The subway tunnels smelled like rust, damp concrete, and old electricity.
Jane could still hear the distant echo of the Dragon's roar from the streets above. The sound traveled through the underground like thunder trapped in metal pipes.
Every noise now felt dangerous.
Every shadow felt alive.
Marcus walked ahead of them through the abandoned station, gripping a metal pipe he had taken from a broken railing. His injured shoulder was wrapped tightly with cloth Angelo had torn from his shirt.
But Marcus didn't slow down.
Pain only seemed to sharpen him.
Angelo stayed close beside Jane, his breathing still uneven from their run.
"How far does this place go?" he whispered.
Jane shook her head. "I don't know. But if the checkpoints are spreading like that broadcast said… underground might be the only place left where Vale's people can't see us."
Marcus stopped suddenly.
Jane nearly ran into his back.
"What—"
He raised his hand.
Silence.
From somewhere deeper in the tunnel came voices.
Quiet.
Careful.
Jane's heart skipped.
"People," Angelo whispered.
Marcus moved forward cautiously, stepping around a fallen turnstile and descending a cracked stairway into a lower subway platform.
Dim lanterns flickered in the darkness below.
Battery lamps.
Flashlights.
And people.
Nearly thirty of them gathered in the station.
Families.
Older couples.
Teenagers wrapped in blankets.
All of them looked exhausted… frightened… and hungry.
When Jane, Angelo, and Marcus stepped into the light, several people immediately stood up.
A man holding a flashlight approached them slowly.
He looked to be in his late forties, wearing simple clothes and a worn jacket. But what struck Jane most was the calm in his eyes.
Not panic.
Not desperation.
Calm.
"Easy," the man said gently. "You're safe here."
Marcus didn't lower the pipe.
"No one's safe."
The man nodded slowly.
"You're right."
His eyes studied the three newcomers carefully.
"You didn't take the mark."
Jane stiffened. "How do you know?"
The man gestured toward their hands.
"Everyone who takes it… changes."
Angelo frowned. "Changes how?"
The man hesitated.
"They stop asking questions."
A quiet murmur moved through the people behind him.
Jane noticed several of them clutching Bibles.
Some were praying softly.
An elderly woman looked up at Jane with tears shining in her eyes.
"We knew this day would come," she whispered.
Jane felt a cold chill crawl up her spine.
Marcus stepped closer to the man.
"Who are you?"
The man gave a small, calm smile.
"My name is Daniel Park."
Jane scanned the station again.
Then she noticed someone sitting at a folding table nearby.
A woman.
She sat surrounded by crates of supplies — canned food, bottled water, batteries, medicine.
Her dark hair was tied back neatly.
Her sleeves were rolled up as she carefully counted and stacked items into organized rows.
Every movement was precise.
Controlled.
Nothing wasted.
The moment she noticed Jane watching, her eyes lifted.
Sharp.
Calculating.
Jane walked closer to the table.
"You're organized," she said.
The woman shrugged slightly without smiling.
"Someone has to be."
She sealed a bag of supplies and placed it into a locked crate.
"Resources disappear quickly when people panic."
Jane crossed her arms.
"And you're the one making sure that doesn't happen?"
The woman leaned back slightly in her chair, studying Jane just as carefully.
"Someone has to."
Angelo stepped forward beside Jane.
"What's your name?"
The woman paused for a moment.
Then she answered.
"Victoria Hale."
Marcus glanced around the station again.
"You all planning to hide down here until you starve?"
Daniel shook his head.
"No."
He pointed upward toward the ceiling.
"We're waiting."
Jane frowned.
"For what?"
Daniel's voice lowered slightly.
"The Bible says the darkness will come first… but God will not leave the world without witnesses."
Angelo blinked.
"Witnesses?"
Daniel nodded.
"Two men who will stand against the Antichrist."
Marcus scoffed quietly.
"You think two men are going to stop that thing?" he said, gesturing toward the unseen sky above where the Dragon ruled.
Daniel didn't flinch.
"I believe God always keeps His word."
Jane turned away, unsettled.
Her entire life she had dismissed faith as weakness.
Yet here it was again… surrounding her in the darkness of an underground station like a stubborn light refusing to die.
Behind her, Victoria finished locking one of the supply crates.
Jane noticed immediately.
"You don't trust people with food?"
Victoria met her gaze calmly.
"Trust is expensive."
Jane studied her for a moment.
She wasn't cruel.
She wasn't heartless.
But there was something in her eyes — a careful calculation, a quiet need to control what little resources remained in a collapsing world.
Outside the station, another distant roar echoed through the tunnels.
The Dragon still ruled the sky.
Jane felt the crushing weight of reality pressing down on her.
Pride.
Desire.
Anger.
Control.
Seven souls scattered across a dying world.
And the Tribulation had only just begun.