Chapter 18 - The Underground Train
The printed badge still felt warm when Rick suddenly sprinted out of the control room.
We chased him through unfamiliar corridors until we reached a platform unlike anything we had expected.
Railroad tracks.
Underground.
Far below the city.
The station looked abandoned for decades.
Old benches.
Broken lights.
Rust-covered signs.
Yet fresh footprints covered the concrete.
A digital arrival board unexpectedly flickered to life.
SERVICE ARRIVING
02:14
"No..."
The realtor stared at it.
"Please tell me that's not real."
The countdown continued.
02:13.
02:12.
A powerful wind rushed through the tunnel.
The rails began vibrating.
Somewhere in the darkness...
An engine horn echoed.
The elderly woman whispered,
"It still runs."
"What still runs?"
She pointed into the tunnel.
"The transfer line."
The horn grew louder.
Then headlights appeared.
Not modern headlights.
Old circular lamps from another era.
A long black train emerged from the darkness without making the slightest sound.
No engine noise.
No wheel noise.
Only silence.
It rolled to a perfect stop before us.
Every window had been covered from the inside.
The doors slid open automatically.
No passengers exited.
Inside, every seat was occupied.
Men.
Women.
Children.
All sitting perfectly still.
All wearing gray uniforms.
Every one of them faced forward.
None blinked.
None moved.
None acknowledged the open doors.
Rick refused to step aboard.
Instead he barked toward the last carriage.
One passenger slowly turned his head.
It was Daniel Cross.
He looked exactly like the man from the phone.
Not seventy-three years old.
Not even forty.
His lips moved silently.
I couldn't hear him.
Then he slowly raised one finger and pointed beneath the train.
The doors immediately slammed shut.
The train departed without a sound.
Leaving behind only one object on the platform.
A leather notebook.
Apparently dropped from the final carriage.
Its cover bore a familiar symbol.
May you like
The eye surrounded by circles.
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