Arising Flame of The New Phoenix

Chapter 3: A way out

Throughout the hallways, it is cold, dark, and hard to breathe in.

Wary of the darkness and the unknown parts extending beyond the dark, she continues to advance.

As remembered, she follows the correct paths, amount of turns, and the amount of floors as she descends and ascends through the staircases. All in an effort to find the entrance as stated by the map.

Eventually, she arrived at a new segment of corridors; which she remembered by the map as 'Quarters'. The routes required to reach the entrance seem to share the path to the quarter and recreational areas. With this, she can conveniently explore both places while pursuing one path at the same time.

As expected, the old inhabitants are long gone and have abandoned their rooms, leaving it to be eaten away by rusts and swallowed by dust.

Although expected to find nothing, she continues to search each one of the rooms regardless.

Fortunately, the old inhabitants did not attach or apply any security measures for their personal spaces; leaving the doors unlocked by default.

"Maybe I can find proper clothes and useful tools around here."

Realizing that her lower limbs are unprotected from the cold, she prioritizes finding any spare clothes as insulation to keep her body away from freezing.

With the help of the flashlight, she enters one of the rooms.

Inside, other than an endless extension of rusts and dust blanketing and plaguing across the room, many objects essentials such as furniture and appliances can be found scattered throughout. Personal belongings such as books, clothes, and equipment are still present, as if the previous owner was forced to abandon their belongings behind.

She checks every drawer, kabinets, and lockers in a hope to find something. Unfortunately, nothing else but useless items covered in dust are the only thing found.

"It's getting really cold around here..."

Upon arriving in the area, she feels the cold breezes are becoming even more intense and colder the longer she wanders around. Could it be because she is approaching closer to the surface? If it is true, she thought it would be wise to find proper insulation if she were to ascend higher to the surface. It wouldn't be beneficial to fall freezing first without even finding the entrance.

Shivering, she combes the room in search of apparel.

"Aha! Pants!"

Fortunately, a set of uniforms covered in dust was found hanging in the wardrobe.

"These should be enough for a while."

Continuing her search, she moves to other rooms. But just like the first, there is nothing else to be found other than worn down equipment and dust.

But among them, she found what seems to be a family photo inside a broken frame. Recalling back, she notices that the room appears to be a normal residential room. Considering they are built inside an odd facility, the design of the rooms are suited for the owner's taste. Bringing personality and hints of life to every room, even after the state of the room now is barely recognizable.

Resuming the task, she advances through the dark hallways again; now with the sole goal to find said entrance in mind.

She feels a lot warmer now that she has proper clothes to insulate the heat. With this, she is a lot more confident to move through the dark.

Following the path, she eventually reaches a massive room, tall enough to fit an aircraft and wide enough to store several trucks. She thought it seemed pretty unusual for there to be the main entrance here - the presence of a vehicle and technical equipment suggests that this area is similar to a garage, with an addition of technical equipment scattered throughout the area.