post_apocalypse_story/ma-Escape_From_Dome_City.html

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<h1> Escape From Dome City</h1>
<p>
Annie reaches the platform. The sirens of the police cars are really
close now. A train is coming. The first police car arrives at the station.
Annie freezes as she panics. The train for sure won&apos;t leave before
the police searched it. Where can she hide?
</p>
<p>
<span class="speech">Annie!</span> Someone shouts her name.
<span class="speech">Annie, get in here, run!</span>
</p>
<p>
Annie breaks out of her freeze. The train had turned out to be a single
car. A single rusty railcar painted in different shades of blue.
<span class="comment">note: make it a theme that the metro is always
yellow and red</span> The only person inside is the driver, turning away
from the door he just opened - that has to be Jack. His Neotek jacket
flaps in the air as he runs to the other end of the train. While Annie is
still running towards the open door, the motors start humming. She jumps
inside as the train starts to move back in the direction it came from.
The door closes just after leaving the platform.
</p>
<p>
The train accelerates with a force stronger than anything she has ever
felt before. The motors scream, the entire train rattles. While making
her way to the front, she looks outside. The city flies by. The horn
sounds as the train barrels though the next station. The platform
appears, is visible for just long enough to see the astonished faces of
the onlookers, and disappears again.
</p>
<p>
She reaches the driver&apos;s cabin.<br />
<span class="speech">Hello Jack!</span><br />
<span class="speech">Hi Annie &ndash; you good?</span><br />
<span class="speech">Yes</span>, she breathes heavily,
<span class="speech">but that was close.</span><br />
After catching her breath for a moment, she says:<br />
<span class="speech">You arrived just in time. They were close on my
heels, but we got away.</span> <span class="comment">change this to say
something like &quot;they were following me for/since/all the way&quot;
</span><br />
Jack seems to think for a short moment while his eyes stay fixed on the
track ahead.<br />
<span class="speech">That remains to be seen. Coming through that
airlock seems to have set off some sort of alarm. Like poking a stick
into an anthill...</span><br />
<span class="speech">An anthill?</span><br />
<span class="speech">Oh, I forgot, you wouldn&apos;t know... Ants are
tiny little animals. They build hills of loose material as their nests.
If you poke a stick into one, they scramble to defend it.</span><br />
Annie imagines a bunch of mice scratching and biting away at a stick
that&apos;s stuck in a slope of rubble.<br />
<span class="speech">Anyway</span>, Jack continues,
<span class="speech">this little expedition hasn&apos;t gone
unnoticed.</span><br />
Short pause.<br />
Looking outside again, Annie realizes:<br />
<span class="speech">I have never seen one of these</span> &ndash; she
knocks on the control panel &ndash; <span class="speech">go this
fast.</span><br />
<span class="speech">Me neither</span>, says Jack. He adds:
<span class="speech">There used to be trains that could go faster - a
lot faster - but not the metro.</span>
</p>
<p>
After watching the tracks, stations, and buildings fly by for a couple
minutes, Annie opens her bag and pulls out a pile of paper.<br />
<span class="speech">Here are the documents you need. Maps, blueprints,
manuals, everything we could find.</span><br />
<span class="speech">Sounds good. Just put them in there for now.</span>
<br />
He gestures towards a small cabinet next to the right side window.
Annie places the pile on top of a few books <span class="comment">binders
</span>that are already in there. The train barrels through another
station. Jack slowly decelerates the train.<br />
<span class="speech">We&apos;re almost at your drop-off point, next
station is Crystal Park... uhhh and we might have a problem.</span><br />
The train is going around a long curve overseeing the park and square in
front of the station. &lt;Grandpa&apos;s friend&gt;&apos;s car is there,
surrounded by police cruisers with flashing lights and open doors.<br />
<span class="speech">What do we do now?</span><br />
<span class="speech">Well I&apos;m sure as fuck not staying around to
see what they&apos;re doing down there.</span> Jack says while
accelerating again. <span class="speech">I hope you&apos;re okay with
coming with me.</span>
</p>
<p>
They pass a couple more stations before the train runs over a switch and
gets suddenly jolted to the side. The train rocks side to side for a
moment. They are now heading straight for the outer wall of the dome.
The airlock, now in view, is rapidly coming closer. The inner
&#8216;B33FY-AF&apos; door is wide open. Technicians and police are
standing around it in small groups, trying to figure out why
<span class="comment">and how</span> it had opened. The ramps connecting
the street below to the airlock are full of parked transporters and
police cars. Some are even on the tracks but the one Annie and Jack are
approaching on is mostly clear.
</p>
<p>
<span class="speech">Hold onto something!</span> Jack slams on the
brakes. The train loses power and rumbles over a bunch of switches.
The headlights flicker and turn off. A police car that was parked too
close to the track gets flung aside. A bunch of technicians jump out of
the way as the train passes them and rolls into the airlock where it
comes to a screeching halt. Jack presses some buttons on the control
panel.
</p>
<p>
The screams of the police and technicians are drowned out by the hissing
of pressurized air and the *ka-chonk* of large machinery.
<span class="speech">Access authorized, cycling airlock, please stand
by</span>, announces an automated voice. The bunker door behind them
starts to move with a squeaking noise. The &#8216;keepers of order&apos;
that had started to run after the train into the airlock stop and look
around in confusion. Everything around them turns to black. The only
thing Annie sees are the illuminated gauges on the control panel. More
hissing of pressurized air.
</p>
<p>
The train shakes slightly as it makes a noise that sounds like a
mechanical version of someone clearing their throat. The gauges on the
control panel flicker. Annie is surprised by this, the noise is
unfamiliar to her. It turns into a constant rumbling hum and the
headlights come on again. The bunker door ahead is moving out of the way
revealing a long tunnel.
</p>
<p>
<span class="speech">Everything okay? You look puzzled.</span> Jack looks
at her.<br />
<span class="speech">What&apos;s this weird noise?</span><br />
<span class="speech">The generator. There&apos;s no power out here so
the train has to generate its own power to drive.</span>
</p>
<p>
The police start banging on the outside of the train and yell something.
Jack grabs a microphone off the wall and speaks into it:<br />
<span class="speech">Gentlemen, for your own safety, please step back
from the train.</span><br />
He pushes a lever on the control panel and the smooth hum of the motors
joins in with the noise of the generator.
</p>
<p>
<span class="speech">In a couple minutes, it&apos;s gonna get very
bright.</span> Jack says while accelerating the train again.
<span class="speech">Close your eyes if it&apos;s too bright. It might
take a while to get used to daylight.</span> <span class="comment">
to the sun</span><br />
As the train moves through the tunnel, an automated voice comes on:<br />
<span class="speech">Dear passengers, welcome to the combined
Sentinel&nbsp;Shores and Ivydale local transit zone! Please keep in mind
that the last train returning to &lt;underground city&gt; for today
departs from Ivydale&nbsp;South at 10:15PM. Enjoy your travel!</span>
</p>
<p>
The train leans into a curve; Annie hears the screeching of the wheels
grinding on the rails. After a moment, a blue-ish white shimmer appears
on the walls of the tunnel. It gets brighter and brighter. The tunnel
straightens out again and the other end comes into sight. It&apos;s
brighter than the light over Central Square. Annie closes her eyes but
the light continues to get brighter. For a moment, she covers them with
her hands as the train leaves the tunnel.
</p>
<p>
Annie hears Jack press some buttons and clicking relays. The motors go
quiet, the generator turns off, and the train starts to slow down. She
tries to open her eyes but it&apos;s still too bright.<br />
<span class="speech">I think you could use a pair of sunglasses.</span>
<br />
<span class="speech">Sunglasses?</span><br />
<span class="speech">They&apos;re like normal glasses but... dark to
make bright light easier on your eyes.</span><br />
Jack puts a pair in Annie&apos;s hands. She puts them on and cautiously
squints outside. Lots of green, brown, and gray but before she can make
out any details, they roll into another tunnel. The automated voice
comes on again:<br />
<span class="speech">We are now approaching Ivydale South. Your next
connections are line 7 to Ivydale Distillery from platform 5, HST1511 to
Siren&apos;s Edge from platform 14, HST815 to Nova Metropolis from
platform 11. This train will continue on line 5 to Sentinel Shores Fish
Market via Ivydale West, Sentinel Shores Observatory, Sentinel Shores
Central Station.</span><br />
After a moment, Jack says quietly:<br />
<span class="speech">I wonder how much of these places is left...</span>
Raising his voice back to a normal level, he adds:
<span class="speech">But for now, we&apos;ll head back to base.</span>
<br />
<span class="speech">Base?</span><br />
<span class="speech">The bunker, we refer to it as our base of
operations.</span><br />
The train rolls out of the second tunnel and they find themselves in a
station.</p>
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