[IC] The Underground [OOC]

[Chenzor]

On the surface, pure white snowflakes fell from the brown-gray skies, and decorated the battered world with some relative beauty. The poisonous and radioactive green mists seemed to fade to white as well as an effect of the heavy cold. It was probably -30° celsius up there, but whatever beasts lived there probably didn't care. They lost the ability to feel a very long time ago. What few of them there are on the surface, all they know is to kill. As for the ones who hid underground, well, let's just say there isn't much of a difference between them and the beasts above.
A small community of survivors had sprung forth after the apocalypse in Dalston Junction, formerly just another of London Underground's many stops and stations... But now it was a ruin, like everything else of the underground. While surprisingly few tunnels had actually collapsed during the bombings, they had fallen to decay and lack of maintenance causes them to slowly wither. Here, in Dalston Junction, there are but 50 or so survivors. Their little community is, deprived of surprise, called Dalston Camp. The ones nesting here has come to call each others friends and family, mostly, making it probably the most peaceful survivor community in the entire underground.
In this particular camp, two characters are holding up. Wether it is temporary or if they're part of the community doesn't matter, what matters is that these two aren't like the other survivors. They've been out there more than most, and have their set of scars to show for it.

These two are Fuaad Jamil and Jake Burrows.

Map of the underground

(Warning, pic is big)

[Evangelyne]

-"I wouldn't mind a sign from time to time you know?" The middle-eastern man sits next to his companion, trying to start a conversation. "You've seen me praying every day right? Twice every day even! Do you think I'm praying the wrong way?"
The only thing the "packi" did get was a look from his friend, and a long silence. "You really aren't the talking kind huh? It's like talking to a rock, but I guess it's better than speaking to nothing." the packi grins and stands up. "I suggest we keep moving, staying in one place never helped us before am I right?"

Dalston Junction... Grandpa told me about how the subways used to be bustling with folks. You couldn't stick out your arms without poking someone in the eye. Then when you tried to enter the train you had to squeeze your way through a compact mass of people trying to get home on the same train. He remembered wishing that all these people would disappear so he could for once have a relaxing ride on London's masterwork. And here I am today wishing for crowds of people to come and settle down here. The gods sure loves their little games don't they?

-"I suggest we move south and travel against Hoxton. What do you say?"

[DrPhase]

This place isn't going to last much longer. Jake thought as he fiddled with his swiss army knife. Its once bright red color had faded and it was missing a couple of tools. He looked out over the camp, it was a mess. Still, he'd seen worse - the group of people that he'd passed by down at Manor Park hadn't lasted for more than a handful of days. He felt a shiver down his back as he recollected the shrill echo of screams as their blood plainted the walls. The Shenfield line was no longer safe - was there such a place? - it crawled with mutated beasts. Literally. He'd barely escaped a wallcrawler when he'd found his way to Dalston Junction and his new companion - what a stroke of luck that had been. He'd never seen such a large group of survivors before, although, he and his younger brother had avoided people so that wasn't much of a surprise. Samuel. Jake let out a sigh and leaned back against the wall, he'd slept on concrete for a full week now and his back was sore.
The man to his right was talking to him, what was he going on about?

"[...] from time to time you know? You've seen me praying ever day right? Twice every day even!"

His name was Fuaad, his yellowish skin and turban made him quite noticable among the people in Dalston. Most of the people here were locals who'd had parents or grandparents with brains enough to go underground when the bombing started. Not that it mattered, though. The beasts roaming Londons' underground had claimed just as many survivors. He and Fuaad had met at the Stratford crossing and travelled together from there. He'd grown fond of the somewhat charming man, well as fond as two complete strangers could be.

" - I suggest we move south and travel against Hoxton. What do you say?"

The man had learned not to expect much of an answer from him, not with words anyway. Jake nodded to his companion as he stood up and stretched his arms over his head.

[Chenzor]

"Damnit!" a man half-yelled throughout the camp. As Fuaad and Jake would look to see who made the noise, they'd see a man jogging towards them. He looked like he'd seen better days... And cleaner. His beard was pretty thick, and so was his voice. He had a scandinavian accent as he spoke, once he got close enough. "You there, you two! I need your help. I would ask if you're up for it but you haven't really pulled your weight yet since you arrived, so I'm just gonna put this task right on you."
The two would recognize this man as Jonathan Melin, the acting leader of Dalston Camp. "We are in dire need of supplies. Medical supplies and tools, or parts, anything. I need you to follow the track south toward Hoxton stop, there's a wrecked traincart there. If we're lucky, it has the parts we need. I need cable, any solid containers and ANY electric equipment you can find, even if it's half a fried curcuit."
Jonathan stopped for a moment to take a breath, as he seemed stressed out. Seeming calmer, he spoke again. "From what I've heard, you two have handled yourself well before you came here so I'm confident you're ablebodied for the task. If you do this for Dalston Camp, we'll accept you as part of the community and share our supplies with you. If you're staying, that is. Deal?"
Looking at the two, a skinny woman taps his shoulder from behind. Her hair is bright white, no doubt an effect of radiation, and she's tiny, probably no more than 16 years old. Most of her face is covered with a scarf. "Jon, we need you back at the supplyboxes." she said, a stern look in her eyes. Jonathan nods, and turns to leave. "Make haste, you two. This is of dire importance."

Will you make the deal?

picture of JJonathan

[Evangelyne]

After the bearded man and that cute little girl returned Fuaad took some time to think things through.

Well I already suggested that we could travel south, this certainly makes it even more worthwhile. Still we would have to return but it is probably worth given they would earn us a favour.

-"Well Jake, looks like we got another reason to visit to Hoxton. I don't know about you but I wouldn't mind to play hero."

Fuaad gathers his things and stands up to stretch a bit.

-"Something tells me we are going to face something nasty out there. Perhaps some violent scavengers or maybe one of those creatures. Just thinking about sends chills down my spine."

Fuaad looks at Jack, hoping for him to put in some response of any kind.

-"Well? are you tagging along?"

[DrPhase]

As Jake was packing up his things he heard a man yell through the camp. He shot a glance towards the sound and saw a man jogging towards them. Jake recognized him as he got closer, Jonathan, he was the one who was in charge around here. As the man got within earshot he started speaking with a thick scandinavian accent.

“You there, you two! I need your help. I would ask if you’re up for it but you haven’t really pulled your weight yet since you arrived, so I’m just gonna put this task right on you.”

The man looked like he could use a bath. We all could. Jake thought as the man continued.

“We are in dire need of supplies. Medical supplies and tools, or parts, anything. I need you to follow the track south toward Hoxton stop, there’s a wrecked train cart there. If we’re lucky, it has the...”

The sound of the man speaking seemed to fade out as Jake noticed a short woman walking towards them. Her face was covered by a scarf but you could still see her eyes and make out most of her features. But that was not what had caught his attention; her hair was short it just about reached her cheek and was a bright white, almost glowing, as if it in itself radiated of light. The girl was younger than Jake but not by much, how come he’d never seen her around the camp before? He would have remembered if he’d seen that hair before.

“[…] as part of the community and share our supplies with you. If you’re staying, that is. Deal?”

The girl with the white hair interrupts Jonathan with a stern look on her face. She’s short and the top of her head barely reaches the chin of the man. They both turned to leave and Jake stood stunned for a moment until his companion spoke up.

“Well Jake, looks like we got another reason to visit to Hoxton. I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t mind to play hero.”

And another to stick around, the radiant white haired girl had sparked his interest. Was it a result of the radiation?

“ – Well? Are you tagging along?” Fuaad asked waiting for his response.

Although he didn’t relish the thought of walking through the dark tunnels to Hoxton he didn’t want to just sit around either. With some luck he might even be able to acquire something to sleep on, maybe the train cart would have padded seats that he could scavenge. Jake swung his backpack over one shoulder and nodded as he gave Fuaad a thumbs-up.

[Chenzor]

(Lol sorry for no posting, thought you guys were gonna continue but I might aswell)
"Wait up!"
The girl from earlier came running after Fuaad and Jake. "I'm going with you. To make sure you don't run off with our supplies. Jonathan may trust you but you haven't proven nothin' yet, you hear?" she said, eyeing the two suspiciously. The energy of a teenager was evident in the way she acted. Obvious, even.
"Besides you two look kinda lost. I have a map of the underground, we'll get to Hoxton and back quick as lightning."
Without waiting for the two, she journeyed onwards, out into the tunnels. Personally, she liked leading. She liked feeling like she had some sort of authority. All her life nobody took her opinion into account because she was "just a kid", but now she felt in command, and she loved it.
"Oh and I'm Shirley by the way. Shirley Blackwall."

[Evangelyne]

-"Well Sheirly, you don't have to worry for us sweet bum. I know this tunnels like the back of my pocket. And even if we got the supplies what would we do with them? Fly to the moon? Cause I know I would, would you fly to the moon?" Fuaad walks up to Shierly and lay an arm over her shoulders. He smiles at her, showing he was only joking with her.

"I'm sure Jake don't mind you tagging along, and even if he do mind he can't say no anyway. Now what I want to know before we leave is why nobody who is a part of your camp take on this 'extremely urgent super important quest of great need'?" Fuaad looks at her with questioning eyes because it is indeed intriguing.

"Even if everyone is busy with something I'm sure there must be someone who can drop something and get it done? Oh wait... That's why you are here Sheirly! Dalston Junction's heroine, saving the day with the help from two strangers. If I had paper I would draw a comic for you." The packi give her a hearty laugh and then swing out an open arm, inviting her to take the point and to explain the situation for Fuaad and Jake.

[DrPhase]

As Jake took the first step into the tunnel heading south towards Hoxton he heard someone yell from behind him. He recognized the voice as the white-haired girl from earlier. He stopped and turned around to see her come running after them, he waited and let her catch up.

"I'm going with you. To make sure you don't run off with our supplies. Jonathan may trust you but you haven't... - " She gave each of them a strange look.

Jake shrugged. He doubted that they'd find anything down at Hoxton, but if they did it'd be nice to have an extra pair of hands to haul the find back to camp. Besides, she seemed overly excited about it, had she even been outside of the camp before? No one in their right mind would be excited about having to travel through these tunnels, especially not toward a four way intersection and the purple line.

"Besides you two look kinda lost. I have a map of the underground we'll get to Hoxton and back quick as lightning." She continued as she went straight past Jake into the tunnel taking the lead. "Oh and I'm Shirley by the way. Shirley Blackwall."

Jake shook his head and sighed. He let Fuaad pass him by and followed them down into the concrete maze as a conversation sparked between the two of them. He kept half an ear on the conversation as he tugged his backpack into a comfortable position and let his mind wander. He'd memorized the entirety of Londons' underground a long time ago. It had been a pain in the ass but he no longer needed to carry any sort of map with him.

"[...] fly to the moon?"- Fuaad was being his normal cheery and charming self but he had known him long enough to know that there was something bothering the man, he didn't have the slightest idea of what it was that did, though. Jake felt the familiar weight of his iron pipe as he let it, and his arm, swing gently back and forth with their pace. The girl, Shirley, was in a hurry. The speedy pace wouldn't last long, it was a long way to Hoxton and her eagerness would hopefully settle down or burn out before they got too far. It was both inefficient and dangerous to travel too fast without caution.

"[...] Jake don't mind ... even if he do mind he can't say..." Their conversation carried on as they walked and Jake had no intention of joining in. He wouldn't. He couldn't. Sound is dangerous. Sound attracted them.

Sam.

Images flashed before his eyes; Shenfield. The sound of his brother playing. "End of the line, Shenfield station! ksssshh!" Laughter. Blood. Jokes, awful ones that Sam would tell and the smile he made when he managed to coax a laugh during hard times. Screaming. Blood. Cold concrete. Blood. Pain.

Jake stumbled. He shook his head to clear his mind. He had fallen behind by a dozen feet. Pay attention. he told himself as he broke into a short jogg and caught up with the others.

[Chenzor]

Shirley didn't seem too fond of Fuaad's arm taking rest around her neck. Everyone had to be cautious of people around in the underground, but even more so women. Even more so girls. As to why, the reasons are obvious. Shirley shook off the thought, as well as Fuaad's arm, and kept going while he talked. Even when he said "Before we go..." and so on, she continued. "...why nobody who is a part of your camp take on this 'extremely urgent super important quest of great need'? Fuaad continued. Shirley let out a high-pitched "Hmpf!" in response. "For your information, I'm just as important and just as much a part of Dalston Camp as everyone else, and they were busy with the old train cart. Crazy ol' Joe thinks he can get the thing running, but while they're working on it someone has to go get the cables Jonathan asked for. If we can get the train cart working in Dalston Camp with the parts we might find in Hoxton, however the hell that's going to work, we can..." she said, but suddenly stopped herself. She realized she might have said too much. "I-I mean... We're not gonna make it work, we're just trying to turn it into a... A ... Safe bunker, of sorts. Yeah."
She seemed happy with the "smooth" save she made there.
"Even if everyone is busy with something I'm sure there must be someone who can drop something and get it done? Oh wait... That's why you are here Sheirly! Dalston Junction's heroine, saving the day with the help from two strangers. If I had paper I would draw a comic for you." Fuaad said, and even though the comment was obviously somewhat meaningless, it seemed to actually make Shirley feel better about herself. "We aren't some kinda heroes y'know. We get what we were asked to get, that's all." she said in response, but it was obvious she liked the thought of being a heroine.
Shirley turned around. "Ey', speechless, don't lag behind. It's dangerous out 'ere, even though we're not far from camp." she said to him, walking slower until he's caught up.
As they continued to walk, Fuaad and Jake would realize that the only weapon Shirley seem to have is a knife, dangling in it's holster strapped to her belt. It looks barely used.

-

Hours later, making their way through the rubble, the trio eventually reach what marks halfway on their journey toward Hoxton. They've arrived in Haggerston. Probably last to notice this, Shirley lights up after having been exhausted the last hour or so. "Guys! Haggerston, guys! We've reached Haggerston!" she exclaimed, not loudly but enthusiastically. Although she would never admit it, she hasn't been this far from camp before.
Slumping down on a chuck of rubbled concrete on the western platform, Shirley let out a big sigh. "I'm exhausted. Let's rest for a moment, aye?" she said, looking at the other two.
Haggerston was little more than a pile of rock. There two platforms still intact, with the only entrances or exits being the tunnels leading north and south. There was the western platform, which the trio had arrived at, and across the ruined tracks was the eastern platform. Dark gray-green moss hanged from the walls, and old knuckled up rusty barrels could be seen scattered across the platforms, but other than that nothing special could be seen from here. Except... A big chunk of what probably used to be the arching roof, half-burried in a hole in the tracks. On it was black stains of decade-old blood, and deeply carved clawmarks. Two of them, from two hands. The clawmarks were irregular, where there were 4 claws on one limb and 5 on the other. While Shirley didn't seem to notice it, Fuaad and Jake would recognize it as obvious mutant-clawmarks. And a big one at that.

[DrPhase]

As he started catching up with the two he heard Shirley talking:

"[...] If we can get the traincart working in Dalston camp with the parts we might find in Hoxton..."

Working? He'd ever only seen a train cart in motion once when he'd passed by a group of almost twenty people at Maryland and it had been by muscle not machinery. The bare thought of the amount of sound that a moving train cart makes made Jake shudder. It would, and had, attracted every deadly thing within a ten mile radius. There was nothing but a red painted old cart there now.

"I-I mean... We're not gonna make it work, we're just trying to turn it into a... A... Safe bunker, of sorts. Yeah." she added quickly and hurried past the subject.

As Jake caught up with them Shirley turned around and called to him.

"Ey', speechless, don't lag behind. It's dangerous out 'ere, even though we're not far from camp."

As annoying as it was to have it pointed out by this girl who'd probably never set a foot far outside the camp, which showed extensively on the knife dangling in it's holster strapped to her belt. For one it looked barely used and secondly, anyone who had ever encountered one of them knew that sharp weapons did absolutely nothing against these creatures, most of them seemed to outright lack a sense of pain. Your only chance was to disorient them enough to run for your life. But despite all of this; she was right. And from there on Jake kept close to group and his mind clear.

After a few hours they reached Haggerston. The old platforms were still intact but little else remained. The roof had collapsed over the eastern platform and the rubble now mixed with the rusty barrels that seemed to be spread throroughly through the platforms. As Shirley tiredly sat down to rest something else caught Jake's eye. On the opposite platform there was a big piece of what used to be Haggerston's ceiling. It was soaked with blood and deep clawmarks had altered its shape. He nudged Fuaad before he jumped down on the tracks. The sole of his shoess made a clanky sound as it hit the old metal tracks and he froze, listening, as the sound echoed through the tunnel. It was dead silent after the echo faded, Jake could hear his own heart beating, 15... 18... 20 seconds of complete silence before he let out a relieved breath and heaved himself onto the eastern platform. Moss covered almost the entirety of the walls on this side and its dark grey-green color framed the large chunk of rock stained black with blood. He crouched down and slid his palm over the surface. The dark colour of it indicated that it was several years old as did the texture, but the way the stone had soaked it up, was it human?. He ran his fingers through the clawmarks, they were two fingers wide and came in irregular patterns. The lack of residue from the scarred stone indicated that the marks were of similar age as the blood. The clawmarks came in groups of four and five, was it the same beast or had there been different ones? A territorial dispute? Did they even have those? Jake shook his head, what did it matter. Whatever left these marks would've been much larger than anything he'd ever seen before. Claws of this size would slice a man in half.

[Evangelyne]

The last hours had been silent, almost painfully silent. Fuaad hadn't comment on Shirlys explination, he just accepted it and nodded. For Fuaad to be silent for the most of the trip to Haggerston was unusual indeed. Still he had a very legitimate reason to be.

I send you a silent prayer, everyone lost through the many battles here, may your soul have made through the roof of dangers...

When Fuaads grandfather died at Haggerston he was only ten. It was a hard lost for him and the Packistani community. He was a great man and a leader, but going against these "creatures" was his last and most stupid desicion.

-"Guys! Haggerston, guys! We've reached Haggerston!" Shirly seemed overwhelmed with this, in Fuaads opinion, quite undwewhelming feat. But every new step is indeed a big one, small or not. "I'm exhausted. Let's rest for a moment, aye?"

-"Just a short while, the quicker we move the better. Don't want to be caught with our pants down would we?" Fuaad feel a slight nudge and see Jake walking up to a rock. He decides to follow and see what he wants.

-"What do you want Ja... Oh my. This is bad."

Where Jake sits is an awe-inspiring clawmark, soaked in its victims blood. It seemed kinda old but still... Could it get here once it could do it again. Jake looks up at Fuaad and point at Shirly. It takes a moment for Fuaad to realize what he means.

-"Well shit, let me handle it Jake. Keep a close eye for anything that moves. We move ASAP."

Fuaad walks quickly up to Shirly and quickly snitches her dagger from her belt. Inspecting it Fuaad see it's hardly used for what it's intended, even less for fighting.

-"I'm sorry Shirly but this simply won't do. Take my pipe, it isn't much but it might save your life. This knife is as useful at fending off creatures as wiping your ass with sandpaper." He gives her a concerning look, showing he is not joking around, much. "We need to leave, you ready?"

[Chenzor]

Suddenly, Fuaad snatches Shirley's dagger, something she seem not to be very fond of judging from her sudden change of facial expression.
"Hey! Give that back!" she hisses at him, snatching the knife back violently but surprisingly enough with a great deal of ... Well, let's just say her hands seem very used to this knife, even though it seems barely used.
"I'm not taking your pipe. Too clunky for me." she says angrily at him when he tries to offer her his weapon. "And don't you dare insult my knife."
It was obvious the knife was precious to her.
"Look, Jonathan and the others told me time and again that knifes wont do anything if a beast would attack, and probably not much more if hostile survivors come to raid us, I've heard it all before." she says after a moment of silence, this time a serious and calm tone to it. "You just... Need to trust me, okay?"
Looking into Fuaad's eyes, shirley hoped she could convince him to lay off the subject. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll add whatever blunt weapon we may find on our way to my inventory." she adds as a last comment. Hopefully Fuaad would be ok with this. She glances shortly at Jake, then turns around.
"We need to leave, you ready?" Fuaad asks her, and she nods. "Yeah... Let's go."

Leaving the station of Hoxton behind, the trio journey into the tunnels once again.

Another hour of silence pass, but their destination is nowhere to be seen just yet. There will probably be another hour. "Hey..." Shirley said suddenly. "Someone mentioned earlier... Didn't the orange line use to be partially on ground level?" she asked, which is correct. Currently they were in a tunnel underground, but this line actually used to be named the "London Overground", ironically enough. Around 2030, when neo-London began to spring up from the foundations of the old London, many parts of the subway-lines were reconstructed and refitted for better use. The London Overground retained it's name even after having been burried with what would then become the foundations of new, modern building complexes and so on. By 2075, there were no longer any subways that went up on ground-level, instead all stations had an upper floor where the passengers could reach the overground by stairs, escalator or elevator. Most of the upper floors have collapsed by now however, and since there were no longer any overground tramways, the London underground became very ideal for survivors to flee the horrors of the surface... But the beasts had thought the same.
Of course, Shirley didn't know all this. This all happened way before her time, but the map she had was old, very old. Probably from 2050 or so, which was almost 200 years ago. Once you've had journeyed a bit through the underground, you would probably know this however. Anyone who uses the old maps have probably been told how the London Overground line goes underground, an ironic little joke that passed on through generations.

[Evangelyne]

-"Well who am I to question you, of course the heroine knows the best! But at least stay behind us in that case, wouldn't want that precious dagger of yours to get bloody now wouldn't we? We need to leave, you ready?"

-"Yeah... Let's go."

Fuaad sighed and took the lead next to Jake.

-"You know what my father used to told me Jake? Women are the incarnation of obstinance. My mother was obstinate, my grandmother was obstinate, my girlfriend was obstinate and so was my wife. Now we get to deal with another obstinate woman! It doesn't matter if it's the end or the world or the happiest day of their life, they know best and nothing else. You feel me Jake?" Fuaad looked at his companion, receiving no answer as usual. "If I made you laugh, would that win me the game? 'Cause making you laugh, or speak for that matter, is harder than riding one of those creatures with your hands tied behind your back."

A very eventless hour went by.

-"Hey... Someone mentioned earlier... Didnt the orange line use to be partially on ground level?" Shirly broke the very uncomfortable silence.

-"You are right, my ancestors used to travel with that line. But the tunnels crumbled and a new tunnels were made, so it's safe. But keep your eyes open, we might find some plant life if you are lucky!"

I would kill to feel grass under my bare feet. It would be glorious.

[DrPhase]

As they made their way down toward Hoxton Jake couldn't help but feel uneasy. He couldn't get the blood soaked giant piece of rubble out of his head. Clawmarks of that width were signs of a beast that had grown beyond anything he had seen before. There were stories, a few anyway, about Oxford Circus. Rumor was that in the center of all of Londons' underground a large dome had been constructed as the city had grown. The stories that he'd heard were about strange flora and gigantic creatures roaming the now abondoned area. "The Dome", as he had overheard people had call it, was connected with every single route that had been built - old and new - no wonder the creatures were drawn to it. There had been expeditions, or so he'd heard, but none had returned and the cause had since long been abondoned. Only whispers of its existance remained.

Anyhow, if a beast the size of the one that we saw signs of existed a couple of years back, could it even be killed? And if not, how large would the beast be now?
As he contemplated it Fuaad walked up to him at the front of the group after having some sort of conversation with Shirley.

"You know what my father used to told me Jake? Women are the incarnation of obstinance. [...] You feel me Jake?" Fuaad looked at him but received no answer. "If I made you laugh, would that win me the game?" he continued. "'Cause making you laugh, or speak for that matter, is harder than riding one of those creatures with your hands tied behind your back."

Jake smiled, his grin reaching ear to ear behind the mask. If only. he thought and patted Fuaad on the back in a friendly manner. After a couple of hours of silence, broken by the ocasional awkward conversation that never seemed to last very long, Jake spotted something odd to the side. On his righthand side there was a door swung wide open. He raised his hand with his fist clenched, a sign that he had come to use and that Fuaad would recognize as stop+caution. People, humans, would normally close doors and entrances as they passed by. It was a universal unspoken rule that they used to keep track of unwanted activity. The door had a faded green color which ment that it was a safety exit, or used to be. That ment that they were about two thirds to Hoxton. Once upon a time it had led out of Londons' underground to an open sky and it might still. But every road can be travelled two ways. Jake gripped his pipe tightly and the slightly rusted iron pipe felt heavy in his hand as he glanced back at the two behind him, awaiting their response.

[DrPhase]

Page error.

[Chenzor]

Although Shirley was a teenager with a great deal of pride, she made no comment on the little she heard about Fuaad's talk about women. She merely scoffed. She did admit however she found it strange that Jake never talked, or barely made any sound at all. He was probably the most discreet person she had ever met. She didn't blame him though, it was probably useful being hard to detect down here. He had been seeming very ... Anxious until now, but it seems Fuaad made him relax a little, so she felt maybe now was the time to ask him why he never talked. She didn't know if she was going to even get an answer or not, but she didn't even have time to answer the question until Jake raised his clenched fist in the air, signalling a stop. She recognized this gesture. She had studied these with Jonathan.
Nervously, she looked around until she saw what Jake was looking at. An open service-door. "... Oh shit." Shirley whispered to herself quietly. She wasn't sure what this meant, but there sure as hell weren't ever any open doors anywhere ... Not by human hands, at least. She had always found it strange why everyone seemed to have this universal rule never to keep a door open, but now she was glad she had always wondered about it. Now she realized what was up, and immediately she regretted ever leaving camp. The fear of the mutants came over her like a tidal wave, and she took an instinctive stumble backwards. Her glance shifted rapidly between Jake and Fuaad, who only seemed to be looking at each other sternly. Oh no...

A growl echoed through the tunnel. An otherworldly, beastlike and horrid growl, like a rusty meatgrinder cringing it's non-fitting gears together. Terrified, Shirley's first instinctial feeling was to run, but her legs would not move. Her body was numb, yet she could feel herself trembling. She couldn't breathe.
Pulling her scarf down, she took a deep breath, then whispered, almost like a hiss, to Jake and Fuaad. "It's coming!"
A few paralyzed seconds passed.

Complete silence.

And then... A crashing sound. A shriek, followed by claws sounding like a beast running on all fours. It came from the passage in the opened door. The trio had but a few seconds to act before a beast-like mutant creature would enter the tunnel with them, and by the judging of the beast's hurry, it had either heard or smelled them already. Somewhere in the passage, a black-scaled creature with five eyes ran on all fours. It was only slightly bigger than a grown human, but with a horrendously mutated musclemass. Uneven biceps and triceps made the beast limp as it ran, yet it ran tremendously fast due to it's four canine-like legs. On each leg, 3 claws each so strong the beast practically gripped the concrete itself as it ran, flinging itself forward with every razorsharp thrust.
Shirley stood paralyzed in fear. It was up to Jake and Fuaad - they knew they had about 12 seconds before the beast would storm out of the opened door. How will they use their preciously few seconds?

(( It's alright if you want to quickpost in response to this post, Phase. ))

[DrPhase]

As the others stopped to his signal a monstrous low pitch growl echoed through the tunnel. Shirley was frozen and her face showed horror and despair. Shit. Jake cursed holding his breath as they stood paralyzed. The safest would be to turn around and run back towards Dalston, but that might lead it to the camp. After all, it was just a straight path back without any branching tunnels. A few seconds passed in silence and then… a crashing sound. A shriek followed by rapid clattering of claws against concrete. It knew.

Instinct kicked in.

Jake grabbed Shirley by the wrist and pulled her forward as he ran. He tackled the door close. It wouldn’t stop the beast by any means but it would buy him a second or two. He continued past the door. He pulled the shocked girl by the arm and he ran. He ran towards Hoxton. And he prayed that their legs could carry them fast enough.