The Passengers

“My phone turned off…” Tyson turned to show his brother his blank screen.

“You charge it?” Jeremy asked, the older sibling casually glancing at his phone, shocked to see it had befallen the same fate. “Now hold up, I know I charged mine.” Both brothers fiddled with their smartphones, repeatedly pressing their phone’s power buttons in an attempt to turn them back on. 

“Is it ‘cause we’re in the subway?” Tyson asked.

“That’s not gonna turn the whole phone off…” Jeremy responded somewhat irritably, fiddling with his phone further until the train also came to a halt, its lights blinking out. The other passengers murmured in confusion, all stuck in complete darkness. Apparently, their phones had ceased working too. All in the subway car sat silently in the darkness, waiting for the power to turn back on. Waiting for some sort of message regarding their current predicament. 

But no message arrived. This was a complete shutdown. It wasn’t simply the electronics as the few passengers who sported watches glanced on idly as the clock hands spun wildly out of control. Fifteen minutes soon passed. Then twenty, thought no one had any way of telling. Before long it would reach half an hour, but some weren’t willing to wait that long. 

One man reached for the sliding doors in a desperate struggle to pry them open and when that didn’t work, he attempted to ram into it with his shoulder. He wasn’t alone as more, increasingly frustrated and afraid passengers began to assist in this attempt. Eventually, a plan was agreed upon. One side would attempt to pry one door open, while another attempted to pry the doors open.

One woman began a third tactic, repeatedly bashing at the windows with her briefcase, and those unable to reach either of the sliding doors joined her in that effort. Tyson and Jeremy, merely watched, both too young and scared to be of much help. Luckily, however...one group finally pulled through. It was those prying open the sliding doors. One of the passengers managed to get an umbrella wedged in between the two doors and through great effort, all those involved managed to swing them open.

The passengers were in luck. The subway car had screeched to a halt at one of its destinations. And furthermore...their phones seem to spring back on. So to speak. Instead of being greeted by the standard LCD screen of apps or whichever wallpaper they had installed, they saw the phone emit bright light and static. Eerie as it was, none but the two children present seemed altogether disturbed by this as now they had a source of light. They could perhaps use it to navigate up the now-defunct escalator and head outside. 

Tyson and Jeremy had no idea where they were, however. That fear kept them from moving onward with the rest of the group until it was obvious they’d be left behind in the dark. They simply wanted to go home from school. They’d been on the train many times before, and while they had experienced a few delays, this was the first time they’d felt a disaster of this magnitude. Their fears were soon alleviated by a small margin as a pair of hands gently pushed the two on the shoulders forward up the escalator. Looking up, they recognized a woman from their school, Mrs. Grant. Neither of them was in her class but through word of mouth, they knew of her from the older students. And while they weren’t quite acquainted with her, a teacher from their school was someone they were willing to trust their lives to.

Upward they went, following the long line up the escalator. Many passengers murmured various things about their situation, from whether it was some sort of city-wide outage to something more sinister. Many discussed worry and hope that the passengers in other cars would find their own way out somehow and that someone was on the way to rescue those stuck. Eventually, all conversation ceased as those in front of the group came to a halt. Lights emanating from the phone shone brightly upon one lone figure sitting on a bench in front of the ticket gate.

Judging from his safety jacket and the id clipped in front of it, he appeared to be an employee of the subway, possibly the one running the ticket booth. He had a haggard look about him, a pained expression as he leaned on his right leg, his left looking pale and dripping with blood out from his pant leg. Glancing over to the passengers just now hopping off the escalator, his face went through a range of emotions. Hopeful and sad he shook his head. 

“Don’t go out there,” he sighed, gripping his leg. “Just wait for help.”

“Why not?”

“Do you know what’s happening?”

“What’s out there?”

The station officer, upon being pelted with various questions from the concerned passengers could only raise both of his hands to get them to settle down before raising his voice, “Listen...LISTEN! I don’t know what’s going on out there, but I got wind of it from a couple firefighters. Some kind of magnetic storm. Something’s going on in the whole state. Maybe the country, I don’t know.”

“How’d you hurt your leg?”

“Went out there to see what was going on. After I talked to the firefighters, I tried to make my way back here. Something swiped at my leg though.”

“A dog?”

The officer shook his head. “Winds began to pick up so I couldn’t quite see what it was but...looked like a man to me,” he shook his head. “But I’m quite so sure that’s what it was...Better off to wait here.”

As they conversed a deafening noise echoed throughout the subway station. It came from the floor below them, the one they had just left behind them as they ascended the escalator. The creaking only grew louder and louder until many of them could not help but look back and see the cause of the disruption. The train had suddenly come to life it seemed, dragging itself across the tracks. But then with a sudden lurch, it was pulled into the tunnel, so violently that the train cars behind it slammed against the wall with enough force to scrunch up like a bent can of soda. 

With some effort, the entire train was finally dragged through completely, crumbling the tunnel wall, its screeches across the tracks continuing to echo across the tunnel wall until all was silent once again. The passengers did not speak for a long time aside from a few brief murmurs. Tyson’s face looked as if he were about to break into a sob, but didn’t as he was too afraid to make even a whimper.   

After a moment, the woman with the briefcase from the train shook her head rapidly, stating, “We have no idea when help is arriving! We can’t wait! We don’t know what’s down there!”

The officer just shook his head at the gray-haired woman, “I can’t...I mean I can’t stop you. I don’t know what that was down there, but I saw what was out there in the storm. I don’t ever want to see something like that again.” 

After that, the officer didn’t have much in the way of anything to say. He simply sat there and kept to himself, wondering why his phone wouldn’t turn on. Several passengers left, without hesitation to venture outside. None who rode on the train with them would ever see them again. Others opted to wait. Sitting in silence, conversing amongst themselves until hunger took over or they had nothing else to talk about. Impatience eventually won over a few as they eventually left as well.

As the other left in silence, the two children fell asleep, Mr.s Grant watching over them as a temporary guardian. It seemed as if an hour or two passed and all present were growing hungry, thirsty, and weary of sitting on the cold subway steps. And then...they heard another noise, coming from the tunnels like before. It sounded something like scratching. Or digging. As if something was carving its way through the tunnels. It was accompanied by a draft of wind. A hot, sweltering breeze that caused one’s skin to instantly break out in sweat.

The two brothers woke up and glanced fearfully, only for Mrs. Grant to clasp both of their shoulders and as she forced out a smile. “Come on...we’re leaving. We’ll find a way to get you two home.” She stood up and the two boys did as well, glancing at those who remained. They had all decided that was the last straw. The officer heard the noise and sighed. 

No one was sure if it was stubbornness on his part or not, nor did they want to linger and find out as the noise was growing in volume and increasing in tempo and the hot winds emerging from the tunnel began to feel as if someone was breathing down their necks. The remaining passengers rushed out of the train station, none looking behind save Jeremy who saw the officer give him a halfhearted wave...and be dragged backwards down the escalators by something unseen. 

It wasn’t long before they reached the outside. And once they did it appeared a great deal worse than what the officer had described. The winds were harsh, trees swaying so violently back and forth, they appeared as if they could rip off their hinges at any one moment. Mrs. Grant, worried for the two children under her care, picked the both of them up with great effort and rushed along, looking for some sort of restaurant or store they could all hole up in. 

Others followed, perhaps believing in safety in groups or perhaps sharing concern over the two children, but they ran as far as they could see. The winds made it difficult but they had no other choice. 

“Orrrrrrrrr……” something howled. It sounds blared across the street and shattered windows as the ground began to rumble beneath the passengers’ feet. Almost at once, the winds dispersed and the group found themselves a goal. A convenience store just across the street. Small, but big enough for the mall to shelter in until this otherworldly storm passed. 

But hope soon seemed fleeting as the hot wind was once again felt on the back of their necks, erupting from the ground. Perhaps driven by some animal instinct, they all began to run, the scratching noise from the tunnels returning and growing louder as the passengers made their way across the street. The hot winds began to seep above ground and form a thick fog, making it harder and harder to see, though they knew where their destination lied. 

Right on the edge of their destination, Mrs.Grant’s ankle was hooked on the sidewalk and she fell. She moved to her back before she hit the ground os neither of the boys she carried would fall injured. “Run!” she’d cry. “Go to the store and hide!” The two did as instructed, running as fast as they could to the shattered glass door of the convenience store, the glass beneath their feet, fortunately, crunching into dust under the soles of their shoes. 

The fog spread far and wide. Before long, both brothers would lose sight of the kindly teacher and quickly all else outside the store as they hid behind aisles due to the noises that began to emerge outside. Screaming, howling, each and every decibel stronger than the last, causing the two to cover their ears as snacks spilled out of the shelves and onto the floor. And then….before long. It all ended.

Jeremy was the first to overcome his fear and lift his hands from his ears. Outside the fog began to fade away. He stepped outside, only slightly, to see if there was anything left. To see if Mrs. Grant had made her way out of harm’s way. Almost as soon as he looked out, he took a step back.

There was something out there, a shape in the fog. He couldn’t quite see what it was but it towered far above him. A loud whimper emerged from the figure and he felt everything around him shake, from the ground to his stomach. But still, he stood his ground and he was glad he did. Something was slowly nudged his way. A person….Mrs. Grant! She barely moved, only doing so to breathe but she appeared to not have suffered any harm. And whatever pushed her towards him on the other hand….Jeremy couldn’t make out much within the fog.

What he could see, was a round, black object the size of a mailbox and a long knot of hair that looked like a long beard. The round thing almost looked akin to something familiar. Awe overcoming terror, Jeremy reach out and touched it, feeling something cold and clammy much like a dogs’ nose. 

Soon the shape within the fog became more clear, more recognizable as the thing lifted its head, dripping with blood, and walked away, a cold wind clearing the fog in its wake as the now barren town soon began to feel life breathing into it once more.