Seeing that Alicia was having trouble moving forward, Jason grabbed her hands and then rummaged through his backpack for another pair of night-vision goggles for her. After taking off the mask, Alicia was finally able to see her surroundings clearly. She fixed her gaze on Jason and smiled.
But at that very moment, the craters above their heads and the noise coming from above caused everything to tremble.
Boom! Boom!
"Crack…"
The faint sound coming from above, the occasional tremor in the tunnel, and the surrounding noises all seemed to be alerting the walkers below. However, if Jason moved too quickly, he could put both of them in danger.
The psychological pressure and constant physical tension made them both sweat profusely. Their hair was soaked before they even realized it.
As for the tunnel's cracks, everything remained confusing and made little sense.
Even though the situation was critical, they continued moving at a steady pace and soon climbed to the top of the fifth car.
After spending so much time in the dark, when Alicia put on the night-vision goggles, she could clearly see the situation around her. Upon reaching the fifth car, she was pleasantly surprised to discover she could see the end of the train.
She immediately raised one hand, signaling behind her with two fingers to inform Jason of what she saw.
Jason understood right away and couldn't help but smile. His pace quickened slightly.
Tick tock... tick tock...
But at that moment, a single drop of water fell silently from above and landed on Jason's sweaty cheek.
The sudden chill startled him. He looked up, and through the goggles, he was horrified to see that the crack—which previously resembled a spiderweb—was now in extremely critical condition.
Realizing that time was running out, Jason stopped worrying about making noise and began to move desperately. He quickly helped Alicia to her feet so she could move faster too.
Alicia, startled by the urgency, looked up and, upon seeing the cracked ceiling, understood the danger and picked up the pace.
Such hurried movement inevitably caused noise, and soon some walkers sensed activity on the train roof.
But even though Jason noticed changes in the walkers' behavior, he no longer had time to think about it. Water was starting to seep from the top of the tunnel. Looking at the cracks, it was obvious the collapse could happen at any moment. If they didn't take the risk now, the water from above could flood the tunnel entirely—and no one would survive that.
Crack!
At that critical moment, a loud and bone-rattling explosion sounded. Unlike the previous ones, this seemed to go off directly above their heads.
The tunnel shook violently as if hit by a massive force. Large chunks of debris began falling, smashing into the train cars and onto the walkers below.
Roarrr!
The violent quake caused chaos among the walkers, who scattered in all directions, seeking the source of the sound.
At the same time, a huge stream of water burst from the crack that had previously only leaked drops, and gravel started falling steadily from both sides.
"Alicia, let's go!"
Seeing what was happening, Jason knew this was both the most dangerous moment and their best chance to escape. Taking advantage of the sound of gravel crashing down to cover their movement, he shouted in a low voice.
Alicia, still dazed from the tremors in the tunnel, snapped to attention when she heard the growl approaching from behind.
Though they no longer had to worry about noise, the trembling ground made it hard to stay on their feet. They had to constantly fight for balance to avoid falling.
Boom!
The cracking sounds above grew louder, and gravel kept falling, striking their bodies over and over.
Just as they were about to reach the front of the train, Jason got ready. He caught a glimpse of the walkers gathering at the rear and, without hesitation, pulled out another grenade and threw it toward them.
Crack!
The explosion immediately drew the attention of the walkers, just like before.
At the same time, the cracks in the tunnel walls began to spread uncontrollably the moment the grenade went off.
"Let's go!"
The path ahead cleared. Jason signaled to Alicia, and both jumped from the roof of the train one after the other. Upon landing, they quickly scanned the area ahead for any walkers.
Arghhh!
The sound of their landing drew several walkers. Turning toward the noise, they spotted two shadowy figures and began approaching with groans.
But Alicia and Jason had already covered a good distance, with the walkers chasing closely behind.
After moving forward several meters, the cracks above them began to open up, and the destruction spread down the length of the tunnel.
Water was now pouring down violently, and the cracks widened quickly. In the blink of an eye, dozens of fist-sized holes had formed in the walls.
Boom!
Finally, with a thunderous shake, the tunnel wall gave in to the internal and external pressure—and collapsed. In an instant, a massive amount of water from the lake and pipes burst into the tunnel.
The force of the water swept through the dense groups of walkers, slamming them sideways at speeds no human could imagine.
Whoosh!
As the avalanche of water washed the walkers away, Jason and Alicia had already moved far from where it all started. But the deafening sound and shaking from behind told them something terrible was happening.
"Grab my hand!"
At that moment, there was nothing else they could do but keep running. They were only two or three hundred meters from the exit—there was still hope.
Under normal circumstances, Jason wouldn't have been able to run at such a pace due to his injuries. But the morphine was doing its job, numbing the burning pain in his body.
Even so, pushing his wounded body was exhausting him, preventing him from moving at full speed.
"I can't keep carrying this!"
Jason threw off the backpack with their weapons, instantly feeling relief. Alicia followed suit, ditching hers as well.
Without the extra weight, they ran with greater speed and ease.
Boom!
Just as they neared the exit, the surge came barreling after them like an invisible monster, its bloody jaws wide open to devour them.
Hearing the roar of the approaching water, Jason's eyes turned bloodshot and his legs began to fail. Finally, as the wave was about to catch them, he leapt to the platform at the side of the tracks.
He quickly turned and caught Alicia, who was right behind him, just as he saw the wave approaching.
There was no time to think. All he could do was throw Alicia into the space between the steps just as the torrent reached them.
Crack!
The wave struck the side of the rise and was briefly stopped by the solid blocks, but it quickly forced its way through.
Jason, having anticipated this, clung tightly to the handrail and wedged Alicia between himself and the wall so the current wouldn't take her away.
Soon, the wave engulfed them completely—but the force gradually diminished until it faded.
Naturally, Jason didn't want to stay underwater for long. As soon as he could, he lifted Alicia toward the exit, and both of them once again felt the light of the outside world.