The Endgame Chronicles (by Hugh White) novel Chapter 432

Chapter 430

Chapter 432

The stairwell was bitterly cold.

The moment they stepped inside, a damp, moldy draft rushed straight at their faces.

The place was falling apart. The green paint on the steps peeled in patches like shedding skin, exposing bare brick underneath.

The concrete floor beneath their feet was cracked and uneven. Abandoned bicycles and baby strollers were piled haphazardly at the back of the stairwell. When they looked up, the undersides of the stairs above were covered in clusters of white and dark green mold.

The narrow metal handrail, once painted, was dotted with pitted corrosion marks the size of acne scars.

It looked like a face covered in boils.

The air was thick with the stench of rot and mildew.

On

steps ahead were faint, uneven footprints. They belonged to Raymond and the others.

ng,” the young guy following Hayley said.

ead, following the footprints upward.

Two floors.

her they climbed, the more mold crept across the ceiling overhead.

e time they reached the third floor, the mold had nearly swallowed the entire underside of the staircase. ase black spores clustered within the spreading web of fungus, enough to make anyone with a fear of tight terns pass out on the spot.

Ortunately, everyone with Hayley had strong nerves.

They forced down the discomfort, pretended not to see the nauseating growth, and kept climbing step by step.

But the moment they stepped onto the third floor, the footprints were gone.

“Wait.”

Hayley stopped the young guy who was clanking ahead too quickly.

He turned back, puzzled. “W

“Look at the floor.”

Hayley grabbed hi

The steps we

third-floor landing.

dust.

st a year or two.

up this way.

Hayley pulled the young guy back and stepped into his place, peering down the third-floor hallway.

The corridor looked just as wrecked as the first floor. Trash and debris filled every corner. Only thick dust kept them company.

There wasn’t a single sign that anyone had been there.

Behind them, the faded footprints still remained.

Yet, the group ahead had vanished. Like they had evaporated into thin air.

“Boss, what’s going on?” Leonard asked, frowning hard.

“I don’t know,” Hayley said, shaking her head.

This kind of thing was new to her, too.

‘Doesn’t this hallway feel familiar to you?” Thomas suddenly spoke up.

He stood one step below Hayley, craning his neck to look at the dimly lit corridor ahead.

The scattered books, mugs, children’s homework notebooks, pillows, and trash bags. The placement of everything was identical to the first floor.

Hayley’s heart thumped hard in her chest.

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