The Night Shift

They ran as fast as their feet would carry them. Their breathing was loud, hard, and heavy. There had been seven in the group, but there were only five of them now. Alex was the youngest and one of the newest. His sweaty palms gripped a ripped pack he had fastened across his chest. He clutched at it tightly; there was telling how long they would be down here and if he lost his pack, he would have no supplies to keep him going until he reached the surface. 

If he reached the surface, he thought to himself.

 A loud wail echoed throughout the tunnel. “Don’t leave me, please don’t leave me behind.”

Heavy feet clonked against the wet concrete of the tunnel as they picked up speed.

“We should go back.” Alex yelled, shakily. It felt wrong to leave someone behind, but a part of him knew he didn’t want to go back either.

“Adam?” It was a woman’s voice and it was filled with fear. “My light’s gone out and I can hardly see.” Nira was afraid. She’d already lost her pack, her bio magnetic compass, and now her light had gone out. If the group happened to split up and she was left alone, she’d be done for; they needed to reach the surface fast.

Whatever answers the two had been hoping for, they received only heavy breathing and the sound of their own hearts beating frantically within them and for a while, only the slapping sound of feet on slippery concrete could be heard. There was a high-pitched squeal and a muffled scream far behind the exhausted group, but no one made to look behind them.

“Adam!” Nira all but screamed beggingly.

 “Here.” a deep voice said. They ran into a small narrow room where there was barely room to fit them all, but the relief of sanctuary, even brief sanctuary, was welcomed. 

“What...was...that?” Alex asked in between breaths once they’d all piled in. 

A tall man, well built, and very tanned turned to look at him. He held a single finger to his lips. 

“Not so loud boy, we’ve managed to outrun them for now, but we can’t stop here for long.”  

If it were not for the small round flashlights attached to a band held securely around their heads, Alex might not have been able to make out the group leader, Arthur Bengsby. 

“But what was that?” He was desperate to know.

Arthur heaved a sigh, tired from the running, but also feeling his age. Midnight would mark seven years of this unholy hell of a job. He could not tell anymore if any of it was making one damn of difference. 

“That my boy was a Glave.” 

Another man, only slightly shorter than Arthur stood, “And before you ask Alex, we have no idea what they actually are. Only that they’ve been here a while; right under the city.” His name was Andrew and he was second in command. 

The fifth member of the group, Tommy, sat folded into himself in a corner in the tiny room as though he were trying to hide from the monsters just outside the door. 

“I don’t understand. How are we chasing something we have no idea what it is?” Alex was freaking out. He was deep down in the tunnels beneath the city, with people he’d only met two hours ago, but for all he knew they might have been down in these tunnels for a day as time seemed so slow and there were no lights to know for certain how much time had passed. He didn’t know these people and apparently they didn’t know much about what was chasing them either.

“Look, all we know is that the name came from the institute the creatures escaped from; the Glave Institute of Bio engineering. A few years ago, a bunch of scientists were trying to find a cure to some virus, things didn’t go as plan and somehow these creatures were born. When the lab caught fire, firemen came to clear it out, but within hours they started disappearing down tunnels connected to the institute. As expected, the local government needed to keep things hush, so they hired people willing to go down in the tunnels to clear the damn things out.” Andrew sat down, back against the wall, tired.

Arthur stood however, “After volunteers started disappearing, the government started tweaking the advert.” Arthur held a hand in the air and swung it as though he were wiping the air. “Tunneling, night shift became the job posting and here we are.”

Alex was angry, “This is suicide, who would sign up for this?” 

Nira scoffed, “apparently you kid. The advert might not be so honest, but the contract is; didn’t you read it?” 

Alex pursed his lips angrily, but looked down at his feet in response. 

“Well I'm guessing you will from now on, huh?” Nira said and turned to Arthur. “What’s the plan?”

Arthur squeezed his way over to where Tommy sat a mess on the floor. Gripping both sides of his collar, he heaved Tommy from off the floor. “Alright there Tommy boy? We are gonna trek our way to the surface now. Are you good with that?” He lightly slapped Tommy’s face, snapping him out of whatever daze he’d been in.

“Ye...yeah, okay.” Tommy murmmed.

Andrew took out his biomagnetic compass and began scanning through the walls of the only exit and entrance of the room.  “Looks clear enough for us to move, but I can’t be sure if any have gotten ahead of us.”

“Wouldn’t matter anyhow. This is their territory, we just have to make it up top. Only a two mile radius to cover and we’re out.” Arthur said, doing his best to sound encouraging.

Andrew nodded in reassurance to the team, “about a twenty minute run guys, we’ve got this.” 

Alex wasn’t so sure, but he was sure that like him, Tommy had had no clue what tunneling had meant and now they would both be lucky to make it out alive. They had already lost two of their group, Sarah McKinnley and Donald Toloft. Alex was sure he would remember them long after this ordeal. Taking a deep breath and steeling himself for the path ahead of them, he stood straight and adjusted his gear.

 “I’m ready.” It was all he was able to muster through his fear. 

Arthur squeezed his way back to the front of the tiny room, hand on the doorknob and the other holding the only weapon able to kill those ugly creatures, a biogun. Once fired into its target, it boiled the creature from the inside out, leaving nothing but husks. Alex wasn’t exactly sure what the creatures looked like since it was so dark down in the tunnels, but he knew they were large and had a hard shell and at least four legs or pincers if what little he’d seen was anything to go by.

They all gripped their guns and on Andrew’s signal, Arthur opened the door. They ran out frantically, Arthur and Andrew in the lead, Nira and Alex behind them, and Tommy bringing up the rear. Screeching sounds could be heard nearby along the tunnel walls. 

“Guys, I think they were waiting us out. They’re close behind.” It was Tommy. He ran faster and closer to the group almost on Alex’s heels. 

“Hurry and stay together.” Arthur yelled, just as one of the creatures lurched down on them from above, dividing the team. Nira, Arthur, and Andrew on one side and Alex and Tommy on the other with more of the creatures scuttling up behind them. Tommy screamed and released a rapid fire from his bio gun. The creature began clawing at them as two more surrounded the split team. 

“Guys, they’re hemming us in. We’ve gotta get out now!” Nira yelled surprisingly calm given the situation as she fired shots off above them. Alex began backing himself back towards the other three never ceasing fire when a burning sensation hit his left shoulder. He cried out in pain. 

“Ah! I think one clawed me; it burns.” 

Shots were fired somewhere from the right of him towards the creature that had injured him and it was down in an instant. 

“You were bitten.” Nira yelled in his ear. “This is gonna burn worse.” 

Before he had time to react, Arthur fired his gun a few rounds and then placed the hot muzzle right onto the area he’d been bitten. Alex thought his shoulder might fall off. Time seemed to slow. Everything was blurry from the dark of the tunnels and the swiping motion of the small lights attached to their heads. It was loud all around from the creatures’ screeches and the fire of the guns. Orders were being yelled out and suddenly he was being dragged. 

“Alex, snap out of it, now!” Nira screamed. 

Alex shook himself and snapped back into reality, just as one of the large pincers came down splitting Tommy in two from behind. The look of shock on Tommy’s face filled Alex with such grief that he was yelling and reaching out for him even as he was being dragged away. Tears streaked his face as the top half of Tommy hit the wet concrete. Alex began shooting at the creatures without mercy.

“Almost there.” Arthur yelled as he just made out a set of narrow stairs leading upwards to the surface. “Hang in there.” 

Alex, filled with anger and adrenaline, began running harder and faster, shooting at anything that moved and taking it out with one shot instantly. They were almost to the bottom of the stairs when a large pincer swung out as if from nowhere and landed right into the top of Arthur’s right collarbone. He screamed in pain, “keep going!” 

Andrew yelled for Nira to keep running and for Alex to get to the surface, but Arthur shoved him. He fired his gun into the creature, killing it, but the pincer remained stuck in this collar. “Get them out, now. I'm done for, go now.”    

Andrew could barely speak, “yes, sir.” He took off for the stairs yelling at Nira and Alex to follow suit. “Lets go, lets go, you heard him, lets go.” His voice broke. 

As Alex ran up the stairs, he turned back, but he wished he hadn’t. There had to have been a dozen of those creatures surrounding Arthur. The flames from his gun were rapid and hot; Alex could see bits of smoke even from where he stood on the stairs. And then, everything went dark. He turned and ran up the stairs faster. There was a little light above where Andrew had already opened the manhole and climbed through. Nira was just making it up when arms began pulling him through as well. There was a loud grating noise and the manhole was back in place. 

He couldn't stop it and before he knew it, Alex was breaking down, crying harder than he ever thought possible. “Did you see them, Tommy...Arthur.” Something inside him broke and Nira held his shoulder. 

“Arthur was our leader for a reason, he knew the right thing to do. I’m sorry kid. I’m sorry you went through this.” 

Alex sobbed, he had never witnessed someone die before and tonight, he’d had to watch twice. He knew no one was likely to believe the events that had transpired that night, but more than grief and sorrow, he was angry. He wanted to bomb those tunnels and tear any surviving creatures limb from limb.

Andrew and Nira stood and helped him stand as well. “Well, this was a shit night.” Andrew said, but the hurt was evident in his voice. 

Nira stared at Alex and bumped her fist lightly against his chin. 

“There’s no bringing them back and you can’t go it alone, but if you’re looking for revenge, there’s always a place for you here, on the night shift.”