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Zane and the others had made their way into the bunker. The first reports of a successful evacuation had already reached the lieutenant who was leading them.

"How is it going?" Asked Zero.

“The troops in the north and east have already evacuated the first civilians,” he replied. "Unfortunately, I do not know anything else either. I only hear what is being said on the official channels. I do not have the authorization for higher information. "

"It's okay, thanks anyway," Zero nodded and looked at his PDI, which he pulled out of his pocket. It showed a series of text messages and a picture of Carol above them.

Zero's message: “Are you okay? Where are you?” was the last in line. That was more than an hour ago.

"I'm sure she's fine, Zero," Asagi tried to persuade him.

"Exactly! Maybe she just lost her PDI?” Added Zane.

"Yes ... thank you guys," said Zero in a calm voice when the lieutenant called them for attention:

"Attention, here we go!"

Passing the control room, they ran deeper into the bunker. Now they were standing in front of one of the doors to the various accommodation rooms.

The lieutenant knocked on the door, even if it was more like hammering, and said, “Is there anyone? We're here to evacuate you.” But there was silence as he continued: “We're coming in”.

The lieutenant pressed a button on the panel next to the door, which opened with a hiss. The door was wide, so two people could easily fit through it at the same time.

After a brief moment, the lieutenant entered and stared into the empty room, Zane and Nathan followed him.

"Where is everyone? Hello?” Zane's voice echoed around the room. It was a simple, rectangular room. Screens hung on the walls, benches were lined up on the walls and distributed around the room, and loungers were also visible in one corner.

Asagi, Zero, and one of the soldiers stopped in the hallway and looked into the room.

"Maybe after the explosion they fled into one of the more distant bunkers," Nathan looked around the room, which showed no signs of a fight or the like.

"Probably, yes," replied the lieutenant, who turned and walked out of the room again. "On to the next."

Zane and Nathan followed, and the group marched to the next room.

Zero, Nathan, and Zane were now each carrying one of the rifles that Zero and Asagi had taken from the control room. There were only six of them and no one knew what to expect in the depths of the bunker.

"Can you even handle it?" Asked the lieutenant when he saw Nathan wielding the weapon a bit awkwardly while they went deeper into the bunker.

"We had weapons science in the academy," Zero replied, who in contrast to the others handled the weapon just fine.

"Unfortunately, Zero is the only one who shows...", Zane replied, holding the heavy weapon a bit shakily, whereupon Asagi began to giggle, who was not carrying a weapon.

"As long as you don't shoot me or hit something, I don't care," said the lieutenant.

"There is the next lounge up ahead," reported the other soldier, who looked at the map on his arm.

It was the third lounge they went to. Earlier, in the second, same as in the first, no one was to be found. Something was gnawing at the group, but at the same time, it was a good sign. It meant that whoever was in the rooms was gone at this point. Also, there was no black sand to be found which indicated that they had survived.

When they arrived at the third lounge, the lieutenant repeated the procedure and pounded his fist against the door, signaling to the people that they would come in.

Meanwhile, Nathan noticed some cracks along the wall in front of them when the lieutenant opened the door. Immediately a draft of air rushed towards the group and black sand spread over the lieutenant's shoes.

The space that opened up before them was halfway destroyed. Almost a third of the room had simply disappeared. Instead, a huge hole opened up in the left corner. Light poured into the room through the hole and the wind blew over the debris and dust that was left in the room.

Everyone stood there and stared at the hole. "What happened here?" Asked Zane.

"Seems like the radiation directly came in..." the lieutenant looked around. "There are no signs of a fight or anything like that ... it must have been over quickly."

Asagi held two straps of the bag she was carrying on her back tightly.

"This is the hole from earlier ..." said Zero, who had gone to the edge of it and was looking up and down.

"What? This deep? "Asked Zane, who ran over to Zero.

Then the other soldier came to them too. "Did the explosion tear off the roof of the bunker?"

"I thought the bunkers could withstand bombing?" Zane paused.

"Unless the explosion didn't come from above the bunker ...", Zero shared his theory when suddenly another shock could be felt, but this time they also heard an explosion that seemed to go with it. Small parts began to break off the walls and fall into the depths, while the whole bunker shook slightly.

At the same time, a huge roller of fire broke horizontally through the rubble a few meters below them into the hospital hole.

"What was that?" Zero held on to the wall when the shock subsided and the fire roller disappeared again.

"Is it over?" Asagi asked, who had held onto one of the benches in the middle of the room with Nathan.

"Seems like it...", Zero carefully turned his gaze into the hole. A huge chasm had now opened up between the rubble. The metal on the sides of the rift had partially melted and a trail of debris was laying in front of the exit point.

"What the hell?" A bead of sweat ran from the soldier's forehead while he stared down into the hole like Zero. Then they began to hear gunshots.

“Someone's fighting down there!” Zero was startled.

"These are the connecting corridors to the other bunkers!" Remarked the lieutenant.

"But who's fighting down there?" Shouted Nathan.

"Are there any infected?" Zane looked at the lieutenant.

"They aren't any of our men," said the lieutenant, who had also gone to Zero and looked down.

"Are those some that belong to the colossus from earlier?" Asagi wondered.

“Whoever it is, all hell is going on down there,” added the soldier who stood with them on the precipice.

"Anyway, let's continue the evacuation."

"But shouldn't we help them?" Zane asked the lieutenant, who turned away and was already on his way to the exit.

"As long as our troops are not involved, we will stick to our orders," he continued. "I'll report, until then we'll continue as before."

The group continued down the corridors on the way to the next bunker, which was even more destroyed than the one before.

"It's a miracle that the floor still holds ...", remarked Nathan looking at the damage in the floor and on the walls.

"Don't jinx it, Nathan," said Zero, visibly impatient. "How many bunkers are there actually?"

“Around thirty,” replied the soldier.

"On how many floors?" He asked further.

"They are all on the same floor, it is only a very small bunker for short stays," replied the lieutenant.

"Shouldn't we meet the support troops soon then?" Asked Zane.

"They are probably busy with the smaller bunkers on the way here or most of the civilians have already rushed towards the exits," he pointed to one of the working displays on the wall. Evacuation was written on it in glowing letters. The display alternated between the word and a map showing the way to the next exit.

"The thirty bunkers are only those that are directly assigned to the hospital."

"Oh," Zane scratched his neck.

"What's the plan if we can't find anyone here?" Asked Nathan.

"If we can't find anyone here, we will also go to the next evacuation point."

"What about the corridors below?" Asked Zero.

"That's right, someone's fighting there!" Added Zane.

"As mentioned, these are the connecting corridors to the other bunkers," he began. "There are only a few smaller bunkers down there that lead to the buildings above, but there is nothing else."

"Then why is there a fight?" Zane asked when Zero suddenly interrupted him.

"Are we evacuating these too?"

"Everyone will be evacuated within a two-kilometer radius, but other troops will take care of that," he looked at Zero and paused. After a moment's hesitation, he continued. "You're looking for someone, aren't you?"

"A friend of ours was in the hospital when the outbreak started," Asagi explained.

“Oh, is that the real reason you're here? Now I understand”, the lieutenant continued onwards. “I was wondering what you were doing here. But I am also glad that you are. Without you, many things would probably have gone differently and not for the better. "

"Exactly, thanks for that!" The soldier added.

"No need to mention it," laughed Zane and scratched his head in embarrassment.

"We rather have to thank you for taking us with you," countered Zero in return.

"But to your question, Zane ..." he stopped and turned back to them. “I have no idea what's going on down there, but it can't be good. As you have noticed, all the corridors to the west are damaged. If you ask me something is wrong."

Zane swallowed nervously as the lieutenant continued.

"But whatever's going on down there, we're not up to it ... at least we non-mages," he looked at Zane and Nathan. “But enough of that. The authorities should think about that, we rather rattle off the bunkers before we are dragged in,” he continued ahead and the group began to follow him without a word.

I hope Carol is fine... thought Zero when they suddenly slowed down.

"I think that's about it," said the lieutenant who went ahead. The ground beneath them had gotten worse with every step and now it was clear why. The passage ended in an abyss. The wind blew towards the group as they slowly approached.

The bunker corridor protruded from the rubble at the edge of the hole, like a branch over the abyss. Due to the hole, the corridor opposite was around ten meters apart from them.

"And what do we do now?" Asked Zane, staring into the depths.

"You can jump over if you want," laughed the soldier.

"Can't Zane just build an ice bridge?" Asked Zero.

"That's a good idea Zero, probably only Asagi, Zane, and I can make the jump...", Nathan agreed while the soldier looked at Nathan in disbelief.

"No, we will withdraw," the lieutenant interrupted the conversation.

"Are we going to withdraw?" Wondered Nathan.

"But we haven't searched all of the bunkers yet," added Zane.

"That's true. But we need too much time until we have searched all the bunkers”, he looked at the group, who seemed a little dismayed. “We're not giving up the evacuation. Our job was only to guide the civilians. But obviously, everyone has already left for the exits,” he tried to encourage them.

"Right, the rooms that weren't destroyed were already empty," remarked Nathan.

"They have probably already been evacuated," added the soldier, who seemed a little relieved.

"Your friend has probably already been evacuated too," the lieutenant looked at Zero and Asagi.

Zane and Nathan also looked at Zero as if they were waiting for his decision. He turned to Asagi, who was looking at him with a smile.

They were all here for Zero. He knew that if he insisted on looking for Carol, they would follow him. But he had put them in danger enough already.

"You are probably right," agreed Zero to the lieutenant and turned away from the abyss.

Nathan looked at Zane, who seemed to be somewhat refusing to retreat, but at the same time, did not know how to counter the lieutenant's arguments.

"Are you coming, Zane?" Nathan asked as Zane turned to the opposite corridor again before finally turning to Nathan and walking to the others waiting for him.

"I'm coming."