A lone woman ran through the deserted streets, too tired to scream. The bedraggled remains of her clothing were not only torn, but melted. Her fit, athletic body carried her farther than others could go, but the full sprint she made as she rounded the corner eventually slowed to a shamble as exhaustion overtook her.<br/>Emerging from around the building at the corner of the intersection was an enormous, twenty-foot-tall and one-hundred-foot-long slug. Itâ€™s body bent as it turned the corner in pursuit of the woman. It crawled through the street with astonishing speed, its tentacles probing the road for the scent trail of anything edible.<br/>The mere sight of the monstrous gastropod brought her to her knees â€“ her legs became weak and her arms quavered uncontrollably as she collapsed, nearly fainting.<br/><br/>Nermal was an expert in electronics and chemical engineering. He helped wire the city with hidden explosives prior to the take-over, anticipating the need for civilian resistance. Improvised bombs were placed at regular intervals throughout the city and could be detonated remotely via cell phone. Modified mobile phones were used in the ignition mechanisms for each bomb, the locations and numbers of which were kept in a secret databank. Nermal was one of the few people who had the location and number of every bomb on the grid committed to memory â€“ not to hard a task for him, seeing as how he planted most of them.<br/>He led the way through the city, having memorized a number of optimal escape routes. Samedi followed close behind, Marinusâ€™ drugged and unconscious body slung over his shoulder in a firemanâ€™s carry.  But then, as they passed an abandoned warehouse, the whole team stopped suddenly in their tracks.<br/><br/>Right there in the middle of the street was a gigantic slug. The nearby buildings were dwarfed by its enormity. It crawled along the concrete, coating the whole road and sidewalks in a slimy mucous. Through its translucent head and pharynx, the body of a still-living woman can be seen, being squeezed through its feeding canal as a single bolus of food. Looking out at the three men helplessly, the expression on her face is clearly one of horror. Thousands of cilia probe her body as she was passed deeper into the slugâ€™s digestive viscera. The blurred image of her wriggling form, barely visible through the layers of hydrostatic tissue, convulsed in agony as she was immersed in the molluskâ€™s gastric fluids, unable to breath and overcome with the horror of knowing that her fate was sealed and that she would die in the stomach of such an gruesome creature.<br/>Its tentacles rose into the air, scenting more food. It headed straight for the rescue team.<br/><br/>â€œOh, shit!â€