Dust hung heavy in the stifling air of the botanical garden, smelling of ozone, copper, and damp earth.
Survivors huddled near the concrete benches, their eyes wide with a terror that no amount of reassurance could soothe.
Leo stepped inside, sliding the heavy metal bolt of the entrance gate into place with a hollow clang.
His hands were shaking, slick with the sweat of a man who had just watched a human life snuffed out in a heartbeat.
Marcus was gone, crushed and swallowed by the monstrous entity patrolling the streets outside.
Shedding human blood for the first time during the fight with the enforcers had left a bitter, metallic taste on Leo's tongue.
He had wanted to be a savior, a legendary hunter who protected the weak, but the reality of the apocalypse was a brutal, unyielding teacher.
Every mistake was paid for in blood.
Thomas, one of the elder survivors he had rescued from the collapsed subway tunnels, stepped forward.
His hands trembled as he held a rusty pipe, his knuckles white.
"We heard the screams from the street," Thomas whispered, his voice cracking with age and fear.
"Marcus didn't make it," Leo said, his voice flat, stripped of the warmth that usually defined him.
"I tried to push him out to safety, but the worm was already waiting beneath the asphalt. We aren't safe here anymore."
Panic rippled through the gathered crowd.
Women hugged their children tighter, hiding small faces against their chests.
Men muttered curses, looking up at the glass dome that was supposed to be their shield against the ruined world outside.
Suddenly, a deep vibration ran through the stone floor, rattling the soles of Leo's boots.
Soil began to sift down from the hanging planter baskets, dusting the green leaves of the ferns below.
Outside, a low, guttural grinding sound echoed through the ground, growing louder with every passing second.
It was the sound of earth being compressed, of concrete being pulverized by a massive, moving weight.
"It's coming back," Leo muttered, his eyes wide.
He ran to the edge of the glass dome, pressing his palm against the warm glass.
Through the reinforced panes, he could see the street buckling.
Asphalt humped upward like a wave, splitting down the middle to reveal a shifting, gray mass underneath.
Worm wasn't leaving.
It had tasted blood, and now it knew there was a concentrated nest of prey resting just beyond the glass barrier.
"Mina, get everyone to the center of the garden!" Leo yelled, turning back to the crowd.
"Now! Move!"
Panicked survivors scrambled, tripping over roots and decorative rocks as they rushed toward the massive concrete pillars in the center of the dome.
Mina, the small orphan girl, whimpered as she ran, clutching her tattered doll to her chest.
Another massive shudder shook the structure.
One of the outer glass panels shattered with a deafening crack.
Shards of glass rained down onto the stone path, sparking as they hit the ground.
Thick, foul-smelling mucus oozed through the gap, sizzling as it came into contact with the humid air of the garden.
Protective barrier of the sanctuary was strong, but it wasn't designed to withstand a siege from a Tier-3 subterranean apex predator.