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"So many lives lost."
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Catherine Deckard
Hex Code: #191970
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"So many lives lost."
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Catherine Deckard
Hex Code: #191970
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"What do you mean, 'don't worry'? It's been hours!"
Tyler's voice came through the phone. "Yeah, I know. I had forgotten my phone back at our apartment." She sounded exhausted.
"You're back at the apartment!?"
"No, not anymore. The place was crawling with... things."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. The skies over here were full of them."
"Where are you now?"
"Shut-away, in some old subway line or something. I didn't bother to get up, my body's been aching too much. Unlike you I don't have any family here to worry about."
"Had."
"What?"
"Had family. I was at my Uncle's shop when this all hit. He's gone Cath."
"Oh my god. . . I'm so sorry. Where are you now?"
"Holed-up in an old warehouse, just past that deli you got food-poisoning from."
"That's not a lot to go on, but I'll make my way there. Hopefully without running into anymore creatures."
"Hey Cath?"
"Yeah?"
"Stay safe."
The call ended.
Catherine stood up, stretching. The world outside was being reduced to rubble, yet she still felt oddly complacent. Maybe it was the shock, the adrenaline, the energy in her body, or all four, but up until the call from Tyler, she had been fairly content with lying in the grit and grime of the subway.
Reinvigorated with a sense of purpose, she set down the set of stairs before her, descending further into the darkness. Confused, she squinted in the darkness. She was certain she had at least seen some light down here before. But now, it was almost pitch. Reaching an old gate, she walked past the iron door, before tripping and falling to the ground.
Pushing herself up, she looked at what tripped her. In the low-light, all she could see was a rough, weirdly shaped black thing. Then, her eyes were drawn to a faint dim glow in the darkness. A flashlight pointing towards the floor. Snatching it, Catherine looked back only to stifle a scream.
The thing that had tripped her was a body. The burned and broken corpse of a fallen security guard. His body was completely charred in some places, burnt to a black husk. His face was twisted in a state of perpetual agony as he reached towards the door.
He had died escaping something.
Chilled, Catherine turned away from the man. Wherever she was, it had suffered from serious fire damage. The ground was burned away, and embers dimly burned around her. The landing was completely empty, save for the guard lying near the gate. Crossing the short distance to the wall, Catherine came to a map, planning her route towards the warehouse. Peering over the edge of the landing, she stared into the darkness, searching for the two pinpoints of light of a train.
Only darkness.
It wasn't a far drop down to the rails, but it was far enough to give Catherine pause. She hopped down onto the track, making sure to keep the flashlight in hand. Checking the sign back at the top of the platform, she set off into the darkness. The ground crunched beneath her footsteps, the evidence of fires grew more frequent, and despite the burning embers around her, she felt cold.
Another light tremor rattled through the tunnel. The sounds of falling dust gave way to a different sound; moving rock. It sounded like stones scraping together, and persisted until it began to sound like something clawing through concrete. Then, just at the edge of her vision, Catherine saw something. In the middle of the tunnel, directly before her lie a small crater, embers and coals glowing and burning around. The sound of cracking rock shook through the tunnel as deep jagged lines broke through the crater, and flames began to slither from the embers, glowing with a sinister flare in the darkness.
In the very center of the crater, the concrete shifted. Then it shuddered. And finally it exploded open, revealing a sleek black body with burning slits of fire for eyes erupting through the rock. In a matter of seconds, the head and body of the creature had emerged from the ground, looking almost canine.
The hound burst through the rest of the rock, sparking more flame from the embers. It had long, needle-like teeth, and seemed to smolder hatred. Catherine found herself unable to look away from the creature. Then it looked over at her. It gave a deep, guttural bark, and soon enough, more points of the crater began to start falling away.
The bark stirred Catherine from her stupor. With no other choice, she turned and ran back down the tunnel. Looking back, she saw several of the burning, black dogs, each running after her with impressive speed.
A second rumbling began in front of her. Looking back down the tunnel, she saw two pinpoints of light, rapidly speeding towards her. The ruble grew into a muted roar before shifting into an echoed screech of rails and roar of wind. The light from the oncoming train bathed Catherine as she ran directly for the side of the tunnel. A narrow walkway between the tracks and the wall raised up before her.
Leaping as high as she could, she quickly clambered up to the top of the walkway before the train rocketed past, obliterating the hellhounds.
When the train finally past, she looked back down on the tracks, to see several small burning spots of ash and ember. Only, a faint shimmer hung in the air around the burning piles. Soon, the disturbance began to spiral upwards, almost like a smoke, before crossing the distance of the tunnel, and drilling straight into her arm.
The marking burned into her hand glowed, as she felt the now almost familiar burn of electricity underneath her skin. She flinched, holding her arm out, waiting for something to happen. But nothing happened. No sparks, no light, nothing.
Sighing, she calmed herself, and began walking down the tunnel again. When she came to the crater, she found the train. It was demolished. Derailed from the crater, it lay in a burning crumpled mess. Nobody seemed to be left inside. Gingerly walking around, she traveled until she came to the next platform, where she crawled up and onto.
Then the sound of footsteps descending the down to the subway pierced through the eerie silence.
The steps were quick, and in no time at all, a figure emerged from the light of the staircase.
It was the man from the museum.
"Hey kid. You alright?"
Tyler's voice came through the phone. "Yeah, I know. I had forgotten my phone back at our apartment." She sounded exhausted.
"You're back at the apartment!?"
"No, not anymore. The place was crawling with... things."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. The skies over here were full of them."
"Where are you now?"
"Shut-away, in some old subway line or something. I didn't bother to get up, my body's been aching too much. Unlike you I don't have any family here to worry about."
"Had."
"What?"
"Had family. I was at my Uncle's shop when this all hit. He's gone Cath."
"Oh my god. . . I'm so sorry. Where are you now?"
"Holed-up in an old warehouse, just past that deli you got food-poisoning from."
"That's not a lot to go on, but I'll make my way there. Hopefully without running into anymore creatures."
"Hey Cath?"
"Yeah?"
"Stay safe."
The call ended.
Catherine stood up, stretching. The world outside was being reduced to rubble, yet she still felt oddly complacent. Maybe it was the shock, the adrenaline, the energy in her body, or all four, but up until the call from Tyler, she had been fairly content with lying in the grit and grime of the subway.
Reinvigorated with a sense of purpose, she set down the set of stairs before her, descending further into the darkness. Confused, she squinted in the darkness. She was certain she had at least seen some light down here before. But now, it was almost pitch. Reaching an old gate, she walked past the iron door, before tripping and falling to the ground.
Pushing herself up, she looked at what tripped her. In the low-light, all she could see was a rough, weirdly shaped black thing. Then, her eyes were drawn to a faint dim glow in the darkness. A flashlight pointing towards the floor. Snatching it, Catherine looked back only to stifle a scream.
The thing that had tripped her was a body. The burned and broken corpse of a fallen security guard. His body was completely charred in some places, burnt to a black husk. His face was twisted in a state of perpetual agony as he reached towards the door.
He had died escaping something.
Chilled, Catherine turned away from the man. Wherever she was, it had suffered from serious fire damage. The ground was burned away, and embers dimly burned around her. The landing was completely empty, save for the guard lying near the gate. Crossing the short distance to the wall, Catherine came to a map, planning her route towards the warehouse. Peering over the edge of the landing, she stared into the darkness, searching for the two pinpoints of light of a train.
Only darkness.
It wasn't a far drop down to the rails, but it was far enough to give Catherine pause. She hopped down onto the track, making sure to keep the flashlight in hand. Checking the sign back at the top of the platform, she set off into the darkness. The ground crunched beneath her footsteps, the evidence of fires grew more frequent, and despite the burning embers around her, she felt cold.
Another light tremor rattled through the tunnel. The sounds of falling dust gave way to a different sound; moving rock. It sounded like stones scraping together, and persisted until it began to sound like something clawing through concrete. Then, just at the edge of her vision, Catherine saw something. In the middle of the tunnel, directly before her lie a small crater, embers and coals glowing and burning around. The sound of cracking rock shook through the tunnel as deep jagged lines broke through the crater, and flames began to slither from the embers, glowing with a sinister flare in the darkness.
In the very center of the crater, the concrete shifted. Then it shuddered. And finally it exploded open, revealing a sleek black body with burning slits of fire for eyes erupting through the rock. In a matter of seconds, the head and body of the creature had emerged from the ground, looking almost canine.
The hound burst through the rest of the rock, sparking more flame from the embers. It had long, needle-like teeth, and seemed to smolder hatred. Catherine found herself unable to look away from the creature. Then it looked over at her. It gave a deep, guttural bark, and soon enough, more points of the crater began to start falling away.
The bark stirred Catherine from her stupor. With no other choice, she turned and ran back down the tunnel. Looking back, she saw several of the burning, black dogs, each running after her with impressive speed.
A second rumbling began in front of her. Looking back down the tunnel, she saw two pinpoints of light, rapidly speeding towards her. The ruble grew into a muted roar before shifting into an echoed screech of rails and roar of wind. The light from the oncoming train bathed Catherine as she ran directly for the side of the tunnel. A narrow walkway between the tracks and the wall raised up before her.
Leaping as high as she could, she quickly clambered up to the top of the walkway before the train rocketed past, obliterating the hellhounds.
When the train finally past, she looked back down on the tracks, to see several small burning spots of ash and ember. Only, a faint shimmer hung in the air around the burning piles. Soon, the disturbance began to spiral upwards, almost like a smoke, before crossing the distance of the tunnel, and drilling straight into her arm.
The marking burned into her hand glowed, as she felt the now almost familiar burn of electricity underneath her skin. She flinched, holding her arm out, waiting for something to happen. But nothing happened. No sparks, no light, nothing.
Sighing, she calmed herself, and began walking down the tunnel again. When she came to the crater, she found the train. It was demolished. Derailed from the crater, it lay in a burning crumpled mess. Nobody seemed to be left inside. Gingerly walking around, she traveled until she came to the next platform, where she crawled up and onto.
Then the sound of footsteps descending the down to the subway pierced through the eerie silence.
The steps were quick, and in no time at all, a figure emerged from the light of the staircase.
It was the man from the museum.
"Hey kid. You alright?"