REM

From The Tunnel

Events from my patrol missions haunted me last night. I had left the mission life behind over a decade ago and now had two daughters. But fear of what lived in the tunnels always made me worry about the safety of my family.

I was standing on a bridge overlooking the lower section of tunnels with another patrol member when the two below us began shooting into a darkened opening. Lights hung from above us in the main path, shedding light on everything around us. We could see a few feet into the openings that went in all directions, but not the monsters that lived in them as bullets tried to riddle their bodies.

Bracing myself for the worst as Hunter emptied his case, he backed up to allow Ozu to take over. As Ozu stared into the darkness, he got spooked by what he saw, stepping backward into the lit section of the tunnel where Jones and I watched from above.

Hunter had another full clip in his rifle, looking up just in time to see an asian woman with glowing blue eyes emerge from the tunnel. Black blood oozed from her wounds, but they didn't seem to affect her ability to move all that much.

She hissed at Ozu who froze in place.

"Ozu!" I yelled from above as Hunter put a bullet in her head, the female freak finally slumping to the ground.

"You okay, man?" asked Hunter, placing a hand on Ozu's shoulder.

I couldn't see his face, but he shook his head slowly.

"I think that was my sister," he mumbled, barely audible to Jones and I on the overhead bridge.

"Shit... sorry, man." Hunter apologized, removing his hand from Ozu's shoulder. Looking up, Hunter addressed me. "Sarge. We need to move out before more show up. This was supposed to be a patrol, we're not prepared for a full onslaught from these bastards."

I nodded to him before Jones and I turned around and walked down the stairs that winded to ground level.

"You gonna be okay, Ozu?" I asked, staring at the young Japanese man in dark camouflage fatigues.

"Just give me a minute, Sarge." He stared down at his dead sister, whose head was leaking black ooze onto the floor.

A cleanup crew would have to be called in to remove the body, especially since Ozu identified it as kin.

As we waited, I noticed a large stain of black forming on the ceiling. It began to drip down onto the floor, narrowly missing Ozu's shoulder.

"Ozu, we need to get out of here," I urged, holding my rifle with both hands.

Being down in the tunnels, you needed to be prepared for anything, and I meantanything.

Just as we all began to walk down the main tunnel toward the stairs leading to the surface, ear piercing cries wailed behind us. More of the freaks were coming, and fast. We ran for our lives with me leading the way and Hunter pushing Ozu ahead of him as he brought up the rear.

Boots clunking on each step, we hustled to the top where the earth's surface was. The main level was part of an old base, one where tests were conducted – hence the freaks full of black ooze chasing us.

Jones and Ozu ran out through the open door into the daylight while Hunter fired off a few rounds toward the level below us. He finally turned away, nodding as he passed me and I followed him outside.

The original door leading into the base had been blow from its hinges in a fire fight with the freaks. A new one had been installed for us to use as access, but it only locked from the inside. I placed the external lock on the handle as I felt it twist. The freaks weren't stupid, they knew how the damn thing worked.