A Light at the End of the Tunnel

Passengers in the Side Tunnel

The straggle of passengers from the oddly destroyed underground train has stretched out along the tracks with those who investigated the forward carriage, cut in half and hanging on the edge of a great looming void in the earth, towards the rear of the line. The conductor has hung his warning light for the next train and now hustles past the others towards the head of the line to help the passengers climb onto the platform at the sub-station ahead.

The sight of glowing electric lights down the curve of the tunnel bring sighs of relief that safety and escape are only a few paces away. The passengers move a little faster.

“Bit wet here,” says someone.

There’s a storm drain alongside the tracks

“There’s a storm drain alongside the tracks,” explains the conductor. “Maybe it’s raining outside again.”

“I don’t think it’s water,” says someone in a squeaky voice.

Shining their lanterns on the stony track bed, the passengers can see pools of a black viscous liquid that seems to be trickling slowly along the tracks from the direction of the station lights ahead. From that direction is a sudden commotion and then a strangled off cry.

More than half of the passengers have already reached the station, but there is a wave of agitation passing through them. Some behind are pushing forward, eager to get into the light and off the tracks, but there seems to be a push back as well. And then there is a piercing scream of terror.

“Knives! They’ve got knives!” cries a woman from the lighted station. Her cries die away suddenly with a horrible gasping wet sound.

The Player Characters are perhaps a dozen yards shy of the platform at this point with five or six people in front of them. These people are turning to run back into the black tunnel.

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“Some kind of riot…hooligans…” says Michael. He grabs hold of the doctor’s sleeve without really thinking about it and tries to pull him away from the chaos up ahead. “Unless you are armed, we need to run.” Michael is already stepping back and turning to run.

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James presses himself against one side of the tunnel as those in front turn to run. He wants to run too, but as a fencer is instinctively reluctant to turn his back on anyone with a knife, and he also wants to get out of this damnable tunnel. His immediate reaction is therefore incredulity and caution, so he hesitates.

With one hand he perhaps ushers the lady he was talking to (before being rudely interrupted) into the side with him, to avoid being trampled. With the other hand he holds up the heavy train lamp, using the next few seconds to judge what exactly is going on.

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Rene is no hero. Being at the rear of the procession with the other investigators of the forward carriage he will look for some sort of alcove or shadowed place to hide without being noticed. The danger of the oncoming train isn’t completely avoided so he won’t retreat back down the tunnel. All he wants to do is get out of the way, hide and avoid the mob.

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The commotion ahead in the reassuring lit area abruptly caught her attention.

“Dear God,” she whispered, “what is happening?”

Madalena eagerly accepts a reassuring hand and moves to the side of the tunnel, out of the way of the rushing passengers, also craning her neck to try and see what is going on, and having a very nasty feeling about what the dark liquid trickling down the tunnel must be. Her instincts are telling her to run, as impractical as that might be in a full skirt, although there seems to be nowhere to go except the remaining half a train and the terrible void. For the moment she will keep close to James.