First Steps Outside

The station is is much larger than any of the metro stations inside the dome. It has many platforms. Portions of the tall roof, supported by large stone pillars and rusty steel beams, have caved in and what's still standing has holes. Rays of light poke through the roof and holes in the walls. All of that is visually stunning but what really catches Annie's eyes are the plants everywhere. Parts of the platforms are densely covered in the thin, green blades of some plant giving them a fuzzy look. Vines cling to the walls and pillars, crawl along gaps and edges, and hang from the fringes of the caved in roof sections and rusty beams. Moss grows on the rusted benches and trash cans.

Jack turns off the generator and decelerates the train. Clanging from under the floor followed by the squeaking of the brakes. The train runs over a bunch of bushes and tall flowers that have taken root on the tracks before coming to a halt next to a staircase in the center of the platform. Exit to the right, Jack says in unison with the automated voice while turning the switch for the doors. He gestures towards the passenger area.
After you.

Annie walks over to the closest door and pushes the button. Pressurized air hisses and one half of it opens very slowly. She says:
This door has probably seen better days.
Everything out here has seen better days – except for the plants...
There are so many of them.
They step out onto the platform. Annie breathes the warm air. It smells of the run-over plants. Insects are buzzing around, and the wind rustles through the leaves. She crouches down and touches the carpet of green fuzziness.
Grass. It grows pretty much everywhere – usually much taller than this though.
She looks up at him.
I'm surprised the plants grow in here.
Pretty much every building in the area is overgrown. That's what happens when you don't maintain them: Nature takes over. By the way...
He helps her up.
Welcome to the outside world. Wanna take a quick look around?
Sure.
Jack uses a key to close the door and they get going.

The two walk down the flight of stairs in the center of the platform, taking them to an underpass. The floor is covered in water so they follow a ledge on the side. Jack leads Annie up the stairs to the last platform. From there, they step outside through a side entrance.

Annie is hit by the light and warmth of the evening sun. She closes her eyes and faces it for a moment.
This is nice. She turns to Jack. And this light is just always up there?
Jack chuckles. Well... No. Only during the day.
She looks around. They are standing on a balcony-like platform overlooking a city in a valley.
Wooow, she utters in astonishment.
Ivydale – or at least what remains of it.
Annie walks over to the rusted railing and goes to lean against it.
Don't lean on that.
Why not?
She steps back.
Watch.
He pushes against it. Loud cracking follows, and the ringing sound of metal breaking. A roughly two meter wide section of the railing begins to fall. Annie takes a bigger step back. The railing crashes into the ground below with a loud ringing bang.
How did you know?
I made the same mistake over there.
He points to another missing section in the railing that Annie hadn't noticed before.
Be careful around old buildings.

Cautiously stepping back to the edge, Annie looks down. Bushes overgrow everything, covering the hillside below the tall sandstone wall of the embankment the station is built on. The walls of small ruins and half fallen-in fences stick out here and there, and the bushes are interrupted by what remains of roads, paths, and staircases. Small rivers cut through the landscape. Annie looks up, into the distance: The ruins further down the valley are larger the closer they are to the center of the urban area below.
It's much bigger than Sunside Cove.
Many things are bigger than Sunside Cove. This is the smaller of two sister cities.
He points towards another urban center in the distance.
That over there is Sentinel Shores, the place I used to call home.

At some point before this chapter, Jack needs to tell her something along the lines of "No pity. I chose this life."

After pointing out some other notable landmarks, Jack decides it is time to go. He leads the way, walking towards the end of the station that they arrived from. The balcony-like walkway connects to a wide staircase down from the end of the embankment, where the rear part of the station extends into the mountain. It leads to a collapsed bridge next to a large waterfall. Annie marvels at the sheer amount of water flowing by, something that she had never before seen.

Jack goes ahead, climbing down the wall where the bridge used to begin by grabbing onto the edges of the large sandstone blocks. Annie struggles to follow. After what feels like an eternity, she manages to get half-way down the wall.
You can jump from there.
Something interesting needs to happen here.
They make their way across the fast-flowing river by stepping on large stones in the water, and continue through the bushes towards the bunker.