Chapter 3: Run Like Hell
Screams of terror could be heard from outside their shelter, both Allison and Derek knew something terrible was about to happen. They were not sure if it was an attack from Skynet, or from one of the gangs of raiders out to steal whatever they could get their hands on.
"Allie, go get your back pack and gather everything you need to put into it. I'll fill up mine with food and my stuff. You've got one minute!" Derek wasn't fooling around, he knew they had little time to get going and his tone of voice showed it.
Allison rushed to her side of the shelter, gathered some clothes and small items of hers.
There wasn't much to pack, they always traveled light, just in case something like this happened. The only real item of importance was her little jewelry box that played Chopin When opened, it use to have a ballerina figurine pop up to dance, when opened, but it had fallen off a long time ago.
"Allie, let's go!" Derek yelled
She quickly stuffed her back pack full of items and zipped it closed, she knew better then to waste time.
More shouts and gunfire could be heard from where the entrance was. Panic was spreading throughout the tunnel.
"Okay, I'm ready Derek." Allison called back.
She swung her back pack around and looped her arms through the straps, picked up her rifle, shoved her 9mm pistol into her waistband and scooted out of her room.
Both of them slipped out of the shelter, Derek carrying a small camping lantern for illumination in the darkened tunnel.
They looked around to see people running all over, pandemonium had set in, no one seemed to know where to go, or what had started the attack.
Allison's thoughts went immediately to her friends. I hope they got some warning, what about Mandy? I hope she saw what happened and made to some place safe.
She had almost forgotten Amanda had taken over her watch.
"Allie, this way" Derek pointed towards the subway tracks and down the tunnel, away from the entrance way.
Allison quickly followed behind Derek, making sure she didn't lose sight of him and where he was going.
A few others followed them too.
Familiar faces both Derek and Allison recognized from being in the tunnel.
Slowly they made their way onto the tracks and away from the gunfight, they were desperate to find a safe way out of the tunnel without being spotted by whoever was attacking them.
"Derek, where are we going?" Allison whispered. She was getting worried they might not make it out safely.
"I know a spot, down the tracks, about fifty meters from the platform. There is an access tunnel and a way to the surface, I found it a few weeks back when I was checking for escape routes, just for times like this."
Allison had a puzzled look on her face.
"But I thought you said it was blocked off further down, from a cave in."
"No, not this access tunnel. It was used for maintenance workers to service power supplies, telephones, cable, and stuff." Derek answered." I wasn't going to tell everyone about it, otherwise we would have a hundred people following us there and we might not escape in time."
Derek kept a steady pace along the rail tracks, holding the lantern up high to help in lighting up the tunnel. Distant echoes of gun shots and screams could be heard from around the bend where they had just come from. The small group had grown to thirteen people, only Derek and Allison had weapons, the others were just regular people trying to survive.
Allison looked back to see who had followed. There were two couples, probably in their late 20's or early 30's, two kids younger than Allison, three more teens around her age and an older couple with graying hair.
Finally, after trudging through small puddles of stagnant water and garbage, they came upon the service tunnel on their left. Derek found an old crate and placed it near the side walkway, so as to make it easier for the group to climb up into the tunnel. The tracks being lower than the access tunnel, made it awkward for anyone to go into it. Derek had figured this was why no else had bothered to check out this access tunnel, he was hopeful the ones attacking didn't know about this tunnel either.
Derek remained by the crate, he wanted to make sure everyone with them made it into the access tunnel safely.
Allison was the first to climb up and she grabbed the lantern from Derek so he could have his hands free to help the others. She looked down into the darkness of the access tunnel, the lantern struggling to shed any light further than a few feet. Allison couldn't see much, but judged the access tunnel must be deep.
Slowly and quietly, everyone managed to get up into the access tunnel. Derek took one last look around to make sure no one else was coming. He kicked away the crate and hoisted himself up off the tracks into the tunnel.
"Okay from here we go straight down this passage. It's about twenty meters before we come to a ladder leading to the surface. From there, I'll go up first to make sure everything is okay, then the rest of you will follow me up. Allie you'll be the last to come up, after everyone has gone. Got it?"
"Yeah Derek, I got it." Allison rolled her eyes.
She knew she would have to bring up the rear, she had the only other weapons, besides Derek. It was her job to make sure no hostiles would follow them up the ladder, or ambush them from behind.
Slowly the group made their way down the passage towards the ladder, the fighting from the platform that had been so loud before, was growing fainter as they progressed further along.
Finally they came upon the ladder leading to the surface, the tunnel had widened into a small room with various pipes and electrical panels off to the side. There was just enough room for the group to gather inside the room without too much discomfort.
Derek put his finger to his lips, then whispered "I'll go up first to see that everything is okay for us. I'll drop two pebbles down to signal you guys to start going up, one at a time. If anything starts to go wrong, I'll drop a piece of clothing, that will signal you guys to stay put, got it?"
Everyone nodded their understanding, including Allison.
Derek started up towards the surface, the metal steps were rusty, but securely embedded into the concrete. I hope this is far enough away from the fighting, so we can get out safe. He thought to himself.
Once Derek reached the top of the access shaft, he braced himself against the side of the shaft, making sure he wasn't going to fall when he popped open the manhole cover.
It was a good thing he had checked the manhole a few days ago, as it only took a bit of a fight to get it to pop up. Carefully he lifted and spun the round disc off to one side, making sure to make as little sound as possible.
With the cover out of the way Derek slowly climbed out and carefully looked around to make sure no one saw him, or heard him.
Quickly he scooted over to a pile of debris and rebar to look over at the tunnel entrance.
His worst fears were realized, when he saw the carnage at the main entrance.
Small fires from the explosions lit up the area by the entrance, he could make out figures standing over dead and dying bodies. They were hustling people out of the tunnel like cattle and any one that tried to leave was gunned down.
Sickening cries and screams pierced the normally quiet evening, as the raiding party gathered up their spoils and people.
Derek knew this kind of gang, they were the lowest type of person, bent on killing and taking what they wanted, when they wanted. He would have to be careful not to draw any unwanted attention to his group escaping, not to mention with all this noise, Skynet was sure to send out either an HK or some sort of scouting party.
Skynet may have been weakened by that major attack a couple of years ago, but it seemed the machines grew stronger, more numerous and bolder every week. It would be only a matter of time, before Skynet was back to full strength and back to killing humans.
Derek slowly backed down from his vantage point and crept over to the manhole.
He grabbed two pebbles and dropped them down the hole.
It had been a couple of minutes and Allison was getting worried about Derek. She knew he had gone off to make sure all was okay, but she hated the wait. Finally she heard two pebbles fall, that was the signal.
Allison looked over at the group and whispered.
"Okay guys, Derek signaled it is all clear up there. Start with the oldest first and go down in age from there. I will be the last to go up. Does everybody understand?"
The group whispered and nodded their understanding.
Allison looked back towards the main subway tunnel. She could hear some noises and was beginning to worry they may have been followed. She nervously watched as the group slowly began to make its way up the ladder.
First off was the older couple, they scurried up the ladder fast.
Must be the thought of getting caught by the intruders. Allison thought to herself. I know I'll be flying up there , when my turn is up.
Next up were the kids and teens, since the two remaining couples figured it would be better if they followed the kids.
Allison kept looking back towards the subway tunnel, she was now hearing louder noises and thought she saw a quick flash of a light . Her hands were getting sweaty and she was beginning to worry they might get caught.
All of a sudden a light flickered down the access tunnel.
"Shit, they found us. Hurry up you guys." Allison barked, she was starting to get really nervous, but she knew she had to hold off anyone coming, so the others could escape.
Allison crouched down behind an electrical panel and aimed her rifle towards the light.
She aimed for the light and squeezed the trigger, but nothing happened, the gun had jammed.
"Shit, Fuck, stupid gun" Allison desperately tried tapping and hitting the rifle, but nothing happened. She tossed it down and grabbed her 9mm Beretta from her waist and aimed for the light.
This time, when she squeezed the trigger, the gun fired.
Loud shouts and curses could be heard from down by the subway tunnel.
Allison glanced over her shoulder to see if the last of the group had gone up, but there was one final couple just starting to disappear up the shaft. She looked back to the tunnel and fired a couple of more rounds, making sure she could buy herself some time before they rushed in.
Allison looked up the shaft and could see the others had finally made it to the surface. As she turned towards the ladder to climb, she heard a funny tin can sound coming from behind her in the subway tunnel.
The sound got louder, but stopped a couple meters from where she was standing.
Allison squinted to try and see what had been tossed, but it was just too dark.
All of a sudden, there was a huge flash of light followed by a thunderous boom.
The small room lit up instantly, blinding Allison.
In a moment of panic, she dropped her gun and staggered to the side of the room.
She couldn't see, or hear anything. Her ears were ringing, her eyes only saw blinding white lights and her head felt like it was going to split in two.
It was only seconds later, she wasn't sure, but as she tried to figure out what had just happened, some one grabbed her.
Allison's arms were held in a vice grip by a person much larger than her, she kicked her legs as best she could and tried to wiggle away from the attacker. It was no use, the harder she tried, the tighter the attacker gripped onto her.
She was dragged back into the main tunnel, where she came face to face with who was responsible for the raid.
In amongst a group of scruffy, but heavily armed men and women, was a giant of a man.
Allison could have sworn he looked like a T-600, he was just as tall and ugly as one them, but lacked the rubber skin.
The man that had grabbed her, brought Allison up to the giant.
"Look what I caught down that tunnel boss. She's a real scrapper too. I had to toss a flash bang down there, just so I could catch her."
She looked up at the man, her eyes flashed with anger, and fear. I'm in deep shit now, what if these guys kill me? What if they are cannibals? Oh God please send Derek to help me.
A small tear trickled down her cheek as she mulled over her predicament.
"Awww, look what ya did. You made her cry Bubba" The giant pointed and laughed, then he pouted, sticking his bottom lip out. "You gonna cry little girl? Well too fuckin' bad for you. Little bitch, you almost killed us with your wild shooting"
"I wish I had, you overgrown sack of…." Allison yelled back, but was cut off when the large man quickly slapped Allison across her face, the force of the blow making her see stars.
"That's for being so mouthy, but you'll learn to keep your trap shut soon enough. Bubba, tie her up and make sure she don't get away, I got plans for her" The giant man leered at her hungrily, making Allison sick to her stomach.
"Sure thing Boss, I'll keep her safe and sound" Bubba answered back and laughed.
"C'mon sweet thing, lets get ya all settled in for the ride back home."
Allison tried to squirm some more in a desperate attempt to break free, but Bubba tossed her to the ground and forced his knee into her back with what felt like all of his weight.
Allison struggled to catch her breath, and at the same time she was desperately trying to hide her fear from her captors. The thought of these people taking her away and doing whatever they wanted to do to her was terrifying. I wish Derek was here, he'd know what to do. Why hasn't he come to get me yet?
"There now, all done and to keep you from looking for an escape, we'll just cover up that pretty face of yours" Bubba whispered into her hear and chuckled, then he tied a gag around her mouth and slipped some sort of sack over her head.
The sack smelled of rotten food and vomit, Allison had a hard time trying to breath without throwing up herself. She felt someone lift her up and toss her over their shoulder, she was pretty sure it was Bubba.
"Ahhh, good thing yer light as a feather sweetness" Bubba chuckled and smacked Allison's rear. "I'm taking this one to the transport, you guys take care of any other stragglers."
Allison could see nothing, but knew they were making their way up and out of the subway tunnel. It wasn't long before she felt the chill of the night air, the cold wind biting right through her clothing.
Allison shivered, not only from the cold , but from the fear of not knowing what was going to happen to her now.
"Mikey, hold up. I got a real cute one, but she's for the Boss." Bubba yelled out.
"Yeah, just toss her in the back with the rest of them." A high pitched nasally voice answered.
Allison felt herself being dumped into the back of some sort of truck, or van, she wasn't sure. The bare metal floor was cold, uncomfortable and smelled of oil and fuel.
She could sense others were in there with her, but couldn't see or call out to them.
From outside she could hear more cries from men a fair distance away and the sound of automatic weapons firing, then those men were silent.
The full weight of what was happening to her was sinking in, Allison began to sob, tears rolled down her face and soaked into the sack covering her head. Please Derek, God, I need your help. I'm so scared. What can I do?
Allison could hear others crying too, no one knew what would happen to them, but they all had a pretty good idea what might happen.
After a few more people were tossed in, Allison heard the metallic clank of a tailgate close. By now things had gotten crowded in the vehicle, but at least it felt warmer being close to others.
The vehicle fired up and jerked into gear, throwing Allison and others about as it started driving off. This is it, Derek must be captured, or dead. There's no one to help me.
Allison sobbed some more, but the tears were no longer falling, hopelessness and dread had now set in, as Allison had now come to realize she was on her own again.
The last couple was just making it up to the top of the shaft, when Derek heard shots fired from below.
"Did you guys see anything?" Derek's face was showing signs of distress he was feeling.
"No, we saw nothin', but the girl told us to hurry up" The male responded.
"Shit" Derek muttered to himself, then he stood up and looked around at the small group gathered around him. "We need to get going ASAP. If Allison was firing shots, that means the raiders are after us. I'm going to go down and see what's happening, you guys head over to that pile of rubble, stay low, and keep quiet."
Derek pointed to the pile he had just come from, then he turned to climb back down the access shaft, but stopped when he saw a bright flash from below, followed by a loud bang. Flash bang grenade , it must be one of those. Derek thought to himself.
He looked down hoping to see Allison climbing up the ladder, but all he saw was dust and debris floating about. Derek's heart leapt into his throat, he quickly called her name, but no answer came back. I should have gone last. Derek thought to himself.
He wasn't sure what to do, as there were a million things going on in his head now.
Derek knew for sure, it would be suicide to go down now. The raiders would be down the tunnel as soon as the grenade had gone off. He thought of finding a safe hideaway for the others and then come back for Allison, but feared he would be too late to save her.
A pained look came to Derek's face, as he realized he had failed again at protecting someone he loved. Kyle was the first and now Allison. He made a fist in anger, but with nothing to hit, he just brought his hand to his face and bowed his head in defeat.
Tears welled up in his eyes and slowly trailed their way down his cheeks.
"I'm so sorry I failed you Allie" He whispered
Looking over towards the group, Derek noticed one of the older men signaling with his hands for Derek to hurry over. He wiped his face with his sleeve and quickly dashed over to the rubble pile.
"Hey, it looks like they are taking some people and puttin' them in that big truck" The older man whispered to Derek.
Derek crawled up to get a better view of what was going on. Straining to see in the dim light, he could see some large men carrying some people over to the 3 ton truck that was parked nearby. Their heads were covered by cloth, and it looked like they were all females, or children being loaded into the 3 ton.
The men were tied up and being led to another large van, but their heads were not covered up. Derek thought it was strange, but once he saw the men lined up to be shot, he realized why the raiders had not bothered to cover the men's heads. Cries of help and mercy came from the men's group, but the raiders open fire and shot the men like they were cattle.
Derek looked away in disgust, he couldn't believe people could be so cruel and thoughtless. He always felt People should be taking care of each other and fighting Skynet, not each other.
As he looked back at the first truck, Derek noticed a big man carrying what could have been Allison, slumped over his shoulder. A glimmer of hope lit up in Derek's eyes, as he looked closer. The girl was wearing similar clothes to what Allison had been wearing, so there was a good chance it was her, he thought.
The only problem was Derek had only his pistol and his M16A4 with about half a clip, defiantly not enough to try to rescue Allison, without having a death wish. He was no match up against a group of well armed raiders. He would have to get the others to safety and try to figure out a plan after.
The truck fired up and began its slow travel to the east, Derek tried to see where it might be going, but once it had rounded some piles of rubble, the vehicle slipped out of sight.
His heart sank, he knew Allison would be scared and he was afraid of what these raiders would do with her.
Derek climbed down and signaled the group to gather around.
"Look, we gotta get out of here, before they send out scouts to track us down. We'll head southeast and find some shelter. Make sure everyone keeps close and stays quiet, okay?"
His whispered words were met with solemn nods of understanding.
Forming a small line, the group made its way from their home to somewhere safe for the night.
Derek led the way, fully knowing these people were depending on him to get them to some place safe. His mind was elsewhere, drifting off in worry about Allison.
She was too young to be by herself and he feared she would disappear like Kyle did.
It bothered him to no end that he had been helpless to save her.
After about half an hour of sneaking down alleyways and ducking behind rubble, the group came up to what used to be a parking garage. It had long ago collapsed, but there were still some spots people could squeeze in and find shelter. Derek went in first to check it out and found it to be deserted.
He popped his head out from between two collapsed pillars and signaled all clear.
Slowly the group made its way into the new shelter and started to get settled for the night.
Derek made his way to a dark and secluded corner, not wanting to be bothered by anyone with silly questions, or wanting to make small talk. He wanted to be alone, so he could deal with his failure to protect yet another person he had vowed to keep safe. He sat down on the cold concrete floor and leaned up against the remnants of a pillar. Placing his weapon beside him, he brought his knees up to his chin, crossed his arms on top of his knees and rested his forehead on his arms.
Derek was exhausted, but he couldn't sleep, for he knew he had to think of some plan to find Allison and save her. Moments went by as he racked his brain for some sort of plan, but nothing came from it.
He sighed, leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Maybe I'll think of something in the morning. There has to be a way to save Allie. Finally Derek succumbed to his body and mind screaming for rest. He placed his backpack behind his head to use as a pillow and stretched out to try and grab some sleep.
"God please take care of Allie, keep her safe from harm until I can find her" Derek whispered to himself, closed his eyes and soon fell into a fitful sleep.