The station mirrored the desolate state of the prior one, yet this location bore witness to even more brutal events; blood of the infected victims was still fresh, and so were their corpses.
As Calyx and Haze stepped out of the train, its doors closing behind them, the infected turned towards them. Low growls escaped their mouths as they fixated on the newcomers.
"I'm ready," Haze said, taking deep breaths in anticipation of the presumed upcoming battle.
"Ready for what?" Calyx asked, turning to Haze.
"To fight, what else?" Haze replied, confused.
"There will be no fighting," Calyx moved forward, still gripping his sword hilt in a gesture of precaution.
"What? You think they'd just let us pass?" Haze watched as Calyx approached the monsters.
"Yes, they would. They don't attack Quasars unless provoked, remember?" Calyx reminded Haze as he took more steps, yet the creatures remained passive.
Haze immediately caught up to Calyx, walking beside him as they moved past the horde of infected. The creatures growled and watched them but took no aggressive action.
BOOM
The loud explosion resonated through the entire city, shaking the ground below Haze and Calyx, agitating the monsters into a panicked state, seemingly searching for the source of the attack. For Calyx and Haze, it was a sign that things might get dangerous.
"Run!" Calyx exclaimed, aiming to take advantage of the infected's initial confusion to escape before they concluded that the attack was their doing.
As fast as they could, Calyx and Haze exited the station, their legs making rapid taps on the floor as they created a significant distance from the train station.
"What the hell was that?" Haze asked, bending down and putting his hands on his knees, breathing heavily.
"It seems the fight with the ethervore is close," Calyx replied, in better shape than Haze.
"What the hell kind of fight is that, shaking the bloody ground?" Haze's shock was evident in his tone as he exclaimed.
"One we definitely do not want to be caught up in. I mean, just look around," Calyx said, referring to some of the wrecked buildings that were once prideful architectural displays.
"That thing causing this, whatever the hell it is, we must avoid it at all costs," Calyx warned, turning around to scan their surroundings.
"Yeah, I feel I could probably take it, but it'd be a long day," Haze speculated without an ounce of doubt in his tone, causing a slight chuckle from Calyx.
"Let's get going, dumbass. We are almost there," Calyx said as he began running, Haze following suit, trailing behind him.
They had planned to follow their prior strategy and avoid any confrontation with infected, but for some reason they couldn't understand, they didn't see any, as if all had gathered at the station, although the streak of corpses on the floor pointed to the fact they had definitely been present.
Not long after, as they almost reached their destination, they both let out relieved sighs as they saw the structure of their building still standing erect and unharmed, one of the very few.
Calyx and Haze picked up speed as they dashed towards the entrance; however, upon reaching it, they met a locked door.
The large sliding doors of the complex were sealed shut, and the glass had become opaque, preventing anyone outside from looking in—a safety measure, as both Calyx and Haze quickly understood.
"Open up, goddamn it!" Calyx exclaimed as he banged on the extremely tempered and thick glass.
"Your phone with you?" Haze asked, exploring other ways to reach Irene.
"No, it was taken from me for the test. You?" Calyx replied.
"I lost mine during the chaos at the HQ," Haze sighed, realizing they had no means of communication.
"I'd just break the thing," Calyx concluded, now considering it their only option.
"Are you sure you want to destroy the door to what might be a lot of people's hiding spot?" Haze questioned.
"Ugh, what do we do, then?" Calyx's frustration and impatience became evident.
"Is the door completely airtight?" Haze asked, formulating an idea in his mind.
Wind began swirling around Calyx as he tested Haze's question. After confirming that air could flow through the tiny spaces and cracks of the door, Haze nodded.
"Good, remember that creepy thing you used to do, how you would send sound through the air?" Haze began outlining his plan.
"Wait, that's genius. Then I can tell Osawald to open it up for us," Calyx immediately understood Haze's plan.
"But this is a bit more complicated. Would it work for this?" Haze questioned.
"Yeah, I just need to gather the air around me and produce controlled air currents. By manipulating the current, I can form special patterns that carry sound waves," Calyx explained as a small gust formed in front of him.
"Oswald, it's Calyx. Open up," Calyx spoke to the gust, and with intricate control, he flowed the air currents through the small spaces around the door and into the lobby.
"I can also hear what they say by feeling the vibrations from those currents," Calyx mentioned as the air currents reached the lobby of the complex where a gathering of people was present.
"Oswald, it's Calyx. Open up," came the message from the gust, carrying the sound of Calyx's voice.
Upon hearing it, Oswald, the receptionist wanted to rush for the door to open it but was immediately stopped by the others with him.
"Are you crazy? That could be a trap from those monsters. How could we have heard his voice from the middle of the room? It's definitely their mind games," one of the people present said, words that Calyx had heard through his skill.
"Damn it, they think it's a trap," Calyx snarled.
"What do we do n—"
Almost too fast for Calyx to see, a body was sent flying, smashing through the glass door completely. However, what sent chills down the spines of Calyx and Haze was the voice of the levitating entity behind them.
"How weak you all are. I shall use your fragile bodies as instruments for this world's destruction," words of pure malevolence reached Haze and Calyx's ears with a frightening echo.