The teams scrambled into action, their boots splashing through the red puddles. Hades, Carson, and Father Nicodemus followed the boy into the dark lobby of the building. Inside, the air was thick and tasted like copper. As their eyes adjusted, they heard it_ the chorus of the dying. Painful moans drifted from every corner.
"In here! I need a medic!" Carson yelled over the radio, spotting a woman slumped against a desk.
The rescue teams rushed in, lifting people onto stretchers. "Hold on, buddy," one medic said to a man whose arm was barely attached. "We've got you. Stay with me."
It was a chaotic, heartbreaking scene. There were many wounded people, with gashes and rips on different parts of their body. Most were so skinny that skin was hanging off their frames.
For the healthy residents of Fortress four, this was a sight that evoked relief and guilt. They could only imagine how bad it was for people out there. They had lucked out by joining the fortress in time.
