In The Dark
She was completely lost.
Taylor doubled over, one arm around her stomach. It hurt to breathe and she felt sick. The sound of her gasps echoed all around her.
When she felt as if she could move again, she kept going along the walls, one hand pressed to the cold, damp bricks. She could barely see anything at all, but she could definitely smell everything. She almost retched several times.
Hands shaking, she took out her phone. No signal.
There had to be a ladder somewhere, didn't there? Where was she?
She froze, one hand still around her stomach, her eyes straining and desperate. That was definitely a light up ahead. Moving quickly, she kept stumbling, her feet making nasty splashing sounds.
It was a subway station, a very old one, with a rusted car tucked against the wall; the doors were open, like the mouth of a cave.
Taylor braced herself, then sat down at the edge of the platform, swung her legs over and hopped onto the line. She almost tripped a couple of times, but managed to make her way over the lines and into the subway car.
In the half-light, the empty seats looked like teeth.
She sat on the nearest one; immediately, dust rose up and into her mouth. She coughed, screwing her eyes shut.
What was she going to do? She was lost, she couldn't contact anyone to ask for help, and she couldn't risk them finding her.
Slowly, she raised a hand to touch the bruise on her temple.
"Taylor?"
She froze.
"Taylor, are you in here?"
"Yes!" she cried, only to cough again, more violently this time.
Moments later, a figure in a yellow robe appeared in the car doorway. "Taylor, there you are. Are you all right?"
She nodded, unable to speak at first. Splinter put a hand on her shoulder and helped her to her feet.
"Come, let's get you away from here."
"Are...are April and Casey..."
Splinter nodded reassuringly. "They're fine, but the Foot are still here. We need to leave now."