Passengers of the Underground

"Passengers of the Underground"

She awoke in a panic and, raising herself from the bed, noticed how much she was sweating. “Phew, that was a strange dream,” she told herself, willing her heartbeat to calm down. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and padded softly on her bare feet across her flat towards the window. She began to understand what had woken her as she identified muffled shouting, car alarms blaring, and distant sirens, and as she looked out, she was amazed to see so many people out and about in the dark. It took Irene a second or two to realise that no street lights were working.

She heard Helen shouting through the door at her, “Are you awake, Irene?” Flinging the door open for Helen to come in, the panic-stricken woman from the flat opposite almost fell in through the door.

“They’ve landed. Oh my god, they’ve landed, " said a breathless Helen.

With shaking hands, Helen strode over to the radio and switched it on.

The regular announcer’s voice, calm and well-spoken, was broadcasting:

“… and reports are now that the London impact site was not an isolated incident. Eyewitnesses claim to have seen…. Apologies. We interrupt this broadcast for a special announcement from the Prime Minister.”

“Good evening. This is your Prime Minister. We have been invaded by alien beings from a planet far away. It is believed that they arrived via the meteorite, and we are currently unsure of their motives. The Government has been unable to make verbal contact with the aliens. In various world locations, more meteorites have landed, and bombings have been heard. When we get more news, you will be informed. Meanwhile, in each living area, the Wardens already allocated are to make local announcements via tannoy systems. Please listen out carefully for announcements”.

The girls stood in shocked silence. Helen looked at Irene, and she looked at Helen; both were wide-eyed and uneasy.

“Get dressed quickly and throw a couple of essentials in a bag so we are ready to go when called,” said Irene urgently, shooing Helen back to her flat.

Flinging on jeans and a jumper, Irene began to scan the view from her window. She ran to Helen’s shouting:

“Are you ready? People are already going to the Underground. Hurry, so we are not left behind.” She heard muffled movements from within, and soon, Helen opened her door while putting on her coat.

“What about phones and money?”

They quietly left their flats within the condo building and took the stairs to the lobby. Their footsteps echoed as they ran from step to step, but strangely, as they reached the lobby, all was silent. The lifts were stationary, but surprisingly, there wasn’t any sound of feet running down the stairs from any other occupants,

Irene whispered, “Do you think we’re the last ones? " Helen shrugged, grabbed Irene’s hand, and pulled her as they began to run in the darkness towards the unlit Underground station.

As they entered the pitch dark of the Underground, Helen felt sure she had heard a noise.

“Anyone there?” she called.

They heard nothing. Grabbing the bannister, the two women made their way into the bowels of the silent station. Arriving at the entrance of the platforms, they peered into the gloom and slowly felt their way to the east platform.

They suddenly heard the loud sound of a train’s hooter. With headlights blazing, a train going flat-out rattled past them. The two women on the platform clung to each other.

“Was anyone on it?”

“Didn’t see - it went too fast, and the carriages weren’t lit, but I thought I saw lots of baskets, you know, the sort of baskets you might transport a small animal in.”

“Yes, I thought I saw the same, but with the speed and darkness, it could have been anything,” said Irene. “Well, at least the trains are still running. We may have missed that one, but surely we can catch the next one”, she said optimistically.

Helen’s body stiffened: “I thought I heard voices and people moving.” Irene nodded in agreement. “Sshh! Did you hear that?” she whispered.

“Yes,”.

They could hear noises and the occasional muffled voice as they stood in the dark. The sound of crockery clinking together also occasionally occurred.

They tiptoed towards the walls of the train platform and pressed their ears against the wall. Looking at Irene, Helen excitedly pointed her index finger towards the wall. Irene nodded.

“Hello,” Helen shouted.

Nothing.

“Hello,” she tried again.

“If you want a drink, just come in”, said a voice quite close by.

Helen and Irene jumped. They looked at each other in confusion.

“How do we get in?” Helen asked Irene.

They heard footsteps approaching and stared in amazement as a door in the platform wall slid open. It revealed a young woman no older than 30 who seemed to be standing in a brightly lit cafe.

“Come in,” said the woman cheerily. She waved the girls into the cafe, smiling and welcoming. The girls looked at each other bemused. They both peered into the cafe. It was undoubtedly a sizeable functioning kitchen/cafe behind a London Underground Platform wholly hidden from the public. It housed vast coffee and tea machines that blasted steam as various drinks were being prepared, and it seemed it could produce all types of food on the hobs and ovens. However, both girls noticed that underneath the antiseptic, clean smell of the kitchen was a faint, unsettling musk aroma —something almost animal-like.

Numerous busy staff wearing crisp white catering uniforms continued their tasks and ignored the girls. “They almost look like robots,” whispered Irene, chuckling. Helen nodded and smiled. Both girls noticed an odd lack of background noise—no casual conversation - just the constant hum of machinery and an occasional strange meowing from somewhere.

“Was it the bombing?” asked the kind lady, and seeing their confusion, continued: “That made you come here?”

“No. A tannoy announcement followed the Government announcement, telling us to take cover at the Underground. ……. How long has your cafe been here - behind the door?”

The lady smiled and shook her head ruefully.

“Questions later. First, you need a drink. Coffee?”

The two girls walked into the large, clean cafe. Once their coffees were delivered to their table, the girls began to sip possibly the most delicious coffee they had ever tasted. As they greedily drank the delightful brew, they noticed it had a strangely calming effect.

“Would you care to follow me?” asked a man who appeared by their table. He was dressed casually in jeans and a T-shirt. Smiling pleasantly, he indicated they should follow.

As Helen began to walk down the bright corridors, she almost forgot she was behind the underground platform. Irene, trotting beside her, was busily straining to hear any sounds, but mysteriously, all seemed quiet except for the occasional distant sound of numerous cats meowing.

“Wonder where all those hundreds of people we saw earlier disappeared to,” she mused.

The man led them into a spacious room containing two large, comfortable yellow sofas covered in numerous scatter cushions. The man indicated they should sit and make themselves comfortable, and then he disappeared. Full of relaxing liquid, the girls bounced towards the sofas and, sitting down, were thrilled to see two large furry cats sitting there.

“Ah,” said Irene. “I thought there was a slight cat smell in the kitchen, plus I heard several distant cats when we came to this room. There must be many cats living here. Probably mousers”.

“Hello,” said a man who had appeared in the room. He was followed by several others who stood behind him.

“Where are all the other people?” asked Helen. “I saw loads earlier from my bedroom window, all making their way to the Underground. But since leaving our apartment block, we haven’t seen or heard anything. But ooh, we did see a high-speed train, but it looked empty except for baskets.” She smiled at one of the large cats sitting next to her. The cat promptly began purring. She began laughing. “It’s almost as if this cat is talking to me.”

The man cleared his throat. “Quite possibly. it understands English. It’s a London cat“.

Helen attempted to laugh at the comment, but she was beginning to feel strange and frankly didn’t like the man too much.

“We are the Army, and our job is predominantly to get as many people off the planet as possible in the event of an alien attack.”

“Where exactly are we”? asked Irene,

“Over the years, we’ve built emergency living quarters within the walls of the Underground systems to offer sanctuary to those who needed it. However, due to new inventions, we have added flying capabilities to take off in the event of an invasion”.

“Take off?” said Helen slowly, noticing that he had failed to answer her question.

“Are you telling us you will take off with us on board?” Irene asked suspiciously. The cat stood up, and Irene was shocked that it seemed to have grown and was now almost level with the top of her head.

Irene tried to move the cat to one side so she could stand up, but due to the cat's weight, she had to remain where she was. Instead of standing, she attempted to sound challenging:

“I’m finding all this difficult to take in. I use this station regularly to travel to and from work. I would have noticed if there was a cafe behind the wall I stood in front of. I’m not sure I believe anything you’ve said. There’s something funny going on.” Her voice was surprisingly hushed, and her heartbeat remained steady.

She continued, “I think you came in via that rock that crashed into Earth, and you plan to take as many of us as possible from our homes.”

The two cats, now bigger than ever, began to miaow loudly.

“Why do you want to kidnap people from my Planet?

The man hesitated for a moment.

“There is nothing at all ominous about our intentions. You’ll love it,” he said excitedly. “Tell me, what do you do daily?”

“What do we do? I'm not sure what you mean.” Irene turned to Helen and shrugged; Helen shrugged back.

“Well, what did you do yesterday?”

Confused by the question, Irene finally said: “Nothing”.

“Nothing at all?

”Well, I went to work”, she said lamely.

He smiled and said: “Why do you work?”

“What do you mean? Without working, we’d have no money.”

“Yep, we all need food, warmth, and comfort?” said the man.

The girls nodded.

“Great. This is exactly what we want to give you, except you won’t have to work for it. We want to take you to our homes, where you’ll live in luxury, perhaps produce children, and live a dream existence.”

The two big fat cats pushed and nuzzled against the girls, and the girls helplessly began to pet them; the sound of purring was louder than any purring either girl had ever heard.

“Good, you love to pet cats, too. We adore our cats. Our pets always sit with us and keep us relaxed and content. We love to chat and nuzzle with them. You’ll love it.”, said the Officer.

“What do you mean 'we’ll love it? I love cats, but sitting all day, day in and day out, and petting a cat would bore me.”

“Ah, you only say that because you have plenty of cats here. Unfortunately, our planet had an epidemic, and we lost most of our pets. We learned long ago that we would fall into despair without our pets. We cease to function. We are only taking the most docile and affectionate to become our pets and love us as we will love them.”

“I’m not sure if I’m following everything. Why are you telling Helen and me about restocking your pet supply?”

The Army Officer approached her and now seemed to tower over her. He didn’t look this big when he first came into the room.

“You look a little woozy. How are you feeling?” he asked.

Helen and Irene glanced at one another. Everything seemed to be swimming around them.

“OK,” said the enormous man, “it's time for you to have checkups with the doctors. They’ll arrange suitable travel baskets for your journey and decide which of you will remain fertile and who is to be neutered.”

Irene and Helen turned to grab one another, mouths open in silent screams. What on earth did he mean? “Travel baskets, decisions on who would remain fertile.”

The two enormous cats grabbed the helpless girls by the scruffs of their necks and began to carry them along a corridor. As the girls opened their mouths to cry out, they heard strange crying noises coming from their mouths —similar to the noise young babies make when distressed. Despite being carried by the back of her neck, Irene turned to Helen, her mouth open in terror—but it wasn’t Helen anymore. Her eyes were too wide, too green. Furry ears twitched atop her head. A tail flicked anxiously behind her. Irene struggled violently, trying to escape from the cat’s grip. She began to feel her skin crawl. The sensation was unbearable, like countless tiny needles prickling from beneath her flesh. She touched her arm and felt it—thick, coarse fur pushing through her pores.

“I must fight this; I must try to save myself before it’s too late”.

She felt the cat’s teeth clamping more firmly with its steel grip, and as if from nowhere, Irene felt her tail swish back and forth in anger. Her jaw ached, her teeth shifting unnaturally. She tried to cry out, but what came out was a strangled yowl. She began to growl but could only hang immobile from the cat’s mouth until even her tail ceased to move. Like Helen, she had stopped resisting and instead allowed the transformation to finalise. They weren’t girls anymore. They were… pets.

Ahead of them, the wall opened, and they found themselves back on the platform just as a train arrived. They both felt themselves being shoved roughly into cell-like baskets and felt the baskets being placed onto the train. Uniformed operatives removed the baskets from the floor and swung the captives in their baskets onto a wire shelf. In their new guises, the girls were soon overwhelmed with the deafening sound of innumerable distressed screaming cats and, unable to control themselves, opened their little cat mouths and began to scream along with everyone else.