The light at the tunnel's end wasn't the salvation Xander had hoped for. It was cold and gray, like a dying breath creeping toward them. His boots crunched over brittle bones and shattered debris as he led the party out of the spider-infested tunnel. They'd fought through the webbed nightmare, the screeches of skittering legs still echoing in his mind. But now, as they stepped onto the city's edge, an even darker reality awaited them.

"Well, I guess we know what the spiders were trying to run from," Xander said through gritted teeth.

"Gods," Jo whispered. Her eyes widened in horror as they took in the ruined city before them.

Champaign, the town they once knew, with its cobblestone streets and bustling markets, was gone. Everyone in Starlight who had been to Champaign was clear that the city was in ruins, but this was the first time Xander, Jo, and Zoey had seen it for themselves. In the distance, they could see the skeletal remains of downtown buildings leaning against each other like broken teeth. Once vibrant plazas were now filled with rubble and decay. Crumbled walls lined the streets, and half-destroyed houses stood as hollowed-out shells, windows shattered, doors hanging from their hinges. But worse than the destruction were the figures that roamed the streets.

Xander's stomach turned as he spotted the first of them. Skeletons wandered aimlessly in small groups. Some still wore tattered remnants of clothes, and others carried rusted weapons in their bony hands. Beyond them, zombies shuffled, their decayed flesh hanging in strips, eyes empty, but their jaws twitching in hunger.

"Low-level stuff," Kane grunted,. "But it's a gauntlet, from what I've heard others say, and the closer you get to the city center, the higher level the monsters."

Xander gritted his teeth, his eyes scanning the streets, lingering on the undead beasts that slunk through the shadows. Things that had once been wolves, now twisted, with glowing red eyes that cut through the gloom. Every instinct told him to press forward, engage, and purge this corruption. But he couldn't ignore the gnawing dread in his chest.

"You okay?" Zoey asked. She managed a smile, but even she couldn't mask the tension. "Bet there's some good loot in there if we make it through."

Xander barely heard her. His thoughts flickered back to Alex. The moment he saw Alex's risen undead body, gangrenous and a mindless killing machine. Being forced to kill the creature Alex had become. Xander didn't act quickly enough or clever enough to save him. The weight of that failure never left him. Now, leading the expedition into this. He couldn't let it happen again.

Jo's hand brushed against his arm, her voice soft but edged with fear. "We need to get back. Tell the others."

He nodded, pulling his thoughts away from her for now. The city was a death trap. "I don't want to push on until we know the trains are running."

Kane's brow furrowed. "You sure we shouldn't clear out a few blocks around the tunnel exit?"

Xander turned to face the group, his voice low, steady. "We need to get back to the main group. I don't want to get into a situation where the undead can cut us off from the rest of the group. That doesn't do us or the expedition any good."

Ford exhaled slowly, his jaw tightening as he stared down at the streets. Xander thought he saw pain in the man's expression, but it was gone a second later. "I'd bet money this is where the regional boss is for the world event…" Ford said.

"Not sure if that would be good or bad," Xander said, his eyes hardening as he turned away from the ruined city. "I'm guessing killing the regional boss would end the event, but I doubt it's a small party encounter. We'll need more people."

"We'll need an army," Ford said.

Zoey gave a quiet nod, her usual grin absent. Even she looked serious now. Maybe she finally realized winging it wouldn't be enough this time.

As the party turned, a flash and a rumble off to the north caught their attention, followed by several more flashes. It looked like lightning reflecting off the clouds during a summer storm. However, there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

"I'm open to thoughts here," Xander said, pausing at the tunnel entrance, puzzled over what they saw.

"Those flashes look like they're coming from the edge of town to the north. A fight, maybe?" Kane responded.

"Could be. Let's get back to the trains. This might be an excellent distraction for us," Xander said before taking off at a trot back down the tunnel. They need to get the trains moving if this was the lucky break Xander hoped it was.

As Xander led his party back into the tunnel's darkness, the faint rumble of battle from the north side of town sounded behind them like distant thunder. Though far off, the suspected battle sent ripples of urgency through his veins. If they were lucky, that chaos might be a distraction, but they couldn't rely on chance. Not with the stakes this high.

"We'd better move fast," Kane grunted from behind his shield, his voice echoing off the tunnel walls.

"Yeah, and we're missing the fun," Zoey quipped, eyes glinting with a teasing smile.

Xander shook his head, barely suppressing a grin despite the tension. "We'll stick to the plan, Zoey. Let's not rush into another fight."

As they approached the dim light at the end of the tunnel, Xander's thoughts shifted from the distant battle to the expedition waiting for them. His mind raced through their options, but there were too many unknowns. They needed a plan, and fast. If that fight ended and they hadn't made it through Champaign, they'd be sitting ducks on undead-infested streets, he thought.

The moment they stepped out of the tunnel, Harvey strode toward them, his warhammer slung across his back. "What did you find?"

Xander pointed back toward the tunnel. "The undead have overrun it. Mostly low-level skeletons and zombies close to the exit of the tunnel, but there's no way we can push through without getting swarmed. There's an enormous battle happening on the north side of town. It might be the distraction we need, but we're unsure how long it'll last."

Harvey's eyes narrowing in thought. "The trains are loaded. If that battle keeps most of the undead occupied, we could make a run for it."

Before Xander could respond, Thalindra's voice cut through the group. "There's another problem."

All eyes turned to the Valdren, who stood with a strange mixture of grace and disorientation. Still adjusting to a world 13,000 years removed from the one she had known. In her hand, she held a small metallic object. Its edges gleamed faintly in the lantern light.

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"Thalindra?" Xander asked, frowning. "What's that?"

Thalindra stepped out of the shadows, a small metallic object cradled in her palm. "While you were gone, I found this," she said. She lifted the device into the lantern light. It was an improvised bomb, ugly and functional, wires and copper fragments wound together in a tight nest.

Xander took a step closer, studying the thing. It wasn't big, but its purpose was obvious.

"It was stashed just inside the tunnel, buried beneath loose stone near the rails. If we'd rolled the steam crane over it..." She didn't finish the thought.

The others gathered in closer. Gary's face was unreadable as he examined the device. His silence stretched a beat too long.

Gary didn't look up. "First, the explosion at Starlight, multiple deaths during the expedition. There's no question we have someone working against us. I don't trust anyone that is with us that was friends with Lucy. We're being hunted."

"Someone wants these trains dead, and they don't care who's standing on them when it happens." His voice stayed even, but the edge in it could have sliced steel.

Xander glanced at the device, then back at Thalindra. "How many others like this do you think there are?"

She shook her head. "Hard to say. But whoever built it knows what they're doing."

"And they're not done." Gary added with venom.

Thalindra glanced at the device in her hand, then back at Gary. "No markings, no distinctive signs. But…" Her voice trailed off, and her sharp, silver eyes met Gary's. "The way it was constructed, it's familiar. The methods and materials used are not random. Unless something changed with the Simulation, someone with the Sapper class most likely created this device."

Xander felt a pang of frustration. The saboteur was becoming more proactive in whatever their mission was. "Great. Just what we needed," he said under his breath.

"So what now? If they planted one, there could be more." Jo said.

Harvey crossed his arms, his brow creased in thought. "We can't sit around searching the entire area for more traps. We've lost too much time already."

"We need to move forward, but we can't risk the trains getting blown sky-high. We'll need a quick sweep, at least," Xander said.

"I'll handle it. I've got two guys that I trust implicitly." Gary replied.

Harvey exchanged a look with Xander before nodding slowly. "Fine. But make it quick. If this battle on the north side holds their attention, we need to move soon."

"Harvey," Xander responded, "We have a chance here, but can't botch this. If we can keep the trains moving and avoid any large battles, we can be on the other side of Champaign before we attract too much attention. I propose the trains don't stop unless they have to. If we run into any groups, either your party or mine will jump off the train and pull the fight away from the tracks while the train keeps going. Your team gets the next one, and we continue to leapfrog. Gary, the guards, and engineers with a ranged attack stay on top of the trains to pick off any individual undead in the way."

"We didn't see any large packs, but I can't say what we'll find the closer we get to the downtown area," Xander added, "I don't want to tempt fate, but unless we attract more attention than we can handle, this is a solid plan."

Harvey stared into the distance momentarily, his face showing that he was weighing the risks. Finally, he said. "We go for it. The trains aren't exactly quiet, but if that battle keeps up, it may mask some of the attention we'll create."

"If one team fell behind… there'd be no rescue," Jo said.

Harvey gave a last look at the group, his voice low but firm. "Let's not let that happen. Nobody gets killed."

The steam trains rumbled forward into the tunnel, the rhythmic clanking of the wheels echoing against the stone walls. As it passed underneath, intricate spider webs from the ceiling clung to the engine's chimney. Xander stood near the tail platform of the first train's last passenger car.

As they emerged from the other side, the faint flashes from the northern battle flickered like lightning. The explosions were distant, but their ominous roar was unmistakable. The buildings loomed on either side, skeletal structures of their former selves, with the occasional flash of movement. A shadow moving in a window here, a glint of bone inside a doorway there.

"The fight is getting louder," Jo said quietly from beside him, her gaze fixed ahead. Her hand rested on the railing.

She didn't turn to face him, but Xander felt the tension. He'd caught glimpses of it occasionally several times since reuniting with Jo. Something about the current situation was triggering post-traumatic stress from whatever ordeal she had endured either at the start of the Simulation reboot or while captured by Victor and the Cult of the Simulation. She wasn't ready to discuss it yet, and he didn't feel this was the time to press the issue again.

"We're not stopping," Xander said, primarily to himself. "We can't afford to."

Harvey, standing a few feet away, nodded grimly. "You called it; the horde's distracted by the fight up north. We've got a window."

Xander watched as Gary's team on the rooftops took quick shots at a trio of skeletal figures shambling along the edges of the roof. A sharp crack of a bow, followed by one of the archer's arrows slicing through the air, and the skeletons crumbled into dust. The scene repeated itself several times over the next half hour.

Small encounters like this had been happening ever since they entered the city. Mostly, it was undead close enough to jump onto the train from the ground. However, every once in a while, a minor thud would hit the roof of the passenger car as the undead dropped from the various bridges they had to travel under.

"Look alive," Harvey called during one especially intense moment.

Off to one side, an undead patrol moved through the streets, marching mechanically toward the northern explosions. Xander tensed, but the undead seemed uninterested in the trains, fixated on whatever battle drew them.

Zoey's voice crackled over the wind. "Got eyes on 'em," she said from her position on top of a boxcar, her bow at the ready. A few of Gary's guards crouched beside her, crossbows trained on the stragglers. "Don't shoot them. The patrol isn't looking our way. Let's keep it that way."

"We're clear," Zoey called minutes later as the entire expedition collectively held its breath.

The trains kept moving, their pace slow but steady. Harvey's knuckles whitened around the handle of his warhammer as the train slowed even further.

"Why are we stopping?" Xander asked, worry edging his voice.

"We're not," Harvey replied as he hung off the side of the car to look down the track. "Just pushing a car off the tracks. Shouldn't take long."

The wheels groaned as they nudged the burnt-out frame of an old car aside, its abandoned shell scraping against the rails. The train lurched forward again.

Xander turned to the back of the train, where Thalindra stood, her figure silhouetted against the pale moonlight.

"Something's bothering you," Xander said.

Thalindra glanced back at him, her expression unreadable for a moment. "The saboteur. I've been watching."

"Watching what?" Harvey asked, stepping up behind them.

Thalindra folded her arms, her silver eyes scanning the distant streets for movement. "I don't think we're dealing with a sapper."

Harvey frowned. "What do you mean?"

"The traps and sabotage. I've been thinking more about it and it doesn't fit a sapper's profile," Thalindra continued. "They're subtle, hidden too well. Sappers, especially engineers, tend to be more… direct. What I've seen points toward a commando."

"What does being a commando have to do with the class someone is? Hell, my great-grandmother was in the OSS back in World War Two, and she was an actress," Jo said, confused.

"Commando is a rogue subclass. Highly skilled in sabotage operations like this. Like many rogue subclasses, they can camouflage their class status when analyzed. A fair amount of specialized classes can do it. Isn't that right, Paladin Kell?" Thalindra explained as she gave Xander a pointed look.

"I recall reading something about that in the Data Forge," Xander deadpanned. While he trusted Harvey and Jo, he didn't want to get sidetracked by a long discussion about his Crusader class. "You're saying someone's faking their class?"

Thalindra nodded. "Yes, I've observed at least three individuals on this train whose classes are listed as Engineer, but they don't act like it." None of them were known to Xander, but Harvey seemed to know of them.

Harvey let out a sharp breath, his gaze shifting to the guards further down the train. "A commando could disguise their class, plant traps, sabotage the trains, and no one would think twice. Everyone would just assume it's an engineer doing maintenance."

"Exactly," Thalindra said.

"Any actual proof?" Xander asked, scanning the faces of the guards. His mind raced through their ranks, thinking of who could be hiding in plain sight.

"Not yet. But I'm narrowing it down," Thalindra replied.

The distant sound of another crossbow shot echoed through the streets, followed by Gary's voice. "Got 'em. Keep moving."

"Thalindra, I'm going to ask you to keep on top of this. We can't stop the trains now, but yet we can't let the commando take another swing at disabling us either. We'll deal with it once we're through the city," Harvey said, his voice low.

"I hate to take a wait-and-see approach to this, but I agree; we can't stop here to sort it out," Xander grimaced.

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