We looked into the dense darkness blocking the rest of the tunnel while the heavy smell of dampness slipped into our noses, making every breath unpleasant.
"This does not seem like a comfortable place, so I suggest we go back and find somewhere else." The echo of Leona’s words spread through the walls of the large tunnel as it traveled deeper into the darkness.
It was true that the air here was unpleasant, but it provided us with an excellent shelter... I mean, better than whatever Elliot would build from the dirt outside, which might become somewhat useless if heavy rain fell.
There were no rocks like the walls of the maze in the desert, so Elliot could only use the dirt from the ground.
With many thoughts in mind, I looked into the darkness while narrowing my eyes slightly.
Honestly, I was not comfortable staying here either after seeing this. Of course, not because I was afraid or anything like that.
But let us be realistic, does this environment not seem perfect for something bad to happen...
Yes, it was far too perfect.
"I agree with Leona... let us just go back up." Izel joined Leona in urging us to retreat.
"They are right, let us just go back." Elliot added.
I looked at Ellen beside me, who added a useful comment.
"Staying in an open area is better, even if it means being exposed to the weather and more vulnerable to danger."
It was a logical explanation as usual... or at least she made it sound that way.
The next moment, I turned around and headed toward the stairs.
"Then let us just get out... why did we come down here in the first place?"
"Because someone told us there was a place underground in a city that collapsed hundreds of years ago prepared for us to stay in." Elliot’s sarcastic voice echoed from behind... why does the way he talks sound like me now.
Anyway, I quickly climbed the same stairs we had come down a few minutes ago, the sound of my footsteps echoing through the walls as the others followed behind me.
Seeing this dense darkness surrounding us and the dampness with the heavy atmosphere around us, I could not help but remember the movies from my previous life.
When the main characters entered a place like this to hide or for some reason while doubting it, yet insisted on staying, only for bad things to start happening.
With every step closer to the light above, the feeling inside me grew that something would happen and stop us from getting out... yes, I had watched far too many of those movies when I was young.
So with that feeling growing inside me, I quickened my steps to leave this place, and with every moment, the exit grew closer.
Until I actually stepped out.
I stood on top of the ruins beneath the sunlight while muttering unconsciously,
"Nothing happened."
And apparently Elliot heard me as he came out behind me and asked,
"Why, were you expecting something to happen?"
I shrugged.
"Maybe, and why not with all our wonderful luck."
The next moment, a strong gust of wind blew, carrying dust toward us.
I looked toward where it had come from and saw that the dark clouds had already filled the horizon while the cold breeze grew stronger with every moment.
I looked at the others, who had already come out, before turning my gaze toward one of the remaining structures a few kilometers away from us.
"Since we are not staying underground, then the only thing left is to go there."
Izel raised her head while looking at the approaching storm.
"Anything that can shelter us from that."
"Then let us go."
...
After walking a few kilometers, we arrived in front of one of the most intact ruins here.
It was a cylindrical building made from the same concrete as the wall outside.
Half of it was already gone, reduced to scattered fragments everywhere, while the missing pieces of its structure revealed a glimpse of its internal divisions.
At the same time, many thick branches had climbed across its weathered surface, with green leaves growing from them.
A cold wind blew from beside me, indicating that the weather was about to change drastically, because most of the sky was now covered by dark black clouds while waves of wind blew at short intervals.
"I think this will do." I spoke while focusing on my senses to make sure there was nothing suspicious near us.
We moved toward the nearest opening in the outer wall and passed through it, arriving in an open area that contained a staircase leading to the upper floors.
"It would be better to stay upstairs since it is going to rain," Ellen said.
I nodded as we walked up the stairs, some pieces of it occasionally falling from beneath us and crashing onto the ground below, indicating that this could collapse under our feet at any moment... not that that would really harm us.
We soon reached the second floor, where a short corridor appeared before us with many doors on its sides. Some were missing, some lay on the floor, and others were still relatively intact except for the damage caused by time itself.
And there at the end of this corridor, the wall was completely missing... perhaps where the other half of this structure was supposed to continue, making the place overlook the ruined city.
"The upper floor is almost completely destroyed, so it is probably better to stay here."
That was what I sensed, so I saw no reason to go any higher.
The others moved past me while looking through the weathered walls. At the same time, Kyle continued climbing the stairs, leaving us with a few words.
"I will take a look upstairs."
Izel reached what looked like a room and pushed the decayed door open while the flame in her hand lit up the inside for her and Leona beside her to see before she opened her mouth and called for someone.
"Elliot, can you clean this with wind?"
At the same time, Ellen reached the other door, which seemed relatively intact, and opened it while speaking aloud.
"This will be suitable for you to prepare as a bathroom, Elliot."
With that, they began choosing rooms and doing some basic cleaning and preparing places to take a bath after all the sweating of the recent period.
Leaving the girls to throw all the work at Elliot, I walked toward the collapsed wall at the end and stood there, staring at the sky and the immense shadow that had consumed the world and hidden the sun from sight.
The breeze hit my face, carrying with it the beautiful smell of a rainy day.
And it did not take long before the first drop of water fell onto the ground before me.
Then another followed, then another quickly after that, until the world was consumed by the mist of rain while the sound of raindrops striking the ground echoed along with the wind that made them faster and heavier.
Standing there, I took a deep breath of the pure and refreshing air while remembering those days when I used to sit by the window and watch the rain fall.
I felt a faint smile form on my face.
Yes, my life had been miserable... but it had also been beautiful in its own way.
"How I love the rain."
...
Several kilometers away from Caius and the others, beneath the dark clouds and heavy rain that had consumed the world, there was a large pit dozens of meters wide in the concrete ground of this ruined city.
Surrounded by the wreckage of buildings and the roots of plants, the gathered rainwater flowed toward it, falling into the dark abyss below before scattering through the long tunnels beneath this city.
And there below, hidden from the world, was something like the bud of a flower... a very large flower.
With a dark brown surface full of wrinkles, its head pointed upward as though it had long since died.
But that was only an outer shell.
Soon, its surface trembled and small cracks appeared, widening with every moment.
A faint peeling sound spread as this large bud opened, revealing what was inside.
It did not take long for those withered petals covering its outer surface to lower, revealing its true colors.
Colored in sky blue, a beautiful light spread across the outer surface of the closed petals, illuminating the place around it.
Soon it began to bloom in the depths of this pit, the large petals spreading in every direction and consuming several meters of the small space.
At that moment, in the depths of this place, this beautiful flower bloomed once more.
Just as it always did whenever it sensed the approach of new guests.
Perhaps if Caius had seen it at that moment, with its petals spreading sky-blue light and driving away the darkness around it like a pure and holy being...
He would have said that it was a beautiful flower.
And that he had seen it somewhere before.
Perhaps in a book.