I’ve been stuck on the subway for two days and I don’t think I have much time left. There’s something chasing me and even if I manage to avoid it for much longer, I don’t have any water left. Let me start from the beginning, so that you can get a clear picture of how I got myself into this situation.
The day started out like any other. I woke up, had a stale breakfast bar to eat, and left the sanctuary of my studio apartment to make my usual journey to work. My trek is pretty standard for a lot of people that live in large cities. I shuffle along the sidewalk with a crowd of hundreds of people for about a half a mile or so. Then, I break off from the ocean of sleep-deprived workers with a few dozen others and make my way down the graffiti infested stairway into the depths of the fetid underground subway station. Once there, I usually wait about 10 minutes for my train. I’m always sure to stand as close to the edge of the walkway as is safe so I don’t miss it during a struggle with the cluster of other bodies simultaneously trying to board.
That day, as I stood waiting, everyone else seemed to be just a few feet back from where they usually settled. Thinking back on it, that should have been my first clue that something was off, but I didn’t realize it at the time. I waited anxiously with my feet planted firmly on the safety line, just like I always did. Pulling out another old breakfast bar from my bag, I ate it in the hopes of waking myself up a bit more.
I can’t tell you how badly I now wish I’d saved that musty chocolate snack, but the act wasn’t entirely unusual for me while waiting at the station. I guess I should consider myself lucky I had a couple extras packed along with my lunch.
Anyway, as I lingered there, casually devouring my meager second breakfast, I heard the sobering sound of an electronic “ding” above my head, signifying the approach of a train. I poked my head just beyond the chipping yellow safety line painted on the floor and saw a bright light rolling toward me. Straightening my posture and locking my shoulders, I prepared for the moderate struggle of finding a place on board the car.
As the train pulled up, its brake’s screeched as metal grinded against metal, sending an echoed hiss through the platform. I winced just a little from the discomfort of the grating sound and readied my feet to march forward quickly with the sea of people desperate to steal themselves a proper seat. As the train came to a full stop, its doors opened for the poor bastards that worked in this part of the city to flood out and up the same tarnished steps I’d taken down. This was when the second red flag waived itself obviously before my tired, oblivious eyes. Once the subway doors opened, no one exited the car. Not even a single soul, late and irritated, rushed from the train.
Rather than consider the implications of this, I instead hurried forward to board in order to secure myself a good spot. I did so much faster than usual and grabbed the pole closest to the door so I’d be able to make a quick exit when the time came. Then I turned to face the entrance, expecting to see all the other people stagger through the doors in the usual disorganized manner only to instead see that no one had entered the train car with me. This was the third warning sign that something was wrong, yet still I didn’t comprehend my situation.
Puzzled, but not as concerned as I should have been, I looked out the window to see the congregation of people just standing around waiting. They looked exactly like they had before the train showed up. Some of them were gawking down robotically at their cell phone, some were reading the newspaper, and others were simply staring vacantly down at the greasy ceramic floor. I raised an eyebrow in confusion as I observed them all and began to question if I was on the wrong train or if I’d maybe positioned myself on the wrong platform entirely. But before I could react to the realization of these possibilities, I heard the familiar “ding dong” echo throughout the car, signaling the departure of the train.
The electronic motors made a light whirring as they powered the doors shut, locking me inside. “Shit,” I said aloud to myself. The understanding that I may indeed be on the wrong train finally hit me as I slumped down on an empty chair and glanced around to see an equally desolate train car. My eyes fell upon an unusually large crack, running jaggedly up the center of one of the windows. I stared at it, wondering what could’ve caused the odd blemish for just a brief moment, but not giving it too much thought. My focus soon shifted back to how I would explain my tardiness to my boss. I hoped that once I arrived at the next stop I could get off and look at a map of the subway to see just how far off track I’d gone. With any luck, I thought I might be able to make it to work only a few minutes late.
Unfortunately, that possibility was erased as we approached the next platform and the train made no effort whatsoever to stop. “Hey, what the hell!” I yelled up at the silent intercom, as if expecting a response. I stood up from my seat abruptly, stumbling a little from the movement of the train and grabbing the rail to steady myself. I took a step closer to the door, thinking maybe this path only made stops to certain platforms. Although, I couldn’t come up with a reason to justify that to myself. Still, I waited, tapping my fingers against the cold steel of my stabilizer impatiently. I stared out the window to the abyss of the underground, annoyed at my situation and hoping desperately that I’d get lucky and be able to reroute to work at the next platform without being more than half an hour late. My boss was usually pretty understanding, but I doubted she’d react well to me being as late as I was now guaranteed to be.
Lights started brightening my surroundings a little as the train approached yet another terminal. I readied for a quick departure as we approached, positioning myself so close to the door my nose nearly touched it. But even as I began to see the dull blues and faded yellows of the subway station, the train didn’t brake. I gritted my teeth as panic rose in my chest and I let it out in a yell of frustration, “What the actual fuck, man?!” Once again, we sped past the stop without an ounce of hesitation.
I was livid at this point. Without considering the consequences, I grabbed the emergency cord and pulled it. To my surprise, however, nothing happened. I pulled it again, harder this time. Still, the train did not stop. “What?” I asked in confusion and frustration. The cord wasn’t working and there was apparently an inept engineer at the controls of this steel behemoth. I let out an exasperated sigh of irritation. I wasn’t going to stand for some idiot making me any later than I already was, so I decided to march up to the front of the train and ask them what the hell was going on and why we weren’t stopping.
I made my way to the forward door of the cabin and opened it to see yet another empty car. I wasn’t exactly shocked by this, since I didn’t see anyone else board with me in the first place. But then I marched angrily into the next car, again being met with no other presence. Still, I continued. The following cabin was just as empty as the previous few. Then the next, and the next, and the next. With each vacant car my anxiety rose further and further until I began sprinting in a full blown panic.
This wasn’t supposed to be possible. I ran through 15 cars before I stopped counting and just kept running. I must have gone through twice that before I finally collapsed to my knees, sweat dripping from my heaving face as I gasped frantically for air. No train I’d ever used had more than maybe ten or so cars, but this train seemed endless. The concern I’d felt over being late to work was now replaced wholly by a much deeper dread that I was being kidnapped or that I’d stumbled upon some glitch in the universe. I coughed as my lungs desperately sucked in heavy, choked breaths of air. After regaining enough composure, I shakily sat down and pulled my fifty ounce travel water bottle from my bag. I took a few heavy gulps before a paranoid thought caused me to pause. Pulling the drink away from my mouth, I looked down at the numbers on its side which indicated the amount of water remaining. It read forty-three ounces. I didn’t want to think about it, but the idea that I may need to make this small amount of water last chewed at the edges of my mind. I decided it was best to save the rest for later, just in case my paranoia was correct.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. Checking the time, I realized it had already been nearly an hour since I’d gotten onto the train. My mind raced as it tried to understand just what the hell was happening. I started pinching myself in an attempt to wake up from the nightmare I was obviously having. When that didn’t work, I slapped myself until my cheeks stung. Once I had ruled out that I was, in fact, awake, I grabbed fistfuls of hair and bent forward in my chair, panic once again overwhelming me. I’m not proud of it, but I couldn’t help but cry into my lap. I had no idea what was going on and the anxiety just became too much for me to handle.
After my breakdown, I managed to pull myself together just a little bit. I tried to think logically about what may be going on. At first, I mulled over the whole glitch in the universe theory. Maybe it was possible that I’d somehow come across an exceptionally rare occurrence like I’d read in stories online. I thought back to when I’d gotten on the train and how no one else had boarded with me. I remembered how they didn’t even lift their heads in acknowledgement of its presence. It was like they didn’t even see it. Was that possible? Had I been the only one to enter the train because I was the only one aware of it? What about the bell that chimes every time a train arrives? Did I imagine it? No. I distinctly remembered hearing it. If this was some kind of glitch in the universe or whatever, it wasn’t like any I’d ever heard of.
I racked my brain for some explanation but all I managed to do was give myself a headache. Sighing in frustration, I slumped back in my seat. I took in a slow deep breath to try and calm the nerves that were rising once again and checked the time to see that it had now been over an hour since I got on the train. Not seeing any other options, I stood up and began to walk once again toward where I hoped the control car would be. This time, however, I took a less frantic approach. Pacing myself as to not expend too much energy like I’d done in a panic earlier.
I walked for hours. Stopping every so often to take a small break and drink a few sips of water. Eventually, my stomach started to growl and I opted to take out the sandwich I’d packed for lunch. I ate half of it and stored the rest away for later, trying my best to conserve food. Despite my aching legs, I continued walking through the seemingly endless subway cars after eating. I wanted to rest for longer, but each time I stopped for too long dread would squeeze my sanity like a vice. So I kept moving, refusing the intense urge to check the time for a while. But eventually, my body became too exhausted and I practically collapsed on the dirty floor of the car I found myself in.
I groaned and tears welled up in my eyes, but I forced them away. Pulling out my phone at long last, I checked the time once more. It had been about twelve hours since I first stepped foot onto this abhorrent train, and still I hadn’t reached the front. The thought that I hadn’t crossed paths with a single human being didn’t escape my mind either. I was all alone here. By this point, I couldn’t even remember the last time the train had passed a platform. I had stopped looking ages ago.
As if the hunk of metal could read my mind, the cabin suddenly became illuminated by lights from the outside. I pulled myself off the ground with the help of a pole and forced my exhausted eyes to look out the window at the slowly fading black that surrounded me. As a foreign color began to paint the inside of the cabin, I stared out at the luminescent blurs as we quickly passed them by. My brow furrowed in confusion. There was something not quite right about the lights, but I couldn’t put my finger on what, exactly. I stood there, leaning against the pole for a moment as I pondered until finally, I realized what was different about them. The color. Every tunnel light I’d ever seen was either blue-ish white, or warm yellow. But these lights, these lights were pink. I rubbed my eyes vigorously just in case it was tiredness that brought me some mild delusion, but no matter how many times I did so, the lights remained the same.
Suddenly, I felt my heart rate increase as a deep sense of unease clawed its way sharply up my back. My breathing became heavier as I watched the outer walls change from stone to ceramic. I began hyperventilating as the pink lighting swirled and distorted with the equally strange color of the subway walls. Tears did their best to obstruct my vision as my gaze fell upon the open terminal, but I quickly wiped them away. My eyelids stretched and my jaw contorted into a silent scream of terror as we passed by the terminal that absolutely could not have belonged to my city, nor my country, nor my world. Despite everything that had happened thus far, it was only now that I truly recognized that I was no longer in the same series of subway tunnels as when I had boarded. For the crowds I saw standing on that oddly colored platform were not like the crowds where I’m from. The things I saw there were not human. They were so far from it that I could not then, nor now think of a word in the English language that appropriately describes the twisted amalgamations of flesh and bone that casually awaited a train.
As I finally passed the hellish terminal I was met with the view of my horrified face reflecting back at me in the window. I slid down the pole I’d been using to prop myself up and my knees hit the floor with a soft thud. Almost immediately I bagan retching, my mind simply unable to process the content it had observed. The next thing I knew I was tasting my lunch again as it erupted back up my throat. I sat there for a moment in shock. Terror dug itself out of my chest and I screamed at nothing until my vocal cords were numb and tasted faintly of blood. Then, be it from terror or exhaustion, I passed out.
Some time later I awoke in a panic and shot upright. An audible groan choked out of my sore throat at the realization that I still found myself on the disheveled, puke covered floor of a subway car. I struggled to my feet and shuffled uncomfortably to the next car forward to escape the smell of my stomach acid, and collapsed in a chair. Rubbing my temples as my head pounded, I decided I needed to get some food in me. So, I pulled out one of my breakfast bars and forced it down with a few ounces of water. I sat there for a while, refusing to look out at the black abyss of the underground walls that I knew would greet me. I once again checked my phone to see that I’d now spent about twenty hours aboard this monstrosity. Luckily, my battery was still in decent shape seeing as I hadn’t really used it much since boarding. Still, I knew it wouldn’t last forever. I looked around at the vacant car in disgust and anger. Immediately bored with its repetitive appearance, I stood and began walking on muscle-strained legs to the next one.
My legs pushed forward for several more hours before they could take no more and I was forced to sit down again. Light suddenly flooded the cabin with disgustingly pink hues and I reflexively shifted my gaze to the floor. I didn’t dare look at what other unspeakable horrors might be waiting at this terminal. Unsurprisingly, the train sped by the platform like any other and I found myself sighing in relief. Then, a light chuckle escaped my lips. Then another. Soon it turned to full blown hysterical laughter as an amusing thought occurred to me. The previous day, all I’d wanted was for the train to stop. But now, as terrified as I was of dying on these piss-stained seats, I found myself far more afraid of exiting out into whatever warped reality lay beyond the false safety of the rusted, metal walls of the train.
My insane fit of laughter changed to uncontrollable sobbing as I began to realize how likely it was that I would indeed die here, trapped in a decrepit subway car. I had been here for a full day and by now had to accept the truth that no matter how many cars I left behind, an infinite number must still lay in front of me. Still, I told myself there had to be some way of getting to the front and stopping this madness.
I rested my tear-soaked face back against the window and gazed up at the dusty ceiling. I sat like that for a while, just staring into nothing as my exhausted mind tried to formulate a plan. The hopelessness of the circumstances filled me with rage and I began screaming expletives in desperate frustration. Suddenly, a loud clanging sound caused a curse to catch in my throat. I stopped and listened. When I didn’t hear anything for a moment, I put my ear to the window to try and sharpen the noise. Another loud, metal bang echoed through the car and I jolted back. I looked through the glass to see nothing but darkness behind my terrified reflection. I heard yet another bang. My head swiveled around in all directions in an attempt to pinpoint the source until I realized the sound seemed to be coming from the next car.
Slowly and methodically, I crept my way closer to the door. Upon peeking through its small window, I saw just another empty car ahead. As I watched carefully, waiting for something to happen, another bang erupted from just ahead of me. I jumped again, but didn’t take my eyes off the next car. Grasping the door handle, I slowly began pushing it open. An obnoxious squeak rang out as I did and my failed effort of trying to be quiet caused me to cringe. Stopping after getting the door open just enough, I stuck my face through to the next car. Taking in its full view, I still saw nothing as the banging continued. I opened the door wider and entered the new car, shutting it gently behind me. I walked a few feet forward in silence until yet another sound echoed, much louder this time, through the cabin. When I turned my head to face the door to my left, another loud bang erupted from it and I knew I had found the source. The door shook as a heavy thud smacked against it from the outside. I did my best to peer through the window but it was too dark to see anything outside. As I approached it, the banging suddenly came in quicker succession until rapid smacks and thuds assaulted the door.
I stood there, confused and frightened, unsure of how to proceed. Stepping warily up to the door, I then did something rather stupid. I knocked, just three times. My light gesture was returned with a glass cracking slam and an ear shattering screech unlike anything I’d heard before. It was like the sound of a fox’s scream undulating with the distorted wails of a baby and a full grown man. It reverberated all around me as I stumbled back from the door with my hands clasping my ears. As soon as the horrible noise ceased, I ran. I slammed my way forward into the next car and did not stop there. I kept running through door after door, frantically trying to distance myself from the horrid thing that wanted so badly inside the train.
As I ran, the sounds of banging and wailing followed me. I began hearing them from all around me, pounding on the outer doors and rattling the windows. Even the ceiling seemed to shake from an unseen force of fists angrily slamming against it. My legs burned as lactic acid ate away at my exhausted muscles, but I forced them to keep moving. The sound of enraged banging was now directly over my head. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I gasped to myself as I slammed open another door. I could feel my legs going numb and knew I wouldn’t be able to run much longer. I needed to think of something to get away. A risky idea came to me as another horrible screech rang out from just above me. If this thing was on top of the train, maybe it wasn’t able to see me and was just following the sounds I made as I slammed through each car.
Hoping this was the case, I made a quick, desperate decision. As I reached the next door, I smashed against it, swung it open, and slammed it shut as loudly as I could without going through it. Then, just to be safe, I ducked down and hid myself as quietly as I could underneath some of the seats against the wall. I waited and listened to the sounds of stomping and screaming now getting further ahead of me, following the path it must have assumed I was taking.
Letting out a shaky sigh, a small amount of relief washed over me. Still, I did not dare move. I must have stayed in that position for an hour after I stopped hearing the noises, just to be sure my plan had worked. It seemed as though it had, and I dragged myself out from the seat’s putrid underside. It was only when I finally tried to stand again that I noticed how much pain my legs were in. All the walking and running from the last couple of days had finally caught up with me and I struggled to even lift myself off the ground. Resting on a chair, I massaged my aching muscles, grimacing from the sensation of pins and needles as more feeling started to come back to them.
Taking a few moments to recover, I pulled out my phone for the first time in hours to check the time. It had been nearly thirty hours since I boarded the train. Too tired to worry about the time, I sat back against the window and felt my stomach rumble from what little food I’d had since. I pulled out the other half of my now warm sandwich and devoured it, drinking a bit of my water supply after. This left me with a single breakfast bar and about fifteen ounces of water left.
Too scared of running into the monstrosity that chased me earlier, I decided it was probably best to wait a little while before pushing forward again. It didn’t take long for me to start feeling uneasy sitting in full view of the windows, so after enough pain in my legs had subsided, I repositioned myself back under the seats. Soon enough, my aching body lulled me into sleep.
I awoke with a jolt, smacking my head into the underside of the gum covered bench. Cursing through dry lips, I rubbed my head and looked around me. I was somewhat relieved to still be alive, but not much considering my situation remained the same. Pulling out my water bottle, I took a much needed swig to ease my sore throat. After gulping some of it down, I looked to see I had ten ounces left. Sighing in quiet despondence I returned the bottle to my bag. Checking the time again showed that I’d been asleep for roughly ten hours. Tears welled in my eyes as I gazed in despair at the phone screen. Despite being in low power mode, my battery too was getting low. Only about fifteen percent remained.
Letting my head fall back against the floor, I lay there, considering my options. As if I had any. I thought about the pounding on the ceiling from hours ago, wondering if whatever that thing was would find me again. I prayed that it had gotten a considerable amount of cars ahead of me by now. I forced myself out from my hiding place and to my feet. My legs were still sore, but they were well enough to walk, at least. Knowing I’d need all the strength I could get, I pulled the last remaining breakfast bar from my bag and ate half of it, storing the last bit for later. Then, I began walking again.
Progress was slow. My legs and feet screamed out in agony with every step as I limped forward. I kept telling myself the front of the train had to be near. I couldn’t face the notion that all this had been for nothing. I was going to reach the end and get the answers to what this damn magic train bullshit was all about. The fantasy of beating the crap out of whoever, or whatever was responsible for putting me here helped me to push through the strain of my limbs. I took breaks far more frequently than before, needing to stop what I’d estimate was every twenty or thirty minutes. Knowing I wouldn’t like what I’d see, I didn’t bother looking at the time and instead poured all my focus into just taking the next step, and the next, and so on.
After a while, the ache in my legs was too great to continue and I practically fell into a chair. I stayed there for just a bit to catch my breath and let my muscles rest. I stared impassively out the window at the blackness outside the train, listening to the quiet hum of its movement. As I sat there vacantly, a familiar sound began to mix with that of the train. I strained my ears in an attempt to discern the noise as it grew in intensity. It seemed to be coming from behind me, but it was too distant for me to properly make out. The mystery sound slowly began to overpower the soft hum of the train as my eyelids squeezed in tight concentration. Light thumping grew into soft banging. Then into hard pounding. With a rising dread I came to recognize the sound at last. But how was it coming from behind me? Did it turn around at some point while I slept? There was no way I wouldn’t have woken if it had gone back over me.
Not taking the time to think too deeply about it, I forced myself onto my aching feet and propelled them into the next car. I gasped and wheezed as my entire body struggled to cope with the sudden swift movement. Try as I might, I was physically incapable of going any faster. Even as the obnoxious banging grew nearer, I simply hadn’t the strength or energy to quicken my frustratingly moderate pace. Panic curled its way around my pounding heart as sweat threatened to evaporate what little hydration I had.
My mind raced as to how and why this thing was able to find me again. It should have been long gone by now. Surely I would have woken up to the hideously loud slamming it would have made if it had turned around and gone back over me. So, how the hell did it end up behind me again without me noticing?!
I panted as the noises began to swallow my surroundings. The monster was nearly on top of me again. I limped through car after car as I struggled to come up with either an explanation for the things’ presence, or plan on how to rid myself of it.
As it approached from above I found myself tripping over my tired limbs and falling hard to the solid floor below. I looked around in terror as the sound transferred from the roof of the car to its windows. My legs refused to carry my weight any longer and I could do nothing but crawl forward in desperation. I looked up at the windows and hoped with all my remaining will that they would hold sturdy and protect me from the horror just beyond them. It was as I scanned them that my eyes fell upon the last one and my heart practically stopped. In the center of the final pane of glass, sat an unusually large crack, blemishing the otherwise unsoiled appearance of the window.
Immediately, tears ran down my face as my lids peeled back in abject terror, the realization hitting me like the very train I lay trapped within. I had seen that crack before, just after boarding the train. Its shape was too unique to convince me otherwise. All this time I hadn’t reached the front of the train because there wasn’t one. Through some unknown power or design the train simply looped back in on itself. I had probably passed the same car multiple times and simply not noticed. But now, as I lay upon the dirt and tear stained floor of where everything started, I alas understood the hopelessness of my situation.
In a last-ditch effort to prolong my existence, I clawed at the door to the next car and opened it. I took my water bottle from my bag and threw it as hard as I could, smashing it against the far door at the other end of the next car, leaving my own door ajar. Then, I quickly rolled underneath the seat beneath the cracked window.
Just when my body had finished squeezing against the metal wall, the sound of glass shattering erupted through the car as the beast crashed through the formerly cracked window. Bile threatened to project out of me as I witnessed a mass of different sized and colored limbs and extremities smack wetly against the floor only inches from where I lay. An ear-piercing screech of anger and agony filled the area as the many appendages of the abomination clawed their way chaotically around the tight insides of the train. The horrible thing smashed into wall after wall in search of me, the frantic movements of its twisted arms and legs reminding me of the horrible things I’d seen on my first day here at the odd subway terminal filled with pink light. I practically burrowed into the wall as some of the broken limbs flapped limply around with each twist from the crushed conglomeration of bodies that made up its torso. Every ounce of my remaining strength was used solely for the purpose of holding back puke as the monster scrambled around in search of any sign of me.
As the train bumped and turned slightly I heard the faint sound of something rolling around in the next car, my water bottle. Almost as soon as the noise began the horrible flesh creature lunged forward after it. I heard more screeching and slamming as the thing located and obliterated my bottle. Seconds later, it smashed open the next door and continued its destructive rampage deeper into the train.
I lay there, sobbing in silence to myself for an undetermined amount of time. During which I came to accept my fate. That thing would loop around again sooner or later, and even if it didn’t, it had demolished my remaining supply of water and I wouldn’t last long without that. That was when I pulled out my phone one last time and began typing all this out. In the unlikely event that my phone finds a signal, maybe this message will upload. I share this with you all so that you know my story. And so that you understand there are forces of nature out there that at any time threaten to upend your entire life, even in the most mundane of moments.
I’ve spent quite a bit of time recording this, so it doesn’t surprise me that I now hear the stomping of that thing’s many limbs closing in on me again, and I doubt I’ll be so lucky as to avoid it this time. If by some miracle this reaches anyone, listen carefully to what I have to say. Take the bus, and never ride the subway.