After dealing with the matter in the Corridor of Disaster, everyone returned to the surface. Since many of the aboveground facilities had been severely damaged in the accident a month earlier, the Tanan survivors who had just been rescued from the cryogenic devices were settled in a nearby power plant. The once-thriving Ankatro Family had nearly collapsed overnight because of the disaster, and of its thousands of members, only a few hundred had survived.
The shaken survivors rested near the thermal reactors, relying on the plant's heat pipelines to recover their strength. Wayne led a small group of Demon Hunters to a nearby supply depot and dug out some refrigerated food that was still in good condition to distribute among everyone. The survivors were enveloped in silence and oppression. Some ate quietly, some merely stared blankly at the plant's reactor towers, and others simply lay down, eyes open and unable to sleep. Almost no one spoke. Only the occasional brief question or call could be heard as people checked that those around them were safe, after which the silence returned.
Even Lily had been subdued and docile under such a heavy atmosphere. She crouched in front of a Tanan child, trying to distract him with the exotic stones she had collected. Hao Ren rarely saw the girl being so gentle—although the Tanan child didn't seem interested in the brick at all.
"I deeply sympathize with what happened to you," Hassu said quietly as he stood beside Vogus and looked at the survivors, "even though I'm a Demon Hunter."
"Things will get better eventually. We've gone through harder times than this," Vogus said slowly. His pale golden face showed little emotion. "The Ankatro Family has never been brought down by any hardship. From the day we took over the seal, we