“I fear we will be lost down here,” Suvan said after just a few minutes of walking.
“I fear the Mutans more,” I replied. “And Tahn knows these tunnels better than we do. We shall have to find a way out before we are trapped.”
The subway tunnel went straight for a few hundred yards before slowly curving to the right. Other than an occasional rat, the only sound to be heard was our feet treading across the ground. The light from the torch flickered uncertainly, and I wondered how much longer it would last before going out. It would be hellish to be trapped down here without being able to see.
From behind, I thought I could hear the echo of many feet. I turned to look over my shoulder and saw lights behind us, bouncing strange shadows against the tunnel walls. The Mutans had started their search of the subway. I grabbed Suvan’s hand and pulled her along at a faster pace.
“We have to hurry,” I said, fighting down the panic I felt welling inside.
We began running in a headlong flight, unconcerned of what could lie ahead. But no matter what our speed was, the lights from behind grew in intensity since the Mutans could move at an untiring pace. We came to a split in the tunnel where the rail lines separated. Without thinking, I took the rightmost one. Next to me, I could hear Suvan’s breath with winded rasps. She was tiring, and I wasn’t doing much better.
We only made it a few yards in when Suvan stopped. “I have to rest,” she gasped out. “I fear that drugged wine is still affecting me.”
“We can’t! They’re right behind us!” I screamed at her.
But my entreaties were too late. There was a flash of light behind us. As I looked, a group of torch holding Mutans was at the mouth of this new tunnel. They saw us, but to my amazement, they did not proceed any further. Instead they stopped, their eyes warily examining the tunnel walls. I did not take the time to consider their caution, but instead I dragged Suvan further along. To my relief, The Mutans did not follow us into this branch of the tunnel.
I should have paused to wonder why, but my first thought was flight. But before I could think further, there was a gentle patter of feet echoing off the walls in front of us. My first thought was the Mutans had us trapped, but since it remained dark ahead, I knew something different was coming from the recesses of this underground maze. There was also a rank, unfamiliar smell. At my feet, I could now see piles of white bones; a skull leered at me.
The sound of footsteps grew louder. I stopped and pushed Suvan to the side. She crouched near the tunnel wall, notched an arrow and drew back her bow.
The torch in my hand was flickering dangerously low, but there was still enough light to see the approaching horror. Instead of a multitude of creatures, there was only a single one. But such a beast will forever inhabit my deepest nightmares and most terrible fears. The outlandish mutation was like a centipede but made of human parts. Where there should have been legs there were instead a multitude of arms with gray mottled hands. These horrific appendages supported a thick maggot-like body some twelve feet in length. At one time the flesh may have been pink, but years of underground living had turned it black with dirt and grime. The head, if I could call it that, was miniscule compared to the bulk of the body. It looked like the head of infant, but the malicious row of teeth and red eyes certainly held no childish innocence.
Suvan let go with her bow and the arrow pierced the body, sinking deeply into the bloated flesh. The creature let out a horrific scream that sounded like a child crying in pain, but at a volume that made my head dizzy. The blood that came out was thick and black. But still the beast kept on coming, the appendages moving at a terrific rate.
Without a further thought, I fired my pistol, the snap of the bullet echoing down the hallway. The shot hit an arm, but did not slow the nightmare down. I pulled the trigger again but nothing happened except for a click that at that moment sounded terribly loud. In the haste of my escape, I had forgotten to reload!
There was no time for that anymore. I slipped the gun into my pocket and reached for my sword. Before I could draw the blade, the creature was on top of me, raising its girth to flail at me with a wall of arms. It moved with amazing speed that took me by surprise. I was hit with a terrific number of blows that sent me reeling away, staggering as I fought to stay upright.
The twang of Suvan’s bow rang next to my ear. Once again, the beast howled with an ear-splitting scream as an arrow sunk deeply into that hideous body.
“Aim for the head!” I shouted as I drew out my sword.
The thing came at me, raising its body once again to rain a series of blows. But this time I had my sword ready. I swept the blade towards those flailing arms, cutting a ragged line into the flesh. A great spasm shot through the body as it recoiled in pain. But still the attack did not stop. This time the creature charged head-on and engulfed me with a tangle of arms, the weight of the body pushing me down to the ground. My sword arm was pinned, and the torch wrenched from my grip.
The rubbery mass choked the air out of me. I couldn’t breathe. The world began to spin away into darkness. I felt my consciousness slip away.
The beast gave a sudden violent shudder and rolled off me. My ribs ached with pain, but felt the rush of air greet my lungs. I opened my eyes and saw Suvan standing over me. She was looking at me with concern in her eyes, holding the flickering torch in her hand. “Are you alright?” she asked.
“I think so,” I gasped. “Help me up.”
With her assistance, I was soon on my feet again. My entire body ached but luckily nothing seemed to be broken. I saw that the creature was dead, it's head pierced by a well-placed arrow.
“When it wrestled you to the ground, it gave me the chance to aim,” she explained.
“It was a near thing,” I gratefully agreed. “But let's move on before the Mutans get brave enough to follow us down here.”
“I just hope we don't meet anything else like that,” she said with disgust. “It was horrible.”
We moved on, walking carefully past the monster. To my relief, we soon came upon a station platform. In a few moments we were climbing a flight of garbage-strewn stairs and up into the night. The buildings loomed above us. We were still in the heart of the city, but it was still a joy to be free of the subways. Before we reached the very top of the stairs, Suvan extinguished the torch and then grabbed my arm.
“Let me take a look before we proceed any further,” she whispered in my ear.
After peering over the edges of the stairwell, Suvan then motioned me to join her. I saw that the street was empty of any living thing, but was crowded with wrecked cars and litter. It appeared that the entire population of the city tried to flee at the same time but were destroyed by some monstrous weapon.
At Suvan's prompting, we began cautiously moving forward. Due to the wrecked cars on the street, we had to take the sidewalk which was strewn with cracked plastic containers, broken glass, metallic wrappers and broken bits from the buildings above. The buildings towered above us, casting ungodly long shadows pointing away from the moon above. It was deathly quiet except for a cool breeze that gusted down the street, kicking up trash.
“We have to find a place to hide, so we can rest,” Suvan said, breaking the silence.
“I know, but where? We could have stayed down in the subway. Up here the Mutans will be sure to find us.”
Suvan visibly shuddered. “No, we will be safer up here. I will not go down there again. I would rather die.”
After walking another block, we came to a building that must have been a store at one time. The glass front was long gone but inside, plastic mannequins with tattered clothing stared lifelessly at us. The doors had been torn open at some time and the ground inside was littered with the decayed goods of the past.
“This will do,” Suvan said with relief. “After we rest, we can scavenge this place for something useful.”
We entered, stepping cautiously through the scattered
trash. The elements had done the most damage, though this place could have also been looted by the Ancients or even the Mutans. As we progressed, the litter started to give away to collapsed shelves and racks that still held moth-eaten and rotted clothing. We setup camp in the back recesses of the store. Suvan fell into a fitful sleep on a heap of tattered clothing while I took the first watch.
As she gently snored, I went over our provisions and wondered how long we could live on our few scraps of food and only two canteens of water. There was a long trip ahead of us and we weren’t going to get out of this valley with the supplies we had. Putting those thoughts aside, I reloaded my pistol with the last remaining bullets. I now had no extra ammunition and could only use the five shots I had left. Based on what we had run into so far, this wasn’t going to be enough to get out of the valley alive. I was glad that I still had the sword and the power of Suvan’s bow.
Chapter 21