[Five District: Underground]
Those who escaped Gigante thanks to Lola had dumped their vehicles and gone on foot, entering the underground for a safe journey to the Five District. But when they reached the said destination, they were shocked to find that there were already people ransacking the town.
The sound of moving vehicles, loud footsteps, and even shouts aboveground echoed through the sewers and small cracks on the surface.
Unbeknownst to them, there was a huge crowd leaning and sitting just beneath them.
So of them even had their mouths covered with their hands, their hearts hamring against their chests. But no one dared say a word. Even the children kept their promise to Lola to stay quiet.
A few—mostly n—stayed near the tal lid above them. They could see movent through the small gaps, keeping their eyes trained upward to make sure they would know if soone checked.
"How did they catch up to us so fast?" one of the won whispered. "They even arrived before us."
Did they know they were headed this way? Or were they simply ransacking every town within a specific radius of Gigante?
Unlike those in the underground hospital, who believed they were eventually found for reasons unknown, the escapees of Gigante naturally assud these people were after them. They had a rough idea of what had happened to their hos.
After all, even when they made it far from the town, the fires had lit up the night sky. The thick smoke and ash in the air were also a tell. However, most of them might have made a brief stop out of shock at what happened to their beloved town. They didn’t think that brief stop was long enough for these people to catch up so fast.
"What are we going to do?" one of them whispered, but because of the silence underground, it echoed all the way to the last person in the group. "We cannot go up there and fight them."
They had weapons they looted from the rcenaries in the now-burning town of Gigante. But they knew it wasn’t enough. With how many rcenaries were deployed in this place, they couldn’t. Besides, not all of them were trained. Sure, a few knew how to handle guns, but they weren’t highly combat-trained like the rcenaries.
"Should we go sowhere else?" one suggested. "We know these tunnels. We can go to another location."
They exchanged looks with one another in calculated silence. Then, soone spoke.
"But if they’re ransacking Five District to see if we took refuge here, then it’ll be the sa for other towns."
Another mont of silence fell over them.
"Either we wait here until they leave, or we move. Either way, I don’t know which one is better."
After all, this wasn’t what they expected when they woke up this morning. Anything could happen in this territory in the blink of an eye, and one could die for the pettiest reason if they crossed the wrong people.
Until this evening, everyone only dreaded one thing: their upcoming monthly contribution.
No one expected tonight to turn out like this—that their town would burn to the ground, and that its small population would be forced into these dangerous tunnels.
"For now," one of the n breathed out, eyeing everyone with determined eyes, "let’s stay here... and hope the people up there eventually leave."
"What if they don’t?"
The man stayed quiet, gulping as he studied everyone’s haggard, dirt-streaked faces from the coal and gri of the tunnels.
"We’ll figure it out," he whispered. "We will—"
"Let’s check here!"
Suddenly, a shout rang out above them.
Everyone instinctively looked up, eyes snapping to the tal lid that should’ve been their exit. A second later, their hearts thudded as realization dawned.
They knew they were moving underground.
"What should we—"
"Move back." The man leading the group whipped his head around. "Quick, let’s walk back!"
Without hesitation, the people scrambled backward. They kept moving until darkness swallowed them. Those who were ard moved to the front, their weapons trained toward the area where the exit was.
Everyone held their breath, eyes barely blinking, fixed in one direction. Won clamped their hands over children’s mouths, and so of the older kids covered their own.
The next second, a loud clang echoed as soone peeled the tal lid away from the hole.
For a mont, no one breathed. No one blinked. No one moved.
They stared at the light spilling from the opening above as flashlights swept the tunnel.
Those on the front line edged backward as the lights moved closer, nearly brushing the tips of their worn shoes. Though they couldn’t see the people above, they knew they were being searched for.
"No one’s here!" soone yelled from outside. Then, the light vanished. "Check the other one. They could be there!"
Vehicle engines rumbled overhead, followed by hurried footsteps. They sounded like they had left, but the tal lid wasn’t closed.
The man stepped forward, then froze as a hand grabbed his arm. He turned, eting a pair of eyes beside him.
"I’ll just check," he whispered. "All of you, stay behind."
They were lucky they had taken the safest route, and that there were no manholes behind them. They could hide here even with the lid open.
Slowly, the man approached the open exit. His steps were light, his breathing slow and controlled. But before he reached it...
THUD!
The man flinched. Everyone behind him jolted, weapons clicking as they raised them at the figure that had dropped in front of him.
Their brows crinkled as they heard a quiet struggle through the thin smoke from the fall.
"That..." one of the won trailed off, stretching her neck to see the figure several steps ahead.
The man held his breath.
There wasn’t just one person who fell. There were two.
Right now, he was watching a one-sided struggle—a woman with her leg wrapped tightly around a man’s neck, yanking both ends of a scarf knotted around his mouth.
"You..." he whispered, eyes on the person shushing him. "...Goddess?"
Lola tightened her leg around the enemy’s neck until the man stopped struggling.
"Yeah," she breathed out. "That’s ... and you’re probably wondering how I got in here."
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