Someone threw a radio set off of the top of the car and it shattered near our small group. Travis led the way underneath a set of pipe towers, where even more people were standing on and screaming and throwing stuff off of. I could see the blue and red flashes of police lights a little ways away, but I wasn't able to get a good look as we had to keep moving.

"It's just down here!" Travis shouted, moving even faster to the truck. I was starting to run out of breath already. I had never been particularly fit in the first place; I was a movie junkie who spent most of her free time either watching stuff or pacing around at work. That didn't leave a lot of room for physical activity.

We were just rushing down the stone steps towards the truck when we heard a deafening crash and piercing scream from behind us. I turned around to see Daniel and Ofelia struggling to help Griselda to her feet. Without thinking about the others, I ran towards the Salazar family, my breathlessness nearly forgotten.

The pipe tower had been tipped over and it had landed hard onto Griselda's foot. I joined Daniel by the fallen tower to try and help lift the structure. He gave me a brief glance before continuing to struggle and lift it. It wasn't until Travis and Chris joined us were we able to lift the structure off of Griselda. Liza and Ofelia dragged her out of the way and we dropped the pipe tower back on the ground.

Travis swept Griselda off the ground and started running again towards the truck. This time, Daniel stayed very close to the rest of the group, shouting at his weeping wife in rapid Spanish.

The truck that Travis had been talking about only had room inside for three people at the most. Travis and Chris got into the front and passenger seats, while everyone else climbed into the bed of the truck. Liza had crossed into nurse mode, yelling at Travis to take them to a hospital so that Griselda could get better treatment. Daniel was on Griselda's other side, stroking her forehead and whispering Spanish to her. Ofelia and I had no choice but to sit farther back from them.

The truck roared to life and jerked into movement. Travis ran over a curb trying to get us away from the rioting crowd. We started to speed away from the scene as we left the downtown area and into a more suburban area. We had to find the nearest hospital so that Griselda could get treatment, and Travis started towards the nearest one, the one that Mom worked at.

We had just made it to the hospital when we started to notice something weird about it. There was a sort of barricade of cops and cop cars blocking any entrance to it, and the officers themselves were in a firing position. One officer looked away from the hospital to our truck as we passed, unmasked fear in his face. I looked past the officer and over to the entrance of the hospital.

Someone was coming outside, wearing a hospital gown that blew in the breeze. I couldn't get a good look of the woman, but the cops started to fire their guns at her, and I couldn't turn away from the sight of the bullets hitting her, but not killing her. What the hell?

It took a bullet into the head for the woman to fall to her knees and die. I remembered that person who had been eating that man in the crowd. Were they both effected by the same thing? Was it a major coincidence? Travis pulled the truck away from the hospital and we started to drive towards Madison's house before either of my questions could be answered.

"Jojo," Travis said through the window separating the truck bed from the inside. I moved closer to listen to him. "We're stopping by Madison's first. We're planning on leaving tonight, so we'll stop there and when we leave, we'll drop you off at home, alright?"

"Thank you," I said, really meaning it. Travis nodded and briefly glanced at me with the rear view mirror. I slid back to my regular position in the truck bed and thanked my lucky stars for helping me find a nice enough family to take me home.

The drive to Madison's house was actually close to the drive I usually took home from work. I started to wonder what the odds would be if they ended up living in the same neighborhood as me, when a sudden lack of light made me turn my head towards the skyline of Los Angeles. About five city blocks had had all of the lights go out, and before I could blink, another five blocks went out.

There was an eerie hush over our group as we watched the city's bright lights go out, block by block. Goosebumps prickled down my arms uncomfortably; usually the city's lights were never out. It didn't matter what time it was, there was always lights on in buildings or on the streets. This massive amount of darkness was unsettling.

We weren't forced to stare out at the dark city for long. Travis made a left turn and entered a neighborhood. The idea of living in the same neighborhood as them left my mind; the entrance to my neighborhood wasn't for another fifteen minutes. The truck drove us a little ways more before Travis pulled into a driveway. The engine was cut off as Travis got out.

"I'll be right back; I'm going to go get Madison and the kids." Travis said before turning away and heading towards the house. However, Liza and Chris hurried after him to go get inside.

Daniel said something in Spanish that sounded bitter. I glanced at him but didn't say anything. Ofelia understood what her father said and gave him a heated look. Griselda was still in a vast amount of pain and looked like she wasn't paying attention.

The four of us were only sitting out in the truck bed for about a full minute when we heard someone start to scream from inside the house. Daniel said, "I'll be back." to Griselda and Ofelia before charging out of the truck. I stared at the house as more screaming came from it, hesitating. With my jaw set, I too hopped out of the truck and started heading for the house.

"Where are you going?" Ofelia asked me in a hiss. I ignored her and got into the house right as a deafening gunshot pierced my ears. There was a hush before I heard more screaming from farther away. I ran towards the sound and entered the living room, where Daniel was standing with a shotgun in hand, a dead body slumped against the sliding glass door, and a dead German Shepard laying next to it with its belly wide open.

"Oh my God," I said, taking in the scene. The screaming from outside had stopped. Daniel gave me a look, as if silently questioning as to why I was there. Travis and Liza entered through the sliding glass door with Chris between them, stepping over the dog with tight expressions on their faces. Right behind them came three people who could only have been Madison and her kids.

Madison looked vaguely familiar to me, before I recognized her from high school. Madison was Mrs. Clark, the guidance counselor. She and I had never spoken in school, but I remembered that she had been one of those teachers who liked to help her students. I took another look at Travis and realized that he was an English teacher I had never had, but had seen walking the halls. I had moved here with just half a year left in my senior year: there had never been time to meet more teachers than you had.

I didn't recognize Madison's kids, however. There was a girl who looked to be about seventeen and, at least right now, she looked disheveled and she had wide eyes filled with terror. I risked another glance at the dead man and dog and didn't blame her for that. Then there was Madison's son, who looked like a train wreck. His longish brown hair looked like it hadn't been washed in a few days and his clothes were baggy and stained.

The son looked at me from across the room and narrowed his eyes, finally seeming to realize that two strangers were standing in his living. "Who are you?" He asked in an accusatory tone. I blinked and glanced over at Travis, who had been trying to explain everything that had happened to Madison.

"Uh, I'm just waiting for my ride." I said. The boy frowned at me and I broke the awkward eye contact; I needed to get home fast.