At daybreak, there were still a few drunkards staggering along the street. In the end, they were no match for the alcohol and fell into a corner to sleep. It was a rare indulgence, and no one would blame them for it. When the first rays of light came through the clouds of radiation, the soldiers arrived at the city gates in time to gather, then continued to clean the battlefield outside the city.

The bodies of the dead had already been cremated. Their ashes and remains were ...