1. Hometown Glory

As his foot hit the sidewalk off the last step from his apartment stoop, he looked up into the blue, slightly clouded sky and inhaled deeply. He picked his sunglasses out of his jacket pocket carefully and slid them over his squinting green eyes. Although it was a bright day, it was the first day of 'cuddle weather', as his girlfriend called it. Bright, with a crisp chill in the air. It was late September, Indian summer. His favourite time of year. He shrugged to himself and smiled at the sun and he knew, something about this day was going to be different.

He reached the subway station nearby and ran his hand down the railing as he had a slight bounce in his step, ready for his day ahead. He swiped his pass against the machine and pushed the turnstile around with his thigh as he slipped his pass back into his other pocket and slipped his sunglasses back into the pocket they originated from. Making his way onto the subway platform, he slipped his iPod earphones into each ear and shook the player to begin. As he clicked again, again and again to find a song to accompany him on his commute he raised his eyes and they rested on tall girl in front of him.

A green book intertwined her long fingers, a ratty old paperback, though he couldn't see the name of it. She had long blonde hair spilling over her shoulders and down over a cream coloured knitted cardigan, hanging open with what looked like wooden buttons. There was something…curious, about her. A light blue and white patterned dressed peeked out from under the cardigan and finished by her knee. Sparrow-thin legs lead into pulled up white socks and wedged mid-brown shoes. He didn't even realise he'd been watching her that long, when he felt a rush of air coming from his left, telling him the subway was about to emerge. He turned his attention to the dark tunnel, and something chilling trickled down his spine, and it wasn't just the air from the nearby tunnel. Almost in slow motion, he turned his head back to the right and took in the busy platform. Everyone avoided eye contact with each other, too busy with their attention on their newspapers, phones or iPods, just like his own. He turned back to the train coming out of the tunnel and then again to the curious blonde girl. His smile dropped as he knew something just wasn't right. He unhooked his earphones from his ears and dropped them into his pocket.

The train hissed to a stop by the platform, and the doors slid open milling a wall of passengers off and back on. Somehow, he kept track of that blonde hair through the thick crowd of busy people in front of the door nearby. Some sort of urge took over his whole body and he found himself physically drawn to her. His feet carried him forward and he moved through the crowd towards the train doors. He reached his arm out and he wasn't even sure he'd gripped onto the right wrist until her head turned. She turned and her eyes fell to her left wrist. He pulled gently and she fell back through the crowd, against the force of the commuters surging forwards to get onto the train. He gently pulled until she was out of the crowd and he led them back towards the turnstiles. When they reached a concrete wall slightly out of the way he loosened his grip on the girl's wrist and she slipped out of his hand.

'What d'you think you're doing…?' She asked indignantly before looking back over her shoulder at the shutting subway doors. 'I've missed my train now!'
He blinked for a moment, as if realising what he'd done. 'Trust me; you don't wanna take that train.' He said calmly.
'What…?' She said with a hint of irritation in her voice, the book hanging loosely at her side.
'You don't wanna be on that subway.' He repeated.
'What? Why…?'
'I've just got this feeling.' He said keeping his voice low. 'I think something's gonna happen on that train. Something bad.'
'Oh I get it…' She chuckled slightly and reached down into her brown satchel slung on her shoulder and pulled out a small purse. She lifted the flap and pulled out a dollar bill holding it out to him. 'Here take it…'
He looked at her fingers holding out the thin green paper and back to her with an air of confusion. 'I don't….?'
'You're one of those prophet guys, right? That hang out on the street…? You just spout things off to strangers to get money, and no one ever really knows if you really have a gift or if you're just bullshitting for money. So here, here's your dollar, take it…'
He looked down at his dark charcoal suit and back to her. 'No, no I'm not one of those guys. D'you think I'd really be dressed like this if I was one of those homeless guys…?'
'It could just be a clever marketing ploy.' She shrugged looking his clothes up and down. He had a good point, but she wasn't gonna admit it to this, stranger.
He shook his head. 'I'm not some weirdo, I promise, please, all I know is that we need to get out of here.'
'So I'm supposed to trust the hunch of some stranger now? That may or may not be right…?'
He could see her mind begin to race, jumping to the wrong conclusions. He reached out his hand again. 'I'm Sam…' He said with a smile.
'So the stranger has a name.' She shook his hand. 'Doesn't make you any less of a stranger.'

As their hands were connected for that mere moment, and almighty rumble came bellowing out of the tunnel to their right. He let go of her hand and rushed to the corner of the empty platform and saw midnight black smoke rushing in their direction. The whole front of the tunnel was crumbling fast, debris cascading from the ceiling above the platform. He ran back around the corner, his shoes sliding against the smooth floor and grabbed her wrist pulling her towards the turnstiles without stopping.
'Now do you believe me?' He yelled over the loud booms of the continually falling debris and the ghostly moans echoing from the tunnel. They ran through the turnstiles and began hurriedly up the stairs. A second earth-shattering boom spilled out from below them, yet this one sounded a lot closer. Her hand slipped out of his and she fell on the stairs and he looked below them. The turnstiles, ticket and telephone booths where they had just been standing seconds before had been turned into an inferno. He looked over to her hunched on the stairs and dropped to his knees. As the flames licked up the walls metres below them, he tugged off his suit jacket and handed it to her, pushing it towards her face illuminated by the shadows of the flames.
'Put this over your nose and mouth, it'll help you breathe.' He told her, yelling slightly. She didn't say anything, but nodded smiling in recognition, her blue eyes weakly sparkling. She half-covered her face and he grabbed her right forearm and pulled her up, jogging her up the rest of the concrete steps as she limped behind him.

They reached the street air and a loud bang made them both jump and look back down into the black hole below them. Part of the roof had fallen through onto the stairs and she dropped Sam's jacket away from her face. She looked around her and a small crowd of people had formed, staring down into where they'd just emerged from, covered in sweat and dirty marks like some sort of creatures from the deep. A coloured woman stepped forward, looking down at her legs. The woman gasped slightly, pointing at her right leg. 'Honey, look at your leg!' She looked down and whimpered as she saw a deep trail of blood running down from just below her right knee into her perfectly white socks.
He followed her trail of sight and saw her injury. 'Let's get you to the emergency room...'
He wrapped his left arm around the back of her shoulders directing her through the crowd and helping her walk towards the road.
'I can take care of myself…'
He slightly squeezed her left shoulder to comfort her. 'Let's just get you to a hospital.'