• After several minutes of wandering around the underground passageways, they eventually found their way to one of the vacant subway tunnels. As they began to traverse through the system, they were ever careful to stay clear of the electric rail for fear of being electrocuted. "So, what now?" David questioned, the beam of his flashlight bobbing up and down as he walked, their footsteps echoing off the curved stone walls.

    "We can follow these tunnels to a station and get topside that way." Jason answered, "After that, maybe try to get out of the city."

    "If there's even a city to get out of." David commented dryly.

    Amanda uttered a sudden gasp and caused the two men to turn around. "What's wrong?" Jason asked her.

    "Our parents!" she exclaimed softly, "What if they get killed those...those...things?"

    David strode forward and placed a comforting hand on his sister's shoulder. "I'm sure they'll be okay." he assured her, "Besides, our house is miles away from the school, same thing for Jason. They'd have more than enough time to evacuate."

    Amanda nodded, but some concern still remained in her expression. As they continued on through the dark tunnels, Jason had a growing sense of dread creeping up the back of his neck. Maybe it was due to the fact that he wasn't too fond of underground spaces, or maybe something much more serious. He decided to ignore it and focus on their current plan of action. Off in the distance from somewhere unseen, Jason could hear the faint dripping of fluids hitting the dusty floor, probably from a leaking water pipe. That, along with the pounds of their own footsteps, was the only sounds that stirred the foreboding construct. "So how about those Yankees yesterday?" David asked a couple minutes later.

    Jason chuckled and shook his head in amusement, "There wasn't a game yesterday, genius. They only play on the weekends."

    "I know that. I'm just making conversation." David replied, "Gotta find something to pass the time."

    "Shh!" Amanda hissed, "Do you hear that?"

    Through the ensuing silence, Jason could hear a faint skittering sound traveling towards them, stopping and starting again every so often. The sense that had tickled the back of his neck before returned, much stronger this time, and a panicked feeling began to settle into his gut. Slowly, David aimed the flashlight's beam down the tunnel back the way they had come and played it off of the curved ceiling, revealing a group of hideous, spider-like creatures not ten yards away. Jason's eyes widened in horror, "Run!"

    The spiders screeched as they dropped to the ground and took off after their fleeing prey, their numerous arachnid legs moving swiftly down the vacant subway tracks. Once again, the three teens found themselves running for their lives, and once more Jason's adrenaline level reached the boiling point. These new attackers were unfortunately faster than those that overran the field hospital and one managed to wrap a green-colored web strand around Jason's ankle, causing him to trip and crash to the ground. Before he even had a chance to regain his composure, a spider had leapt onto him and attempted to have his face for lunch. It was all Jason could do to keep the creature's maw away from him until Amanda, wielding a lengthy metal pole, came by and swung the makeshift weapon like a baseball bat, smacking the spider clear off him. Jason scrambled to his feet and they continued to make a beeline for the platform roughly thirty yards in front of them, putting a larger distance between themselves and the spiders. Suddenly, David cried out in pain and collapsed a few feet from the platform, forcing the other two to stop and rush back to him. "Ah! I can't feel my legs." he cried.

    Jason quickly glanced at his friend's legs and found some kind of sticky, glowing organic matter latched onto his Achilles Tendons, no doubt from the alien spiders. "Dang it." he swore as he moved to heave David onto his back in a fireman's carry.

    "No!" David said, waving him off, "There's no time! Get out of here while you still can!"

    "Are you crazy?" Amanda demanded, "We are not leaving you here!"

    David looked her square in the eye, "Yes, you are. You're not going to die because of me. Go, now!"

    As much as it pained him to do so, Jason nodded and said, "Good luck."

    "You too." David replied, "Look after her for me."

    With one last glance, Jason turned and ran for the station exit, a screaming, sobbing Amanda in tow. He had no idea what was going on down there; he didn't want to look, just kept his gaze locked on the warm afternoon sun washing down through the subway station's main exit that led to the street above.