Episode 1

Prologue

A Deserted place. A few trees were scattered on the land, and the sun’s rays barely came through the cloudy sky. A little far away, large mega story buildings could be seen. On the ground pebbles vibrated and the ground slowly shook, as a team of men operated the gigantic driller for creating the subway tunnel.

The tunnel was coming from the nearby city and the driller already passed a great deal of distance. As the driller progressed through the underground, an automatic machine placed concrete rings along the muddy wall for reinforcing the tunnel wall. A few men were constantly feeding the automatic machine with parts of the concrete rings.

While the drilling and wall construction made progress, a few groups of men were very busy placing metal rail tracks. A pulley system was continuously bringing metal tracks and concrete rings from the other side of the tunnel.

Sweat uncontrollably oozed down from the men’s brow. It was incredible that these men could work in this hot environment. In this tunnel, there was no one resting. There was job for everyone and everyone was doing everything they could to build the tunnel. They all were working in a fast pace, probably because they want to complete this construction as soon as possible. Suddenly it happened without any warning. The tunnel completely shook like the effect of an earthquake.

Everyone all at once stopped working and they analyzed the tunnel. Then the ground stopped vibrating. Workers took a deep sigh. Suddenly the quake started again, this time a little stronger.

With a crack sound, the newly placed upper part of the concrete rings fell off from the wall. Miraculously the workers under the fallen concrete piece escaped without any serious injury apart from the loss of skin on the side of a few men’s arms as the concrete pieces brushed past.

The quake continued. The driller began to vibrate and suddenly the wall of soil in front of the driller broke away, revealing a natural cave system. Cold wind blew towards the workers through the tiny gaps in the front part of the driller. Then suddenly the side part of the concrete rings fell down, and the tunnel wall slowly broke apart, revealing a massive cave system across the underground. Fortunately none of the top soil fell off.

Workers gazed at the newly discovered tunnel in horror, with curiosity. None of the men said any words. The light from the bright bulbs which were now on the tunnel floor, barely cut through the darkness beyond the part of the tunnel these men have made.

A few new men arrived at the spot from the other side of the manmade tunnel with flashlights. They must have experienced the earthquake, but it seems that only a small part of the manmade tunnel had collapsed. The men with flashlight slowly walked through the newly discovered tunnel a little. A cold wind was coming towards them from somewhere, and it seems that there was a flow of cold air all over this tunnel system.

The part of the tunnel they were now in was like a big wide room and there were numerous tunnels coming to this wide room from different directions.

The men slowly approached one of the tunnel and they slowly examined the tunnel in the bright light of the flash light. Then it happened. When one worker shone the light at a nearby wall, the wall began to glitter, as if there were millions of tiny fireflies on the wall. The men slowly approached the wall with curiosity. And one worker touched the wall.

“Diamond!” The man said.

Yes. The whole wall had diamonds having the size of a man’s palm. They slowly shone the light at the nearby walls and excitement and curiosity struck all of them. The whole walls in all the nearby tunnels were filled with diamonds!

Chapter 1

“Jerome, wake up, honey. It’s morning.” I heard Emily’s voice in my deep slumber.

“Huh ...” I slowly opened my eyes and found Emily hurriedly dressing. “Honey, it’s Sunday, right?”

“Yeah. Why?” Emily asked.

“Well, why are you dressing? Are you going outside?”

“Huh, huh.”

“Well, you don’t have to go to office, right?”

“Isn’t that obvious? I am going to church for the morning mass. Jenny said she will be here to pick me up.”

“Okay. Is Aidan awake?”

“Yeah. He is dressing. He is coming with me.”

I slowly removed the covers and stood up. And I slowly walked towards the front door.

“Newspaper is in the kitchen, and coffee is on the dining room table.” Emily shouted from the bedroom.

“Okay ...” I backed away from the front door and I walked towards the kitchen. In the kitchen I found the newspaper on top of the table.

Reading newspaper had become part of my life and I couldn’t start a day without newspaper. I took the newspaper and flipped through the pages. Then the story on the second page really attracted my eyes. It says a group of subway workers discovered a tunnel system during the drilling. The site was near here, about 50 miles away from home.

Suddenly the phone rang.

“This is Emily. Who is this?”

“Huh, huh ... I will give him ... Jerome, honey? A call for you.”

I slowly walked towards the dining room and found Emily near the phone.

“Who is it?” I asked.

“Government.”

I quickly approached Emily and grabbed the receiver from her hand.

“This is Jerome.” I said.

“Jerome, we hope that you have red the newspaper today. We need your geological skills in this tunnel in Wyoming.”

“I am listening.”

“We are not in a situation to drive you to this place. We hope you have a car. Be here as soon as possible.”

“I will be there.”

The call ended.

“What is it, honey” Emily asked.

“They want me to study a tunnel system that they have discovered during the construction of a subway tunnel.” I said.

Suddenly a car horn cut through the air.

“Jenny is here. I am going, okay?” Emily said.

“Okay.” I said.

“Aidan, we are going.” Emily yelled and Aidan came from his bedroom.

“See you, dad.” Aidan said.

“Okay. Look after your mom, okay.”

“Yeah.” Aidan walked outside.

Emily smiled at me and she too exited the house. I watched both of them walking through the footpath towards Jenny’s car which was parked on the side of the road. A moment later Aidan and Emily entered inside the car and the car drove away in the church’s direction.

I quickly brushed my teeth and drank a cup of coffee. Then I took a quick shower and I dressed for the job. Then I drank one more cup of coffee. I usually drink four cup of coffee in the morning, but today I don’t have time for that. I took my bag from the office room and I made sure I took everything. Finally I took my cell phone and car keys from the table top. After locking the house I placed the house key under the flower pot where we usually hid the key. Then I quickly ran towards my sedan.

It’s time to go. A new tunnel system. New discoveries were waiting for me and I don’t want to waste this opportunity to study well.

Chapter 2

I Pressed my foot on the accelerator and the small sedan rushed forward. Today traffic was less and I easily passed the city without being stopped by the signal lights. The footpaths were empty of people, mainly because it was Sunday, but occasionally I saw people here and there.

At the time I reached the site, it was 9:45. I parked the car and I slowly exited. Then I slowly walked towards the subway. The streets were mostly empty and I slowly entered inside the newly built subway platform. Then I saw a huge amount of people on the platform. Most were from press. In a corner an interview with a construction worker went on. Most news feeds were live.

I slowly walked towards the construction office and in the doorway I was welcomed by Andrew who was a professor of paleontology. I know him well. He was my collage mate.

“Good to see you, Jerome.”

“It’s good to see you too. It’s actually a surprise. I thought you were out of state.”

“I was. They insisted that I should be here by morning. They told me you were coming.”

“Did you check the tunnel?”

“No. I came here just a while ago. They gave me a light breakfast and I was waiting for you. If you’re hungry, there is sandwich.”

“I am really hungry …”

Andrew led me inside and showed me coffee and sandwich. I quickly filled my belly. A few minutes later three workers with yellow helmets came and they gave us helmets they had brought with them. I wore the helmet and I made sure my bag was with me. All my tools were in this bag.

A few minutes later a few more workers and five men in white lab coats came. Men in lab coats must be some professionals. At 10:30 we started our walk from the platform. It was very hot inside the tunnel but occasionally a cold wind came from the other end.

“How far is it?” I asked a nearby worker.

“Two miles.” He said.

Two miles. That was a lot to walk. The whole tunnel was lighted by small incandescent bulbs placed on the tunnel wall. A few minutes later we began to see concrete pieces that had fallen off from the tunnel wall.

“What happened here?” Andrew asked a nearby worker.

“There was a big earthquake when the tunnel appeared.” The man said.

Then I noticed that a few people from press were following us with cameras and mike. A few men were noting down what the construction workers were saying in a note pad, they must be from newspapers. I think the media was live. A reporter was saying things about the tunnel, looking at the camera.

I usually hate staying around media. Who gave them permission to record this? This was supposed to be a secret study, right? I pushed back my thoughts and I focused on the mission at hand. By 11 O’ clock, the cold wind increased. Then we saw the big wide cave or whatever it was. There was heaps of soil here and there where there used to be tunnel walls. And I saw the driller in one side.

This was a wide room like place and the driller machine was an isolated entity in here. Around the driller machine there was only this cave. The workers have already done a great job in electrifying this place. The whole place was clearly visible. Then we saw the tunnels. There were tunnels all over the place, coming from all directions to this wide room.

From the ceiling, narrow, pointy rocks protruded inward. The whole place was very cold and there was a constant flow of cold air in here. I actually shivered in this cold, and I almost bit the air several times.

“We will show you the north part. That’s the only part we have lighted, at least a little.” One worker said.

We nodded. The workers slowly led us to the north part and the people from the press followed us. We entered into one of the tunnel in the north part. The wall was very moist, and a green moss or something like that was growing on the wall. Then we saw the series of glitter.

“Is that what I think it is?” Andrew asked.

“It could be.” I said. We slowly approached and we saw it clearly. Our jaw fell open at the scene. The tunnel wall was filled with sparkling diamonds. Pure diamonds having the size of my palm!

Chapter 3

“Ultrasonic scanning indicated that this tunnel is about one mile long. We didn’t went that far, but we do think that this whole tunnel is filled with diamonds.” One worker said.

I slowly approached the tunnel wall and I touched a diamond. It was really smooth. I switched on my flashlight and I showed the light on the diamond. Then I saw the glittering in the inner part of the diamond. It was a pure diamond and all the diamonds in the wall looks similar.

I tried to take one diamond from the wall, but it was pretty well attached to the tunnel wall. Then I tried another one and surprisingly, this diamond broke away from the wall. I carefully analyzed the diamond. Andrew came near me and he too stared at the diamond. We were speechless. The beauty of this diamond was beyond words. And the diamond was shrouded with mysteries.

“Can I hold it for a moment?” Andrew asked.

I looked at the diamond. Why would I want to give this to him? This is my diamond, right? What the hell am I thinking? I am here to study this cave, not to take anything with me. I pushed back my resistance to give the diamond to Andrew, and I gave it to him. Andrew grabbed the diamond and he just stared at it. Certainly he lost in thoughts. I smiled at him and I looked at the tunnel wall where hundreds of diamonds were present.

I slowly walked a little deep. When I thought I made a good distance from Andrew, I took a quick glance at my rear and found Andrew still in his initial position. He was still looking at the diamond with his mouth open. Something was pretty wrong with that diamond.

I walked a little more. The other professionals in lab coats were in front of me, analyzing the wall and the soil. They have a cell phone like device which was showing a lot of information when they placed the device on the soil. I carefully looked at the device and found a needle on its lower part. That device was for analyzing the soil. I have got to get one of those devices.

I passed the professionals and I found the people from press moving a little deep into the tunnel. A moment later they stepped into the darker part of the tunnel. The whole tunnel was not electrified. I followed the media since they have a pretty good light emitting thing with them. The whole place around them was pretty much visible.

Then the tunnel twisted around a boulder. I am little behind the media people and I am walking with my flashlight. Then I noticed that, from beyond the twisted part of the tunnel, a purple light was coming. I curiously followed the light. I went around the boulder and then I saw it. The end of the tunnel. The media people were looking at the end with mesmerized eyes. I too am in shock. At the end of tunnel lays a purple light emitting wall. Purple light was continuously coming out of the wall. I approached the wall and I examined it thoroughly. It looks like made up of glass. I ran my hands over the purple wall and found it very smooth.

Then I felt it. I have an urge to break this wall. I don’t know from where that urgency arose, or for what. But, I do want to break this wall. It was glass. One hit was all it needs to break it. Something was drawing me close to this wall and whatever lies beyond this wall was the thing which was calling me.

“Ahh ...” Pain coursed through my index finger. I looked at my finger and found it cut by the sharp glass shard which was protruding from the borders of the purple wall. Blood steadily oozed down through my finger. I quickly drew back my finger and I put it in my mouth. Copper taste of blood filled inside my mouth. It was very painful. I winced. I slowly backed away from the wall and I stood behind the media people.

It seems that the camera was still rolling, but, the reporter and the camera man were staring at the purple wall. What was with these people? First Andrew, now these people too. Then it happened. The reporter lunged towards the purple wall and she started pounding on the wall with her mike.

“No ...” Something inside me was telling me that this was all wrong. She doesn’t suppose to do that, right?

Then with a crackling sound cracks appeared on the wall. The wall was truly glass.

“Lady, you shouldn’t do that.” I tried. But, the lady was beyond my reach and she was so focused on breaking this wall, like a deranged person.

Then it happened. The glass broke and a black smoke rushed out through the now formed hole on the wall.

I ducked. And the black smoke rushed through the tunnel. The sound of air flow filled the very air. From this position on the floor I saw the legs of the camera man. He must be in the middle of the smoke. The reporter was nowhere to be seen.

One way or the other, all hell does break loose. The hell was breaking loose, no doubt.

Chapter 4

The flow of black smoke or whatever that was lasted only a few minutes. I slowly stood up and examined my surroundings. I found the camera man on the tunnel floor. I think he was unconscious. The reporter was nowhere to be seen. Then I looked at the purple wall. There was a wide hole in the middle and I could only see darkness in that hole. The black smoke might be some kind of pressurized gas.

I slowly approached the camera man. I crouched down near him and I shook him.

“Hello, are you okay, man?”

He was not moving. Then it struck me. He was not breathing!

“What the?”

I took his left arm in mine and I checked for a pulse.

None.

There was not even a slightest indication of a pulse. His body was freezing cold. Panic and worry grew inside me.

“Ahh ...” Suddenly a scream shot up through the tunnel. The scream was coming from the other end. Then I heard a shriek and a moan.

With panic, I slowly moved forward. Will Andrew be okay? Will the workers be okay? Then I heard a shuffling noise from behind me.

I froze. Someone was standing behind me. I could feel it. I slowly turned back. There stood the camera man.

“What the hell?”

He was dead. I am sure. Or did that smoke caused him to mimic death? Then the camera man shifted his gaze from the ground to my face. In the purple glow of the wall and from the flash light of the camera, I could clearly see his face. Then it happened. Without warning, the camera man screeched sharply and he rushed at me with his open mouth. I didn’t get time to turn away, and in the next moment he was on top of me. He was trying to bite me. I kept his head at bay using my hands. But he was shrieking at me and he wriggled violently.

I struggled to keep hold of his head. His saliva sprayed on my face and a horrible stench came from his mouth. I am already in panic. Then I took all my might and I balanced my foot on his stomach and I threw him into a distance using my legs, like a spring. The trick worked and he fell down near the purple wall after a short flight in the air.

I didn’t wait for him to regain his footing. I stood up and sprinted away through the tunnel, towards the other end. A moment later I heard pursuing footsteps, but I didn’t look back. I kept running at my maximum speed. A few minutes later I saw the bright light of the electric bulbs. Then I saw Andrew’s body. His chest was wide open and his head was barely attached to the neck.

Suddenly I puked. Panic and worry coursed through my body. Then I saw the camera man gaining on me. I started running again. Then multiple pursuers came from the wide tunnel room where the driller machine lies. I looked back and found the camera man and few workers running at me. All the pursuers were running to bite me. How do I know? Well, all of their mouths were open and they made a horrible sound when they moved. I ran and ran. I need to get away from this tunnel.

It must be the smoke. It gotta be. People who were exposed turned into rabid animals. One of this rabid people must be the one who have done that to Andrew. Poor Andrew.

A moment later I entered into the region where the rail had partially built. Then I began to see dead bodies. I think they were dead bodies. Most bodies were drenched in blood. Men with white coats were here among the dead. They may have been attacked by the mad people when they were escaping. That also means that there might be those creatures outside the tunnel. The black smoke may have went out of the tunnel. That means, I have more to worry.

A moment later pursuing footsteps faded and a series of screams came from nearby. My pursuers might have found survivors who were hiding. Before long I saw the subway platform. Blood marks were everywhere on the platform. I slowly approached the office of the construction workers. The office was empty and the door had been broken away from its hinges. Then I saw a trail of blood on the floor.

I should call 911. I may don’t have to do that. People who were watching the news channels might have seen this horror. If my count was right, there were people from three news channels, apart from the people from the newspapers, and all of them were live. I hope that the cops and whoever who should control this situation might be here soon.

I sprinted out of the subway platform. I need to get out of here before more of those things find me. I rushed outside and I found my sedan on the side of the road. Then it struck me. The city was dead silent. I took a quick glance at the nearby buildings and I found their doors broken. I rushed inside my car. I took my cell phone from the car and I quickly dialed 911.

“911. What is your emergency?”

“Hello, I am calling from the Wyoming tunnel. There are mad people everywhere. They are killing people and there are dead bodies everywhere.”

“Calm down, sir. Tell me what happened.”

“We were studying this new tunnel system and a black smoke rushed out from one of the cave. I think the people who were exposed to this smoke have become mad. These mad people are very hungry for flesh, I think. They are everywhere. They are killing everyone. Please send help. There is no one nearby. I think everyone is dead.”

“Okay, sir. Are you near any type of vehicles?”

“I am in my car.”

“Stay away from the infected people. Try to drive to a safer place. We will be sending help soon.”

“Okay.”

I ended the call and I started the car. I floored the accelerator and the car rushed through the desolated town.

Chapter 5

There weren’t any vehicles on the road and all the vehicles I saw were crashed onto the nearby buildings. The windows of the vehicles were all broken and there were trails of blood on the doors. I accelerated beyond the city limits. The black smoke must have spread to everywhere. I need to get back home and I need to save Emily and Aidan from this.

I quickly took the cell phone and dialed Emily.

“This is Emily, I can’t take this call right now. Please leave a message.”

“Shit. Emily, this is me, Jerome. Are you okay, honey? If you’re inside the house, please lock all doors and don’t go out. I am coming right now. I will explain everything.”

I put away the cell phone and concentrated on the road. A few minutes later the road got blocked by a series of vehicles. There was no way through this dead traffic. Then I chose the worst choice I could think of. I took my cell phone and I exited the car. I slowly started walking through the long line of vehicles. Most vehicles were crashed one another and smoke was rising from most vehicles.

I cautiously walked through the footpath and whenever a block ends, I examined the street thoroughly before continuing the journey.

Suddenly a screech came from behind me. I turned towards the street I passed and I saw a tall mad man rushing at me. I broke into a sprint. There were glass shards everywhere on the footpath and they shattered further when I moved over them. The crackling of glass shards filled the very air. Then I saw the end of the traffic. And at the end I saw a land rover with its door already open.

I rushed inside the land rover and I closed the door just in time. The mad man skittered to a stop near the land rover. Then the mad man started pummeling at the side window. It was now that I am looking at one of them clearly. This man’s eyes were dark as darkness can do at its best, and he was like a deranged hungry, thirsty, rabid dog. Then the side windows began to crack. I quickly searched inside the land rover for a key and I found it just where I wanted – in the key hole.

I turned the key and fortunately the land rover’s engine came alive with a roar. I put the land rover in drive and I floored the accelerator. Within moments I made a considerable distance from the mad man. But, the mad man followed the car.

“Ahh ... Ahh ... Ahh ...” Suddenly loud cry came from the back seat. It was a kid. It had to be. I looked at the rear view mirror and found the mad man still chasing me. I again accelerated, and before long I exited the town. This time when I looked at the rear view mirror I didn’t saw the mad man. I took deep sigh and I parked the land rover on the side of the road.

The cry of the kid still came, but now it was a little low. I examined the backseat and found a baby, not older than two years. He was in his own custom seat attached to the land rover’s seat belt. Then I saw something else too. In the back seat, on the floor, there was a little girl. She was sitting on the floor cuddled into a ball and I saw tears steadily oozing down through her cheeks.

“Great.”

I felt my head getting heavier. These kids’ parents must have lost their lives or at worse, they may have turned. Land rover’s door was open when I saw this vehicle. That means, their parents must have got outside, probably for seeing what the black smoke was.

“Hey, there. What’s your name?”

The girl looked at me with cloudy eyes which were filled with tears.

“My mom. They took her.”

“Hey. It’s okay. Come on. Sit with me.” I lifted her from the floor and I slowly placed her on the front seat. “Here’s what we do. I need to get to my home. We could ... We could go together. Don’t worry about anything. Okay?”

I slowly wiped her newly arrived tears using my index finger.

“Put on your seat belt.”

She obeyed. She has no other choice but to come with me. It was a great weight for me, but I can’t leave two young kids on the road for those rabid animals.

The baby was still crying. I need to do something about him.

“Can you hold him?” I asked her.

She nodded. I slowly took the baby from his seat and I slowly placed him on her lap. Surprisingly the boy stopped crying. I smiled at them and I started the land rover.

A moment later the land rover started rushing through the road. Home. That’s where I am going, if it was still there, of course.

Epilogue

I Looked at my watch. It was 2:35 PM. I slowed the land rover a little. Far away I saw my home street. All the buildings were in extreme quietness. Nobody was on the streets and there were couple of vehicles on the side of the road. Before long I saw my house. I parked the land rover on the side of the road and I examined the surroundings. It was really quiet and then I saw the broken front door of my house. The infected were here too. I need to find Emily and Aidan and I need to get out of here fast.

“Mia, you and baby Brent stay inside, and don’t make a sound, okay?”

Mia nodded.

“I will come back quickly, don’t move.” I exited the land rover. I closed the door and I slowly approached my house.

Please, god, Emily and Aidan be okay. I entered inside through the broken doorway. There were mud everywhere inside and thankfully no blood. It was then I noticed that the windows were all broken. Something bad took place here, that was certain.

I wanted to call Emily and Aidan out loud, but that would reduce the advantage I have, if those things were nearby.

I passed the living room which was a mess with broken furniture. There was mud everywhere here too. I checked the kitchen, but it was empty. I slowly walked towards the bedroom. Bedroom door was closed. I slowly approached the door and tried the knob, but it was locked from inside. That means someone was inside.

“Emily, Emily?” I called in a lower voice. But, I heard no movement from inside.

“Aidan, this is me, dad.”

Then I heard sound of a furniture being moved. I patiently waited, and I didn’t forget to examine my surroundings. A moment later the door slowly opened from inside and in the doorway stood Aidan.

“Dad ...” He rushed at me and I crouched down and hugged him. “Dad, Mom …”

“What happened?”

“Mom killed a man. She ... She bit him and she ate him ... Then she tried to kill me too, dad.”

What the? So Emily was one of the deranged persons. A drop of tear oozed down from my eyes. Right now I could do nothing for Emily.

“What happened to mom, dad?”

“Where did you saw her, when the last time you saw?”

“She was at the back porch. She was yelling something at our neighbor. When I went to the porch, I saw her eating our neighbor.”

“Okay. Stay with me.” I slowly approached the back door. Aidan closely followed me. Before long, I opened the back door and stepped inside the porch. Then I saw movement near our neighbor’s house. I carefully examined and saw someone walking through the back side of the nearby house. Then all of a sudden he looked at my direction. Then I saw it. His face was filled with blood and he stared at us with dark eyes.

“Run.” I said and we ran inside the house. Then we quickly ran towards the Land Rover parked outside. Pursuing footsteps closely followed us.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***