“All right, people, thank you so much for coming. I hope to see you again next week.” The society’s president said.
“You definitely won’t” I whispered under my breath as I gathered my things and started walking towards the door.
I really don’t know what was going on in my head when I decided to join the mathematics society. Well, I do know what was going on in MY head, what I don’t know is what was going on in my friend Sara’s head when she literally begged me to join it with her, and then just decided not to show up. I mean, who does that?
I glanced at my phone for a second, checking if that traitor had decided to answer at least one of my 30 messages, and then I placed it back into my pocket with an annoyed sigh, the word murder flashing into my head for a second when I realized that she hadn’t even read them.
It took me less than a minute to get to the building’s exit, but checking my phone had slowed my pace and by the time I got to the door, there was a large group of people, some of which I recognise as a part of the society from hell, gathered at the entrance.
I hastily approached the group, eager to see what had them all so enthralled, and I immediately wished I hadn’t. The sky was covered in storm clouds, lightning striking constantly in the distance. That wasn’t the problem, though, the rain was.
Instead of the clear, clean water that should have been falling from the sky, a red and viscous liquid was pouring out of the heavens and coating the world in red puddles. A sudden draft made outside air slide through the cracks, and a putrid smell enveloped the hall.
“Come on, you’re all babies. It’s just a little rain, just put your hoods on and go to the bus stop” Said a guy that I don’t know while reaching out for the door.
His actions led to a collective “don’t”, but he didn’t seem to care, and just opened the door and walked out of the building. The air suddenly felt colder than before, and the tension was palpable, everyone wanted to know what would happen to him.
We all gave out a sigh of relief that turned into a scream when ten seconds after he walked outside, he exploded.
I could feel the blood draining from my face, and my whole body went numb as my heartbeat accelerated, and the whole room erupted in chaos. Some people just started screaming, while most of the others started talking amongst themselves with panicked expressions and watery eyes. Some people even approached the frosted glass windows around the hall and stuck their faces to the cold glass in an attempt to get a better look at the scene that had just unfolded.
I shakily reached for my phone, and I tried to steady my hands enough to be able to call the police. I tapped my screen still shaking, grateful that all the numbers are the same, and I put my phone on speaker. After six or seven seconds, a woman picked up, and asked me what’s wrong.
“The… the rain. It’s red, and it smells rotten.” By this moment, everyone in the room was aware that I was on the phone with the police, and was trying to be as quiet as possible. “And a guy walked into the rain and then he exploded.”
“Ma’am, I need you to tell me what you took so we can help you.” Said the voice on the other side, completely unaware that I was telling the truth.
“I didn’t, I didn’t take anything” I muttered, shaking my head even though I knew that she couldn’t see me.
“It’s true. We’ve all seen it, and there’s like 60 of us here.” Said a blonde girl in a shy tone, still strained by the shock and horror.
“Ok, stay calm. We’ll send someone to your address, just tell me where you are. You are not in trouble right now, but you need to tell me what you took so we can help you.” The woman on the other end of the phone had a calming tone of voice now, like the ones that people use to appease crazy people.
The society president grabbed the phone from my hands angrily. “We haven’t taken anything, lady. It’s true. We’re in building 19 at the university. Just come and see for yourself.”
“I’ll send an ambulance and a police car to the location immediately. Just try to stay calm.”
“Don’t let them..” The words die in my mouth before I can finish my sentence by the phone being hung up. “Go out into the rain” I finished in my head, hoping that maybe they’d be sensible enough not to step foot into the eerie rain.
“How can we be sure that the cars won’t explode just like Rick?” Said a boy in a white shirt that I’d seen earlier at the society meeting. Rick, I suppose, being the guy that exploded just moments ago.
“Are you stupid? Do you see all the cars parked on the street?” Replied a blue-haired girl with a scowl.
“What if we run to the bus stop as far as we can? Rick had about 10 seconds before he exploded, and the stop isn’t too far away” Asked the same boy with the white shirt, to which he received another scowl from the blue-haired girl that made him shut his mouth and retreat into the crowd.
“We just need to wait until the rain stops or the police arrive.” I said, trying to reassure everyone around me, but finding it hard to convince myself of the truth of that statement.
And that’s when the waiting game started. We waited for an hour, in complete silence, for something to happen, for anything to happen. Our gazes were plastered to the doors, looking at the rain fall, anticipating the police’s arrival. Nothing happened, though.
That’s when people started spreading out through the building, trying to find a quiet corner to phone their families, but we soon realized that every single attempt of communicating with the outside world was futile, and that me being able to call the police had been nothing but a matter of luck.
Another hour passed, and the rain kept falling with the same intensity as before, never slowing its pace, eager to claim another victim.
By hour three, some people started crying, scared and confused, not knowing what to do next. I was part of the tiny group of people that still hadn’t stopped staring outside for a glimpse of red and blue lights, but by the fifth hour, even I gave up.
“This is madness” Said a guy in a pokemon shirt after a while as he approached me “We can’t just stay here forever. At least you tried with the police.”
“Yeah… it was useless, though. It’s been almost ten hours.” I replied.
“True. Maybe it got to them too. The rain, I mean. Maybe it’s everywhere, or maybe they won’t risk going into the rain.” He shook his head, trying to wrap his head around all of this. “I’m Jonah, by the way.”
“Clara, nice to meet you.” I said as I offered him my hand to shake. I pondered over his words for a minute before having an epiphany. “Radios!” I say, looking at him before clarifying after seeing his confused look. “We need to find a radio to see what’s going on outside, maybe someone is broadcasting something about this. You said that maybe it’s everywhere, so let’s find out.”
“YES. That’s genius. Let’s form two groups, one goes out to find a radio, and the other one looks for supplies, like food and drinking water.” I agreed, thinking that the second task would probably be more complicated than the first one, considering that our meeting had been in the only building on the whole campus without a cafeteria.
We did just that, everyone who wanted to help joined one of the two groups, and we started to search the building, 8 people on the radio group and 9 on the supplies run.
As we split into our respective groups, a sense of purpose began to replace the hopelessness that had overtaken all of us for hours. The radio group, led by Jonah and I, split into four pairs that set out to find a working radio that could, maybe, help us find some information about what was happening outside. We scoured the building, checking offices, classrooms, and storage rooms, hoping to find a functioning radio, preferably one powered by batteries, seeing as half of the building had started losing power.
Meanwhile, the supplies group, led by the scowling blue-haired woman from earlier whose name turned out to be Emily, embarked on their mission to collect food, water, and any other supplies that they may consider necessary and important during these moments of need.
We combed through the building while the rain continued to fall relentlessly, painting the outside world in macabre red shades that made me shudder every time I looked at them. Another aim of our mission was to see if there was anyone else trapped in the building aside from us, but the deafening silence and the lack of any signs of life made it clear that there wasn’t.
It was a big building, so it took us several hours to search all of it, and just as we were about to give up, we found a small battery operated radio in the faculty lounge. Jonah grabbed the radio and inspected it carefully, making sure that it was in operational order before pressing the on button. All we could hear was static, but as Jonah changed frequencies, we were finally able to hear a human voice on the device.
“This is a public safety announcement for all of the UK, remain inside your homes and barricade doors. Move to the highest possible floors without the need to enter in contact with the rain. All communications have been compromised. This is a public safety…” The man continued, repeating over and over again the same words, but the ones that stuck to me the most were the ones that I was dreading the most: for all of the UK. That meant the incident wasn’t localized, and that the threat was at least nationwide, if not worldwide.
Jonah and I exchanged a worried look, our expressions a mix of both fear and relief, the first one because we didn’t know what the future would hold, and the latter because we were able to at least receive some sort of outside news, dire as they may be. Luckly, alongside the small radio, we also found a packet of batteries, which meant that we would be able to use it for a long time, because even if we hoped we wouldn’t need to, there was something telling us that we would.
We went back to the rest of the group, all of them waiting eagerly for either news, food, or water. We didn’t bring any of the latter, and the supply group hadn’t yet returned, but we did share the news we’d found.
That night, we all went to bed hungry, thirsty and scared, not knowing what would happen the following day, week, or even month. The supply group had never returned that day, and Jonah wanted to go out and find them, but the complete darkness in which the building had been submerged after the last generator went out made it extremely dangerous, so we managed to convince him to wait until the morning.
And so, we all slept, haunted by the possibilities and the sound of the rain tapping against the glass, unaware that things were about to take a turn for the worse in the very near future.
All of this happened years ago. Spoiler alert, I’m out. And, somehow, nobody remembers the terror of that time. Not those that shared the building with me, nor those that didn’t. I’m in therapy now, and even though my therapist must believe that I am completely nuts, she advised me to share my story so I can begin to heal from the trauma. I’m sorry for that open ending, but this is all I could manage to write at once, but you will definitely hear more from me in the future. I’m writing this in order to heal, but also in hopes that I’ll be able to find someone that remembers, please try to remember.