4.2 KiB
The station is is much larger than any of the metro stations inside the dome. It has many platforms. Portions of the tall roof that is supported by long pillars have caved in and what’s still standing has holes. Rays of light poke through holes in the walls and the roof. 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 rusty beams and the fringes of the caved in roof sections. Moss grows on the rusted benches and trash cans.
After running over a bunch of bushes and tall flowers that have taken root on the tracks, Jack brings the train to a stop next to a staircase in the center of the platform.
"Exit to the right", he says in unison with the automated voice before turning the switch for the doors and gesturing towards the passenger area. "After you."
Annie walks over to the closest door and pushes the button. Pressurized air hisses and the left half opens with a squeeking noise. They step out onto the platform. Annie breathes the warm air. It smells of the run-over plants. Insects are buzzing about, 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 knew there would be more plants out here... I didn’t expect that many of them." "Welcome to the outside world. Wanna take a quick look around?" She gets up. "Sure."
They walk down a flight of stairs taking them to a tunnel under the platforms. 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 setting sun. She closes her eyes and faces it for a moment. "This is nice." Then, she turns to Jack. "And this light is just always up there?"
"Well... No. Only during the day."
She looks around. They are standing on a balcony-like platform overlooking a city in a valley. She walks over to the rusted railing and goes to lean against it.
"Don’t lean on that."
"Why not?" She steps back.
"Watch." He kicks it. Loud cracking follows, and the ringing of metal. A roughly two meter wide section of the railing breaks loose and falls. Annie takes a bigger step back. The railing crashes into the ground below with a loud ringing bang.
"How did you know?"
"Be careful around old buildings. I made the same mistake over there." He points to another missing section in the railing.
Cautiously stepping back to the edge, Annie looks down.
Bushes cover the hillside below the tall embankment wall that holds the station, overgrowing everything. 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 and staircases. Small rivers cut through the landscape. Annie looks up. The ruins further down the valley are larger the closer they are to the center of the urban area below.
"Wooow", she utters in astonishment.
"Ivydale - or at least what remains of it."
"It’s much bigger than ."
"Many things are bigger than . It’s 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."
After showing her some notable landmarks, Jack leads Annie to the end of the station that they entered it from. The balcony-like walkway turns into a wide staircase where the mountain extends over the tunnels and the back wall of the station. It leads down to a collapsed bridge next to a large waterfall. Annie marvels at the sheer amount of water flowing by, something that she’s never seen before.
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."
They make their way across the fast-flowing river by stepping on large stones in the water, and continue through the bushes towards Outpost 53.