Taking the flares, the drill, the blankets, the flashlights and the lantern, Mitose, Jade, Laz and Lot jump down into the tunnel floor.  The last thing you hear from the others is Ted saying, "Sam took the other drill.  I hope the batteries lasted on him.  That might be his only hope."

From behind, Ted is watching closely from behind the white line with the sniper rifle ready (while still offering it to Viper, Fault, or Snow if they want it).  Elle paces nervously, and the other researcher is still unconscious.

The train tracks run east to west.  East is the direction that Sam went up ten hours ago.  It is a dark tunnel.  There are sounds of scurrying about you, and occasionally you think you see movement just behind the reach of the flashlight and lanterns.

Jade uses the drill periodically, which is followed by scampering sounds.  The sounds around you are like rats squeaking and squeeling every time your flashlight nears them, but so far they have not made an appearance.

About fifty yards from the protective white circle, you hear something moving overhead.  Climbing on the ceiling.  The sound of claws tapping metal as something moves along to catch up to you.

It is clear that Laz is frightend, an expression of worry is all over his face. He continues walking but his stride suggests he wants to go faster.

Snow watches them all depart, the white knuckles on his fists betraying his frustration at not been abe to move with them.

Jade points her flashlight up to see what might be crawling up there.

Lot prepares for what promised to be a eventful run when he hears the scratching above him.  Instinctively he freezes in mid step and slowly turns his head upwards.  His eyes glance towards Jade then he points his pistol in the air, ready to shoot at whatever her flashlight reveals.

"Looks like its about that time kids.  Dont fall behind."

 Fault sighs and lowers himself onto the cement next to the EM generator. He absently runs a finger around the rim of the Matrix jack on his forehead. "I guess now we just wait."
 He perks up as a thought occurs to him. "Hey Elle, how fast can this thing turn on and off? Is it instant or does it need to warm up before activating?"

"Just a couple of seconds," she replies.

 Grinning, Fault hefts himself back off of the ground. "And you say this EM field repels them... is this a kinetic or electric reaction? Is it like getting hit with a brick or the blast of an EM rifle?"

"I believe it is a magnetic reaction.  The repulsion of poles with the same polarity."

 Fault nods. "Yes. Yes, but what effect does it have. In other words, what would happen if one of the humanlings out there were to stick his hand into the field, would it shock  him, or simply push his hand back?"

"I think it would just push his hand back.  We haven't yet experimented to find out."

 "Okay," Fault says, chewing on his upper lip as he contemplates. He puts his back to the generator and walks, heel to toe, to the white line, measuring the distance. "Do we know about how many feet these things can cover in three seconds? Also, just out of curiosity, what do you think would happen if one of us fired an EM rifle into the water?"
 He grins. "We may not be able to help physically, but I'll be damned if we can't at least provide a distraction."

Snow looks towards he others,

These creatures can absorb some EMP waves yes? Do they feed of this energy? What if we set off some of our rifles, would that attract them away from the others?

"Your guess is as good as mine," Elle says.  "We're just computer programmers."

Mitose moves ahead, passing, lot, as he prepared his own weapons for use. "Keep moving...there are enough of them to surround and slow us down, if that happens...We'll be out of luck."

He glances upwards, "It will have to be a running fight..."

Laz is running with all of his strength, the sounds coming from around him driving him on more then anything else.