Substation 08 was quiet; quiet and dark. Nothing moved. Nothing fluttered.
The lights had long since gone out; all power had diverted to the trains.
Speaking of which, a soft rumble was slowly growing. Louder, and louder.
Stopping at Substation 08 was the 4th train that Omnipotence & Research had to buy this year.
Stepping out of the dark from a small, hidden passageway, 4 soldiers in gas masks and night vision goggles came to stop by the train. 6 other men and women, all dressed in gas masks and grey mechanic uniforms, followed suit.
"You have 20 minutes before the Phenomenon gets here. Train better be moving by then." One of the soldiers muttered gruffly, to which the mechanics simply nodded and then set about their job.
Their objective was simple. Inspect the train for any damages, fix any spotted, and then leave. Staying was prohibited.
The loud buzz of power tools filled the air; a welder sprayed sparks left and right as it fixed up a tear in the hull while the other mechanics went about and looked for other things to repair.
The soldiers, however, stood stiff. They had some of the best firepower money could buy and skill honed through pure experience and training, but the Phenomenon... it probably didn't care about that. Something that could shred an armored train like a piece of paper wouldn't care about any fancy body gear.
If it came earlier than expected or if they had to stay longer, they probably wouldn't make it out of the Substation.
The sudden loud rumble of a train passing overhead made one of the soldiers look up.
Another one just shifted on their feet and muttered, "Better speed up... only got 15 minutes."
The mechanic welding the hull spoke up; "Yeah yeah, this'll just take 5 more minutes... Henry's also gotta check the other side."
The soldier scoffed and replied, "I'm not looking to die today. Get your shit done already."
The mechanic sighed. "Calm down, we got plenty of breathin room."
The silence then resumed, only broken by the noise of the tools.
And for a couple minutes, it stayed like that.
The soldiers even nearly calmed down.
But then a rumble from father down the tunnel filled the air.
One of the lights on the wall lit up red- "Phenomenon detected at Substation 06."
Then another. "Phenomenon detected at Marker 06.5."
"Alright, everyone, let's go! Move it!" One of the soldiers immediately shouted, waving their hands and gesturing towards the exit.
"Drop the tools! Move it, move it!"
The mechanics didn't need to be told twice. 5 of them immediately ran for the exit, and the soldiers nearly did too...
But then they realized there were only 5 mechanics.
"Fuck! Where's the last guy!?"'
"Warning: Phenomenon detected at Substation 07. Recommendation: vacate Substation 08."
"Shit!" One of the soldiers put their hands on their head- "We can't just leave 'em here!"
Click.
The train started moving.
"We'll come back for him! Let's just go!"
The rumbling got even louder; "Phenomenon detected at Marker 7.5. Recommendation: vacate Substation 08 immediately."
"DAMN IT, MOVE YOUR ASSES!" Two of the soldiers roughly shoved their comrades towards the exit; they weren't going to die here, and the train was already starting to chug along the tracks.
"Alright, alright, we're moving!" And with that, the 4 soldiers took off running down the passageway.
"Warning: Phenomenon detected at Substation 08."
Henry, the only worker left, sat on the platform opposite the one his coworkers had been on.
The door to the exit had closed. A safety door, just in case. 5 feet of metal.
"H-hello? Anybody?"
Henry felt like whimpering. The tunnel was black like the night sky.
He didn't want to die down here. He had a son waiting back home.
It passed by him with a blur. A weird, slimy, slug-like blur. He couldn't even see it, it was so dark and fast.
But then it stayed dark.
=--=--=--=
"We're gonna need a cleaner down here..." One of the soldiers muttered, staring at the mess coating the walls.
"Scratch that, we need an Incendiary Deep Cleaner. Ain't nothing but fire gonna clean up this blood." Another quipped back, gaze focused anywhere else but... there.
A body, barely recognizable, lay on the floor. Was it even right to call it a body anymore? It was cut up like it had been through a meat shredder. If it hadn't been for security footage- which all of the soldiers wished they had never watched- they wouldn't have known who this was.
Henry Adev, a single father, was this absolute mess on the floor. On the walls. On the ceiling.
"Poor sod..."