The Canadian Radio Center was bigger than its outside assumed. Tucked in the dead forests of Anda's dry landscape didn't hide a mere building, but a whole complex. Shattered windows looked out over fenced-off gardens and yards, once beautiful, perhaps, but worn with time and the decline of the air quality. 

Upon first entering, the group of survivors was faced with a lobby, not unlike those of the tall buildings with the many rooms that Wooyoung knew from the desert. A curved counter once served to receive visitors and some plastic chairs were scattered in relatively good shape. 

With his gun braced, Yunho checked the backroom. File cabinets were open and emptied of their contents. The few shelves somewhat intact, were barren.

"Feels like we aren't the first ones to come here," Mingi muttered as he kicked a fallen pot out of their way. With Seonghwa clutched to his side within the confinements of his bag, Jongho stuck to his flank. His eyes were still bleak after the dreadful revelation that he was turning into a foul, but he didn't give up as long as he was sane. After so much planning and traveling, they reached their destination. Now, they only needed to find the place where Seonghwa belonged.

"Raiders that lost their way, most likely. Where to?" Yunho asked as he returned. The path split off into two ways and more doors awaited them down the corridors painted in a friendly orange color. Some signs on the wall explained the layout within the facility, but none of them could read aside from Seonghwa. Even if the round cameras on the ceilings seemed dead, it was risky to expose him here.

"Best we make sure we are alone, anyway. Keep your eyes out for anything that looks like a lot of cables and energy goes there, or that has a screen like him," Mingi grunted. They went for the left wing first and peered through the nearby doors. 

For most rooms, Wooyoung couldn't tell what they were for. They congregated cabinets with countless drawers and office spaces where people worked in the past. Everything was barren of loot and even the funny number boxes were long since cracked open, offering nothing more for them to investigate. Most windows were shattered to let in the haunting silence from outside, but some were cracked with spindly webs. Somehow, their sight was even eerier.

Undoubtedly, this place bustled with life once. Usually when Wooyoung explored ruins, he was saddened to find so many traces of people, clothes, name tags, and personal belongings like pictures or toys. Everyone lived their lives before the bombs dropped.

But this place saw a time after the war started and it might have endured past it if people tried to recover in similar ways as the scientists in Europe who created Seonghwa. Someone got rid of everything that meant personal traces, and what remained was a hollow shell of human memories. As if nothing was left of everyone who once existed here. As if they were wiped out without a trace.

Shuddering, Wooyoung peered out of the window with his rifle. The complex rounded an inner yard and lifted three stories high. Some complicated-looking metal bowls and electricity towers hovered atop the roofs. This place surely had some emergency generators they could activate. For now, the light from outside was enough to explore the empty rooms.

They passed a staircase that led up as well as down and thrust another door open. This one gave way to a large hall. Several tables filled the inside, some destroyed by a crumbled wall. Trays and cutlery were strewn about, which meant this was a place to eat once. Wooyoung had difficulties imagining people here laughing and sharing dinner the same way they did around the fireplace. Not even a jacket or bag was left behind.

"How is the leg?" Yeosang nervously asked Jongho when he noticed his stiff step. No immediate danger lurked, and whoever had ransacked this location would be long since gone. The only risks that prevailed were a leak in the outer wall that let the fouls in or some raiders getting cozy to use this as shelter. But in that case, they probably would have trapped the entrance.

"Holding out," was all Jongho said. Wooyoung caught Mingi turning his head to study their leader. Below his hat, his eyes were cast in shadows, but his jaw was tense. Even now, they were in a rush. If they were lucky, the light of the sun would be enough to slow Jongho's infection to a halt before he lost his mind.

They rounded the lower floor, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. All office spaces were empty and while the building itself appeared welcoming, its stifling silence had Wooyoung flinch whenever one of their boots grazed an item on the floor and produced an echoing noise. He rolled his tense shoulders. They didn't expect anyone here. Hidden in the woods and inaccessible to the fouls, this place was meant to be empty.

But it felt too easy. As if their long journey had to end in more conflict, even when no sane person had a reason to hold them back. Could it really be as straightforward as bringing Seonghwa to his terminal and leaving the rest to him? Wooyoung was hired to protect Jongho and Seonghwa on this journey - which he failed in case Jongho submitted to the fungus - and the rest was their business. Nothing was resolved yet, so it didn't feel like the end, but here they were. In the ghostly, abandoned facility.

They made their way back to the stairs to confer their next move. Seonghwa whispered to them what a lift was, but that it was dangerous to take it despite its convenience. Even if it were hooked up to some battery, it was much likelier to give out without proper maintenance than the stairs.

Yunho and Wooyoung didn't trust any building anymore, no matter how safe it appeared to the eye. Still, they complied and left Mingi to discuss with Seonghwa where to go without having to expose the mysterious seventh voice instructing them to the outside world. 

While they dawdled and checked their surroundings, Wooyoung found himself next to San. For a moment, he contemplated his bandaged hand. He didn't need it while they waited and Wooyoung always found strength in the moments he and Yunho led each other along while wandering the lonely desert. It was never anything important, just a touch in a desolate world to remind each other they weren't alone.

In this group of people, Wooyoung hadn't felt lonely in a long time, even when he never quite understood why his heart craved to be around people since they meant danger and deceit. But this place was haunting. Even their huddled group was fouling from the inside. More than ever, Wooyoung just wanted to hold someone's hand for no reason other than feeling a living being's touch.

How ironic that it was San's fouled hand he wanted to hold the most.

Before he got to act upon the desire, however, San muttered to himself. As if to fill the silence between the two, since he equally desired to hear Wooyoung's voice, but also respected this building and the eyes that might be directed at them from the seedy hideout of a raider.

"This place is massive. With the walls out there, hundreds of people could live here," he whispered, thinking in a communal mind rather than Wooyoung's perpetual bite at anyone but Yunho.

Hesitant, Wooyoung tried to see the place from San's eyes. He could imagine it. A fighting ring outside like the one they found Yeosang in. Some rooms designated for trade and a fire in the hall where people could meet up to exchange information. Some rooms to sleep in and the protection of the forest against the bumbling horde.

Wooyoung tried to imagine himself living in a place like this. Yunho and he always dreamed of settling down in a safe shelter, but they were so used to being on the move. Clearly, San wanted to look over his community again as soon as possible, but could Wooyoung be in the same picture? Could he be with San and ever feel at ease among those he distrusted?

It was no wonder San was insecure about the future. Everything might change once Seonghwa fixed the skies. 

Who knew where they would end up?

"Wait here," Mingi told the others and beckoned Wooyoung along, drawing him from his thoughts. Together, they descended the stairs to peer into the darkness leading to the lower floor. It ducked below the ground, but it hadn't collapsed. While Wooyoung leveled his gun, Mingi slinked up to the entrance to try its give. The heavy steel doors leading to the basement were shut on this side. Relieved that they didn't have to explore it, Wooyoung lowered his weapon when Mingi came springing back up, and he listened to the hushed conversation with Seonghwa. San also pondered the future, but it would need to wait. Perhaps Wooyoung's guilt towards Jongho would hold him back from leaving, anyway.

But San was right. Perhaps this place could shelter people and become a base to expand a new community around the heart keeping them alive.

"We'll go up," Seonghwa decided. They hadn't seen another entrance to the basement, which was good. Though it was also the likeliest place to find loot, they would have liked to make sure no fouls slumbered there. If there was no way in, however, there was also no way out.

Mingi led them up the stairs, and the rest followed. Frowning, Wooyoung trained his eyes on the bag by Jongho's side and caught up with him.

"Hey, Seonghwa?"

"Yes?"

"Once this is over, do you need to stay here?" He didn't understand how it worked. Seonghwa needed to be transferred; he got that much, so he wouldn't be on this laptop anymore, but on the main computer. But did he need to exert his power constantly? Or was it a onetime deal as with the water orbs?

"I can go wherever I want," Seonghwa assured him, but he didn't say if he wanted to. And perhaps he had no capacity to know. After all, he was programmed for this purpose only.

The tension was nerve-wracking. So many questions without answers.

And Mingi had more of them.

"What's going on here?" he asked and Wooyoung lifted his shifty eyes. His worry about whether Seonghwa would continue to need their help drifted into a far distance as he took in the second floor of the building.

No more cutesy orange walls invited for a pleasant stroll. The floors and walls were sterile and white. In the same structure as below, two corridors branched off, but they were divided by ceiling-high plastic curtains. Wooyoung made out a metal structure beyond the left one that looked like a bed.

Unsure, they glanced downstairs where the intention of the building had looked so different. Were these the sleeping quarters? Why did they seem so off?

"Oh! After the war started, they must have used the space as a medical sector. The people tried to build as many hospitals in the shortest amount of time to treat all the injuries. It makes sense that they tried to hide fugitives in the safety of these walls," Seonghwa perked up. He sounded giddy, proud of the old civilization and the battle they fought until the very last minute. 

"So, medicines?" Mingi followed right up, and Wooyoung followed his train of thought. He experienced the desperation that kept Mingi going, and its similarity was uncanny. 

"Perhaps not anything to cure the infection, since this building isn't in use now, but maybe some painkillers," Seonghwa offered. He was dulled not to offer more, but Jongho didn't protest. The flame in his eyes kept him going until the end, whichever outcome he reached first.

"Then it's similar to what my community knows. I might be of help to recognize anything valuable," San offered himself. They changed sides, so he and Yeosang went first, ready to scour out leftover equipment. Even if no loot awaited them, they could use the beds for some rest. Either Seonghwa was where he needed to be until the evening, or they would spend a few nights to get settled in. 

However, the second San pushed the curtain aside and led the group through, a pungent smell hit them. Gagging, Wooyoung grasped for his mask he hadn't worn over his features since they left the desert. By his side, Yunho started coughing and San reeled back. 

"What's that?!" Yeosang choked out while Seonghwa panicked, asking them what was wrong. He had no sense of smell and the stench almost forced the others to their knees.

Hastily, they covered up, but even then Wooyoung almost didn't dare to breathe. The scent was unlike the fouls, not as dusty and sweet. It was metallic and almost rusty but so awful it churned Wooyoung's stomach until he wanted to throw up his meal.

"No idea," San coughed and no one else dared breathe in to add. There was no other option than to find out what secrets the CRC hid.