April 12, 2025 10:24PM

Park somewhere safe and walk through the tunnel, (43%)

Elliot could’ve barged straight through, just like Sam wanted. But whatever had torn through that police blockade could do far worse things to the two of them, half-transformed into who knew what impossible forms.

He turned sharply back the way he’d come, then down an alley between a few darkened shops. The space was largely deserted, missing many of the cars he usually found parked there. “Pedestrian tunnel opens near the parking structure on 30th. We’ll go in that way.”

“And carry Ruby out with us,” Samantha said, her voice low and annoyed. “I assume you’re volunteering me to do that.”

“Course not! I can handle it.” He approached the parking structure, then swerved past the darkened machine through the exit. Lucky there were only cameras and not spikes!

Whenever he rode to campus with Ruby, this place was usually packed, forcing him to go up at least one floor to find a space. Now there were only a smattering of cars left behind.

Of course, Elliot didn’t care what happened either way; he drove straight to the tunnel entrance, then backed up until they were right up against the bollards.

“Sure you can, Elliot. If she wasn’t my friend, I’d probably let you try that, just to see how it went. But we can play that game another day.” She shoved against Elliot’s arm. It didn’t look hard, but it still pushed him all the way up against the door, shifting painfully sideways.

“Hey! What did I do?”

“Nothing…” Sam pulled her hand back, staring down at it. “Sorry. I didn’t think I was… that was more intense than I meant.” She hopped out of the passenger seat. “Let’s just get Ruby and get out of here.”

Elliot pocketed the keys, and joined her, hurrying down the tunnel.

As fast as they dared, anyway. They made it as far as the first bend when they came to a strange fog, creeping slowly towards them. The comfortably bright lights overhead worked against their visibility now, illuminating the fog beyond as an impenetrable glowing wall.

“Fantastic,” Sam said, stomping forcefully on the tile. “How the fuck is this down here? It’s not Halloween, why the hell are they packing the machines down here?”

A chill breeze brushed past them, making Elliot tug his hood a little lower over his discolored hair. “Probably not machines,” he whispered, taking his first step into the fog. He could still see a short distance ahead of him–far enough not to blunder into anything if he went slow. “Come on, we should stay together.”

“Guess so.” Sam reached over and took Elliot’s hand, without invitation. She held firm, though not in the romantic way Elliot and Ruby might. Since when are her hands so big?

She was stronger too, strong enough to yank Elliot whatever way she wanted. But maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. If Elliot was going to get tiny and weak, having someone bigger around would make him a lot safer.

Soon the fog surrounded them, closing in with chilly fingers. Elliot shivered once, his breath coming out in swirling bursts that were quickly swallowed by the chilly air.

“So glad the school is using its endowment for something as productive as this. Giant… air conditioners in a tunnel that’s open to the outside. Their power bill in winter must be shit.”

Is this what happened to Officer Prahlow’s team? Elliot wondered. Though if he was going to tell Sam about what he thought this disease was, being out on a dangerous mission was probably the wrong place. She could probably break my arm if she wanted.

Despite her complaints, Sam didn’t shiver. She didn’t slow when Elliot did, tugging him forward by the wrist to keep them moving quickly. Even when obstructions began to block their path. They turned a corner, then found several large shapes rising from the fog ahead. Most were small, though some rose up almost as tall as Elliot.

“Don’t let them be bodies, don’t let them be bodies, don’t let them be bodies…” he whispered, mostly to himself. But no matter how terrified the prospect made him, he had to know.

Elliot tugged on Sam’s wrist, urging her to stop beside one of them. His racing heartbeat finally slowed in his chest, as the shape came into view. Bright pink, with irregular ridges on the side–a large rolling suitcase.

It wasn’t alone. The ground was littered with them; various backpacks, suitcases, and cardboard boxes stretching all the way to the ramp leading up to campus.

They made it to the ramp before they found a body.

He couldn’t tell if they’d been male or female, a student or a teacher. Couldn’t tell almost anything about them, because they’d exploded, staining the ramp dark brown around it.

Elliot looked away instantly, his stomach twisting in his chest. He clutched at it with his free hand, squeezing his eyes shut. “Tell me when we can’t see it anymore, please. I don’t wanna look.”

Sam groaned, and kept going a few steps. From where they stopped, Elliot guessed they must be right next to the corpse. The stink should’ve been revolting, but strangely the cold took care of that, sparing his nose from what had to be a horrific odor. Maybe shivering wasn’t so bad.

“Looks like something ripped out from inside,” Sam said. “Real alien shit, except… all of them at once? This is wild.”

“Stop telling me!” Elliot protested, a little louder.

A chill wind passed over them, drifting down the ramp. It cut into his exposed skin with little shards of ice, biting like a blizzard. No way this is the air conditioner.

Sam shivered once, her whole body stiffening as she apparently resisted the instinct. “They’re covered in ice, like… solid to the pavement.”

“We can’t help them. Don’t forget Ruby,” he urged. “Please.”

“Fine. You don’t have to say it like that.” She tugged to the side. “Let’s go around. Past here, then… forward again. You can open your eyes.”

He did. There was the ramp, leading them mercifully towards open air. But the ramp had turned slick, covered with a thin layer of ice on its surface. Instead of running, they had to move carefully, using the handrail for support.

Elliot grunted in frustration as one shoe slipped off completely, then slid slowly down. The sock still clung to his leg, revealing the strange shape of his foot underneath. He whimpered, twisting back towards the fallen shoe.

“Forget it,” Sam snapped. “It’s just around the corner to the building. You can grab it on the way back.”

Elliot resisted, tugging back the other way. Yet Sam had the handrail, and much greater leverage. He wasn’t going anywhere but up.

The shoe bumped into his foot a second later, nudging right up against his sock. He gasped, flailing out wildly with his free hand.

He would’ve fallen on his ass, if Sam didn’t catch him. She caught him under the shoulders, steadying him. “Elliot. Look at me.”

She held on tight, leaning down towards him. “I need you not to lose your shit on me right now, okay? We’re here for the same thing, we’re on the same side. It’s too late to go back and wait in the car.”

He nodded nervously, avoiding her eyes. “My shoe moved on its own! Look!” He looked down, eyeing where he’d caught it with his misshapen foot.

Sam looked, and her expression softened. “I have… fine. Just put it on. Let’s go.”

He stepped into it, for all the good it would do. Without a foot shaped correctly, there was little besides friction to hold his feet in. He felt both shoes trying to slip out with every step, and had to fight to keep them on. He did, struggling to keep them in place with willpower alone.

Outside the ramp there were more signs of people fleeing in a hurry–lost belongings, boxes toppled over and items scattered onto the grass. Yet the entire surface had frozen, with a thin layer of ice covering the nearby lawns and seeping onto the sidewalks. It should’ve melted away to nothing in the Colorado heat, but it didn’t.

What he didn’t see was movement; no people walked or cowered or fled. No more bodies near the exit, though there were more frightening shapes near the large assembly building. Better not to go that way.

They reached the dorms a few steps later, where a locked door blocked their path.

Elliot swore, yanking on the handle with all his might. The sturdy metal frame didn’t budge, not even the darkened glass flexed. “Damnit! Of course it would be locked!”

“By some definitions,” Sam said, from somewhere behind him. “Back up.”

He did, nearly losing his shoes all over again in the process. “Dunno if your lockpicks can get through this? It’s one of those electronic locks.”

“Probably could, but we’ve got places to be.” She whirled past Elliot so fast he didn’t see what she was doing–but she sure heard it, crashing so loud that he felt his ears move to try and silence it. Glass shattered, spraying large chunks through the air around them.

Elliot screamed, covering his face with both arms to shield against the blows.

“Relax, blue. It’s tempered, it won’t cut you. See?” Several more loud clattering sounds echoed from ahead of Elliot, as something scraped against glass.

Elliot peered between his fingers, then lowered his hands. Sam had a large rock in hand, which she’d used to scrape away the chunks of glass from what remained of the doorframe. The ground was now covered in chunks of square glass. A few clung to Sam’s clothes, and his.

But the way was open. More importantly, the air beyond was warm.

Instead of hiding, he hurried through the opening behind Sam into the lobby.

He remembered these rooms from his own time at university, large living rooms with a few ovens, stoves, and dishwashers for the communal use of the students above. Only this one looked ransacked. Furniture was torn, clothes covered everything, and someone had written on the walls.

the sky is wrong the sky is wrong the sky is wrong the sky is wrong the sky is wrong the sky is wrong the sky is wrong

Over and over again, in dried ketchup and mustard and other things he wanted to think about even less.

“Shit,” Sam strode past him to the kitchen, taking a rolling pin in one hand. She slid a knife off the floor nearby, and held it towards Elliot. “You know how to use this?”

Elliot took it. “Not as well as I can shoot.”

“Better than nothing. Where’s this room?”

Elliot hesitated, his attention briefly drawn to the open door behind them. A thin layer of mist began creeping inside, flowing over the floor like water. We probably shouldn’t have broken that door.

Too late to fix it now. “Second floor, follow me.” They turned sideways, stomping together up the steps until they reached another hall. This had another electronic lock, with a metal door instead of one made of glass. Fortunately for them, it had already been ripped off its hinges. It lay flat on the ground near the steps, with deep scratches cut all the way through to the floor beneath.

Lights flickered in the space beyond, where several had been damaged. One light bar dangled out of its housing, trailing wire that sparked every few seconds.

“Ruby!” Elliot’s fear would have to wait until he was the one in danger. He took the knife in one hand, then hurried along the hall. Most of the doors were undamaged, though a few hung open. He deliberately kept from looking into them, only she mattered. Hopefully Sam followed–but he would go even if he was alone.

“Ruby?” She stopped at her friends’ apartment, trying the knob. It turned, and the door swung open.

The dorm beyond was a typical design, with two bunk beds separated by desks and wardrobes, along with a single bathroom. The lights were on, showing a space that had been left in a hurry. Closet doors hung open, and the desks were mostly empty.

It wasn’t completely empty, though. A single figure remained, curled up near the fridge. Like she’d been trying to reach it, but hadn’t quite made it.

“Ruby!”

His girlfriend was in her pajamas, stretched out towards the fridge. Elliot dropped to the ground beside her, touching one hand to her neck. He found warmth, and a heartbeat.

She stirred at his touch, lifting her head sideways. “Is… someone…”

“It’s Elliot,” he said, sounding nothing like himself. But now wasn’t the time to care. “I’m gonna get you out of here.”

“They… left me. Didn’t want… get sick too. Ran.”

“I know.” He eased her into a sitting position against the counter. Slime had dribbled down her face, staining her pajamas. But Elliot didn’t care how dirty he got. He couldn’t exactly get worse. “Here, I’ll get you some water.”

The door clicked shut. Sam slid the bolt across, then flicked off the light. “There’s something coming.”

Elliot heard it then–heavy footfalls on not the steps behind them, something hard on metal. Claws? If there was any doubt, a low growling came next, reverberating through the hall.

Elliot had to decide what to do…

1. Barricade the dorm and wait. Those bunkbeds sure look heavy!

2. Open the window and climb out. Doing it with Ruby might be tricky, but…

3. Hide until it goes away. Be very, very quiet…