The Underground Track

The next moment, they found themselves standing inside an unfamiliar mansion.

"Didn't it say this was a research laboratory? From the outside, it just looks like an ordinary estate."

Bennett swept his gaze across the surroundings. Faded wallpaper and antique furnishings filled the room. The decor carried a faint resemblance to the architecture of his homeland, yet felt subtly, unmistakably alien. Expansive windows flanked both sides of the hall, their curtains fluttering in a draft that suggested one had been left ajar. After studying the quiet interior for a moment, he began to walk forward.

Through the shadows, one section of the mansion shone brightly under an artificial glow.

A bathroom?

It was not a standard washroom. It boasted a tub large enough to accommodate several people at once, but even accounting for that, it was easily the most massive bathroom Bennett had ever laid eyes on. It seemed needlessly huge, far beyond what any reasonable display of luxury or prestige would warrant.

Sensing something suspicious beneath the ostentatious design, Bennett examined the area with meticulous care.

Beneath the ornate wall patterns, a single tile faintly shimmered with a pale blue radiance. Bennett ran his fingertips across its surface before pressing down with firm pressure. The tile sank smoothly into the wall.

Instantly, the wall split down the middle and slid open to either side. In its place stood a reinforced iron door, emblazoned with an insignia he recognized at once.

The words rang out in the indecipherable cadence of Dungeon Language, but Bennett caught on quickly. Reaching into his coat, he produced the identification card he had recovered previously.

It carried the very same insignia he had encountered in the subterranean lab beneath the closed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠prison dungeon. Because the emblem was stamped so clearly onto the plastic surface, remembering it had been trivial.

Clank!

With a heavy latching sound, the iron door unlocked. Bennett and his companions stepped past the threshold and made their way cautiously down a descending flight of stairs. At the bottom lay an enormous, unfamiliar facility.

To one side of the room stood a vast observation window overlooking a drop, and arrayed before the glass were rows of strange mechanical consoles. The consoles bristled with knobs, levers, and buttons of assorted shapes and sizes. Several of them featured glossy, mirror-like dark panels, reminiscent of the displays they had seen in the closed prison and the Closed Police Headquarters.

Similar to what they called tablets, right?

Bennett and the others approached the observation glass first, only to freeze at the astonishing sight that greeted them.

"Whoa..."

A cavernous subterranean terminal spread out before their eyes. In the center lay a raised rectangular platform, flanked on both sides by lowered ground. Two parallel iron rails ran along the floor, cutting straight across the basin before vanishing into the pitch-black mouth of a distant tunnel. While the left track sat completely empty, the right track held a colossal metallic structure unlike anything they had ever witnessed. It resembled a massive rectangular box crafted from polished, seamless metal plates, with heavy steel wheels visible along its undercarriage.

To those from modern Earth, it was an ordinary subway train. To Bennett's party, however, it was an absolute mystery.

"What on earth is that?"

It was a bizarre contraption that simply did not exist in their homeland. Exotic and alien, its sheer scale exerted an imposing, suffocating presence.

Bennett was the first to tear his gaze away from the spectacle. Stepping back toward the strange consoles, he noticed a tiny light blinking near one of the panels. Beneath it sat a line of characters whose meaning remained entirely unreadable. Trusting his instincts, Bennett reached out and pressed the button beside the flashing light.

Along with the mechanical voice, brilliant light flooded the control room and the entire subterranean platform. And it was not merely the illumination that revived. On the right-hand track, the colossal metal carriage began to hum, shuddering to life with a deep, rumbling resonance that easily pierced the thick glass of the observation booth.

Vrrrrm!

"Let's head down first," Bennett said.

"Right!"

The party descended the flight of stairs leading out of the control booth and stepped onto the underground platform. The moment they set foot upon the tiles, details invisible from above came into sharp, gruesome focus.

Faint, dried bloodstains darkened the concrete in wide smears, while shattered bones and yellowed human skulls lay strewn haphazardly across the ground. It was clear that a terrible tragedy had unfolded here long ago.

"It looks like..." Kyle furrowed his brow as he swept his eyes across the carnage, his hand already resting naturally against the hilt of his sword. "There was a one-sided slaughter here."

"Seems that way," Bennett agreed.

Their gazes inevitably drifted toward the train. The leading carriage was fitted with a wide glass windshield, allowing them to peer into the operator's compartment. Though the space was compact, several operating panels were visible ahead of a single fixed chair. Slumped over that chair was a tattered skeleton, wearing the rotted remains of a uniform. Behind the seat, a partition wall and a door sealed off the operator's booth from the passenger area.

From the outside of the carriage, three doors were visible: a narrow entrance leading into the front cabin, a wide double door opening into the rear compartment, and an inner door dividing the front and back sections.

Bennett pointed toward the wide rear sliding door. "Edgar, Kyle."

"On it."

Setting down his newly replaced shield, Edgar seized the left handhold while Kyle took the right. Exchanging a brief nod, the two men hauled backward with all their strength.

With a harsh screech of grinding metal, the door was wrenched open. And in that very instant, Bennett's eyes locked onto the shape lurking inside the dark interior.

A dog?

Bennett twisted his torso reflexively.

Shhhk!

A whip-like tail, mutated into a razor-sharp spearhead, sheared through the empty air where his chest had been a fraction of a second prior. Had his reflexes lagged by even a heartbeat, his heart would have been punctured clean through. Pivoting out of the strike's path, Bennett squeezed the trigger of Shooting Star.

Th-th-thump!

The bolts slammed harmlessly into the metal plating of the carriage. The hound had already bolted from the spot.

It dodged?

Having leaped out onto the platform, the hound crouched low and emitted a guttural growl. At the same time, its unnaturally elongated tail split apart into three separate, writhing whips. The narrowed appendages lashed through the air with violent velocity, generating sharp, whistling sonic cracks. Just as the beast coiled its hind legs to pounce—

"Fire Arrow."

Blazing bolts of flame streaked from behind Bennett, slamming squarely into the beast's flank. Its focus had been entirely fixed on Bennett, leaving its reaction a half-beat too late. Before it could scramble away, the spell engulfed it.

Yelppp!

The monstrous predator let out a pathetic whimper, but the arcane flames offered no quarter, hammering relentlessly into its flesh. In mere seconds, the hound was reduced to a blackened, smoking husk that collapsed limp upon the stone.

"Good work," Bennett said.

"Thank you...!" Erika beamed, letting out a small sigh of relief.

Bennett stepped past the charred carcass to inspect the interior of the train. Rows of seats lined both sides of the forward section, while the back area opened into a spacious cargo hold meant for transporting heavy materiel. Fortunately, aside from that lone mutant dog, no other threats lurked within.

"Anyone have an idea what this thing is?"

"I heard rumors once," Kyle offered thoughtfully, "that in the old world, there were underground corridors where contraptions like this carried hundreds of people all at once... Could this be one of those?"

The layout certainly supported that theory; it was plainly designed to carry personnel and supplies. Though whether this specific carriage could handle hundreds of passengers seemed doubtful.

Then the controls must be up front.

Moving toward the forward cabin, Bennett squeezed into the cramped operator's compartment. He studied the console beneath the windshield. Among the various switches, a prominent lever protruded outward, its placement suggesting a pivotal function. Without hesitation, he reached forward and gripped the handle.

Shifting the lever forward required considerable effort, meeting stiff mechanical resistance. But as it clicked into place—

Vrrrroooom!

The faint hum of the undercarriage surged into a deep roar. The train shuddered, then began to roll smoothly forward along the steel rails.

"Whoa! It's moving!" Edgar yelled, visibly startled.

Bennett smirked at Edgar's noisy excitement before returning his attention to the dashboard. Small pictograms were etched beside several controls, illustrating their intended functions. Among them were clear depictions of a door and a beam of light. He cautiously pressed the button marked with the door symbol.

Psssshk—clack!

The doors they had forced open earlier slid shut automatically, sealing the interior off from the platform. At the same time, powerful headlamps flared to life at the front of the train, slicing through the heavy gloom of the tunnel ahead. For a blind guess, his accuracy had been remarkably good.

Bennett pushed the throttle lever one notch further forward. The train picked up speed, the subterranean wind rushing past.

Screeeeech!

The piercing shriek of metal wheels grinding against the curved tracks made Bennett and the others wince.

"Ugh, that noise is awful..."

"It's a little quieter in the rear carriage," Kyle noted.

"Come ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on, man, you've gotta watch this firsthand!" Edgar countered, grinning broadly. "Where else in the world are we ever gonna see something like this?"

Thanks to the powerful front beams, the subterranean passage was laid bare before them. At first glance, it appeared to be nothing more than endless twin tracks piercing the earth, but closer observation revealed unexpected details: narrow maintenance alcoves carved into the tunnel walls, elevated walkways clearly built for foot traffic, and sealed blast doors spaced periodically along the concrete lining.

Just as the endless repetition of the tunnel was beginning to grow tedious, a faint glimmer appeared in the distance.

"There's something ahead," Kyle called out.

Bennett pulled the lever backward, gradually bleeding off their momentum. The train shuddered as the brakes engaged, decelerating smoothly until it drew up alongside an underground terminus identical to the one they had departed.

Bennett turned to look out the opposite window. On the parallel track, another train of identical design stood dormant in the shadows. The party stepped out onto the platform and swept the area, finding it remarkably clear of monsters, save for a few faded spatterings of blood.

Passing the solitary sign, they came upon a set of stairs. Curiously, they did not lead up toward the surface, but plunged even deeper into the subterranean depths.

Unlike the brightly lit station platform, the staircase below was swallowed in total darkness. It was only after Erika conjured an orb of magical light that they could safely discern the steps beneath their feet.

They descended for a considerable time down a single, unbranching corridor before encountering a heavy blast door. Mounted beside the frame was an electronic card reader. When Bennett presented the laboratory director's pass to the scanner, the door hissed open without resistance.

Beyond it stretched a massive lobby. On the opposite side of the hall, a row of human-height pillars stood spaced at regular intervals.

"Let's move," Bennett said.

He found himself unable to pull his gaze entirely away from those pillars, though nothing occurred as they made their way across the hall. Even so, an uneasy foreboding lingered at the back of his mind.

Suddenly catching the sound of distant commotion, Bennett snapped his head up. Following his lead, the party halted in their tracks.

"Bennett-nim? What is it—"

"Quiet."

Patter, patter, patter!

"Ah!"

Reacting just half a beat behind Bennett, the companions hastily drew their weapons. Kyle and Edgar moved to the fore, raising their shields into a defensive vanguard, while Bennett and Erika positioned themselves behind to ready their ranged fire.

"Aaaaargh!"

It was not a familiar voice, but the frantic, desperate shriek of a stranger echoing from around the far corner.

"Damn it! Run! Just run!"

Bursting around the corridor bend was an unfamiliar scavenger party. Seven ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of them in total—by no means a small expedition. Yet their faces were completely warped with absolute, unadulterated terror. Some were screaming hysterically, while others sprinted while gasping for breath, constantly looking back over their shoulders. They were so consumed by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠whatever pursued them that they barely even registered Bennett's battle-ready formation right ahead.

"What on earth are they—"

Before Kyle could finish his sentence, the party's eyes went wide.

Krrrraaaaah!

A black tide was surging down the hall. A swarm of zombies so vast it defied counting was stampeding forward, threatening to devour everything in its path.

Have these crazy bastards lost their minds? Bennett swore fiercely under his breath.