It all began with blood, fire, and the echo of screams that still haunt my nightmares. But that's not where this story truly begins. If I had to choose a starting point, it would be now. Here. In this damp, dark cave where memories weigh heavier than the wounds barely letting me breathe. Matías lies beside me, his body covered in dry blood and dirt. He barely breathes. I... I barely hold on.
The air is thick. It reeks of death and despair. The entrance of the cave is partially blocked by debris we dragged to protect ourselves from what roams outside: not common zombies, not those who once were human. No. There's something beyond that now. Mutations, horrors born of decay and the dark energy that corrupted the world.
It's been ten years since Mom and Dad sacrificed themselves. Ten years since they pushed us into the crack of an escape tunnel while they faced an unstoppable horde of zombies. Milena, our mother, shouted for me to protect Matías. He was only four at the time. Dad, Rodrigo, handed me his knife and looked at me with a mix of pride and sorrow. "You have to be strong," he said. And then... only screams, gunfire, and the absolute silence of death.
For years, we hid. We learned to survive. Humanity collapsed, replaced by new rules, new dangers. Some survivors developed abilities, perhaps awakened by trauma or the same dark energy that corrupted everything. Matías and I were among them. I could manipulate shadows, cloak myself in darkness like armor. Matías, on the other hand, was pure light: he could heal, illuminate, soothe. We were opposites, but inseparable.
The years hardened us. Turned us into warriors. In the first months, we found refuge in an abandoned train station with a group of elders who still remembered how to hunt and farm. Then came the raiders. We lost friends, had to move constantly. Sometimes, we went weeks eating nothing but roots or small rodents.
A year after the fall, we found a hidden underground camp led by a woman named Vega, a former soldier who taught us how to fight. It was there I discovered my abilities. Cornered once by a reptilian creature, I felt the tunnel's shadows rise around me like armor. Since then, darkness obeyed me. Matías found his gift when he saw me injured, near death. His hands glowed with a bright white light, and my wounds closed before our stunned eyes.
Together, we became legends among the survivors. Diego, son of shadow. Matías, child of light. But hope was never eternal. Every refuge fell. Every friend died. And with each passing day, the world became more hostile.
Matías clings to me. He has a fever. His body is covered in wounds I can't heal. His light is fading. And then, when I believe all is lost, that there's no way out, he looks at me with a strength he shouldn't have and whispers:
—You... you can change this, Diego.
I try to speak, to stop him, to beg him not to do what I think he's about to do. But he smiles. A tired, resigned smile, and somehow... at peace. Then, with strength he shouldn't possess, he pushes me violently toward the back of the cave. A blinding light envelops him. I try to reach him, but a magical barrier stops me. I scream his name as the cave shakes.
The last image I have is his face glowing with power, his body disintegrating as he mutters ancient words—words I don't understand... and then, darkness.
...
I wake up with a jolt. My heart pounds violently. My body aches, but not in the same way as before. I feel something different... as if something inside me has shifted. I look at my hands, and my entire world shatters.
They're small. Thin fingers, unscarred. Smooth skin.
I jump up. I'm in a sunlit room, with walls decorated in children's drawings. My bed has dinosaur-print sheets. I recognize every detail. Every corner. It's my room. My room when I was just six years old.
I approach the mirror. The face staring back isn't that of a young man forged by war and loss, but that of a wide-eyed, frightened child. I can't stop the trembling in my legs.
—No... this can't be —I whisper.
I run out of the room, tripping over old toys. I dash down the hallway, heart in my throat, and enter the adjacent room. Mom is there. Milena. Alive. Smiling, tired, cradling a baby wrapped in blue blankets.
—Shhh, Matías just fell asleep —she whispers.
And then I see him. Small, helpless. Just a few days old. My brother. Alive. Safe.
I fall to my knees. Tears stream down my face. Milena approaches, concerned, and strokes my cheek.
—What's wrong, Diego?
I can't speak. I can't explain. It's all too much. I'm back. I'm in the past. Somehow... Matías sent me back in time. He gave everything to give me this chance.
A second chance.
As my mother hugs me and sobs shake my chest, I vow in silence. I won't waste this gift. Not this time. I will change fate. I will save everyone.
And when the time comes, I'll be ready to face the darkness.