Ellen Cafferty knelt on the ledge’s cool stone, suspended over a mass of snarling creatures somewhere in the dark depths below. A thick, sticky mucus covered her body, holding her firmly in place, and she guessed it was the same for the other women. She felt like a fly in a spider’s web. And the more she struggled, twisting and turning, the tighter the web clung to her. When it seemed as if she or another woman had moved a little bit, the creatures were vigilant in nudging her back into the exact same spot. A faint, eerie glow illuminated the darkness just barely enough for her to make out her surroundings. She guessed it was her cell phone nearby in power save mode.
If there was a positive, it was easier to breathe in the pitch-black cocoon, as if the creatures were supplying the women with just enough oxygen to survive. That didn’t amount to much if it only meant sustaining their lives until they became victims like the rest of the passengers on the train. It also was barely worth it at all, as the mucus-like substance they were covered in was revolting, both in texture and in how the creatures delivered it. And every time Ellen tried to move, the creatures showered her with more viscous liquid from membranes hanging above. For some reason, the fact that they collected and stored the mucus made it even more alien.
She shuddered, and that little movement was enough for a creature to force her back into position and explode another sac. The substance dripped down her face like maple syrup and tightened around her body, welding her firmly in place once more.
The creatures had to be doing this to them for a reason. Nothing else made sense considering the brutal efficiency they had used to tear apart the rest of the passengers. She wondered if they planned on using the hostages as their next meal, and the mucus was the seasoning. But even that made her pause. Because why her?
And why these other five women?
And why were they arranged in a circle facing one another, as if in some ceremonial sacrifice?
She had decided to attend the event only yesterday, after Tom made a commitment to reinvigorate their marriage. They had barely spoken a word during the past six months apart from late-night, liquor-induced arguments. The Z Train project had consumed him, relegating everything else in his life to irrelevance. And his one-night indiscretion . . . He’d spent the past few months torturing himself for his mistake, trying to do what he could to rectify things—even confessing almost as soon as it happened—but the damage was done. He had hurt her badly by his inattention and hurt her even worse when he had found time for passion with another woman, when he claimed to have no time for her. With all that, he had pushed her into doing something she deeply regretted to this day, which in turn had made her feel guilty enough to agree to coming today.
And all of that meant absolutely nothing, because the hurt and sorrow of a failing marriage felt so distant compared to the horror and pain she was living now.
A broken marriage was better than this. Anything was . . .
The creatures stalked outside the cocoon, moving around the ledge with heavy footsteps, tails swishing and teeth chattering. It was unnerving, because there was something in their gaze when they came within inches of her face, appearing out of the blackness—something beyond just an animalistic hunger. An intelligence and deliberateness that chilled her blood. Combined with their vast numbers and brute strength, it was becoming harder and harder to believe there was a world in which a rescue was coming or an escape was possible.
Ellen thought back to her brief glimpse of the women when salvation seemed possible. The semiconscious lady on the opposite side of the circle had a bulging belly.
Did the one to her left also have a bump? She couldn’t recall, but if she did . . .
The lady to her right in a summer dress looked to be with child.
The connection crystalized in Ellen’s mind, and she shuddered again.
All these women, like her, were pregnant.
She reasoned that was why they had been spared. Nothing else explained their survival. And that couldn’t be a coincidence.
If she wasn’t so afraid she’d choke on it, she thought she might throw up, knowing that a single, terrible mistake two months ago had temporarily saved her life. He had caught her at her weakest moment and lavished her with compliments and vintage bottles of Bordeaux. His accent was charming, and he was handsome and, truth be told, a great lover. They spent the night together at that countryside hotel. At the time, it had felt amazing. It had felt right, a release from her frustration and anger at Tom. The next morning that release had transformed into the shackles lies so often become, and she instantly regretted it. And, of course, the man had disappeared.
Now those screams of passion that echoed in her head were turning into screams of horror. She thought to escape again, but the gruesome mucus held her in place. She grimaced and attempted to struggle free once more, only to stop when she realized the crackling had ceased and the cavern had fallen deathly silent.
Ellen held her breath, motionless, afraid to make a sound.
A faint scratching sound rose from below, like something was being dragged up the jagged rocks. The scratching drew closer.
Without warning, the mucous membrane she was trapped in popped. Creatures dragged the thick layer of skin off the women and flung it to the side.
A woman in the circle gasped.
A huge creature, five times bigger than the others, dragged itself toward them, and its bright ruby eyes cast a thin glow over the ledge.
“Oh my God!” another woman yelled.
The slick black armaments covering the giant creature’s torso glinted in the weak light. Retractable scales striped its back. Twelve-inch claws extended from each of its four limbs.
Ellen had been terrified of the other creatures. She had no vocabulary for how she felt about this new abomination.
The giant thudded forward, eyeing each woman in turn, and perched itself in the center of the circle. Its ten-foot tail whooshed from side to side, smashing against the cavern wall and spilling stones across the ground.
The creature swung toward Ellen and roared, blasting out a stench like rotting garbage. Saliva spattered across her face. She shut her eyes tight, praying somebody would wake her from this nightmare.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee . . .
She sensed the creature inches from her face.
Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus . . .
A claw traced a line up Ellen’s abdomen, exerting enough pressure to break the skin. She swallowed hard. It couldn’t end like this.
Holy Mary, mother of God . . .
Warm blood trickled down her stomach.
Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death . . .
The claw withdrew.
Ellen opened her eyes just a sliver.
The creature had moved on to the next woman.
Amen?
It ran a claw over the other woman’s face and then down toward her stomach. The woman screamed and wriggled, but it did nothing to deter the creature.
Near darkness had scared Ellen shitless, but the creature’s eyes illuminated the full terror of their situation. It moved on again, shuffling in front of the youngest-looking woman in the group, her body covered in a tattered yellow sundress. She stared up at it with wide-eyed fright and sharply inhaled, but didn’t scream. The sharp edge of the creature’s claw lifted her mucus-covered dress, revealing her pregnant belly, and it carved a circle into her flesh.
“Get away from me!” She attempted to twist her body. “Get the fuck away from my child!”
For a moment Ellen felt pride at the young woman’s resistance, only to watch in horror as the creature’s tail whipped around toward the girl’s face. Ellen held her breath as she waited for the inevitable, but the vicious-looking tail abruptly stopped inches from stabbing through the woman’s skull.
The girl in the yellow dress whimpered but said no more, bowing her head in submission, and Ellen’s pride shifted to disappointment—more toward her own resignation than the girl’s lack of resistance.
At least she tried, Ellen thought. At least her spirit isn’t completely dead.
Swallowing back down a sob of anger, Ellen pulled her right hand upward as hard as she could, finally freeing it from the sticky bond. She grabbed a rock and heaved it at the creature, hitting it squarely on the head. “Get the hell away from us!” she shouted.
The creature spun and roared. It straightened in front of Ellen, towering almost twenty feet above her, and slammed two claws down into the ground on either side of her knees, splintering the ledge. But she was stronger than even she realized, and she was done letting the fear rule her.
“Fuck you! Do you hear me?”
The creature bent down and leaned close to her face. “Fuck you,” it said, perfectly mimicking her voice. “Do you hear me?”
Ellen stared into its eyes with a look of defiance. If this was the end, she refused to go out dominated by this foul bastard.
The creature raised its tail and pulled it back for a strike.
She tensed, waiting for the inevitable, but didn’t close her eyes.
Suddenly a brilliant white shaft of light burned onto the ledge and swept over each of the women. The beam focused on the massive creature, and deafening shrieks reverberated around the cavern.
She heard another noise—a muffled thud—and turned her head to see a lantern attached to a rope, bathing the area in a bright orange glow.
An artificial object.
Something from Ellen’s world.
The giant creature screamed, and it raised a pair of claws over its eyes. It leaped into the air, flying through the darkness and disappearing into the void.
Two beams of light carved around the cavern, sending other creatures darting for the passages and other dark corners.
Fifty feet above, somebody in black clothing began climbing down, casting their flashlight in a protective arc around the women, while farther up, another light intermittently covered their savior’s descent.
Relief washed over Ellen, and for the first time the creatures’ shrieks sounded like a triumphant chorus in her ears. She turned to the crying girl to her left. “What’s your name, sweetie?”
“N-Natalie.”
“They’re gonna get us out of here, Natalie.”
Please, God, let them get us out of here.
The dark figure dropped to the ledge. Ellen squinted to see past the glare of the flashlight. She wasn’t prepared to believe they were even close to safe, but whoever had descended was like an angel sent from heaven. Live or die, it felt like at least some of her prayers were being heard.
The figure came closer, and it became obvious it was a woman. She knelt by Ellen’s side. “Are you Ellen Cafferty?”
“Yes . . . yes.”
“My name’s Sarah Bowcut. I’m here with Captain Larry Dumont from SWAT Team 415. We’re here to help, but we have to move fast.” She lifted her glove from Ellen’s shoulder and scowled. “What the hell?”
“They covered us in it. We can’t move.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“Her first,” Ellen said, jutting her chin toward the youngest in the group.
“Ma’am?”
“Free her first, then the others.”
She appreciated how the officer didn’t argue. As much as Ellen wanted to be released from the creatures’ glue trap, she knew she wouldn’t be able to live with herself unless the others were safe.
Bowcut approached Natalie and pulled a knife from her belt. “We’re going to cut you free, all right?”
Natalie let out a shuddering breath and nodded. Bowcut worked the knife between her arms and body, chopping through the thick mucus, and then moving on to her legs. Once her limbs were free, Natalie unsteadily rose to her feet.
“Keep the creatures back by using this.” Bowcut handed her the light. “Any get close focus exclusively on them.”
“O-o-okay.”
“I’m counting on you,” Bowcut said firmly. “So are all these other women. This light is a powerful weapon against these things, so be alert.”
“Okay,” Natalie said, her voice much less shaky. She swung the light to the left and right, her eyes intent.
Bowcut winked back at Ellen and then moved on to the next woman. She repeated the procedure on the other five women, all under the protective glare of Dumont’s light, and they crowded together in his beam.
“What now?” Ellen asked when she was finally freed.
“Mrs. Cafferty,” Bowcut said, “now we get the fuck outta here.”