I was at the supermarket, standing in line to pay, when my phone rang. I fished my cell out of my pocket and answered, groaning internally when I saw the name on my screen.
“What do you want, Kyle?”
Kyle was my ex, an absolute shit bird and the unfortunate father of my five year old boy, Zach.
“Nice to hear from you too,” Kyle said sarcastically.
“I’m at the grocery store, what do you need?”
“Damn, aren’t you cheerful today.”
I thought about hanging up, but gave him one more shot. “Last chance, Kyle.”
“I’m just making sure you don’t forget to pick up Zach from school.”
I started to place my food on the conveyor belt. “Of course I’m not going to forget. Have I ever? Did you really feel the need to call and remind me?”
“I just know you have your hands full with your new boyfriend these days. I wanted to make sure you don’t forget about our son.”
“Jesus,” I muttered, feeling my blood pressure rise. “Is that why you’re really calling?”
“Just don’t forget about him,” Kyle said and then coughed heavily.
“I’m so thrilled to hear you’ve finally decided to take interest in our son’s life,” I responded darkly.
“You left me, Megan,” Kyle spat. “You took him away from ME. All so you could hop on some fresh cock. Don’t you ever forget that.”
“Fuck you.”
I hug up, tossing my hair over my shoulder. I jammed my phone back in my pocket and ground my teeth together. Kyle was a grade A piece of shit and he always did such a good job reminding me why I had left him. It made me sick to think he had gotten me pregnant. In my darkest moments, I silently wished he would get hit by a car and leave Zach and I alone forever. Things would be better that way.
I finished paying for my groceries and went out to the parking lot. As I tossed my bags into the passenger seat, I felt my phone ring again. Immediately, I felt my mood turn hot as I snatched the phone up again, ready to give Kyle some fire.
“Listen you ass-”
But it wasn’t Kyle. Instead, a low female robotic voice spoke into my ear.
“Gunji has been activated.”
I blinked. “What? Hello?”
“Gunji is 5.4 miles away. If you’d like to speak to a representative, please press 7.”
And then the line went dead.
“Ok then,” I said dismissively, tossing my phone next to the groceries. I started the car and began traveling across town to Zach’s school. I couldn’t believe what Kyle had said. No. No, of course I could believe it. We had been together for two years before his drug habit had destroyed our sad little family. I left him six months ago and I was still fighting for full custody. Kyle wasn’t making it easy. He never made anything easy. He was a moron and thought I had left because I had found someone else, which wasn’t the case.
Meeting Jose had been a stroke of good fortune and I thanked the heaven’s every day for him. He was the complete opposite of Kyle. Hardworking, family oriented, he had his life in order and had loved Zach from the second they met. But all Kyle saw was some stupid form of betrayal.
“Please jump off a bridge today, Kyle,” I growled as I crossed town, checking the clock. Zach would be getting out just as I arrived. Because I was a great mother and wouldn’t forget about my own son. Especially not because there was someone new in my life. Never.
A few minutes later, I pulled up to Zach’s school and waited as the line of cars inched forward, each parent waiting patiently for their child.
My phone rang again. I picked it up.
“This is Megan.”
“Gunji is 0.3 miles away. If you’d like to speak to a representative, please press 7.”
The robotic female voice filled my ear once again.
I ended the call, dismissing the spam once more. Somehow my number had made it onto a telemarketers list or something. Putting the strange call out of my mind, I waved to Zach as he trotted down the front steps of the school. As much as I loved the kid, I hated how much of his father I saw in his face. A high, pinched nose, the same wavy brown hair, those blue eyes that tilted down slightly.
But he wasn’t Kyle, and I loved him to death.
“Hi Mom!” Zach greeted as I leaned back and pushed the backdoor open for him. He climbed in and threw his backpack down next to him.
“Hi Zach!” I beamed. “Did you have a good day at school?”
“I guess,” Zach said, biting his lip. “I learned a joke today.”
“Oh?”
“What has got two cheeks but can’t chew?”
I smiled and rolled my eyes. “Whaaaat?”
“A BUTT!” He cackled.
“Well that’s a very silly joke,” I said. “Don’t let your teacher hear you tell that one. Put your seatbelt on, kid.”
Before he could though, something caught my attention. Screams. Screams coming from the front of the school. I whipped my head around and looked up the steps toward the glass doors that led inside. Kids and teachers alike were screaming and running away from the entrance in a frenzy. Their screams cut through my mind like it was taffy. Immediately, even as I was still processing what I was seeing, I went on full alert, every sense sharpening.
This couldn’t be what I feared it was. My mind pulsed the same word over and over again in bright red neon.
Shooter. Shooter. Shooter.
A moment later, when I saw why everyone was running, my heart thudded dead in my chest.
Blood erupted against the glass panels, spraying in all directions from the inside. A moment after my brain registered this, children exploded through the glass, thrown at a force I couldn’t comprehend. Their small bodies rocketed from the wall of glass like they were shot out of a cannon, landing ten or fifteen feet down the steps. Their bloody bodies left skid streaks on the concrete as they blasted out of the shattered glass, teeth, shoes, books flying like confetti.
Three, five, then ten kids all airborne, arcing through the air to land in a tumbling splat across the front of the school. Screams filled my head as I watched great gouts of blood stain the washed out concrete as the bodies continued to be expelled through the front of the school.
“Zach, keep your head down!” I yelled, panic roaring through my chest like a pillar of fire. I gunned the engine, the car jerking and clipping the SUV in front of me. I yanked the wheel and spun the car away, casting my eyes to the rearview mirror. As I did, a little girl thudded into the back window. I heard her bones crunch on impact and the glass cracked on impact, the fractures filling with blood as the dead kid slid off, her skull crushed.
What is HAPPENING!?
I grabbed my phone as I tore out of the parking lot, dialing 911 as I did so. When the operator picked up, I yelled until my voice was hoarse that there was an active shooter at my son’s school.
But was there? I hadn’t heard any gunshots, not a single one. Maybe I hadn’t heard them. There had been so much screaming. But that didn’t explain the children. They weren’t dropping dead where they ran. They were being hurled through the air, through the front of the school, tossed like they were weightless. A gun wouldn’t do that, would it?
I didn’t pay any attention to the stoplights as I raced away from the school, my frantic mind not even registering them. I just needed to get Zach away from the school. Jesus, Zach!
I turned around and saw that he was crying, huddled in his seat. But he looked unharmed, just shaken.
“It’s ok sweetie, we’re ok! We’re safe! We’re going home! Do you want to talk to Jose? Do you want me to call Jose?”
Zach nodded and wiped his eyes. Jose was so good with Zach, I knew that just talking to him would calm my son down. I went to dial his number, but saw there was an incoming call already on the screen. I answered it.
“Yes, hello!?”
“Gunji is 1.2 miles away. If you’d like to speak to a representative, please press 7.”
“Stop calling me!” I yelled into the phone, confused and disoriented. What the hell was this Gunji thing? Why were they calling me?
“Wait a second,” I muttered, eyes trained on the road. What had that voice said? Gunji was just over a mile away? As in, back by the school?
“What the hell is going on here…?”
I pushed the thought aside and called Jose. He answered on the second ring.
“Hey Meg, what’s going on, babe?”
“Jose, something horrible is happening at Zach’s school. He’s safe and I have him with me in the car. He’s really scared right now and wants to talk to you. I’m going to pass the phone back to him, ok?”
It all came out in a breathless rush and I blessed him for not asking any of the million questions I’m sure he had. He heard that Zach was scared and wanted to talk to him and that was enough.
“Give him the phone,” he said gently.
I reached back and handed Zach the cell. “Jose wants to say hi, baby. Do you still want to talk to him?”
Zach nodded, his eyes wet, and took the phone. “H’lo?”
I could hear Jose’s muffled voice speaking to my son and blessed my wonderful boyfriend. I checked the rearview and could see Zach nodding, some of the fear leaving his face as he listened. When he had calmed down some, he handed the phone back to me. I took it and pressed it to my ear.
“Jose?”
“I’m here. What the hell happened? What’s going on?”
“I don’t know,” I said, feeling the emotional weight of the trauma filling my throat. “I don’t know, Jose, but there are dead kids. There’s a lot of dead kids at the school, it might still be happening, I don’t know, there was so much blood and screaming and -” I started to cry, hands shaking on the wheel as I raced through the middle of town toward the house.
“Are you ok? Are you hurt?”
I shook my head and wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. “No, we’re ok. But Jesus, something terrible it going on at -”
I dropped the phone, jerking the wheel, eyes bulging as a car to my right soared into my lane, tumbling and spinning through the air like it had been launched off a ramp. It smashed violently into the car in front of me, the collision of metal and glass crunching and spraying across the road. I heard myself scream as I swerved to avoid the spinning, rolling cars as they plowed across my vision. I heard Zach scream from the backseat and felt my neck whip back to hit the headrest.
Miraculously, I managed to avoid the wreckage as I righted the wheel and skirted around the smoking, crushed vehicles as they thudded to a halt. I felt my breath heave up my throat like it was fire, every nerve in my body trembling like it was touched by lightning.
“Holy shit,” I gasped, heart thundering. “Zach!? You ok, Zach?!”
“I want to go hooooome!” He wailed, eyes streaming.
“We’re going! We’re almost there baby!”
What the hell had just happened? Where had that car come from? It had been flying like some great beast had just tossed it from a parking lot, directly into my lane. I was shaken to the core, felt the edges of reality twist and blur at the corners of my vision.
Just get home, just get yourself and Zach home.
I realized my phone was ringing at my feet, where I had dropped it. I blindly grabbed for it and answered.
“Jesus, Jose!? You’re never going to believe-”
“Gunji is 0.2 miles away. If you’d like to speak to a representative -”
“Stop calling me!” I screamed into the phone.
The robotic female phone paused for a moment, then repeated her message. Panting, I pulled my phone away and was about to hang up. But then, in a daze, I pushed 7.
There was a pause as I was connected with a representative.
The robotic voice spoke after a moment. “Please hold. All of our representatives are assisting other callers. You are 5th in the queue. We will return your call when the next representative becomes available. Goodbye.”
“Useless SHIT!” I screamed, then immediately regretted the outburst. I heard Zach wail behind me and I turned to soothe him.
“I’m sorry, baby, we’re almost home. Just a couple more minutes. You can watch as much tv as you want and we’ll have McDonalds for dinner, how does that sound?”
Zach took a steadying breath and dried his eyes. “That sounds pretty good.”
“Ok, hun, just keep your seatbelt on ok?”
“Ok. Did the cars crash?”
“They sure did, we need to be safe so keep your belt on, ok?”
“Ok, Mom.”
What the yellow hell is going on today? I thought, turning back to the road. I called Jose again.
“Megan? Are you ok?” Jose asked, his voice laced with fear.
“Yeah, you’re not going to believe what just happened. I’ll tell you when I get home. Can you meet us there? I know you’re working and -”
“I’m already on the way,” he said.
“Thank you,” I breathed, feeling my chest deflate a little. “I love you.”
“I love you too. See you soon, Meg.”
“Bye.”
A couple minutes later, we turned onto our street. Our house was tucked back in the corner, a winding row of single story ranches that ended at a plot of woods. When I pulled into the driveway, I felt safe for the first time in what seemed like years. I shut the car off and unbuckled my seatbelt. I was about to get out when my phone rang again, for what felt like the millionth time today. I answered it. The robotic female voice filled my ear.
“Please hold. You are next in the queue.”
Holding the phone to my ear, I exited the car and got Zach out. I picked him up and we walked toward the front door, his face buried in my shoulder.
A woman’s voice, an actual person, chirped in my ear then. “Hello, thank you for holding. How may I -”
Beep beep beep.
Blinking, I pulled my cell away from my ear and looked at the screen. The battery was dead. I had forgotten to charge it last night.
“Goddamn it,” I hissed, shoving it into my pocket.
We were home though. I could always call that number back once Zach was settled. For now, we were safe.
I keyed the front door open and went into the living room. I plopped Zach down on the couch and turned on the TV for him.
“You ok, Zach? Do you want a snack?”
He nodded, kicking off his shoes, his attention already pulled toward the TV. It was like the trauma we had just been through had never happened. Kids were unreal.
I left him on the couch and went to the bathroom. I shut the door and began to cry. The horror of what I had just been through crashed over me like waves on a beach. My shoulders shook and I let myself purge. When I was finished, I washed my face and went into the bedroom. I put my phone on the charger and grabbed a snack for Zach in the kitchen. I needed to know what had happened at the school, but with my phone dead, I had no way of looking it up. I still couldn’t believe the carnage I had seen. I knew I wasn’t going to forget those images anytime soon or the feeling of helplessness as I watched the children splatter onto the concrete.
I pushed the thoughts away, knowing they’d be waiting for me tonight. I went into the kitchen and grabbed a bag of goldfish for Zach. I handed him the bag and heard the front door open.
“Megan!?”
“In here, Jose!”
My boyfriend swept into the living room, pulling me into his arms. His face looked pale and I buried myself in his chest.
“We’re ok,” I whispered. “We’re safe.”
“I cannot believe you went through that,” Jose said, stroking my hair. He planted a kiss on top of my head and pulled away, studying my face.
“You sure you’re ok?”
“No, I’m not, but that can wait,” I said, shooting a look at Zach on the couch. Jose knelt down next to him.
“Hey buddy, you doing ok?”
“You’re in the way of the cartoons!” Zach cried, leaning around Jose.
“I guess he’s ok,” Jose said, standing. “Jesus, what a nightmare.”
“Did you hear anything on the news?”
“I checked Twitter. Looks like the police are still evacuating the school and searching for the shooter.”
“They haven’t caught them yet?”
“No.”
“Do they have a count yet…? Of how many…?”
“Eighteen kids so far.”
I felt my skin go cold. I closed my eyes and said nothing. Those poor children. Those poor families. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what they were going through right now. If I had been just a few minutes late…
“Hey, he’s ok,” Jose said, reading my face. “You’re safe. He’s safe.”
“I know.”
We both froze then, as something from the woods behind our house cried out. It sounded like a woman screaming, a piercing, warbling shriek that was cut off abruptly.
“What was that?” Jose asked quietly.
I swallowed uncomfortably. “That sounded like a woman. From the woods.” I started walking to the kitchen where our sliding glass door led out to the back deck. Jose followed me and together we stepped outside, listening.
There was nothing for a moment, and then a man’s voice came from deep within the dark woods. It sounded like someone was yelling nonsense, the babble of words jumbling together.
“Wolololo roo yeti mockbella!”
“What the hell is happening today?” I shivered, stepping back into the house. “What is that!?”
The voice came again, deep, almost robotic sounding. “Wolololo roo yeti mockbella!”
“I’m calling the police,” I said, pulling Jose back into the house.
“Good idea. I’ll sit with Zach.”
But before I could, the front door banged open and in walked Kyle. I jumped at the sound and then felt dread and anger fill me in equal parts as my ex entered the house.
“What the fuck are you doing here?!” I yelled, stomping down the hallway. “You can’t just barge into my house Kyle!”
“You weren’t answering your phone!” Kyle yelled. His face was flush and he looked ready to kill. “I heard about what happened at the school and I tried calling you!” He looked at Zach on the couch. When he saw him, he deflated a little. “Oh thank god. You’re ok.”
“My phone died,” I said, storming to his side. “You still can’t just plow your way in here, Kyle!”
“Cut me some slack you heartless bitch,” Kyle snarled, turning to me.
Jose raised his hands. “Hey, none of that talk. Not now, not ever, you got it?”
Kyle waved a hand at him. “Oh sit down, hotshot. She’ll be done with you soon enough and then you’ll see.”
“Dad?” Zach said, sliding from the couch. “Kids died at school today.”
That seemed to cool the temperature in the room by about twenty degrees. Kyle took a deep breath and got down on one knee. “I know. I was so worried about you. I had to come here and make sure you were safe.”
I closed my eyes and then opened them, forcing myself to calm. “I’m sorry you couldn’t reach me. I’m sure that was scary, Kyle. But we’re ok.”
Jose reached out and touched my arm. “I’ll stay here. You should go call the police.”
Kyle stood, his face darkening. “Now hold on here, asshole, this is my kid and I have every right-”
“Not for you,” Jose said. “We heard screams from the woods out back, right before you arrived.”
“Screams? Like, human screams?”
“Yeah. We should all lock the doors until the police get here. With the incident at the school, we’re not taking any risks here.”
I went to the bedroom and powered up my phone. The battery was at 6%. That was enough. Before I dialed 911 I saw that I had a new voicemail. I made a mental note to check it later. As I pushed 9, my phone rang.
It was the same number that had been calling me all morning.
“Hello?”
“Gunji is fifty feet away. If you’d like to speak to a representative, please press 7.”
I didn’t move. In an instant, the massacre at the school flashed through my head, then the car that had been thrown into traffic. And now the screams and weird noises coming from the woods.
Before I could press 7, I heard Zach scream from the living room. I dropped the phone and bolted to him. He was huddled in Jose’s arms, clearly shaken.
“What happened?!” I yelled.
Kyle pointed to the door leading to the garage. “Something is out there.”
“What do you mean? The garage is closed! There’s nothing in th-”
My stomach plummeted as a woman’s scream echoed in the garage. It was immediately followed by the hysterical laughter of a small child. A beat passed and then:
“Wolololo roo yeti mockbella!”
“Everyone, get upstairs,” I said, pointing to the stairs. “Now!”
“Fuck that,” Kyle said, stepping toward the garage door. “I’m not letting some psycho invade my kid’s home.” He shot a look at Jose. “Someone’s gotta be the man here.”
“Kyle, don’t be stupid!” I said, reaching for him. He jerked his arm away and walked to the garage door. He yanked it open and stepped out of sight before I could stop him.
A split second later, he came rocketing back through the door, his body exploding into bloody pieces as if he stepped on a landmine. Chunks of flesh and gore erupted through the open door and splattered wetly against the far wall. I saw fingers and hair, teeth and fractured bone rip past my face, spraying me in a wall of blood.
Zach screamed and Jose yelled in a panic, stepping back. Instinct took over and I grabbed Jose, who was still holding Zach and pulled them toward the back bedroom, heart crunching in my chest, thudding against my ribs so hard I thought they would break.
“Wolololo roo yeti mockbella!”
“Get into the bedroom!” I screamed, shoving Jose down the hall and into the bedroom, slamming and locking the door behind me.
My cell, discarded on the floor, was ringing.
I dove for it and answered.
“Gunji is fourteen feet away. If you’d like to speak-”
I pushed 7, my back to the door. Jose was in the corner of the room, clutching a weeping Zach to his chest. His eyes were confused and scared, pleading for me to give some explanation.
“Thank you for contacting a representative, my name is Mary, how can I assist you?”
“Hello?” I screamed into the phone. “Who is this?! What is going on!?”
The voice came from the other line, a human voice, not the robotic one I was used to hearing. “This is Mary. I’m going to have to ask you to please lower your voice so I can understand and assist you.”
“What the fuck is Gunji!?” I yelled, eyes red. “Why is it here in my house!?”
A pause. Then, “If you’d like to recall Gunji, I’m going to need your seven digit passcode.”
“I don’t have a passcode you bitch!”
From outside the door, I heard heavy footsteps enter the house from the garage.
“Ma’am, I’m going to have to insist you lower your voice.”
“It’s going to kill us!” I shrieked.
The woman on the other end covered the microphone and said something I couldn’t hear. It sounded like she was speaking to someone else on the other side.
“Hello?!”
The voice came back. “Ma’am do you have an account with us?”
“I don’t even know who you are, lady! You’ve been calling me all fucking morning and now people are dead!”
The woman covered the microphone again and spoke to someone in a muffled voice. From down the hall, I heard children laughing and the sound of little feet running through the house. Then, it sounded like a woman was throwing up in the living room.
“Get out of my house!” I screamed.
“Wolololo roo yeti mockbella!”
This time, the voice was right outside the door.
“Megan, what is going on?!” Jose yelled, shaking.
The woman on the phone came back. “I’m so sorry, it seems there was a mix up. We ran a check on your phone number and it seems like there was an error on our end. I apologize for the inconvenience. The last four digits of your phone number are 9833 correct?”
The door shook at my back as something huge thudded into it, knocking me forward a couple steps. I could still hear the sound of children down the hall and the woman retching.
“Yes! Yes!” I screamed, tears filling my eyes.
“Ah, I see where the mistake is now,” the woman said calmly. “Gunji was assigned to 9834, not 9833. We apologize for the mistake.”
“Fucking do something then!”
Another blow rattled the door and I heard wood splinter. Zach was still screaming.
“Wolololo roo yeti mockbella!”
The voice was practically in my ear, a bellowing blast that sunk my heart into my guts.
The woman continued on calmly. “I’ll reassign Gunji on our end. Please hold.”
Another blow crunched into the door, knocking me forward again. I could see the splinters beginning to form at my back as whatever was on the other side continued to pound away in rage.
“Get him under the bed!” I yelled at Jose. “Get him under the bed and help me, Jose!”
But before Jose could move, the pounding stopped.
Everything beyond the door went dead silent.
The woman’s voice returned to me. “We’ve gone ahead and reassigned Gunji. Again, from everyone here, we apologize for the inconvenience. Is there anything else I can do for you today?”
I held my breath, waiting. Silence continued to fill the house. It was as if nothing had been there at all. Slowly, Jose stepped toward me, Zach’s face in his chest.
“Is it gone?” He asked, his voice trembling. “Did it leave?”
I swallowed hard and spoke into the phone. “Is it really gone? Did it leave?”
The woman answered in a maddeningly calm tone. “Yes, I have Gunji exiting the neighborhood now.”
I leaned into the phone. “Lady…what the fuck is Gunji?”
Beep beep beep.
I looked down at my screen.
The phone was dead.