.

(2354 words)