Water in Shaft 37

Far off, the whole city lay crushed flat beneath the heat, a gray shimmer with shapes in it. On an elevated ramp, a row of dead cars sat stalled with people waving shirts through the windows, as if surrender might make the sky listen. Erin ran ahead carrying the child. Marcus hauled a crate of cooling medication and ice packs scavenged from the pump station. Daniel moved slowest, his face getting worse by the minute, every step borrowing from somebody else’s bones. Lena followed last with a maintenance wrench in her hand, eyes locked on every corner as though someone might step out of the heat haze at any moment. “Where is the cooling point?” Lin asked. “North Ring Stadium,” Daniel said, gasping. “Temporary intake. Opened this morning.”