Part II: A Path Diverted
The further they went into the city, the more people they came across. A lot of them were covered with dust, others a mixture of blood and dust. They stumbled past the group, eyes glazed over with fear and panic. Jason wondered if another building collapsed or if they were from the group present when Woolworth was destroyed. The mass of the crowd would increase or deflate depending on how many were grouped together. Rob was far ahead of them, it was becoming difficult to keep his eyes trained on him.
So many heads were bobbing up and down that Jason would loose sight of his brother for a second then spot him a few minutes later. Lily was doing a far better job of keeping up with Rob than he, Hud and Marlena were and she was wearing four inch stiletto heels! He would have the rotten luck to getting stuck in thickest part of the mob. Slowly, Jason edged his way toward the end of the side walk as Rob walked further out into the street. "…Wrong way, man!" A passing voice cried as he entered the alley. Jason cast a brief look over his shoulder, Hud and Marlena were right behind him. "Guy's, hurry up!" He shouted. Once he bypassed the crowd, he ran after Lily and Rob.
"They're leaving us behind!" Hud proclaimed breathlessly. "I noticed," Marlena huffed, picking up her pace. Her feet were aching from running in her wedge platform boots, the passing crowd didn't make things any easier for her. If anything was bothering her more than sore feet, it was fact that the three people ahead of her weren't listening to her pleads to go back. They were practically following the path everyone was running away from. As much as Marlena wanted to leave, she didn't want to be separated from her friends.
The duo continued to follow Rob, Lily, and Jason through the particularly lengthy and twisting street. As they did, Hud would occasionally check the camera. He turned it off earlier to conserve battery life (all they were doing was running from place to place), looking around at path in front of him made him wonder if he should turn it back on already. Might as well, he thought tiredly. Turning the camera on, he surveyed ground through the view screen. Looking up from his side Hud noticed Marlena was no longer beside him.
Automatically, he looked from side to side before spotting Marlena walking alongside Lily. "You know what I'm talking about, right? You can't possibly think this is a good idea," She said. Lily didn't answer her, she continued to stride semi-confidently down the street. Marlena stumbled a bit, Lily moved to catch up with the Hawkins brothers, nearly striding in sync with each other as they walked. "..don't' believe this shit!" Hud heard Marlena curse. She looked over her shoulder at him with irritated expression. "C'mon, Hud!" Without comment Hud picked up his pace.
Their journey across the city continued without much hindrance, Jason continued to pace himself as he followed his brother and girlfriend. He was regretting now seven plus beers he downed at the party; His head was pounding and his stomach was cramping from his awkward breathing pattern. "Rob! Hey, Rob, wait up!" He said. Jason turned his attention to the party behind him, Hud and Marlena continued to lag behind, shouting a plead to turn and go back.
Jason focused his attentions on the world ahead of him, as far as they traveled there was no turning back now. "Jason, hurry up!" Rob called over his shoulder. Jason heaved out another breath choosing to ignore the irritation behind his brother's words. Doing his best to ignore the cramp, Jason picked up his pace and soon was moving beyond Rob.
Ahead of them a body of people came running out of an alley, without warning Rob rushed head first into them and entered the alley. Damnit, Rob, slow down! Jason growled as he broke into a run. He ran head first into three people, they pushed him away and ran down the sidewalk screaming. Jason bounced on his toes waiting for the next opening, in the corner of his eye he spotted Lily vanish in the crowd. Finally, a opening presented itself to him, Jason raced through.
The number of people running in his direction kept him sticking close to the wall, he pushed away every so often whenever he got too close to wall, his cramp was getting worse. "Rob, Lily!!" He called. They didn't respond, they continued onward into the alley with haste. "Shit!" Jason pushed away from the wall once there was an opening and started to run. He caught a brief glimpse of Lily when she stopped to let a woman and her children go by before she proceeded onward and out of his sight.
Jason nearly caught up with the two when a man ran straight into him. "Whoa, hey--" Jason's rushed apology trailed off as soon as his ears picked up on the man speaking to him… in a foreign language. The young man could feel the tremors of the man's shaking body through his arms. The man leaned up close on him, mouth moving quicker than Jason's brain could process. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I don't understand -- please. Sir, I don't understand you!" Regretful, he wrenched himself from the man's grasp and took off down the alley. He came to a halt outside the alley, he surveyed the area, searching for Rob and Lily.
"Jason!" Lily's voice came from the right. Jason shifted his gaze, Lily and Rob were standing at the far end of the block, beckoning him. Nodding quickly he turned around. Hud had been stopped by the foreign speaking man, Marlena was trying to get him to follow her. "Guys, hurry the.. hurry up!" Jason swallowed the profanity that would've came after his first sentence. He raised a hand in Lily and Rob's direction, signaling them to wait. Hud finally managed to get past the man, he and Marlena started in his direction.
Somewhere along the line, Rob and Jason got into argument over which direction would take them to Columbus Circle quicker. Jason suggested going through Soho and Greenwich Village, it would take them directly to Midtown West and 59th street. Rob on the other hand, opted to travel through East Village, Gramercy, and Midtown East to Beth's apartment complex. Granted, the paths were alongside each other, but Rob's way was shorter, even Jason couldn't deny that. A good hour later, the group was making steady progress toward East Village. They walked in a semi-row; Jason was in the middle of the group, Rob and Lily walked ahead next to each other, Hud and Marlena took up the rear, also walking next to each other.
Their progress was better, there was not a soul on the street which made their journey a little easier. In the distance sirens and machine gun rapport could be heard alongside the occasional explosion. To Jason, the sounds seemed to be coming from every direction, it was hard to discern a lot of the background noise, however. "Uh, Rob? Have you tried calling 911...see if somebody else can get here?" Hud asked. He was done trying to convince his friend to turn back, but if there was a chance that someone could get to Beth before them, Hud hoped Rob would jump at the opportunity for aid. Rob cast a glance over his shoulder as he answered, "Yeah, I tried!"
Suddenly, Jason snapped his fingers. "My phone! Babe, where's my cell phone?" He exclaimed excitedly. Lily could offer her boyfriend nothing beyond a shrug. She told him that she didn't remember what happened to his phone after they escaped the bridge. "I might've dropped it. I'm sorry," Lily said. "No, no, its fine," Jason waved at her dismissively, even though he was disheartened by the fate of his cell phone.
"Okay, well, what about the police? Fire department?" Hud continued.
"I couldn't get through, man," Rob replied. "I tried, I…"
"Okay," Hud interjected. "Its -- it just seems a little--" Hud's words were lost to the wind. Ahead of them a roar echoed over head followed by a monstrous pair of lankly limbs that appeared from behind the buildings. "Oh Shit!" Hud proclaimed, terrified. The group stumbled to a halt, with the exception of Jason who tripped over his feet and fell down. A second barley went past before a rocket flew overhead, leaving a trail of smoke in its wake. Lily and Rob ducked, dropping to the ground. Jason whipped around and nearly pissed himself. The military was coming right at them, weapons hot and firing straight at the creature! They appeared oblivious to their presence, however.
"Oh, fuck!" Jason cried. Rob and Lily made a run for it towards the sidewalk. Marlena slipped across the street trying to escape the oncoming soldiers and the tank. "Oh, Shit! Oh, God!" Hud turned away from the army and dashed the nearest available shelter. Jason was the last to flee the street. Willing his paralyzed muscles to obey him, Jason scrambled for the space between the two vans as the soldiers came up on him, ignoring the frantic cries of his girlfriend. Falling down across from Hud, he threw himself against the bumper of the vehicle and pressed his hands to his ringing ears. His stomach clutched up in reaction to his rapid intake of breath, his heart was beating quicker than he could even imagine.
This was nuts! How the hell did he end up a position like this? In the middle of a crossfire between the enemy and allies? Soldiers filed past them on the sidewalk and street, shouting orders like madmen. His body twitched with every fire of a gun, opening his eyes he watched as the tank rolled past them and fired its cannon. It moved on, several soldiers took its place. They fired the FGM-148 Javelins at the creature before moving ahead as well. Explosions rang out and a completely different roar emitted from the creature. Soon the entire brigade left his line of sight, he focused on Rob, Lily, and Marlena hiding down in a incline. Rob started to climb up the stairway, Marlena tried to pull Rob back down into the incline, he resisted her meager attempts to pull him back down. "Rob! Rob! Hey, Rob!" Hud screamed over the chaos. Rob shuffled over to the edge of the car and started to point forward. "Hud… son… gonna….is way!" Both men shook their head in confusion, what was he trying to say?
"We -- I can't hear you!" Jason shouted at the top of his lungs. "Subway!" Rob shouted again. Hud shouted out his confusion to his friend, Rob did not try to clarify. Instead he moved back over Lily and Marlena, he began to coax them out of their hiding space. Lily was the first to rise from her space, she gripped Rob's arm to steady herself while Marlena climbed back onto the sidewalk. What the hell are they about to do? Jason thought panicked. Without a word Marlena grabbed Lily's hand and hurried past Rob, Jason's eye widened with fear. "Lily! No!" He screamed. Their crazy!
Rob was pocketing his cell phone when he started to beckon his brother and friend toward him. "Come on! Come on!" His yelling was barely heard, but Jason and Hud got the general jest of his body language. Jason nodded to himself, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Shooting on brief look at Hud, Jason grabbed the young man by the shoulder and propelled him forward. "Move it, Hud!" He shouted jumping into the fray. Hud watched Jason disappear around the car, it was his turn now. "Oh shit! This shit is crazy dude!" He was screaming to himself as he righted the camera.
He followed after the others, watching as the air was set afire by RPG's and automatic gunfire aimed toward the roaring creature. They bounded across the sidewalk toward the Spring Street station entrance, Lily was the first to reach the stairs when its foot came crashing down -- just a few feet away from her. She made her way down the stairs without incident, followed closely by Marlena and Rob. Jason used the light fixture to propel himself down the stairs faster, he tripped over his pants legs as he hurried down the stairs.
Another roar echoed overhead, Jason grabbed the railing to steady his wobbly legs. Acting on pure instinct, he turned to get a glimpse of the creature terrorizing them. His stomach dropped. Surrounded by fire, the beast looked like nothing he'd ever seen before. Imaginative or otherwise. Large onyx eyes that reflected everything, stared into nothing. Jagged teeth and forked tongue sticking out of a rectangle shaped mouth, slick skin that went unaffected by the military barrage and a roar that stilled the very air around him.
A rouge grenade exploded right next to the lamp post, the creature vanished in the fire and smoke. In the midst of the chaos, he had no time to move away from Hud before he tripped down the stairs, crashing into him. They fell backward, for the second time that night Jason was knocked senseless. Both men went tumbling down the stairs in a tangled heap of limbs, Jason cried out in pain as his body smacked against the concrete stair edges several times. The world stopped spinning abruptly, Jason's body was the unfortunate cushion to break Hud's fall. "Hud! Jason!" Rob's voice sounded so distant in Jason's ears, he believed him be miles away.
Rob raced toward the two fallen men, reaching over he pulled Hud off his brother. "Hud! You okay, man?" He asked. Hud nodded shakily moving forward, Jason was struggling to pull himself off the ground when Rob assisted him. "I'm okay…," Jason wheezed, stumbling. Rob ignored his brother's pitiful rebuke against assistance and helped him over to the ticket validation machine. With trembling legs, they hoisted themselves over the bars and resumed running. They made haste toward the others, now hunched over or sitting on the ground, out of breath. Jason's vision steadily returned him, he stood upright a little more.
Suddenly his stomach heaved violently, he gagged on the bile that reached his throat so quickly. Rob nearly stopped when his brother twitched in his grasp. "Let.. ugh… Jesus," Jason pushed away from his brother and made a dash for the edge of the platform. He made it half way there when he started to vomit. He flinched in disgust at the sight of his own half-digested food splattered on the ground, another unpleasant upheaval had him focusing on aiming the bile over the edge of the platform. Falling to his knees, he braced his stomach with one hand and continued to vomit.
Across from him, Rob and the others, with the exception of Hud, were trying to pull themselves together. "Dude, what the hell was that?!" The armature cameraman cried. They shook their heads, breathlessly blurting out their answers at the same time. Scared out their minds, the young men and women sat in a semi-circle, listening to the battle rage above them and the eldest of their group vomit. The lights flickered with every tremor of an explosion, dust drifted down from the ceiling in like waterfalls. Lily flinched when a light sprinkle of dust fell on head, stepping out of the line of dust she made her way over to Jason.
The putrid smell of beer and digested food was almost too strong to bear, placing a hand over her mouth she moved over to Jason's side. By this time, Jason was dry heaving and choking on the acid taste left in his mouth. "Jason?" Lily inquired, lowering herself to his level. Jason glanced up at Lily in question, wiping his mouth with his sleeve he crawled away from the edge. "I think I drank too much… or something," Jason coughed. "Sorry." Lily nodded in silent understanding, grabbing his vomit-free sleeve she helped up onto his feet. Jason wanted to shrug her off, but her touch was far too comforting to his frazzled nerves, so he let her hand remain on his arm.
Marlena was still on the ground sobbing, "Oh, my God.. I dunno, what--" over and over to herself as she struggled to get herself together. She barely took notice of Rob moving away from them. Jason on the other hand watched his brother with anxiety. He could see the wheels turning in Rob's head as he peered into the dark of the subway tunnel and glanced at the sign above his head. Rob was making his way back to them when Hud stood up, checking the camera for any damage. Rob regarded the sign again before looking toward his friends. "Okay, this is good.. We can just … cross to the other side…"
Jason's heart skipped a beat at the very notion his brother was presenting and judging by the near flabbergasted expressions on Hud and Lily's faces, he wasn't alone. "No, Rob, we not going anywhere. We were almost killed out there!" Jason yelled, his sore throat straining.
"…And wait for there to be a lull… and we can just--" Rob continued, the panic in his voice becoming more apparent. He was so desperate to get to Beth that he was willing to put them and as well himself in unnecessary danger to do so. "Rob, there's not going to be a lull! The air caught fire!" Hud shouted. Jason watched his brother's mouth clamp shut in surprise, he was even a little surprised. Hud wasn't known for angry outbursts, which isn't say they never happened, but when they did they surprised the offender(s). Rob stared at his friend in disbelief. "I... we have to get to her," He said. There was so much blame reflecting in Rob's eyes, that Jason could've mistaken it for tears. Groaning, Jason pulled himself out of Lily's grasp and proceeded over to Marlena, who remained on the floor.
"Listen to me, Rob, we are with you man, okay? But.. seriously, you gotta listen to what's going out there," Hud said. As if on cue several explosions went off above them, causing the group to glance upward. The lights flickered on and off from the tremors disrupting the electrical currents. Lily closed the short distance between them, placing a hand on Rob's arm. "He's right Rob. We have to wait," She said shakily. Rob maintained the blank expression on his face, he regarded Lily's ashen face, cheeks smeared by dried tears and ruined mascara, unsure if he wanted argue. He made brief eye contact with Hud before stalking off to the end of the platform.
"Hey, you okay?" Jason inquired, helping Marlena up off the ground. The brunette nodded her head slowly removing her arm from Jason's grasp. Folding her arms across her chest, she swayed a little from side to side. Jason watched her worriedly, he parted his lips to speak when the outburst of "Shit!" across from them and the clatter of a newspaper stand as it hit the ground, startled him. "Rob!" Jason snapped angrily. "Jason, don't!" Lily spoke up before the predetermined situation could escalate. Rob turned and glared at his brother, before sending Lily something of appreciative glance. All eyes were on Rob, but the young man ignored them and moved behind the pillar, falling to his knees.
…Help me Rob!
(Jason):
Unfortunately, the wait for the battle above us was not as short as we all hoped. It was a good fifteen minutes before we all settled down in random places around the subway station. Marlena settled down on the ground against a pillar, one knee against her chest, arms wrapped around her leg and her forehead resting on her knee. Lily sat next to her. Hud sat across from them, the camera resting next to him. I was so worn out from puking up my guts and running, I trudged over to the only bench-like seat on the far end of the station. I had totally forgotten that Rob was sitting against the pillar until he stood up to move to another place, I didn't try to stop him. He needed to calm down, my talking to him wouldn't help matters (we'd be at each other's throats before Lily could break us up).
No more than five minutes later Lily found her way over to me and sat down. I was hunched over, my elbows dug into my thighs while my chin rested atop the back of my fingers. "How are you?" Lily asked. I looked up from the ground with a tired sigh. I wanted to tell her that I hurt all over, every muscle felt over abused and ready to tear away from each other the moment I stood up again.
My head was still ringing from the automatic gunfire, explosions, and the two falls I suffered. And my throat, well, I was wishing for a cold glass of water. "I'm… alright, I guess," I replied lamely. At some point in our relationship, my lying technique weakened against Lily, I couldn't tell a straight lie to her anymore than she could to me. The only difference between us is, she made her secrets less obvious, whereas I have yet to learn to mask a lot of obvious emotions.
So when those words left my mouth, Lily just stared me long and hard. I caved. "I'm hurting all over, but I'll be fine. Honest," I admitted. "Your not hurt?" Lily asked, raising her eyebrows. I shrugged, sitting upright I allowed her run her hands across my upper body and tried not to laugh. When she was satisfied that I hadn't sustained any life-threatening injuries, she proceeded to rub her arms. I wanted to offer my shirt, but the pukey sleeve prohibited me from doing so. With a sigh, I shrugged my dress-shirt off and chucked it into a corner.
We fell into silence again. The sounds of combat were becoming further away, but the explosions sounded closer than ever, I found myself looking up at the ceiling and wondering if it would fall on our heads. Sighing, I said, "I'm sorry." Lily turned to me, her brown eyes inquiring. "…I'm sorry, about earlier. I don't want you to think that I wouldn't come after you if you were in trouble," I stammered, my heart skipping. "I would never leave you behind."
Lily nodded her head quickly in understanding. "No, I understand what you were trying to do. I know you wouldn't," Lily answered. I was relieved but the guilt lingered. Her slender fingers trailed across my shoulder, I shifted my gaze down at her pedicured hand then back up at her. We stared at each other for the longest time, I was confused as to what she wanted until she pulled me toward her. I wrapped my arm around her waist, closing the distance between us and watched as she laid her head on my shoulder. I pressed my cheek against her head and closed my eyes. As unsettling as the combat above us was, the sound was actually starting to lull me to sleep.
That is until I heard the familiar ring of Rob's cell phone. Hud's questioning voice brought me from the edge, Lily moved her head off of my shoulder, jarring me completely out of my half-sleep. Groggily, I blinked the sleep out my eyes as I tried to pinpoint my brother's position. Hud was now sitting next to Marlena, the camera trained on Rob as he moved toward the gated wall. Raising the phone to his ear, he spoke. "Hello? …Mom -- hey," He said. I stood upright.
Our parents, I totally forgotten about them! Mom was sure to be freaking out by now. "No, okay, we're okay Mom. We're fine." He paused, casting a glance in my direction. What? I mouthed, walking forward. He turned back just as quickly moving off in another direction. "…No, Jason's fine, he's with us. We're being evacuated from the city right now…" Rob took another breath, his arm raising as if to hush our frantic mother. "Mom, listen. We tried to get out, using the Brooklyn Bridge. We were there right when it hit… please calm down, we're fine!" Rob's face contorted with mild pain and exasperation, Mom was really chewing his ear off. He moved the phone away from his ear with a frustrated sigh, without warning he tossed the phone in my direction. I caught the phone with little difficulty, raising it to my ear I caught the tail end my mother's triad. "…Put your bother on, Rob!"
"Mom?" I spoke uncertainly into the phone.
"Jason? Jason, Oh my God, are you alright?! You boys hurt?" Mom blurted, relieved. Did she think Rob was lying to her about our situation? She always did need more convincing than Dad, especially if either of us were in trouble (or hurt). Scratching the back of my head I cast an uneasy glance in Lily's direction as she walked past me. "No, we're fine Mom. Rob's pretty much explained everything to you. Everyone's okay, alright?" I said.
"But what-- what's that thing? What's going on, out there!?" Mom yelled.
"I don't know, I really don't. Its some… thing," I answered lamely. It was the best I could come up with. I didn't know what that thing was, I couldn't put into words at the moment. My mind was still debating on whether or not I just didn't dream this shit of a situation up and was stuck in a never-ending nightmare. I spoke to her for a few more minutes, just listening to her cry out her 'worries', before hanging up on her when she left the phone unattended to get Dad. Making sure the nokia was completely off I tossed the phone back to Rob, who snatched it out of the air. Running my hands through my hair, I walked back over to the bench and leaned over. A thousand different emotions were rushing at me at once, I was ready to crack. I could feel it.
The sound of footfalls approaching kept a rising sob down inside my chest, only it wasn't the familiar click of Lily's heels. Peeking over my hands I caught the top of Rob's head as he kneeled down in front of me. "Hey, are you okay, man?" Rob asked, genuinely worried. That's the million dollar question, isn't it? I thought wryly. Lowering my hands away from my face, I flashed him a weak grin, my eyes downcast. "I'm fine, Rob," I replied. It was a lie, of course (maybe he even knew that), but the answer satisfied my brother.
"…This is a good idea…"
"We'll just go through the tunnel--,"
"No, this is a good idea,"
Jason found himself opening his eyes for the second time that night. When did I fall asleep? He thought, bewildered. Pulling himself up he winced in pain at the pops and protests his bones and muscles were making as he attempted to loosen his limbs. Messaging the back of his neck he surveyed his surroundings for the second time, making sure everything was alright. The lights were still flickering above them, the fighting was still somewhere nearby apparently. Through the haze of sleep he watched Hud and Marlena stalk over to Rob and Lily.
"What's going on?" He said, a bit too loudly. Marlena continued to move forward while Hud focused the camera on the frowning Jason Hawkins. "Uh, I dunno man. C'mon," Hud said, waving him over. Smothering his irritation, Jason stood up and followed after his friends. He could hear the faint conversation going on between his brother and Lily as Rob examined the map. As he came up to Lily, she smiled in his direction. Jason prepared to ask why Lily let him fall asleep, when Rob stood up and grinned. "This is the six!" He proclaimed, excitedly.
Jason raised an eyebrow in question. "Well, what's your point?" He deadpanned. Rob's face fell a little at the response "Yeah, I don't think the trains are running right now, man," Hud voiced, failing to see what Rob was so happy about. Blinking in surprise, Rob turned back to the map. "Look. Beth lives here, Columbus Circle. We can just walk down the six to Lexington --"
"You want us to walk in the tunnels?" Marlena said, staring at Lily. Lily nodded her head, the ghost of a grin spreading on her lips. "Yeah, we can just walk the tracks, see?" She said pointing at the map. Marlena's disbelieving expression remained, they were out of their minds.
Rob ignored Lily and Marlena's conversation, focusing his attentions on convincing the likes of his brother and friend. "--and then walk down Central Park South," He finished, his finger trailing quickly across the glass-protected map of the subway routes. Jason and Hud nodded their heads, beginning to see the reasoning in Rob's plan, his excitement as well. "You want us to walk in the tunnels?!" Marlena repeated, louder this time.
All eyes turned to her, blinking in uncertainty. Marlena wasn't sure why, they were crazy if they thought she was going walk several miles in the dark alongside electrified tracks (assuming the power was still on). "Well, its either that or we stay here," Rob replied. Another explosion went off above them, the lights died out and they were plunged into darkness for no more than two seconds, when the lights returned Jason was in total agreement with Rob and Lily's plan.
He doubted the fighting was going to die down anytime soon above them. If anything it would get worse. "I'll walk the tunnels," Hud said, as another explosion went off. Rob looked to Lily who raised her eyebrows in agreement along with a nod, his gaze shifted to his brother. "I'm in," Jason answered. Marlena didn't bother to say anything, she was outvoted -- all she could do is follow their lead and hope they weren't killed.
"Um, alright. Let's go," Rob breathed. Silently the group moved toward platform, bewildered and relieved that they were on the move again. Not to safety from the creature that lurked above them, but the road to Beth's high-rise apartment complex. Jason cast one last glance to the space they once occupied before following the others. Rob was the first to lower himself onto the tracks, stepping over the pool of vomit he stepped over the tracks and proceeded into the darkness.
"Oh God, this is distrusting," Marlena groused as she leapt off the platform. "Shut up," Jason said. Lily, who was struggling to get a hold on the ground in her stilettos, let out a cry of surprise when Marlena soared by her and landed hard on the ground. She rolled over the last track and stopped against the wall. "Marlena, are you okay?" Lily asked. "I'm fine," Marlena grumbled, climbing to her feet. She talked off into the darkness after Rob. Hud and Jason were the last to climb off the platform onto the tracks. "Guys, wait for us," Lily called. Pulling her heels out of the dirt she waddled over to Jason, taking his hand she allowed him to lead her into the darkness with the others.
(TBC)