Chapter 6: Hunted
The four survivors made their way through the northbound subway tunnel. Zoey had been very spooked by the unearthly scream that had echoed throughout the tunnel before, and she inadvertently found herself looking over her shoulder more than once. Her group advanced in silence. However, they were forced to stop when they found the entire tunnel blocked by the smouldering wreckage of a train.
Francis spat on it in frustration. "Now what the hell do we do?"
"We have to find a way around," Bill replied.
"There could be some maintenance tunnels around here," Zoey said thoughtfully.
The group back-tracked a couple of hundred metres and found a door built into the tunnel wall, marked SUBWAY PERSONNEL ONLY.
"My ass," Francis said, blowing the lock away with his shotgun.
"Which part of 'conserve your ammo' escapes your understanding?" Bill snapped.
While the two men were bickering, Zoey moved through the doorway, flashlight and gun out in front.
"Guys, through here!" she called. "There's a set of rooms, and they seem to continue next to the tunnel."
"I hate tunnels," Francis said after walking through one dull room after another.
The light from their flashlights revealed stacks of empty shelves, destroyed tables and electronic equipment. Zoey rolled her eyes while Bill lit up another cigarette.
"Damn," the old veteran grunted. "Runnin' low on ammo, and now on smokes."
"You know those things will kill you," she replied.
"Kid, with the world in ruins, I ain't sweatin' lung cancer."
The former college student suddenly stopped walking, her eyes staring blankly ahead. Francis and Louis were further ahead and did not notice. Bill, however, stopped walking and looked over at her in concern.
"You okay?"
"How far do you think the virus has spread?" she murmured, fighting back tears.
"I have no idea," Bill said with a sinking feeling in his stomach. He chose not to mention that, several days earlier in a safe-house, he had seen a map of America showing active military outposts. A number of them, some as far north as Maine, and as far west as California, had large black crosses through them. Overrun.
"Do you think we'll ever be able to stop running?" Zoey asked.
He patted her shoulder and coaxed her into moving again. "One thing at a time."
Just as they resumed walking, they both whirled at the sound of a loud growl behind them. Their lights located a dark, hooded figure, a few rooms back, crawling on all fours toward them.
"Look out!" Zoey cried, panicked. "It's the thing that got Louis – "
With a shocking, ear-splitting scream, the infected figure pounced, flying through the air at incredible speed. It closed the distance between itself and the two survivors within seconds. It was just about to tackle Zoey when –
SLAM! Bill dashed to the nearest door and swung it around with his arm. It slammed shut with a loud BANG, separating them from their attacker. A loud crash came from the other side of the door as the creature slammed into it. Then it started pounding on the door.
Bill ran over to Zoey and grabbed her arm, pulling her along. "Come on, we gotta move!"
The pounding continued, and she looked back over her shoulder to see splinters and cracks appearing in the door. The creature was breaking through. They quickly caught up with Francis and Louis.
"What the hell is going on?" he demanded.
"That thing that attacked you before, it's right behind us!" Zoey cried in terror. "It must have followed us! It's hunting us!"
"A Hunter, huh?" Bill mused as they ran through the rooms. "Doesn't it know that humans invented the sport?"
The group stopped dead when they heard more growling coming from further up ahead. They aimed their flashlights forward through the door to see a dark, hooded figure creeping toward them.
That's not possible! Louis thought in a panic. That thing is fast, but it can't be that fast!
His suspicions were confirmed when he looked back and saw that the door behind them was still under assault by razor-sharp claws. But his heart sank regardless.
"Shit! There are two Hunters!"
Zoey gasped and looked backward. "We're screwed!"
"Francis, get that forward door shut!" Bill ordered.
The biker ran ahead and quickly slammed the door closed before the second Hunter could pounce. Meanwhile, Bill reached into his army fatigues and produced out a grenade. He pulled the pin and lobbed it against the wall. It bounced several times, before coming to rest.
"Take cover!" the old man yelled.
The four survivors cowered behind various tables and shelves, sheltering themselves. The grenade exploded seconds later, blasting a gaping hole in the wall, and peppering every exposed surface in the room with shards of shrapnel. The survivors cautiously raised their heads, and then Bill motioned the others through the smoking hole, back out into the subway tunnel.
Fortunately, they had walked far enough through the rooms running parallel to the tunnels, and had bypassed the train crash. Francis ran on ahead into the tunnel with the others following him. They knew that the Hunters would be close behind as well. A couple of doors were not going to hold them for long.
Francis let out a disgruntled sigh when they arrived at the next subway station. The tunnel further ahead had collapsed.
He turned back to address the group. "Well, going up is the only option."
"Damn," Bill cursed. "There's no way we'll be able to make it to Mercy topside on foot. Going out onto the streets is suicide."
"Well, so is going back!" Francis pointed out. "Especially with those two freaks after us."
"Hey, guys!" Louis said. "Why don't we go down?"
The others looked over to see him struggling to lift a manhole set into a concrete foundation next to the platform.
Bill raised an eyebrow quizzically. "You wanna go through the sewers?"
"Well, you said it yourself; the streets are suicide. Besides, how many Infected could there be down there?"
Francis opened his mouth to answer, but a loud roar pierced the air in the tunnel behind them. The Hunters were closing in. Zoey ran over and started helping Louis without a fuss. Bill stood in thought for a moment, and then he sighed and walked over to the manhole. A moment later, the metal lid had been lifted off, revealing a gaping black hole.
Louis looked at Zoey. "So, uh, ladies first?"
"You're such a gentleman," she replied sarcastically. She stood at the edge looking down into the hole for a moment. Then she aimed her flashlight downward and started climbing down the ladder. Louis followed her.
"Are you serious?" Francis said. "We're really going through the sewers?"
Bill looked at him stony-faced for a moment. Without another word, he slung his assault rifle over his shoulder and followed the other two down the ladder into the darkness.