”Attention. This is not a test. The Federal Government has issued a Local Area Emergency to your town. Please listen to this broadcast carefully and follow all instructions provided. Repeat, this is not a test. The Federal Government has issued a Local Area Emergency to your town.”
That was an unexpected way to start our evening. Me, my wife, and my twin children were all planning on watching a movie that night. My wife, Anne, was about to sit down on the sofa next to me. The twins, Beth and Jack, both 5 years old, were both looking at both of us, clearly scared and concerned by the weird robotic voice on the TV.
”What could this be about?” I muttered to myself.
“Effective as of May 3rd, 2023, an indefinite lockdown order has been placed on your town. Please follow the next steps carefully to ensure your safety.”
My wife looked at me, concern and confusion in her eyes. “What do you think this is about, Josh?” She asked me.
”Probably some weather warning or water contamination emergency,” I replied. The voice on the TV returned.
”Lock all doors and windows. Remain indoors at all times. Arm yourself with any available weapons. Pack 6 weeks worth of supplies and barricade yourself in either a basement, storm shelter, or room with no windows. Keep tuned to this frequency on your radio for updates, and do not exit the shelter for any reason until the all clear is signaled. Stay safe, and stay vigilant.”
I was confused. If this was just some weather alert, why did we need to secure ourselves in a basement? And why would we need to arm ourselves? My confusion only deepened as the message repeated again. I looked at my wife, whose face was now slightly pale. She looked more confused as I was, and equally frightened.
After repeating the message a few more times, the TV turned to static. My kids looked as though they had just woken up from a nightmare.
”Dad, what’s going on?” Beth asked, her voice quavering. The kids weren’t used to the emergency alerts, and the tones creeped them out. The eerie message must have scared them even more.
I wasn’t so sure myself, so I told her “I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about. How about you and your brother go to the basement with your mother? I’ll bring in sleeping bags and it‘ll be like a slumber party!”
”That sounds fun!” Jack exclaimed, his fear gone. “Let’s go, mom!” My wife followed them. Before she left, she gave me a worried look, and followed the kids to the basement.
After they left, I walked around the house, checking to ensure that all of the windows and doors were locked tight. I paused at one of the back windows. Our house has a large, open backyard that runs up to a massive field. Out in the distance, although it was getting dark, I could easily make out a thick, dark fog settling at the edge of the town. I was about to brush it off, but I noticed something… odd. The fog looked to be moving, almost unnaturally. Not just moving across the field, but it looked as though something within it was shifting about. Unsettled, I checked the window and walked to my room.
I remembered the broadcast had instructed me to arm myself. I went into the small closet in the master bathroom, where we keep our guns. I opened the safe, and pulled out my grandfather’s old rifle from his army days. It was an M1 Garand, as he had fought during World War Two, and he had given it to my father as a gift, until it had been passed down to me. I also grabbed our Glock 19, a pistol, and our Winchester shotgun. Some of you may think we were packing a lot of firepower, but we figured it was good to be safe, just in case something were to happen. I grabbed a backpack and stuffed it with ammunition, before turning and walking down the hall to the kitchen.
After collecting several cans of food and bottles of water, I grabbed the old radio we kept in one of the cabinets. I tuned it to the frequency from the broadcast, and went towards the basement. On my way there, I glanced at another window. Outside, the fog had encompassed the town. I felt my heart beat a bit faster, remembering the odd “movement” from before. That’s when I saw it for the first time.
It was some sort of humanoid creature, with pale gray skin and a form so emaciated, You could see it’s joints. It’s body was covered in thick, pulsating veins, which spread across its entire body. The arms were rail thin, and the creature seemed to have 2 elbows instead of joints. The veins covered the arms like a coil of wires until intertwining at the ends where the hands would have been. They formed malformed fingers which seemed too deformed to function at all. The creature stood at least 10 feet tall. The worst part of its appearance wasn’t it’s awful, veiny arms or thin, emaciated torso. It was he face. That things face had two massive, deep, dark pits where the eyes should have been, with small pinpricks of light at the very center. It’s nose was nonexistent, only small holes in its face were present. The most terrifying part was the mouth. It had massive teeth forming up an odd looking “grin” of sorts. But then, it opened its mouth. Within it were dozens of rows of tiny, baby-sized teeth. Only as it raised its arms did I see why it had opened its mouth. There, in its clutches, was a police officer, neck snapped backwards. The creature awkwardly raised the poor man to its mouth, before proceeding to bite down on his head. I couldn’t watch, I turned and made a sprint for the basement.
As I turned away, I swore I could have seen that thing looking at me as it devoured that cop.