„This...?” Klaye looked up and saw some shining stones. The whole place was lightened by them. They didn’t seem to be artificial.

„That’s a new type of metal we found here. We still don’t really understand how it’s working. During the day, it will shine like the sun, but at night, its light becomes as weak as the moon’s.”

Vincent put his hand on Klaye’s shoulder and they walked over to some cars. They sat in one of them and left.

Klaye looked out of the window and watched the surrounding. Everything was so miraculous to him. „It’s beautiful.”

Vincent smiled. „Originally, we wanted to find some water sources. Later, we realized there are more caves and we send down all the workers who knew about it. They need to open a way between them and we chose to build here a secondary city.”

„Why?”

„You know Future city’s fate and still asking this?” Vincent was surprised.

Klaye looked at him. If the city would be destroyed in the future, they could move underground. It was a good idea, but it wasn’t definite. They needed food, so no one could stay there for too long. Not to mention those mutated plants. Who knows how deep their roots could reach?

„Connecting these caves... did you find an exit?”

„... Yes, but it’s a little problematic.” Vincent stopped the car in front of a house. „It’s in the middle of the wolves’ territory. And some of them even live in that cave...”

They left the car and went into the house. Klaye saw some soldiers sitting around a big table and drawing something.

„The technology not as good here as in the upper city, but this way the information can’t go out easily. Who knows how many hackers live here.” Vincent commented.

Two soldiers stood in front of Vincent and gave him a narrow report.

Klaye wasn’t interested in it. He walked over to the table and looked at the map. There were 2 similar big caves like the one they were now. They weren’t connected straight, there were some smaller ones between them. Klaye counted them. There were 9 with half of the territory of the bigger ones, and almost 20 small caves were around them. In the middle, the caves were connected with more than one, but the farther ones only were connected to the next ones. The distance was too big and it needed too much work to connect them.

„What do you think?” Vincent stood behind him and placed his chin on Klaye shoulder.

Klaye’s body stiffened. He took some big breaths and tried to relax. „The farther caves only connected in a line. If there a problem and the passage will be destroyed, then it will be almost impossible to help the people over there.”

„We’re trying to find other caves between them, but it’s hard. You can’t destroy the walls without thinking.” Vincent pointed at a cave with a red circle around it. „This one almost collapsed, because we tried to connect it with this one. Now it’s sealed and an oblique way was built.”

Klaye nodded. „So... Why did you bring me here?”

Vincent smiled embarrassedly. „As I told you, there’s an exit. I only heard about it today. They found it some days before. Until yesterday, there wasn’t any problem. But the wolves noticed it and they became vigilant. You have a good relationship with that dog, so we hope that you can speak to them.”

„Say what?” Sorry, if our city will be attacked, we will invade your territory? Klaye felt ridiculous.

„Later we will seal that cave and try to find another exit.” Vincent sighed. „We only need to endure this winter. If the zombies and animals won’t cause too much trouble, then we’ll open some entrance and let the survivors come down. I’ll intend to let them use the big caves because the city is already too populous.”

„How to handle the wolves?” If they suddenly appeared in the cave, it would cause panic. And if they tried to walk through the forest, it would be too problematic.

„Let’s take it slowly. Tomorrow, you’ll speak with that dog, and let’s see how his leader answer.”

„Okay.” Klaye nodded.

The soldiers were surprised. They didn’t think Vincent could find a solution so easily. They lived there and didn’t know about Klaye’s taking care of one of the wolves.

Vincent smiled and grabbed his hand. „Then we are done here, so let’s go. I’ll send down a message as soon as there’s a development.” he nodded to the soldiers and left with Klaye.

They sat in the car but didn’t go back. Klaye was puzzled. „Where are we going?”

„Do you forget? We go to the hospital.”

„That’s has a part underground too?!”

„Of course! The workers here sometimes have accidents. They need treatment too.” Vincent took a sudden turn. „But the bigger part of that building is the institution.”

Vincent made a detour, so Klaye could see more about this place. In the small caves, there wasn’t anything, but the stalactites were beautiful. Klaye visited a lot of worlds before, but it was rare if he could go underground. He really loved the stalactites, because he felt that they were similar. A stalactite needed 100 years to grow 1-2 centimeters. He lived hundreds of years, yet he didn’t felt that he grew up. He still felt as energetic as a 15 years old kid. Maybe he felt this way because he left every world after he completed his mission. He never lived until he became old and died...

Klaye sighed. He didn’t know, how long he could stay in this world...

He came back to his senses when Vincent pulled him into his arms. „What are you thinking about?” he whispered in his ears.

Klaye’s face became red and he looked down. He bit his lips and didn’t answer.

Vincent didn’t like his reaction and kissed him. His hands were restless and messed up Klaye’s clothes. He didn’t know who started it, but they ended up taking down each other’s clothes.

Klaye hugged Vincent’s neck and cooperated with his movements. Right now he wanted to feel him. He wanted to make sure he was still here. He didn’t want his body to forget they were really together.

Vincent kissed his neck and his movement became faster. He hoped to reach the depth of Klaye’s body and leave his mark there. That way it didn’t matter how far away they would be from each other, he would be still his!

Klaye’s body didn’t heal after the previous night. He was in pain, but the pleasure was stronger. His tears fell and he looked out of the window. His thought was confused, but still, one thought was in his head. He didn’t think their second time would be in the car...

Klaye confusedly opened his eyes. He needed some minutes to remember where he was and what he did here...

His face turned red and he touched his chest. He could feel his body was cleaned and he wore new clothes, but he was still in the car... So where did the clothes come from?!

Vincent noticed his movement and gently touched his hair. „Are you tired?”

Klaye shook his head. „How long did I sleep?”

„Only an hour.” Vincent helped him to sit up. „Want to go back?”

Klaye looked at the clock. It was almost 5 o’clock. „Can’t we go to the hospital?” he had some fear and wanted to handle it earlier.

„Of Course! There are always some nurses who can take blood.”

Vincent saw he was still uneasy and agreed. He was here and didn’t let anything bad happen with him. He started the engine. He drove slowly because he could see Klaye felt uncomfortable.

Klaye was shy and didn’t know what to speak about. He played with the radio. Once he heard that their city had 3 channels. 2 of them played different types of music and the last one was for news. He never listened to any of them, but now he couldn’t think about anything.

After 5 minutes, Vincent couldn’t watch his useless attempt and reminded him. „We are underground.”

Klaye’s body froze and after a while, he nodded. He turned away and looked out of the window, only to realize, he couldn’t see the sky or any birds. He felt more awkward. He closed his eyes and listened to the engineer’s sound. He thought about a lot of things and calmed down. Even if he could only live here for some more years, he wanted to spend it happily with Vincent. Right now he needed to work hard and create as many memories as he could. Then engrave them into his consciousness, so he would be able to recall them when he would feel lonely...

Klaye sighed and slowly opened his eyes. His hesitation disappeared and he was able to take the next step towards the future.

Vincent was surprised when he saw his change. He always feared Klaye would break too easily. But now when he looked into his eyes, this feeling disappeared and he only felt calmness. A gentle smile appeared on his face and he couldn’t wait to see how their life would develop.

After half an hour, they reached the hospital. It was a high building with 7 floors and from the top, it was connected to the cave’s ceiling. It was another elevator.

They left the car and walked in. The nurses and doctors greeted them, but no one asked why they come.

Klaye felt a little frustrated. Even if Vincent was the owner of this place, why didn’t they verify his identity? What if someone else used his appearance and tried to steal their researches?

Seeing this, Vincent smiled. They went into the elevator and he closed the door. „Did you forget the elevator we used to come down?”

 Klaye was stunned. That elevator scanned Vincent’s palm... So that’s why?!

Vincent laughed when he saw his stupefied expression.