"Everybody stay in your cars!" Agents yelled around the packed street at curious citizens left their cars, demanding answers for the events. No one knew how to describe what had happened. The bodies that laid in the streets looked human though their mannerisms definitely weren't human.
Jess shook in my arms but stayed silent, unsure how to react.
"Stay calm okay? There's police here and everything," I assured her, running my fingers through her hair slowly. My own hands shook though I tried to mask it as much as possible. She didn't need to know I was frightened.
"But what was that?" She asked, tears running down her cheeks. "Why were they shooting them?" I sighed, wiping away the tear streaks.
"I don't know, but I'm sure there will be answers later. We'll be fine though, okay?" In reality, I was as confused and as scared as my sister. The whole scene that took place made little sense. Were they criminals who escaped from prison? They could have been wearing bulletproof vests under their clothing. But why were they walking so weird? And why would their attacks look like the work of an animal?
Traffic moved again as the police ushered cars along. They wanted to clear the scene as quickly as possible with as little witnesses as possible. I, along with many others, wanted answers though. People, or whatever they were, had been shot in the middle of the day on a crowded street. But it didn't seem as though anything would be answered now.
Jess and I remained silent the rest of the way home. I rushed her inside, locking the door behind me. My mom was waiting in the living room, anxiously sitting at the edge of her seat.
"Oh, thank God!" She exclaimed, rushing over to the both of us. With a glance at the TV, I saw she had been watching the news report live. "Whatever this is, it's getting serious. Please, stay home, okay?" Mom cupped Jess's chin before kissing her forehead and hugging her to her chest. I walked away from the door, standing in front of the TV. Clips were being played of the shooting on the street though there was no footage of what they were shooting at.
"They shot at people," Jess explained, still shaken from the event. Mom turned to look at me, her eyebrows furrowing.
"What? People?" She walked over to my side, watching the news report with me.
"There's no footage of it," I explained. "They looked like people but then… they didn't. I'm pretty sure they're the one's killing the people." There had to be a lot of them. No one came on the news to explain the threat was eliminated after the three were shot. They were only the beginning.
xxxxxxx
Later that night, every news channel was playing the event over and over. There were more reports of murders though no one mentioned who, or what, was killing them. I assumed they were trying to prevent panic but they weren't doing a very good job of it. Every news reporter strongly advised people to stay in their homes and away from the city. Businesses were canceling work and schools closed. All of this in just two days time. Very little questions were answered. No one knew how to react, other than to assume the worse and panic.
My phone in my pocket buzzed. I answered it quickly after seeing Ty's number.
"Hey, is everything okay?"
"No!" She answered back frantically. "What the hell is going on? Are you watching the news?"
"I don't think anyone isn't," I answered.
"This is fucked. Who's doing all of this?" Ty's voice calmed slightly, although it was obvious she was still on edge.
"I don't know. I saw them, but I don't-"
"You saw them?" She yelled, her voice becoming frantic again.
"I was picking up Jess from school. There was another murder and then three… things just came out of nowhere."
"Things? What things?" A frightened tone was added to her voice. I hadn't heard Ty this worked up in a long time.
"They were people… I think. But not really… I don't know! They were shot, I didn't see them for long."
"This is literally not happening. Who are they, like terrorists?"
"I doubt it," I started, trying to think of possibilities but coming up short. "They'd have bombs or guns. They just… walked out into the open. It was like they were asking to get killed."
"That doesn't even make any sense!" Ty groaned loudly into the phone, frustration clear in her voice. "What are we even supposed to do?"
"Maybe it'll just pass?" I offered. "It's raised a lot of awareness, so the police must be all over it."
"Are you guys gonna be okay locked up in your house with your dad for so long? Usually you can get away for a while."
"Yeah… we're fine." It was probably a lie, but he seemed to be more focused on the TV than anything else. He didn't have time to be angry. "What do your parents think about all of this?"
"Momma One thinks we'll be fine. Momma Two… not so much. She's panicking… I kinda agree with her though. This is crazy. People don't just get mangled to death!"
"Well, if shit goes down you have guns in your house. You're all set." I added a smile to my voice, hoping to ease the tension. I didn't always respond well to danger. My life was already dangerous. A few murders didn't scare me too much. What scared me was why they wouldn't give us more information.
"Alex, just shut up." she said, also joking though trying to be serious. I laughed slightly.
"Oh come on, you know it's true. This will pass, just give it time." I glanced at the TV again. Recordings of frantic crowds running about the city still consumed every minute of the news. Death counts were increasing as people were still fighting to get to their houses. The city was launching into mayhem. "Just stay calm. We'll be fine." I couldn't have been more wrong.
