TOW The Invasion

By Vellaa

Chapter 4

…

"Taxi!" Waving his arms frantically in the air on the edge of the curb, Chandler's effort in obtaining Monica and himself a cab had still remained unsuccessful.

"Why won't they stop?" he turned to his wife, a scowl written upon his face.

Monica was also puzzled by the number of taxis that drove straight passed them, as though the two were invisible to the drivers' eyes. "I have no idea," she replied dazzled.

Chandler sighed as he raked his hand through his hair, looking around for any kind of transportation they could use to get to their friends, whose lives could very well be at stake.

"I guess we just have to walk," said Monica, though not at all obliged to do so, after what she had been through the last time she walked back from work.

"No, it looks too dangerous," he warned, studying the busy streets and amongst finding several strangers in the distance staring at them blankly he turned back to his wife, "I've already spotted at least a hundred people staring at us. Plus, we won't make it in time. Joey and Phoebe would have arrived at the clinic by now," Chandler stated.

A few moments later, Monica broke their despondent situation. "Hey, look," She pointed towards a cab parked near the curb a few feet away. "There's one there. Quick, c'mon!"

They both ran towards the vacant cab, all the while attracting unwanted attention by a few passer-by's. It was in a matter of seconds when Chandler frenetically knocked onto the cab driver's window, gaining the unhappy man's attention.

"Hey!" Chandler shouted.

Lifting his head from his newspaper, the cab driver slightly jumped as he spotted the two terrified individuals standing outside his cab. "Get lost! I'm not taking any passengers!" the cab driver bellowed, through his window.

"What! Why!?" Chandler asked angrily. "You're not even doing anything!"

Ignoring them, the cab driver started up his engine, about to take off but Chandler was not going to let this go.

Fear struck as Monica suddenly noticed a few onlookers making their way towards them, in their weird zombie like way. "Chandler…" she stated, grabbing her husband's arm. Chandler could hear the worry in her voice and immediately saw what was freaking her out. People were now crossing the street, making their way toward them, though they did not hold the slightest emotion, nor were they looking at all eager. It brought back unwanted memories from Monica's early experience.

"Look, pal! We're not asking you a big favour. You need to get us out of here now!" yelled Chandler, jogging to keep up with the cab, as well as beating its back window.

The cab came to a halt and the driver rolled down his window again. "Look, I don't wanna cause any trouble, and that means no alien freaks in my cab!"

Chandler's frustration at the driver only increased, but Monica knew what he was talking about and stepped forward to endorse in.

"No, no, we're not one of them! We're normal people!" She begged, ignoring how odd her sentence sounded to her own ears.

The cab driver thought as though it were a tough decision before Chandler interrupted him impatiently.

"Take as much time as you need. We're not in a hurry at all," Chandler remarked sarcastically.

"Alright, alright, hop in. Quickly!" the cab driver unlocked the doors, all the while monitoring his surroundings to see if anyone was watching.

Monica and Chandler jumped into the back seats before the cab hurriedly skidded off and into the busy traffic.

"Thanks. We appreciate it," Chandler said moments later, a little calmly than before.

"Yeah, you better. I'm taking a big risk here," said the driver.

"Why?" asked Monica, and scowled when the driver scoffed.

"Haven't you heard? Everyone's been acting so strange these last couple of days. There's already been over 200 cabs recorded to be lost. They couldn't have been robbed. That would be just too many in just under week." he said, in his own ratty voice.

"So, what happened?" asked Chandler, accepting Monica's hand into his own, squeezing it gently for her comfort.

"Well, I don't know," he stopped short until his cab slowed to a stop at the red light, "but rumour has it, they were attacked by their passengers. Why do you think none of the cab's are on service? I was safe until you guys showed up," he added, looking at them through his mirror.

"Sorry, but it's an emergency," said Monica, her voice quivering. "Actually," she whispered into Chandler's ear, to prevent the driver from over-hearing, "We should stop by to see Ross. I think he may be able to help."

"You sure?" Chandler asked.

"Yeah," she whispered back.

"Excuse me?" Chandler politely requested. "Could you make a right at 4th? We need to get to NYU."

"Alright," the cab driver carelessly complied, and as soon as the light flashed green, the cab drifted off down the road.

Chandler, feeling Monica's body tense up, let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her. Monica leaned into his side as he kissed the top of her head. She sighed and let her eyes close as the all too familiar scent of her husband settled into her comfort.

"Don't worry. Knowing them they would've figured something out by now. I'm sure they're okay," Chandler whispered into her hair, knowing well where her thoughts were.

Monica let out long shaky breath to try and steady her nerves. "I hope so," she whispered back. All of this felt surreal and she still could not understand what was going on. Ross was now her only hope, though the state of his well-being was yet unknown.

…

They both let out deep breaths of relief as the large building finally came into view.

"We're here," said the cab driver, before rolling to a stop. "You should be safe here. I don't think there's any weirdos around," said the driver, surprisingly changing from aggravated to concerning.

"Okay, well thanks again," said Chandler handing over the fee. His arm still around her, Chandler looked down at Monica whose head was turned away from him.

"You okay? We don't have to do this if you don't want to," he whispered, nuzzling up against her cheek.

"No. We have to. I wanna know what's going on," said Monica, her head remained locked in place, gazing upon the freakishly immense building.

Without further discussion, Chandler reached passed her and opened her door. Monica cautiously stepped out, Chandler following close behind. She was out of his arms for a few seconds until he grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently. The two walked up the front stairs of New York University and entered the main lobby through the glass doors.

The lobby was quiet. Too quiet, in fact - No students wondering around, or professors waltzing about. It was almost deserted.

"Hmm. I guess college isn't as exciting as it used to be," Chandler remarked sarcastically, but his face held no such humor. Instead, he had worry lines edged along his forehead.

Monica examined the room until her eyes landed on the front desk. They both walked up to it, the only sound filling the room coming from Monica's stilettos. Expecting no-one to be sitting behind the glass window, Monica almost jumped at the sight of an elderly woman at the desk. Both Chandler and Monica grimaced at the woman's state, as she was trembling in fatal shock, with eyes wide open in alert, as though she were on the lookout for something. It seemed as though the woman had no idea they were there, since she did not at all lift up her eyes from the desk in front of her.

In order to gain her attention, Chandler gently tapped on the glass window that was separating the elderly woman from him and Monica.

"Uh, hello?" he questioned.

The trembling woman remained still, as though she did not hear. It took several more knocks on the window until finally she lifted her rickety head, and her eyes widened more when she spotted the two strangers standing behind the glass. They could hear the sounds of her breathing rise, and her face suddenly changed from shocked to incurable fear.

"No! Get away from me!" she yelled defensively, yet her voice depicted more fear than courage.

Monica and Chandler were taken aback by her sudden outburst.

"No, it's okay. We're not trying to hurt you," Monica affirmed serenely, having known how to control one's anger through her psychology course. She smiled slight when the receptionist began to loose her temper, but it only increased when Chandler requested a simple favour.

"We just need you to help us find someone," he said evenly.

"No! Please! Stay away!" the woman's deafening cry was petrifying. "Leave me alone!"

Adrenalin shot right through Monica and she could feel her heart racing against her chest. The woman continued to cry, screaming words that pierced though their ears. Chandler's hold on Monica's hand tightened as he pulled her away from the scene and down the hall. Their only chance was to find Ross themselves.

As the sounds of the woman's cries died down, Monica let go of her ear and turned to Chandler.

"What the hell was that?" she asked stunned and wide-eyed.

Chandler replied with a slow shake of his head. "I have no idea," he muttered softly.

Letting go of his hand, Monica gradually stepped up to one of the classrooms, checking to see if there were any people around, or at least signs of any life in the building. Even the halls were deserted, which was odd for this time of day since classes were still scheduled to be progressing. Cautiously, Monica peeked through the window and into the classroom, though what she was about to see was not prepared for.

"Oh my God. Chandler," she covered her mouth, her body too tense and shaken up to even look away.

Alarmed, Chandler walked up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Oh my God," he said as his eyes landed on forms of what looked to be like splashes of sticky yellowish-webs all over the classroom. The shapes of human bodies could be made out from underneath the goo, as though these people were stuck underneath it, though not at all moving.

"Mon, maybe coming here wasn't such a good idea," said Chandler, concerned, looking directly at Monica.

The two stood completely still in the silent hallway, with Chandler's hand placed firmly on her shoulder. Monica faintly shook her head, mouth open agape. "No," she muttered, finally looking away from the peculiar scene. "We have to look for Ross. I need to know that he's safe," she said. Without waiting for Chandler to stop her, Monica marched down the hallway. Every University contained approximately one science lab situated within the building, so finding one should not be hard, so as Monica thought.

Turning the corner, Monica briskly walked down the dimly lit hall keeping a close eye for anything else creepy or unusual. It was not long until finally she reached a sign with 'Room 102 Science Lab.' written upon it. Before reaching out for the door handle, Monica turned around to find Chandler stumbling up behind her, worn and puffed out.

"Mon, you've got to slow down. There's a reason why I didn't make it into the basketball team," he panted.

Monica smiled for the first time that evening, remembering that even at the most critical of times, Chandler could still keep her happy. That's one of the reasons why she loved him so much.

She kissed him quickly on the cheek, as a way of apologizing, before turning back around and, hesitantly at first, opened up the wide door, where what awaited on the other side made each of them jump out of their own skin.

...

To be continued

AN:

Sorry for the delay but life has become very busy, with never-ending school work and stuff. This story is getting harder to write and so don't expect fast updates, unless one day I magically have free time and would be able to write as much as I want without disruptions. So, I know there aren't many reviews, and if the story sucks or something then feel free to tell me - flames are welcome (I think :S)....

Anyway, please please please review. Even just a simple thanks or hello would be great. Reviews are very exciting ;)

Thanks xx