The Last Tunnel

The Last Tunnel

The 2:15 AM metro train rumbled through the underground tunnels beneath London, its dim lights flickering as it sliced through the darkness.

It was nearly empty, save for a handful of passengers.

Liam Carter, a civil engineer, sat near the back, fingers absently drumming against his knee. Across from him, Ava, a university student, scrolled through her phone, earphones tucked in. Robert, a tired businessman, leaned against the window, half-asleep.

An elderly woman, her face hidden under a heavy hood, clutched a worn-out leather bag, muttering under her breath.

Liam checked his watch. Five more stops before his flat. Just another late-night commute.

Then, the train lurched violently, screeching as the brakes slammed without warning. The world outside the windows was swallowed in pitch-black nothingness.

The train wasn’t moving anymore.

Ava pulled out an earbud. “What the hell was that?”

Robert groaned, rubbing his temples. “Bloody driver must've hit the brakes too hard.”

The elderly woman didn’t speak. She just kept muttering, her grip tightening on her bag. A long minute passed. Then two.

The intercom crackled. But instead of an announcement, there was only breathing.

The World Below

The World Below

The air inside the carriage was thick, almost suffocating. No one spoke. The only sound was the soft, rhythmic creaking of the train as it sat motionless in the unrelenting darkness.

Then, a whisper. It slithered through the silence, soft yet sharp enough to cut through bone.

Ava’s breath hitched. “Did you hear that?”

Liam nodded slowly. He did. It had whispered his name.

Robert’s hands trembled as he pressed himself against the seat. “This isn’t happening. This is, This is some stupid prank. Has to be.”

The elderly woman tightened her grip on her bag. “You should not have heard it.”

Liam turned to her. “What do you mean?”

She didn’t answer.

Then, a knock on the conductor’s door. Sharp. Deliberate. One. Two. Three.

Liam’s stomach twisted. “Hello?” He stepped toward the door, pressing his ear against the metal.

The whispering grew louder.

It wasn’t a single voice. It was many.

Ava clutched Liam’s arm. “Please, don’t.”

But something compelled him. He reached for the door handle, BANG.

Something slammed against the door from the other side. Liam stumbled backwards. Ava screamed.

And then the lights flickered.

For half a second, the windows reflected something outside. Not tunnel walls. Not cables. Something moving.

Liam’s breath caught in his throat. There were faces pressed against the glass.

But people didn’t move like that.

Their limbs twisted and elongated, their eyes black as coal, mouths open in silent screams.

Then, the lights stabilised. The figures were gone.

Ava’s voice trembled. “No. No, that’s not— That didn’t—”

Robert turned pale, sweat trickling down his temple. “That was real. That was bloody real.”

The elderly woman let out a slow, exhausted sigh.

“This tunnel… is not meant to be travelled.”

Robert scoffed, voice strained. “What the hell does that mean?”

Her eyes, hollow and dark, met his.

“It is the last tunnel.”

The Train That Should Not Move

The Train that Should not Move

The train shuddered, the steel beneath them groaning like a wounded beast.

Then, it lurched forward. Not at a normal speed. Faster. Too fast.

Liam grabbed onto the nearest pole, his heart pounding. “Where the hell is it going?”

The windows—black as a void. No tunnel walls. No maintenance lights. Nothing.

Ava let out a choked sob. “Why can’t we see anything?”

Robert clawed at the emergency brake lever, yanking it hard.

The elderly woman closed her eyes. “It’s taking us.”

“To where?” Liam demanded.

She hesitated. Then, in a voice so soft it barely carried over the rattling train, she whispered:

“To the ones who never left.”

The train screeched, its insides groaning as if the metal itself were alive. The intercom crackled. The voice returned.

"Your stop is coming."

Liam turned, his blood running cold. The train was not empty anymore. Figures stood between them, filling every inch of space. No movement. No sound. Their faces were empty. Hollow.

And then they moved. Robert screamed, but it was too late.

Hands dragged him backward, pulling him into the crowd of figures. His face contorted in silent horror, eyes wide with understanding.

“Don’t,” he whispered.

Then, in a single blink, he was gone.

Ava sobbed. “We have to get out of here.”

Liam’s mind was racing. “We need to find an exit. A station. Anything.”

The elderly woman pointed forward. And there, in the distance, a station appeared.

The sign above the platform was blank. The walls were cracked, covered in claw marks.

And the smell of rot, thick and suffocating, seeped through the doors.

The elderly woman turned to them.

“This is your only chance. Run.”

The Last Stop

The Last Stop

The doors slammed open. Liam and Ava sprinted, leaping onto the platform just as the train doors snapped shut behind them.

The train pulled away, disappearing into the black abyss. Liam gasped for air, his lungs burning.

Ava collapsed to her knees, shaking. “Where… where are we?”

The station was dead silent. Too silent.

Liam’s hands trembled as he looked around. The tiles on the floor were broken, the walls crumbling.

Then a sound, a familiar and rhythmic rumbling. A train approaching. But… there was no track.

Liam turned, his stomach twisting into knots.

Ava’s voice was barely above a whisper.

“Is that… the same train?”

The lights in the station flickered. And through the windows of the approaching train, Liam saw them. Passengers. Standing shoulder to shoulder, their hollow eyes staring outward.

Among them, is Robert.

His face was pale, his lips moving in silent screams.

Ava’s grip tightened on Liam’s sleeve. “We’re not getting back on, are we?”

The train stopped. The doors slid open. The voice from the intercom returned.

"Next stop… home."

The lights flickered one last time.

And the figures inside the train turned towards them. Waiting.