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behind him.
    He placed his
palms on the grimy wall and pulled himself to his feet. Tom stepped
away from the wall and stood upright, facing the tunnel. Clenching
his shaking fists, he began to walk toward the tunnel. As he
stumbled past the corpse, shadows wrapped around him as if they
were dragging him into their gaping maw. He disappeared into the
darkness…
     
    Tom warily
began to walk through the tunnel, jumping at every little sound.
After walking for a few minutes, he felt a bit frightened when he
heard a roar not too far from him. He paused. He listened
carefully, hearing nothing. He stood there alone in the dreary
darkness. Then, he heard something tap ahead of him. The tapping
began to get closer to him. He tried to make himself as small and
still as possible, holding his breath so he could hear everything
better. He identified the noise as a large mass of rats running
toward him; he heard them squeaking and their feet patting on the
ground. As they surrounded him, they began to gnaw on his feet. Tom
tried to stand still in order to let them pass, but the little
beasts began to run up his legs. He felt them feasting on his
flesh. In pain and terror, Tom ran. He ran over the moving bodies
of the rats, crushing them beneath him, even as they continued to
climb him and bite him mercilessly. Tom struck himself over and
over as he ran, trying to dislodge the rats. At last, there was
light indicating the next stop; he began to sprint. The rats fell
out of his trouser legs as he raced toward the next stop. He stared
at the circular light indicated the next stop. .He halted when he
saw someone walking in full view of the light. Tom stood frozen to
the spot. The hairs on the back of his neck stood upright. He began
to run again. The person moved in front of the light again. The
rats were gone. He hadn’t even noticed them leaving.
     
    Why were the
rats running?
     
    Tom stopped
and stared straight down the tunnel.
     
    Should I
follow the rats? It could be a survival mechanism.
     
    ‘ Hello?’ Tom
shouted.
    He decided to
continue moving forward until he was startled by a roar from
behind. He turned to look behind him and tripped over his own feet,
and fell. He leaned forward to see what appeared to be a human
figure standing in front of him. He quickly jumped up and sprinted
to the light. As he ran, he heard his footsteps and the steps of
someone else right behind him. With no time to look to see who or
what it was, he concentrated on getting to the next stop. He ran
and ran but heard the steps getting closer and closer behind him,
the breath of whatever pursued him louder and louder in his ears.
He made it to the next stop. He climbed onto the platform and
turned around. No one was there and nothing exited the tunnel
behind him. Nothing at all.
    Tom quickly
looked around the new stop for a weapon of some sort. He found an
iron bar and picked it up. As he turned to walk toward the tunnel,
a fist slammed into the left side of his chin. The lower portion of
his face shifted violently to the right. Having had no warning at
all, he was completely unprepared for the hit. He staggered as he
became dizzy and off-balance. He rushed to regain his balance and
looked about to see who attacked him and was punched again, this
time on the bridge of his nose; he was blinded by the immediate
spray of blood and the pain. As he bent to cover his face, he was
kicked in the stomach and punched repeatedly in the head. He lost
his footing and fell onto the floor, dropping the iron bar. As he
tried to catch his breath, he was kicked in the stomach a second
time. His attacker gave him no time to mount an offense; Tom was
grabbed by the scruff of his neck, punched in the face again, held
down, and was stamped on. Tom took a massive beating until a
gunshot interrupted the sounds of the one-sided fight. The sound of
the shot rippled through the station. He heard a heavy ‘flop’; it
reminded Tom of the sound Anna made when she hit the ground