The streets felt different now. Every step Ayla took was deliberate, measured. The sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows over the cracked pavement. It was an ordinary evening, but for Ayla, nothing felt ordinary anymore. The air seemed heavier, charged with a sense of impending danger. It clung to her skin, making every breath feel sharper, every heartbeat louder.
The man's body lay in the alley behind her, a dark stain against the concrete, his blood slowly pooling in the cracks of the street. His last breath had been an ugly gurgle, his wide, terrified eyes locking onto hers as she drove the knife into his side. It hadn't taken long. He hadn't even had time to scream.
The first kill.
The taste of blood lingered on her tongue, but it wasn't the man's blood she savored. It was the feeling—the power of it, the justice. The way it felt to take back control.
Ayla wiped the blood from her hands, her breath slow and steady as she surveyed the carnage she'd just created. The world around her had blurred into nothingness, just her and the man in front of her. For a moment, it felt like time itself had stopped, leaving her suspended in that single, brutal moment.
But now, the world started to shift again. She heard the distant sound of people yelling, footsteps hurrying away, the city unaware of the reckoning that was coming for it.
Her fingers tightened around the knife hilt, and she turned away from the body. She didn't need to look back. The man was nothing but a casualty of a world that had forgotten how to care.
As she walked down the alley, the system's voice flashed in her mind once more.
[First Kill Successful.]
[Mission Complete: +100 Experience Points.]
[New Mission Unlocked: Eliminate Threats.
[Bonus Rewards Unlocked.]
Ayla paused, her heart quickening. Experience points? Rewards?
[Eliminate Threats.]
Her brow furrowed, the message flashing on the screen. She had no idea what it meant, but she could feel the weight of the words settle over her like a shadow. The system was giving her a purpose. She had to eliminate threats. It was simple. It was direct. And it suited her just fine.
She looked around the dimly lit streets. People were still going about their business, oblivious to what had just happened. They would never know. They would never understand what was coming.
Her eyes narrowed, the promise of vengeance burning in her chest. The system had given her power. It had brought her back, and now it was her turn to make them pay.
The people who had betrayed her, who had abandoned her, they would suffer. Every last one of them.
---
The system was silent as Ayla walked. Her footsteps echoed in the emptiness of the streets, each one a reminder of how far she'd come, of how much had changed since that morning. Her family was still out there. Her sister, Emilia—especially Emilia—had no idea what was coming for her.
Her thoughts drifted back to that day. The day they had sold her, traded her like a piece of meat. The day her family had left her to die. They hadn't even cared. They hadn't even looked back. They'd sold her to survive, to feed themselves, to escape the horrors of the apocalypse.
But Ayla wasn't that same girl anymore. She had a power they couldn't comprehend, and it was growing. She could feel it, like a weight in her chest, something waiting to be unleashed.
She had a purpose now.
And she wasn't going to stop until she had torn their world apart.
---
It didn't take long to find them.
She'd tracked her family, pieced together their movements through rumors and whispers. They were still trying to survive, clinging to whatever they could to hold onto their lives. But it wouldn't be enough. Nothing would be enough.
The house they were holed up in was a small, rundown thing, nestled on the edge of the city. Ayla stood at the edge of the yard, her eyes scanning the place, the familiar feeling of hatred bubbling up inside her. This was it. This was where it all ended.
She could hear them inside—her mother's voice, her father's booming laugh. Her sister's shrill, mocking tone. It made her sick. They didn't know what she had become. They didn't know what they had created.
Ayla stepped forward, her footsteps silent as she moved toward the house. Her heart beat louder now, anticipation filling her veins. She didn't need to sneak. She didn't need to hide. She wasn't afraid anymore. She had nothing left to lose.
She was going to make them understand what it felt like to be betrayed. To be cast aside like trash.
The door creaked open with a soft groan as Ayla pushed it, stepping inside. The smell of old food and dust hit her nose. The world inside felt different, too—quieter, smaller. Her family sat around a table, laughing, as though the world outside didn't exist.
Her mother was the first to notice her. The look in her eyes was a mix of surprise and… fear. A faint flicker of recognition passed between them, but it was gone almost immediately. She stood up, her face twisting into an expression of false warmth.
"Ayla! Where have you been? We've been worried—"
"Worried?" Ayla's voice cut through the air, sharp and cold. "You sold me. You abandoned me to die."
Her father's face hardened, his eyes narrowing. "Don't start with this again, Ayla. You were weak. You were a liability. We did what we had to do to survive."
Ayla's fingers tightened around the hilt of the knife at her side, the weight of it comforting, familiar. "I was a liability? Is that why you sold me for food? For survival?"
Her mother's eyes darted to the side, avoiding her gaze. "You don't understand, Ayla. We had no choice."
"I understand perfectly." Ayla stepped closer, her voice icy with venom. "You didn't care. You never cared. You let me die. And now, I'm going to make you feel every second of it."
Her sister, Emilia, looked up from her seat, her eyes wide. "What do you mean by that?"
Ayla's lips curled into a cold smile. "You'll see. You'll all see."
Her body hummed with the thrill of what was to come. The system's voice whispered in her mind, urging her forward.
[Eliminate Threats: Target Acquired.]
Her family didn't know it yet, but their time was running out. They had no idea who they were dealing with now.
And Ayla?
She wasn't going to beg anymore. Not for their love, not for their approval. She didn't need them. Not anymore.
She was going to make them pay.