# ALIEN EXODUS: THE PORTAL WAR
## Chapter 5: The Shadows Below
The white light swept over the alley again.
It moved slowly. Like a hand searching through a drawer. It touched the brick walls. It touched the garbage cans. It touched the ground where they had stood seconds before.
Kael pressed himself against the wall. He did not breathe. He stood perfectly still. Behind him, the others did the same. The doctor held his hand over the injured man's mouth. The woman leaned on Tom. Mark crouched low.
The light passed. It moved down the street. The hum of the ship faded. It was not a loud noise. It was a deep vibration. It shook the ground under their feet.
Kael waited. He counted to ten. Then he waited ten more.
"Move," he whispered.
They started walking again. They stayed close to the buildings. They kept to the shadows. The city was dark, but the sky was bright. The purple glow from the Gate lit everything like a bruised sunset.
Kael led the way. He kept his hand on his knife. He kept his mind open. He could feel the ship above them. It was a large cold spot in the sky. It moved in circles. It was systematic. It was scanning grid by grid.
"We cannot walk in the open," Kael said. "If it comes back, we are dead."
"Where do we go?" Mark asked. He carried the injured man. The man was heavy. Mark sweated despite the cold.
"Through the cars," Kael said. "They block the light."
The street was filled with stopped vehicles. People had abandoned them when the alarms started. Doors were open. Keys were in the ignitions. Some cars had crashed into lamp posts. Glass covered the asphalt.
Kael walked between the cars. He stepped over broken glass. He did not make a sound. The others followed. They moved like ghosts through the metal maze.
The injured man groaned. It was a small sound. But in the silence, it was loud.
Kael stopped. He turned. "Wrap it," he said to the doctor.
The doctor took out a roll of bandage from his pocket. He wrapped it around the man's mouth. Not tight. Just enough to muffle the pain.
"Sorry," the man whispered. His eyes were closed.
"Keep walking," Kael said.
They moved deeper into the street. The ships were getting closer. Kael could feel them now. There were three of them. They talked to each other. Not with words. With signals. Pulses of light. Pulses of cold.
Kael frowned. He stopped behind a large truck. He put his hand on the metal. It was cold. But he could feel a vibration.
"What is it?" Tom asked. He looked at the sky. He was scared of the light.
"They are talking," Kael said.
"Who?"
"The ships," Kael said. "They are sharing what they see."
"Can they see us?" the doctor asked.
"Not yet," Kael said. "We are in the shadow. But they are learning. They are getting better."
Kael closed his eyes. He focused on the signals. He tried to understand them. It was like listening to a language he did not know. But he could feel the meaning. Danger. Search. Find.
"They are moving north," Kael said. "Away from us. For now."
"North?" Tom said. "The subway station is south."
"I know," Kael said. "We wait. Until they pass."
"We do not have time," Mark said. "He is bleeding." He nodded at the injured man. Blood seeped through the bandage on his leg. It dripped on the ground.
Kael looked at the blood. It was dark red. Human blood. It smelled like copper.
"Wrap it tighter," Kael said to the doctor. "We move in one minute."
They waited. The hum of the ships grew louder. Then it faded. They were moving away. The light beams swept higher. They were looking at the rooftops now.
"Go," Kael said.
They moved faster. They left the street. They turned into a side alley. It was narrower. The walls were close. It felt like a tunnel.
"The station is ahead," Kael said. "Behind the old bank."
"The bank is locked," Mark said.
"Not the front," Kael said. "The maintenance entrance. In the back."
They reached the back of the bank. It was a large building. Made of stone. It looked strong. Like a fortress.
Kael found the door. It was metal. Plain. No handle on the outside. Just a keypad.
"Can you open it?" Tom asked.
Kael looked at the keypad. It was dark. No power.
"No," Kael said. "But I can feel the lock."
He put his hand on the metal. He closed his eyes. He pushed his sense into the door. He felt the mechanism inside. It was electronic. But it was dead.
"It is locked," Kael said.
"Then we are stuck," Mark said. He put the injured man down. He leaned against the wall. He was tired.
"No," Kael said. "The power is out. That means the lock is disengaged. It is just stuck."
Kael put his knife in the gap between the door and the frame. He pushed. He used his shoulder. He pushed hard.
The metal groaned. It did not move.
"Let me help," Mark said. He stood up. He put his shoulder next to Kael's.
"Together," Kael said.
They pushed. Kael felt the metal bend. He felt the lock break. Something snapped inside.
The door opened.
They fell inside. They landed on the floor. It was dark. The air was stale. It smelled of dust and old paper.
"Close it," Kael said.
Mark stood up. He pulled the door shut. It clicked. They were inside.
Kael turned on his phone flashlight. The beam was weak. It showed a hallway. Doors lined the walls. Offices. Files were on the floor. Someone had run through here in a hurry.
"Where do we go?" the doctor asked. He checked the injured man's leg. "He needs a hospital. Not a tunnel."
"The hospital is gone," Kael said. "The clinic is gone. The tunnels are the only safe place. They are deep. The ships cannot reach them."
"If the power is out, the trains do not run," Mark said.
"We do not need the trains," Kael said. "We need the tunnels. They are connected. We can move under the city. Without being seen."
Kael walked down the hallway. He found a stairwell. It went down. Into the basement.
"This way," he said.
They followed him. The stairs were concrete. The walls were bare. The air got colder as they went down.
They reached the bottom. A heavy door blocked the way. It said "Authorized Personnel Only".
Kael pushed it. It was unlocked too.
They entered the maintenance room. Pipes ran along the ceiling. Wires hung from the walls. In the center of the room, there was a hatch. It was made of iron. It had a wheel lock.
"This is it," Kael said.
Kael turned the wheel. It was heavy. It took all his strength. But it turned. Click. Click. Click.
He lifted the hatch. It opened with a squeal.
Darkness waited below. A ladder went down into the black.
"Down," Kael said.
"Wait," Tom said. He stood at the edge. He looked into the hole. "What if they are down there?"
Kael closed his eyes. He reached out with his mind. He pushed his sense down the ladder. Into the tunnel.
He felt the cold stone. He felt the still air. He felt the silence.
But he felt something else. Far away. A vibration. Like footsteps.
"It is empty," Kael said. "For now."
"For now?" the doctor asked.
"Nothing is safe," Kael said. "But it is safer than up there."
Tom went first. He climbed down. Mark followed with the injured man. The doctor went next. The woman went after him.
Kael was last. He looked at the room one last time. He listened. He heard the ship hum outside. It was far away. But it was there.
He climbed down the ladder. The metal was cold. His hands slipped on the rungs. He did not look down. He just climbed.
He reached the bottom. His boots hit the ground. It was hard. Concrete.
Mark helped him close the hatch. They locked it from the inside.
They stood in the tunnel. It was wide. High enough for a train to pass. But no trains were coming. The tracks were dark. The lights were out.
Kael turned on his phone light. He scanned the tunnel. It stretched out in both directions. Left and right. Into the dark.
"Which way?" Mark asked. His voice echoed. It sounded loud in the quiet.
"Quiet," Kael said. "Sound travels here."
Mark lowered his voice. "Which way?"
Kael pointed to the left. "The main station is that way. It is bigger. More supplies. More people maybe."
"Or more aliens," Tom said.
"Maybe," Kael said. "But we need water. And food. The station has vending machines. Storage rooms."
"Okay," Mark said. "Left it is."
They started walking. They walked on the tracks. The gravel crunched under their boots. Kael tried to step on the wooden ties. They were quieter.
The tunnel was cold. colder than the surface. Their breath made clouds.
"How far?" the doctor asked. He was struggling. The injured man was heavy.
"Two miles," Kael said.
"Two miles?" Tom said. "We cannot walk two miles."
"We have to," Kael said.
They walked in silence. The only light was Kael's phone. It cast long shadows on the curved walls. The shadows moved with them. It looked like they were being followed.
Kael stopped. He held up his hand.
"What?" Mark whispered.
Kael listened. He heard something. A drip. Water falling from the ceiling. Drip. Drip. Drip.
But underneath that, he heard something else. A scrape. Like metal on stone.
"Stop the light," Kael said.
Mark turned off his flashlight. They were in total darkness.
"Stand still," Kael said.
Kael closed his eyes. He used his sense. He felt the tunnel. He felt the group. And he felt the cold spot.
It was ahead of them. About fifty yards. It was stationary.
"What is it?" Tom whispered. His voice shook.
"Something is waiting," Kael said.
"Is it one of them?" Mark asked.
"Yes," Kael said.
"Can we go around?"
"No," Kael said. "The tunnel is narrow. There is only one path."
"Then what do we do?" the doctor asked. "We cannot fight it. We are tired. We are hurt."
Kael thought. He felt the cold spot. It was not moving. It was not hunting. It was... sleeping.
"It is asleep," Kael said.
"Aliens sleep?" Tom said.
"This one does," Kael said. "I can feel its rhythm. It is slow."
"We can sneak past," Mark said.
"Yes," Kael said. "But we must be quiet. No lights. No talking. Follow my steps."
Kael moved forward. He placed his feet carefully. He avoided the loose gravel. He walked on the smooth metal of the track.
The others followed. They held their breath. The injured man whimpered. The doctor put his hand over the man's mouth.
They moved closer to the cold spot. Kael could feel it now. It was large. Bigger than the one in the kitchen. It curled up against the wall.
Kael passed it. He was ten feet away. He could smell it. Ozone. Burnt meat.
He kept walking. He did not look at it. He knew if he looked, it might wake.
Five feet.
Three feet.
He passed it. He kept walking.
The others passed behind him. Mark was last. He stepped on a loose stone. It clicked.
The cold spot shifted.
Kael froze. He held his breath.
The cold spot settled. It did not wake.
Kael let out his breath. He kept walking. He did not stop until they were a hundred yards away.
"Stop," he whispered.
They stopped. They leaned against the wall. They breathed hard.
"That was close," Tom said.
"Too close," Kael said.
"We cannot keep doing this," Mark said. "There will be more. There are many of them."
"I know," Kael said.
"Then what is the plan?" Mark asked. "We walk until we find one that is awake? And then we die?"
Kael did not answer. He looked down the tunnel. The dark was absolute. He could not see the end.
"We keep going," Kael said. "Until we find the station. Then we lock the doors. Then we figure it out."
"Figure what out?" the doctor asked. "The world is ending. There is nothing to figure."
"There is always something," Kael said. "There is a reason for this. There is a way to stop it."
"How do you know?" Tom asked.
"Because I am still here," Kael said. "Because I can feel them. Because I am different."
He looked at his hands. In the dark, they glowed faintly. Just for a second. Then it was gone.
None of them saw it. But Kael felt it. The power was growing.
"We move," Kael said.
They started walking again. The tunnel stretched on. The darkness pressed against them.
But Kael was not afraid. He felt the path. He felt the danger. And he felt the power in his blood.
He was not just surviving. He was adapting.
And the aliens... they did not know what was coming.
They walked into the dark. The station was waiting. And so was the truth.