《Apocalypse》Episode 30: Going Underground
Advertisement
We turned away from Regents Park on to Marylebone Road. I knew this area of London well, and now felt more confident about the choices we could make as we travelled through the city. This road if we could travel down it unhindered would connect us to Euston Road. Both were a major thoroughfare through the city and unsurprisingly we saw that vehicles now littered the road as we walked. Some had been seemingly abandoned, while others were smashed into each other.
There was plenty of evidence of zombie activity. We saw both dead zombies, as well as those still animated, but unable to extricate themselves from beneath the vehicles that had run them over, or that had crushed them against an immovable object. In some vehicles we saw that the occupants had been bitten and turned and these creatures beat against the windows, or stretched through broken windows, as they watched us pass by.
It was unnerving to see entire families trapped in this way. Maybe one day their seat belts would finally tear and they could emerge from their vehicular coffins.
Overhead, the skies were busy with helicopters crisscrossing the city, and higher above them we could see military aeroplanes. At ground level we saw an occasional person, or smaller groups but at no time did we try to hail them, or they try to hail us. At this early stage everyone was locked into their own individual journey of escape.
On our right we saw Great Portland Street station. The gates to the station were open and curiosity got the better of me. We walked over to the entrance and looked inside. All was silent although we saw evidence of an altercation inside where fittings had been smashed and knocked over. Blood smears ran across the ceramic wall tiles leading to the ticket barrier. There was still power and the screen displays were on showing a line suspension message.
Advertisement
Mina touched me on the shoulder. “What are you thinking Bradley? Surely you don’t want to go down there?”
I paused. “No. Because that would be crazy, right?”
Behind us we could hear running coming towards us. We looked behind and saw at least four zombies sprinting across the street towards the station entrance. We instinctively vaulted across the ticket barriers and ran down the stairs. As we ran down we could hear them slamming loudly into the ticket barriers, and as we emerged on to the platform we heard them running down the stairs in pursuit.
There was no train in the platform and so I ran to the edge of the train platform and jumped down. I turned and raised my arms to Mina “Jump down, but don’t touch the third rail.”
I caught her as she jumped and we moved quickly along the train track. At the end of the platform a group of lads were standing looking down at us. They were around 18, dressed in track suits and each held a knife. I looked up at them. I told them, “For gods sake, run”.
They simply glowered at me and then turned back towards the stairwell as the sounds of running footsteps echoed down towards them.
Myself and Mina entered the underground train tunnel. There was just a single filament bulb every twenty feet emitting a feeble pool of light within the otherwise impenetrable blackness. We walked quickly but carefully towards the first pool of light. We could hear the lads cursing, yelling and shouting.
By the time we reached the second pool of light there was just the sounds of screaming. By the time we reached the third pool of light there was silence. At the fourth pool of light we could hear running in the tunnel.
Advertisement
The Heavens System Subsidiary (I Was Chosen By The Word)
Vincent Gate, A Middle-Class man with a below low-class life. His mother was a rape victim in coma.To bring his mother out of her coma, He tried all he can but one day all his efforts went to nought a...
8 1264Journey of a Scholar
What would you do if you got reincarnated ? Our MC has to answer that question as he is reborn in a fantasy world: full of magic, martial artists, watchfull gods, exotic races and dangerous monsters. But fate isn't on his side, as he has to start from scratch, without strength, magic, riches, nor any cheatlike power. How can one survive as a poor commoner's child in a dire world when his sole strength is the knowledge he retained from his previous life on Earth ? Discover Erendia and its mysteries alongside him, on a journey, full of hardships and struggles, walking the path of a scholar, with a pen mightier than any sword. NB : chapters on tuesdays, fridays and sundays. Expect a slow start, more slice of life oriented till around chap 20 as our MC is an infant discovering a brand new world. PS : English isn't my mother tongue, so please do point out any mistakes so that I can correct and edit them. PPS: tags are here mostly so I don't have to worry about censorship. There will be some gory moments, some psychological violence, some dire situations and maybe some sexy ones, but do not expect smut. participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge
8 222The Last Marshal
Weird West Fantasy Noir Once the Republic Marshals brought order to the chaotic lands along the Frontier, facing dangers both human and supernatural with ancient wisdom and a six-gun —but that was a long time ago. Destroyed by conspiracy and betrayal, all that remains of that secretive order is one nameless man on a trek though the West seeking revenge on the woman he blames for the Marshals' fall and his disgrace. When a visitor from our world joins him on his journey, they together must confront the horrors of a strange land, the mysteries of the past and the real meaning of their quest for justice. The world of Tellus is what 19th Century Earth would have looked like if the stories of Poe, Ambrose Bierce, Lovecraft and William Hope Hodgeson were real. History in this world moves slower. The old faiths persist and civilization never conquered the dark corners of the map, at least not without being inextricably changed. Technology and culture takes a little longer to evolve in this land, as people here tend to spend more time pursuing their elaborate revenge plots or trying to avoid being the next sacrifice to the Outer Gods rather than advancing science or statecraft. Imagine Cormac McCarthy by way of Edgar Rice Burroughs, though a little less testosterone-drenched than that description would imply. Three caveats: First, there are deep mysteries here, including how such a world came to be and who controls it. Second, this world is not wholly unconnected from our own. There is a historical point of divergence, but in the distant past. To paraphrase Twain: history in this world is not a repeat of our own, but it does often rhyme. And finally, this is not a setting that lends itself to happy endings.
8 148The Duke's Adopted Daughter
There's a rumor surrounding the Duke's Household.One day, the Duke brought a girl, but aside from him, no one saw her face.They said that she was living in an isolated palace and no one aside from the Duke can visit and talk to her.Thus, she became a mysterious entity that everyone wanted to discover. She was the Duke's adopted daughter
8 195Strange
To say here is far, and to call yonder nearby. Stories on the edge of the every day, strange tales you may or may not be moved by. Strange, curious, fantastic stories told by me, you, him and her. There are many stories but they’re all concluded within a single page, each story around 200 to 1200 characters in length, a short story collection you can easily read. Please enjoy them. Updated every Saturday at 6pm. This series was originally written in Japanese by Ukari and has been translated with the permission of the author. You can visit the original here. Please show the author support for his great work! Also published on Kowabana.
8 169Elysium
The first God, Prometheus.A being that transcended simple Godhood. He stood at the apex of power, the pinnacle of creation. But it was his might that became his downfall.His heart corrupted as his lovers and friends withered away with the passing of time. He envied them; their mortality and he thristed for it, more and more with each second.His mind and soul were thrown in an endless maelstrom of envy over his own brethren and raw madness. But before he gave into the pull of insanity he ended his own life.Overloading his own power in an explosion so massive that the fundamentals of space and time were distorted, a lone soul made its way through the cracked dimensions; bypassing nether and purgatory. Astray and confused the small wisp entered its new life.
8 99