My First Day On The Job At A Substation In Texas Was Nothing Short Of Terrifying

Ricky and I opened the door outside to the desert and were met with a penetrating chill and a thick fog that was nearly waist high. I immediately scanned the horizon with an overwhelming sense of urgency and paranoia. I expected to see spouts of mist beginning to advance upon us, ready to skitter over us and turn us to bone. I didn’t see anything but a sea of fog, shifting in slow motion and glowing from the light of the moon, for miles in every direction. If I wasn’t so freaked out, I would’ve appreciated how beautiful it was a little more.

Ricky was a little taken aback by the cold, but he was otherwise unfazed by the weather. He crossed his arms close to his chest, took a few quick breaths, and ran to his car. He plunged into the fog and it swirled around him as he cut a line to his hatchback. He scrounged through for a minute, then hurried back and we went inside.

I headed down the elevator feeling anxious, but prepared. I had one of the two walkie-talkies, my big Maglite, a smaller LED flashlight on my belt, and my pistol stashed behind my back and under my shirt. As I neared the bottom of the bumpy ride, Ricky’s voice scratched into the elevator via the walkie clipped to my back pocket.

“Hey Billy, can you hear me?” Ricky’s voice filled the tiny elevator.

“Yeah Rick, I read you,” I responded.

“Dude, I can’t believe these things work down there. Best thing I ever stole from Academy,” Ricky said proudly into the walkie.

“All the electrical pipes and wires are amplifying everything on radio frequencies around here. You could probably use these walkies to pick up CBs and radio stations for miles around if you screwed around with it enough,” I said, fully expecting the info to go in one ear and out the other.

The elevator arrived at the bottom and I exited cautiously, looking both ways before walking out like a nervous child crossing the street. I quickly headed down my route as Ricky watched from hundreds of feet above me, in his digital, albeit outdated control room.

“Doing good, dude. Nothing on any of the cameras but tunnel, tunnel, and more tunnel… Oh, and you,” Ricky spouted into the walkie.

“Alright, just tell me if you see anything off,” I said in a loud a serious tone as I rushed from meter to meter.

I couldn’t believe I was down there again. After the two previous nights and after the weird tapes I’d watched with Ricky. But somehow, it felt like I had to do this. Maybe I was used to just doing the job I’m paid to do, but it felt like there was some sick obligation to that place. That if someone didn’t make that walk every night at 10 and 3, something would go horribly wrong. Something that would get out and get worse and worse. It may have just been bullshit I was feeding myself to just get through the Walk and get back up to the surface, but it must’ve been enough. I started to push past a jog and into a sprint.

I made it to the dangling red light at the last meter in no time. I scratched down the numbers on my clipboard and was just about to turn back when I caught something. It wasn’t anything startling, but a simple realization. The numbers were high. I turned back to the clipboard. The numbers were insanely higher than usual. And I had just caught my breath long enough to notice the Walk was humming much louder than usual and running hot. My thundering heart beating in my ears and my blood pumping hot gasoline through my veins kept me from noticing it rise as I ran. I was just about to look up from my clipboard when “it” struck.

The darkness struck at me from deep in the Endless Walk faster than my brain could initially comprehend. It snaked down the tunnel, diffusing each swinging light in unison like falling dominos, all at an astonishing speed. The darkness swept past and me and all the way down the Walk in the other direction until all there was only the dark and the hot and humming pipes and wires. I was now in a tight pitch black tunnel buried hundreds of feet in the desert. And then something else joined me in the walk. Something horrifyingly familiar.

The metallic and high pitched howl ripped down the Endless Walk and pierced into my head. It was accompanied by that icy and unforgiving wind that nearly swept me off my feet. I quickly grabbed my Maglite and clicked it on. I shined it down the walk towards the elevator. There was nothing but hazy white fog that just lingered on the air like a membrane. I turned to shine the light in the other direction, and found the same.

“Whoa, Billy, what the hell’s going on down there?” Ricky’s voice blasted from my belt.

I yanked the walkie up to respond, “The fog, man. It came out of nowhere and I can’t see shit!”

“Yeah, all I see is fog and shadows. Wait…” Ricky said as I tensed up. “There’s something in… Oh shit, the camera at the end just cut out!”

I wasn’t going to stand around for any more news from Ricky. I briefly considered grabbing my gun and standing my ground, but run the fuck away became a much more overpowering thought. So I ran, sprinting back towards the elevator, trying to keep my light pointed straight ahead.

“Holy shit, dude, another camera just cut out! Get your ass out of there, Bill!” Ricky’s voice echoed into the Endless Walk along with my heavy panting and rattling footsteps.

The howling picked up again. It seemed to begin from miles down the Walk then rush up within inches behind me. I ran so fast I wanted to vomit. I was fully prepared to do so without faltering a step by simply turning my head and throwing up to the side. Thankfully I didn’t, because I may have caught a glimpse of whatever was behind me.

I got to the elevator and shoved my heels into the floor of the tunnel to stop in time. I bashed against the call button what felt like 50 times in two seconds. The light popped on and I could hear the gears begin to turn. The howling died out and as it did I heard something else. Something new and worst of all. A scratching sound. Not like the skittering feet before, but a deep gashing sound that dragged along the tunnel floor towards. Something approached me from within the fog, and I thought it was a good time to pull out my .357.

I stood there, hammer drawn and safety off, begrudgingly ready to meet whatever was howling and scratching my way. As if to break my will, the howling roared up again and hurt my ears, it was so close. At this range, it sounded like there was almost emotion in it. Both pain and ecstasy in that metallic voice that seemed human and monstrous all at once. I was ready to shit my pants, but managed to hold it in and instead raise my gun. Just as I leveled off and the deep scratching sounded like it was feet away, there was a “ding” to my side.

The elevator door lurched open to my right and I ducked in like the god damn Flash. I pushed the close-door button like I wanted to kill it, and it began to close slowly. The howl sounded just inches away from the door just as it shut and the tiny metal box grumbled upwards.

The elevator arrived at the security room and the door opened. It took me a moment, but I spotted Ricky ducked down, hiding behind the edge of the control panel. When he realized it was just a weary and haggard me, he sighed with a smile and stood up.

“Fucking hell, bro. What was that all about?” Ricky asked, motioning to the screens. They were all black on the row that monitored the Endless Walk.

“I don’t know. Something was down there. You didn’t see anything on the cameras? You didn’t hear anything up here?” I asked in a hurry.

“No, nothing man. The cameras just started blanking out, until all four were toast,” Ricky answered with a disappointed shrug. “Look bro, this whole deal is crazy interesting, but I gotta’ jet. I got paged, like, 8 minutes ago.” Ricky began to gather up his things. “Gotta’ make one more round before my shift’s over. I’ll check you later, Billy.”

He gave me a handshake that was three moves and I barely managed to follow along with, then he was gone. I watched him on the cameras run back to his hatchback through the diminishing fog. He drove away about 10 mph faster than he should’ve in that car and on that road. His dust cloud was soon just a memory and he was gone.

The end of my shift came soon after with nothing of real note in between. I gathered my things and headed out to my truck. The rising sun was cutting through the heavy haze of the dying night and turning the desert sky into a battle of vivid colors. I was barely in the mind state to appreciate, but I couldn’t help but do so just a little. I drove home and spent the next day and a half working everything out.

I’ve got my next shift tomorrow night, and I don’t know if I’ve got the balls or brains to survive to my first paycheck. Or why the hell I’d want to in the first place. But I can’t deny that it’s the most interesting and intense job I’ve ever had. And I haven’t been hurt or attacked once…not exactly, anyway. I’m compelled to stick it out and even feel a little of that weird obligation. I think I’m going to remain an employee of Electric Solutions of Texas for now, though god knows why.