The trio walked as quickly as possible through the blackness of the dark and foreboding tunnel, their footsteps echoing softly off the damp walls as they moved along. Occasionally, they could hear the sound of a rat scurrying away in the darkness.
They had only traveled about 150 feet in the cold, wet tunnel when Connor held up his fist, indicating the group to stop. Huddling close, he whispered quietly to the group as slow drips from the ceiling echoed around them.
“This is a subway tunnel, so the stops should be fairly close to each other. I want to stop every 15 paces and listen. The last thing we need is to alert a station full of zombies to our presence here in the tunnel. If that happens, we’re in seriously deep shit.”
Doug and Diana nodded in agreement.
“Diana, keep the light shielded and aimed only a few feet ahead,” he continued. “If we encounter a zombie, take him down as quickly and quietly as possible, and try not to let it fall. Any noise will echo in this tunnel and alert the undead on both ends.”
Again, the two nodded, and Connor gave the signal to continue on. Moving side by side, the three counted paces as they walked, watching the edge of the dim light for any movement.
Twelve paces in, the three came upon a ghastly vision wandering slowly ahead of them. The creature was easily six and a half feet tall. Its long hair, matted and wet, clung to its boney frame as its arms dangled lifeless at its side. Tattered clothing, black with mold and scum from the months in the tunnel, hung from its hideous body. It was truly something out of a nightmare.
Slowly, the creature turned in response to the dim light that now illuminated the tunnel around it, its face revolting and terrifying. Large gray chunks of flesh hung from the skull, its lips having been eaten away long before revealing bloodstained teeth that left the creature with a permanent, macabre grin.
Slowly, the mouth opened as it started to moan, and in a flash Connor was on it, his pocketknife flipping open as he moved. Within seconds he was in front of it, the blade buried in its eye socket as he grabbed the front of its clothing. Slowly, he lowered the zombie to the ground, then immediately turned to see if any more threats were present.
The three stood transfixed, none of them breathing as they listened for any other sign of the undead. Moments later, they heard the faint sounds of footsteps slapping the puddles in between the tracks. Doug quickly pulled his bowie knife as he prepared for the unseen horrors that were lurking in the tunnel ahead. Diana, M48 in hand, was ready as well.
With the light still muted, the three watched as four grisly phantoms emerged from the shadows. The frightful apparitions advanced quickly as they gained sight of the three, anxious to feed after being trapped in their subterranean prison for so long.
Spreading out, the trio prepared for the undead quartet. Like the other, they reflected the long term exposure to the dank, dark underbelly of the city, their clothes moldy and slime covered, their hair wet and matted. Their gray eyes almost glowed in the dim light as they moaned in anticipation of sinking teeth into flesh.
Moving quickly, Doug, Diana and Connor advanced, prepared to silence the undead once and for all. Having an idea, Diana, quickly changed course and moved next to Doug, shoving him against the far wall, somewhat confused. The two zombies in the middle of the rails immediately turned to follow, leaving Connor to deal with just the one on his side of the tunnel.
Standing by the wall, Doug and Diana watched as the two undead staggered towards them in the dim light. Suddenly, both zombies caught their feet on the train rails and fell to the ground, landing face first on the tunnel floor. The third zombie, already on the far side of the rail, fell over its prone brethren, leaving a pile of undead in front of them. Racing forward, the two drove their weapons into the skulls before the zombies could regain their feet. Turning to Connor, they watched as he easily dispatched the fourth.
Coming back together, they exchanged concerned looks. That was five undead in the tunnel already, and despite their best efforts to keep the noise down, the undead weren’t cooperating.
“We need to get out of this tunnel,” whispered Connor. “Let’s pick up the pace and see if we can find that next station. It shouldn’t be too far. There was a subway station at 13th and Market, so it stands to reason they’d have one on the opposite side at 15th.”
Turning back to the darkness, the three continued on, concealing the light as much as possible. Over the next 200 feet, the group encountered another seven zombies, all looking the same as the previous five. None looked like they’d seen the light of day in many, many months. By their estimates, the three had traveled at least 400 feet and were now treading with additional caution. Based on Connors assessment, they figured to be getting close to the 15th Street station soon, and without a doubt there would be zombies there, but they wouldn’t be waiting for the train.
As they moved slowly forward, Connor held up his fist and the group came to a halt.
“Douse the light,” he whispered.
Diana turned off the light and the three were plunged into pitch-black darkness. After a minute of standing quietly in the dark, their eyes began to adjust, and soon they could see a faint glow in the distance. The light was very faint, as if the sunlight were struggling through a thick curtain to reach its destination.
“Up against the wall,” whispered Connor. “Diana, turn the light back on but keep it shielded and aimed at the ground.”
Diana quickly complied. As the three stood against the cold subway wall, Connor looked down and grabbed two pieces of loose concrete, about the size of a cell phone. Giving the signal, the three quietly moved toward the dim light, hugging the wall the entire way.
When they got within 50 feet, they could start to make out faint details of the platform area. Connor signaled for Doug and Diana to stay put, then quietly dashed across the tracks to get a better view. Looking through the gloom, he could barely make out the numerous support columns that lined the platform near the loading area on their side. Moments later, his eyes picked up movement. Soon, he was able to discern dozens of shadowy shapes as they wandered slowly about the station.
Crouching low, he quietly returned to where Doug and Diana stood. They could tell from the look on his face that the news wasn’t good.
“There’s good news and bad news,” Connor whispered.
“Give us the good news first,” said Doug softly.
“I wanted the bad news first,” whispered Diana.
“Rock, paper scissors?” asked Doug.
“You two aren’t seriously arguing about this, are you?” whispered Connor.
Disbelief on his face, he watched as the two moved fists to palms, Doug raising his arms in triumph as his paper covered Diana’s rock.
“Give us the good news first,” smiled Doug.
Connor just shook his head.
“I should have left you two on the boat,” he muttered quietly. “OK, the good news is the stairs to get out of here appear to be on the side of the platform closest to us.”
“And the bad news?” whispered Diana.
“I’m estimating at least twenty undead in that station,” he whispered. “And I’m betting there are far more that I didn’t see.”
“Can we make a break for it?” asked Diana.
“Not as they stand now,” replied Connor. “We have to create a diversion to give us enough time and room to get onto the platform and up those stairs. Problem is, we don’t know what’s waiting for us top side.”
Suddenly, they heard faint sounds in the distant tunnel from where they came.
“Looks like some of the zombies managed to follow us down the tunnel. No time to waste. Here’s the plan.”
Doug and Diana leaned close as Connor told them what to do.
The three moved as quietly as possible along the edge of the damp tunnel wall until they were a mere 15 feet from the near edge of the platform. With his weapons sheathed, Connor hefted one of the pieces of concrete in his left han
d, judging its weight. Nodding to his companions, he took a step out from the wall and threw the piece of debris as hard as he could down the tunnel towards the far end of the platform. The chunk of concrete hit the ground and bounced a few times before striking the rail and rolling to a stop. The sound within the previously silent tunnel was like a gunshot going off, and soon the zombies were on the move. With their eyes adjusted to the darkness, they three watched as shadow after shadow moved in the direction of the sound and plunged off the side of the platform to the rails below. Waiting a few more seconds, Connor stepped out to the second set of rails and launched the other piece of concrete, the sound of its landing reverberating through the tunnel.
By now, dozens of zombies had made for the noise and the tunnel was filling up. On Connor’s signal, the three took off for the platform. Racing forward, they made the four-foot jump onto the landing and quickly drew their weapons. Looking around them, only a few crawling trailers remained in the area near the stairs.
Moving silently to their right, the three headed for the exit. Reaching the stairway opening, they peered around the corner and looked up the steps. The first two flights of steps were still underground, but the third opened into the daylight above. On the stairs above they could see the prone shapes of five or six zombies that fell down the steps as they followed the noise below. As they watched, more zombies appeared at the top of the steps, making the same mistake as their predecessors.
“We have to go. Now!” said Connor.
In a flash the three were racing up the stairs.
Reaching the first group of fallen zombies, they quickly disposed of them, leaping over the corpses as more zombies came tumbling down.
“I feel like I’m in that video game Donkey Kong!” said Doug as he drove his sword into another zombie that slid down the stairs in front of him.
“Everybody, to the left!” said Connor as they continued up.
Doug and Diana joined Connor on the left edge of the stairs as they continued their ascent, just as more undead appeared at the top. Seeing the three on the stairs, the zombies moved to intercept them. As soon as they hit the stairs and started their fall, the trio raced to the right, taking the steps two at a time.
Using this technique, they were able to make it to the top fairly quickly with minimal contact with the undead. Once at the top, they promptly cleared the immediate vicinity of zombies and then took a moment to check their situation and get their bearings.
Straight ahead of them was City Hall, and everywhere they looked, there were zombies.
“Oh man,” muttered Doug, as he handed the large hunting knife back to Diana.
“Oh no,” muttered Diana, taking the knife.
“Run,” said Connor.
Connor took off sprinting to his left, the Twins taking down any zombie that dared cross his path. Doug and Diana, hot on his heels, did the same. 15th Street was a large street, four lanes wide along with two lanes of parking. Despite the abandoned cars throughout the lanes, there was still plenty of open space to run, and the trio was using it all.
The zombies were quickly alerted to their presence, but for now they were staying ahead of them. But sound was traveling faster than they could run, and soon the moans of the dead were signaling the undead in front of them, and the windows of escape were closing. Hundreds of undead were turning in their direction as they raced down 15th Street. Now they were completely avoiding the undead, as every second spent fighting was that much less time they had for escape.
Ahead, to their left, they saw the familiar Love Park statue, and immediately Connor angled in that direction. Approaching the plaza, they caught sight of a young woman, wearing a yellow T-shirt with blood splatters sprayed across it. The word CHELTENHAM could still be made out on the front, while the remaining word was obscured by gore. Seeing the three, the zombie moaned in anticipation as living prey moved closer. Behind it, dozens of other zombies in the plaza were moving to intercept. Without hesitating, Connor raced into the plaza and decapitated the abomination as he headed for the Love statue.
Dashing after him, Doug and Diana were in full sprint mode when Connor suddenly skidded to a halt as he reached the right edge of the statue. Doug and Diana were at his side in seconds, wondering why he stopped. It only took a second for them to understand.
In front of them was the large circular area where a beautiful fountain once entertained visitors from around the world as they took pictures and enjoyed the cool spray of the water in the warm summer breeze. The fountain had long since shut off, and the large round pool that housed it was empty and dry, except for a few undead wandering inside.
Around the outside of the fountain pool were a series of wide steps that helped create a bleacher effect for viewing the fountain. Each set of steps was separated by a flat open area with tables and chairs, and as you descended, the steps got wider until they eventually met the rim of the fountain pool. It was what they saw among the steps that froze the three.
“No way,” said Doug. “That’s just not right.”
“Oh god,” whispered Diana, tears coming to her eyes.
Connor just stood there, staring, not saying a word, the Twins hanging limp at his side. Ahead of them were at least forty small children, between the ages of six and eight, all wearing the same yellow T-shirts as the young female zombie Connor had just cut down. On one of the shirts they could see the words CHELTENHAM ELEMENTARY printed among the bloodstains.
“No,” whispered Connor, as he looked upon them with a mixture of sympathy, horror and sadness. His gaze reflected a deep, hidden pain as tears formed in his eyes.
Over three dozen small sets of gray eyes locked on the three, their small mouths opening as they let out high pitched moans at the sight of them. Together, the tiny zombie schoolmates began to move in their direction, slowly navigating the steps in front of them.
“Connor, we have to go. Now!” said Doug, looking at his friend.
Connor just stared at the tiny horde, still motionless.
“Doug!” yelled Diana as she moved to cut off two approaching zombies. “What’s wrong with him?”
Moving to his left, Doug took out two more with the sword and pry bar.
“I don’t know!” he said.
Racing to his side, Diana dropped her knife and slapped Connor across the side of his face.
“Snap out of it!” she screamed.
His eyes blinked in confusion as his head recoiled from the slap. Suddenly, the grip on the Twins tightened and the sorrowful gaze was replaced with one of fury and rage.
“Thanks,” he said.
“No problem,” said Diana as she retrieved her knife.
Turning his back on the zombie children, Connor headed for the opposite side of the fountain.
“Now get out of my way,” he growled.
Doug had just finished dispatching another two zombies when he turned to see Connor heading his way.
“Holy shit,” he muttered as Connor strode toward him.
Doug had known Connor for some time now, but he had only seen that look once before, and that was back when he dismembered an entire group of zombies in front of the complex gate. It was a look of pure rage, and it was a look that scared him.
Doug watched as Connor marched past him, heading for the closest zombies. In what can best be described as a berserk rage, Connor swept through the zombies in the plaza like they were cardboard cutouts. Heads and body parts littered the sidewalk as he left a trail of bodies in his wake.
Doug and Diana followed behind, keeping their distance as he carved his way to the far end of the plaza. Reaching the edge of the street, he stopped and stood staring into the distance. As Doug and Diana caught up, they cautiously approached, unsure of his mental state.
“You OK pal?” asked Doug, concerned.
Connor turned to face him, his leather jacket dripping with blood and gore. The rage in his eyes was fading, and the friend Doug knew was returning to
the surface.
“I’m fine,” he said.
But as the rage faded, Doug could still see the sadness and pain in his eyes as his gaze turned back to a large building in the distance. Holding out his left arm, he pointed with the machete.
“Almost there,” he said. “Let’s move.”
Striding forward, he never looked back as he headed onto the Ben Franklin Parkway, the moans of the zombie children fading behind him.
Doug and Diana headed after him, their eyes focused on the magnificent building that sat atop a hill at the end of the parkway. The Philadelphia Museum of Art.