The Slave: Zero

In a city where thunder feels like a warning and silence feels like judgment, a boy named Eric finds himself stranded at the edge of childhood as the world around him begins to fracture. What starts as an ordinary day collapses into unrest. Streets fill with slogans, soldiers, and fear. Laughter turns brittle. Dreams turn dangerous. And Eric, an outsider passing through, becomes an unwilling witness to how quickly normal life can curdle into violence. As protests harden into executions and survival becomes a daily negotiation, Eric is forced to confront something far heavier than fear: the question of what kind of person he will become when running is no longer enough. Pulled into the orbit of other children shaped by loss, especially the sharp-tongued, unsettlingly calm Arop, Eric is exposed to clashing worldviews. One insists that destiny is absolute, that suffering is written long before birth, and that hope is just another lie adults tell themselves. The other, quieter and more fragile, insists that meaning can still be chosen even when the world seems determined to erase it. Beneath the city, hidden camps grow. Above it, speeches promise prosperity while bodies pile up. Rumors circulate of a mysterious asteroid, a cosmic prize capable of reshaping nations and igniting wars far beyond this one city’s borders. Power, ideology, and survival twist together until even children are asked to decide what they are willing to sacrifice for a future they may never see. As Eric navigates trauma, friendship, guilt, and an overwhelming desire to be more than a helpless witness, the line between heroism and obsession begins to blur. Visions haunt him. Philosophies clash. Innocence erodes. And the simple act of choosing to keep going becomes an act of rebellion in itself. This is a story about growing up where growing up is dangerous. About how war doesn’t just kill bodies, it reshapes beliefs. About destiny, free will, and the quiet terror of caring too much in a world that rewards cruelty. And above all, it is about a boy standing at the crossroads between surrendering to a world that insists nothing can change, and daring to believe that even against overwhelming darkness, choosing to struggle still matters.