The Underground

Jason runs like his life depends on it.. because it does.

Behind him, the monster’s claws rips into the pavement, tearing up chunks of concrete as it gives up the chase. The air is filled with smoke and gunfire. People screaming. The world is falling apart.

“Jason.. where do we go?!” Ryan’s voice is panicking, barely keeping up.

Jason’s mind races. The streets are in chaos. There is no safe place, no shelter. The military barricade is gone.. flattened by the creature that had landed on it. The only thing keeping them alive is movement.

“There!” Jason points toward an alleyway between two burning buildings. Narrow enough that maybe the creature couldn’t fit in it.

They sprint for it. Jason’s lungs burning. His legs aches. The roar of the monster shakes his bones.

They dive into the alley. The heat from the burning buildings is suffocating, and the smoke making Jason’s eyes water. But they’re alive.

The monster skidding to a stop outside the alley, snarling. Its massive body couldn’t fit.

For now, they have a few seconds.

Jason grabs Ryan’s shoulders. “You okay?”

Ryan nodding, coughing from the smoke.

Jason takes a deep breath. Think.

They couldn’t stay here. The city is collapsing. The monsters are spreading. There is no time to process it, no time to grieve for the world they are losing.

They just have to survive.

Jason glances down the alley. It leads to another street, but he has no idea what is waiting for them on the other side. But it doesn’t matter. Staying here means death.

“Come on.” He grabs Ryan’s hand and runs again.

The alley opens up into hell.

Buildings crumbling. Cars burning. The sky is black with smoke.

People are still running and screaming. A woman tripped in the street, and a smaller creature pounces on her before she could get up. The sound of the flesh tearing made Jason’s stomach twist.

Ryan grabs his arm. “Jason.. ”

“I know. Don’t look.”

They kept moving.

Then.. gunfire.

Jason turns the corner and sees another military barricade. This one is still standing.

Soldiers are lined up, rifles aimed, trying to push the creatures back. They have an armored vehicle, and a mounted turret is tearing through the smaller monsters.

People rushing toward them, desperate for safety.

Jason’s chest tightens. This is it. If we can make it.. if we can get behind those barricades.. we have a chance.

He grabs Ryan’s hand tight. “We’re almost there.”

They’re sprinting toward the soldiers.

Fifteen meters away.

Eleven.

Nine.

A shadow passed overhead.

Jason barely have the time to register it before it’s massive tail swings through the air.. and smashing directly into the barricade.

BOOM.

The entire street shakes. The soldiers are thrown like dolls. The armored vehicle is sent flipping through the air.

Jason and Ryan knocked off their feet. Jason hit the ground hard, the impact slamming the breath out of him.

His ears are ringing again. His vision struggling.

The barricade is gone.

Where the soldiers had been standing, there is now only fire.

The massive monster.. the same one from before.. standing at the center of the wreckage. Its dark, plated body is covered in blood.

And it is looking right at them.

Jason forces himself up, every muscle is screaming in pain. He grabs Ryan, who is shaking and hurt.

We have lost our only chance. There is no help coming.

And now, we are on our own.

Jason pulls Ryan to his feet. Move. That is the only thought in his head. Move or die.

The monster looming over them, its heavy tail dragging through the wreckage. Fires crackling around it, casting jagging shadows across its massive form. Its black, glassy eyes locking onto them.

It is hunting them.

Jason’s grip on Ryan’s wrist tighten. “Run.”

Ryan doesn’t hesitate.

They sprint through the burning street, dodging debris and bodies. Behind them, the monster let out a deep, rattling growl. Then it charges.

Jason doesn’t dare look back. The earth shaking with each of the creature’s footfalls, closing the distance too fast.

An overturned bus looms ahead, its shattered windows reflecting the firelight. Jason makes a split-second decision. “This way!”

Vaulting over a crushed car and sliding under the bus’s exposed undercarriage, the metal groaning under their weight. The space is barely wide enough for them to squeeze through.

Ryan gasps beside him. “Will it fit?”

Jason doesn’t answer. Because he don’t know.

The monster slams into the bus with a thunderous crash, shaking the entire vehicle. Metal shrieks as it buckle inward, the impact is so strong it nearly crush them. Jason throws his arms over Ryan, shielding him from the falling debris.

A guttural snarl. The sound of claws scraping against the metal.

Jason holds his breath.

For a moment, nothing.

Then.. BOOM.

The monster’s claws punched through the other side of the bus, missing Jason’s face by centimeters.

No more waiting.

Jason grabs Ryan and scrambling out from beneath the wreckage, emerging onto the other side of the street. The monster roars in frustration and begin tearing through the bus, ripping it apart piece by piece.

That is buying them seconds. Not minutes. Seconds.

Jason’s eyes darts around, searching for anywhere to hide. Then he sees it.. an open sewer grate in the middle of the street.

It is a terrible plan. But he doesn’t care.

Jason sprints toward it. “Help me lift it!”

Ryan grabs the edge of the grate with him. They heave together, muscles straining. The metal groaned, rust flaking off.

The bus behind them collapsed completely.

Jason doesn’t look back. But he can hear the monster moving.. coming for them.

Finally, the grate came loose.

Jason shoves Ryan inside first. “Go! Go!”

Ryan slides into the darkness. Jason follows, dropping into the tunnel just as the monster lungs.

CRASH.

The ground shakes. The impact sending Jason tumbling deeper into the underground passage. He lands hard, pain jolting through his ribs.

Above them, the monster let out a furious roar.

But it couldn’t fit.

Jason lays there, chest rising and falling. We are alive.

Ryan groans next to him. “Jason… I think I hate this city.”

Jason lets out a short, breathless laugh. “Yeah. Me too.”

They don’t have time to rest. The monsters were up there, waiting.

And now, they have to survive down here.

The sewer tunnel is pitch black. The only sound they can hear are their breathing and the distant echoes of chaos from above.

Jason takes a second to steady himself, pushing through the ache in his ribs. Ryan sits beside him, rubbing his arm where he’d landed hard.

“You good?” Jason whispered.

Ryan exhales shakily. “I think so.”

Jason pulls out his phone, turning on the flashlight. A weak beam of light cutting through the darkness, revealing damp stone walls lined with rusted pipes. The floor is slick with grime, and the air is thick with the stench of rot.

Jason fighting the urge to gag. Not the worst thing we have seen today.

Ryan wipes his nose. “Smells like something died down here.”

Jason gives him a grim look. “Something probably did.”

They rest for a while.

 Ate some snacks that Jason packed before leaving their house.

Jason helps Ryan recover by patching his injuries with the first aid kit he also brought.

Then after they got enough rest.

Jason aimed the light down the tunnel. The passage stretched on, curving into the unknown. It isn’t much of a plan, but they can’t go back up.

Jason starts walking. Ryan follows.

Step by step, they disappeared into the dark.

⸻

The deeper they go, the quieter it becomes. The destruction above fades into muffled vibrations, distant but constant.

Jason’s grip on the flashlight tightens. “We need to find a way back up. Somewhere safe.”

Ryan frowns. “Is there even a ‘safe’ place left?”

Jason doesn’t answer him.

They keep moving, their footsteps splashing through shallow water. Rats scurries along the edges of the tunnel, watching them with beady eyes.

Then Jason hears something.

A voice.

He freezes, grabbing Ryan’s arm.

“Did you hear that?”

Ryan nods. “Yeah. Someone’s down here.”

Jason dims the flashlight, moving slower. The voice echoes through the tunnel.. low, hushed. More than one.

He motioned for Ryan to stay behind him as they creep forward.

A faint light flickers ahead. Firelight. A camp.

They have reached the edge of an open chamber, peering inside.

There are survivors.

At least a dozen people huddling around a makeshift fire pit, their faces gaunt and wary. Some are armed.. knives, bats, even a few guns. Supplies are stacked in crates nearby, scavenged from the city.

Jason and Ryan exchanging a look.

People means danger. But also hope.

Ryan whispers, “What do we do?”

Jason takes a slow breath.

Then he steps forward.

It is time to find out who we can trust.