We ran from one dim pool of light to the next. The blackness did not embrace us, but swallowed us each time. The sound of running footsteps further behind were amplified and magnified which only added to the sensation of overwhelming dread. Ahead we could see that we were approaching a stretch of absolute blackness. Either the power was out in this stretch, or the filament bulbs had blown or been broken.

We had to slow to a crawl as we were now going forward blind. The dim pools of light ahead had always allowed us to see the twist and turns of the tunnel, but now our brains were confused by the lack of visual guidance and we stumbled forwards with no sense of direction. The footsteps continued to echo through the tunnel and were growing ever louder as they got ever closer.

Mina clutched to me closely as we stumbled forwards, and I could feel her shaking in fear. My own heartbeat was elevated to such a degree that I feared any new fright would kill me stone dead.

The tunnel was damp and musty and smelt old and decayed. Now we were at walking pace, in addition to the footsteps echoing from behind, we became aware of other noises in the tunnels. There were squeaks and the scratch and patter of hundreds of tiny feet. We could not see them but I visualised us as being within a horde of rats and mice. I could not see which way they were going, but like us I sensed they were running away from the unnatural forms of the undead that chased us through these dark winding tunnels.

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There were the drips of water falling from the ceiling, and occasional splash as we walked through an unseen pool of water. There was the background hum from mains cables and electrical service panels. At times we could feel a breeze blow by us but we could not see from where it came, or from what source it originated.

Now the zombies were closer we could hear their moans echoing along the tunnels. I assumed they too had now reached the dark section of the tunnel as there was now an absence of loud footsteps. They may have been the undead, but they too were blind in the dark.

This was demonstrated about a minute later when we heard a huge electrical blast come from behind us. I turned to where I felt Mina standing. “I think one of them touched the third rail”. We stopped and listened.

There was silence initially apart from the migration of the rodents, and then their moans started up again. We continued forward, more aware than ever of the danger of the unseen third rail somewhere to our left in the dark.