Zoey wasn’t really sure if the red-eyes were intelligent enough to mount an attack or send scouts. She only knew they were crazed and bloodthirsty, like they were possessed by demons or maybe they had been turned into some sort of undead creature like a zombie or vampire. Perhaps the red-eyes were testing the defenses or maybe they blindly attacked anything with a heartbeat.
The first few shots started around three o’clock in the morning, when most everyone was sleeping. At first, the cracks of gunfire came slowly, echoing from various sides of the stadium. For several minutes there would be a shot here or three shots there. Then, all at once it was like they had been transported to the front lines of a warzone. Guns cracked and bombs exploded in an incoherent harmony that filled the stadium like a sadistic rock concert. The refugees around Zoey began to scream and cry, to tremble and huddle, to flee towards the top or retreat down to the floor. It was a disaster. Irrational crowds inadvertently trampled the very soldiers that were attempting to protect them. Zoey watched as a frail Asian lady was pushed to the ground and repeatedly trampled on as she bellowed in agony.
She felt a firm tug on her arm, Sam was pulling her through the crowd, pushing his way towards the north exit of the stadium. “Where are we going? Zoey yelled as they fought their way through the frantic crowd. Sam couldn’t hear her. She couldn’t even hear herself. He just kept pushing through the hostile crowd until they were in a small room, maybe a utility closet, and slammed the door. “Thank God you made it,” Erin blurted out. Sam nodded at Erin and Ian then turned back to Zoey, a mix of sweat and worry covering his handsome face, “Are you OK?” He asked. “I…think so. You?” Zoey replied. “I’m fine,” Sam said. He glanced up at the small window on the door and looked through the diamond shaped wires crossing the double-paned glass. The crowd was still churning as guns sounded and the bombs exploded, seeming to rattle the entire stadium.
“So what now?” Ian asked. The four of them had been friends since high school, although they were more Zachary’s friends than hers. Zachary had been the outgoing one, the confident one, but they had always been nice to her. Sam had been Zachary’s best friend since seventh grade when Sam’s family had moved in down the street. They met Ian and Erin, who had been boyfriend and girlfriend since fifth grade, in Miss Watkins class in ninth grade algebra class. “We sit and wait until the soldiers stop firing and get the crowd back under control,” Sam replied. Somehow he portrayed a calmness, unlike the rest of them.
Zoey, who was standing close enough to Sam to smell his breath, turned to the narrow window. Her eyes followed a particularly tall man who was spinning about with hands cupped around his mouth, yelling hysterically. She couldn’t tell what he was saying, but he must have been looking for someone. Maybe his wife or son, lost in the stampeding crowd. The man, who towered above most of the crowd, placed his hands on his head in desperation and then continued shouting. Zoey pitied the man, the pain of her own loss still raw.
Suddenly the tall man was shoved onto the floor, crashing face-first as his head struck the floor. Zoey assumed that someone behind him had gotten a little overzealous, but it was hard to see through the crowd. A hole opened up in the scattering sea of people and she watched in horror as someone leaped onto his back and began striking him. She covered her mouth, gasping at the sight. Other people continued to run past the man, not caring to stop and help. The crowd was blocking her vision, but a moment later a gap in the crowd opened and she saw that it wasn’t a person striking the tall man, but a red-eye. It was slashing and ripping through his shirt and the layers of flesh under it. A second red-eye joined the attack, hopping onto him and biting a chunk out of his neck. The second red-eye turned and leapt onto a woman running past them, still chewing the man’s neck. Sam yanked her arm down, pulling her to the floor beneath the window and braced his back against it the door. He held a solitary finger up to his mouth without muttering a word. He reached over and gently took Zoey’s hand and giving a reassuring squeeze, but Zoey didn’t feel reassured, she felt…numb.
The numbness was not a new feeling, but more an old disagreeable roommate trying to move back in. That roommate had been pushing its way back into Zoey’s life ever since the disappearance, but Zoey knew better than to let it in. It wasn’t just the numbness, but everything that was associated with it…the dark thoughts, the melancholy feelings, and the despair.
In the background, Zoey heard the gunfire, the screams of people, and the high-pitched shrieks of the red-eyes as they reaped their rewards. It was almost as if they were celebrating the victory over one of the last human safe-holds in the city. She felt an internal wall rise inside of her as she tried to protect herself, to stop herself from sinking into the darkness, the hopelessness.
A skin-tingling shriek rang just outside the door causing Erin to let out a subdued squeak and squeeze Zoey’s hand as he flinched. Sam sat wide-eyed, staring at Erin and Ian, body tense as he pressed against the door. They anxiously waited for the red-eye to slam against the door, to burst through biting and scratching and shrieking, but seconds passed and nothing happened.
“We have to figure out a way to get out of here,” Ian whispered a few moments later. Sam spoke up, “If we can somehow get around the wall just down from us, the north exit is only a little bit further down the hall. That exit leads to the parking garage. Maybe if we can just get outside…” Sam was interrupted by a volley of gunfire just outside the door to the utility room, or at least that’s how it sounded in Zoey’s clouded mind. She saw Sam turn and face the door, peeking his head up just enough to see out the window. He immediately shot back down to the floor.
“A group of twenty or so soldiers are making a push through the lower level. It’s now or never.” Zoey stared a blank stare at him, hearing the words but not fully processing what he said. She just stared at him as the words floated past her. “Zoey, let’s go!” Sam said louder as he yanked her arm, pulling her up onto her feet. Ian and Erin were already up, kneeling just behind them with hands clasped tightly together. Sam twisted the handle and pushed the door open just enough to look at the carnage in front of them.
What they saw was both terrifying and sickening. Crudely severed body parts were strewn across the floor like trash after a Mardi Gras parade. In some places there were bodies stacked three and four deep, mangled and twisted at odd angles. Soldiers were flowing around them, firing into wave upon wave of red-eyes. There had to be hundreds of the creature vaulting over dead bodies, galloping on all fours, and hurling themselves at the soldiers. Zoey felt her arm being tugged again as she was drug away from the shots, away from the bodies. She watched as a pack of red-eyes leaped from the shadows onto a crowd of refugees, ripping through them like a scythe through a wheat field. She felt the floor beneath her feet elevate, softening to an uneven squish and then solidify to an even yet slippery surface again. This up and down, solid then mush, continued until a coldness slapped her across the face. She was at the exit to the north parking garage, still in-tow behind Sam when she heard it. A high-pitched shriek behind her. She turned back to Ian and Erin, who should have only been a few feet behind them.
Zoey felt her head turning and even through the haze of numbness, she knew she was going to die. She told herself that it would be ok. That she was ready to be re-united with her twin brother, but as her eyes searched for the shrieking red-eye, they instead stopped on Erin. Her friend stood frozen, only able to shriek in terror as a teenage-sized red-eye pounded fist after fist into Ian’s head. Zoey wanted to scream, to cry, offer herself to the twisted creature instead of Ian, but it was too late. His boy lay limply on the ground, save for his leg that was twitching like a squished bug. His face was no more than a lump of bloodied flesh. She didn’t think it could possibly get any worse, any more gruesome, until the young red-eye began to bite off chunks of Ian’s face. Zoey tugged against the force pulling her out the door, unclear what her own intensions were, but the force pulling her out into the cold was greater. She found herself sitti
ng on the cold rough concrete of the parking garage. “Stay here,” Sam said as he grabbed her face. The words echoed as if said through a distant tunnel.
Sam darted back through the door towards Erin. The moment his foot hit the smooth surface of the stadium floor, the teenaged red-eye collided with Erin. It sunk jagged teeth through the large vein throbbing in her neck and ripped a meaty chunk free. A shower of blood rained down onto the floor and Erin fell to the floor convulsing. Sam stopped and in his tracks, pausing only a brief second, then pivoted back to Zoey, slamming the door to the stadium behind him.
The next thing Zoey knew, they were passing rows and rows of cars until they came to a stop behind a large blue object. A fifteen-passenger van, she realized in her stupor. She could hear words, echoing and fluttering past her head. They came again. “Are you with me?” The voice seemed distorted and distant. “Zoey, are you with me?” Sam gripped her shoulders and gently shook her. “Zoey, snap out of it!” Sam said as his face finally came into focus. “I’m here,” she heard herself say. “I’m here.” She began frantically looking around, like she didn’t know where she was, but Sam comforted with a warm embrace. “You’re OK. We’re OK, Zoey.” He looked around the parking garage and then back to her, “We need to put some distance between us and the stadium while they’re still preoccupied. Zoey solemnly nodded her head, trying to snap out of it.
They ran in crouched positions from car to car, hiding, listening, and slowly making their way down the sloping concrete ramp. The sounds of gunfire and piercing shrieks grew more distant as they descended the parking garage. Parts of the ramp with cement walls or elevators blocked out all of the moonlight, leaving them in pitch black. In these Zoey clutched Sam’s arm even tighter, following his movements as closely as his shadow.
After what seemed like a quarter hour, they reached the bottom floor of the parking garage. Sam, a season ticket holder at the stadium, was fairly familiar with the downtown area around them. He cautiously scanned the street as he hid behind the ticket booth. A few seconds later he turned back to Zoey, “There’s a hotel eight blocks to the northwest. Maybe it will be far enough away from here. We can crash there until daybreak.” She didn’t care. She just wanted to get somewhere safe.
They continued to run, crouched low to the ground, skirting alongside the high rises. Zoey wasn’t really sure why they had to stay in a hotel, knowing she would not be able to sleep, but she allowed herself to be guided along. Sam was probably doing what he thought best, going somewhere familiar, a place thought they could stay safe for the night.
A few blocks later Sam stopped, placing his hands on his knees and breathing deeply. “I…I think we only have a few more blocks to go. It should be just ahead on…” Sam abruptly stopped his talking and laid down, pulling Zoey down with him. She turned to look behind them, not really wanting to see. She saw four red-eyes stalking down the dark street like the four horsemen of the apocalypse. She wanted to run. She wanted to scream at them. She wanted to ask them if her friends in the stadium had not been enough? But she didn’t, instead she began to whimper. Warm tears streamed down her tired face. Sam was holding her tightly, arms wrapped around her as they lay still, hoping the red-eyes wouldn’t see them. They would never make it if they ran. The red-eyes were too fast. She felt completely defeated when Sam leaned in, pressing his face to hers and his soft lips touched her ear. He whispered two final words, “Run. Hide.” He yanked her onto his feet and ran straight at the approaching red-eyes, letting out a deep defiant scream. Zoey reached for his hand, trying to stop him, but he was already gone. She did the only thing she could do. She turned and ran for her life.
Chapter 4
Alec furiously pumped his arms and legs, like an Olympic sprinter running for gold, as he hurried back to La Cocina, to Alexa and Natalie. His mind was racing as fast as his legs, maybe even faster. He worried they had disappeared too. He worried about finding clothes instead of his wife and daughter. There was too much happening; the tingling sensation that had overwhelmed his body, his skin faintly glowing, the purple-red clouds and the blinding light, people disappearing. It was all too much, and it was all happening too quickly. Even at a full sprint, the remaining few blocks to La Cocina seemed like a slow-motion torture chamber for his anxious mind.
If Alec hadn't been so distracted with his own thoughts, he might have realized how much the world around him had already changed. His mind just couldn’t process anymore. It couldn’t process the desperate screams for help, the wailing sobs of people around him clinging to piles of empty clothes, the echoing entourage of wailing emergency vehicles. His eyes were tunneled onto the entrance of La Cocina, all of his energy focused on his family. “Hang in there just a little bit longer. I’m coming for you,” he said through gritted teeth.
Alec burst through the door, calling out in a panic, “Alexa! Natalie! Alexa! Natalie!” Struggling to fight back the tears, his eyes darted from empty table to empty table, but they were nowhere to be found. His world was spiraling out of control and he started to feel light headed. He spun to his left and noticed Gabriella, the Cortez family’s oldest daughter about ten feet away, sitting in a fetal position as she wept into her hands. He rushed over to her and without any pleasantries blurted out, “Have you seen Natalie and Alexa?” She didn’t acknowledge him. Alec gripped her shoulders and asked again, “Gabriella have you seen my wife and daughter? Please!” She lifted her head the slightest bit and sad brown eyes, puffy and red, with tears still streaming, met his face. She huffed in a snotty breath and pointed to a room at the back of the restaurant. He wanted to ask her if they were alright, if they were safe, but the small gesture gave him hope.
Alec bolted to the back of the restaurant, a private room that was often used for overflow customers or large private parties. He burst through the wooden door with a grip and a twist of the round golden knob. A wave of joy, of relief splashed over him as he saw Natalie. He turned to find Alexa, but he didn’t see her. He looked back to Natalie, and his insides twisted into a knot as he saw the anguish on her face. Her eyes were rueful and bloodshot, with mascara leaking over mountainous bags under her eyes. “Where is she? Where’s Alexa?” Alec asked in a desperate tone. New tears sprung out from the corners of Natalie’s eyes, sliding down her face and mixing in with the streaks of mascara. She shook her head and tried to say something, but all that came out was a mixture of sobbing and several incomprehensible words.
Alec collapsed to his knees, darkness filling his vision and seeming to wrap around him, strangling and suffocating him. He couldn’t breathe. He felt a hand on his shoulder and could make out a voice faintly piercing the darkness around him. He didn’t even care who it was or what they were saying. The voice grew louder and louder until Alec finally heard the words. “Breathe, Alec! Breathe!” Natalie was yelling at him. He gasped for air, opening his eyes to see though the tiniest of pin slits. He was on his hands and knees, Natalie only inches away from his face. He wanted to be strong for her in that moment. He knew that she was in just as much pain as he was, but he couldn’t. Instead, he tucked his head between his knees and wept. His little girl, his joy was gone.
After he cried everything he had in him to cry, Alec pushed himself up to his knees and addressed Natalie, who was still sitting beside him. “Is she really gone?” Natalie didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed tightly. They held the embrace for a while, both crying again, before Natalie broke the silence, “I don’t understand, Alec. She just…vanished.”
Alec loosened his grip to look her in the eye, giving her time to speak. “I...I can’t explain it. Everything was completely normal one minute. We were just sitting and talking, and then we saw the blinding light through the windows. It was so bright, like nothing I’ve ever seen. When the light dissipated she was gone.” Natalie wiped away an armful of snot and tears. “Several people that were sitting at the tables near us were gone, too.” The brim of her eyes began to fill again, and she st
ruggled to continue, “I just don’t get it, Alec. Where is my baby?” Alec didn’t know what to say. He paused for a moment in thought, remembering the woman in the accident incoherently mumbling about her son disappearing. “There was a woman in a car accident. She kept rambling about her son disappearing. Like you said, I don’t understand what’s happening. There was a bright light and an earthquake and people they...I don’t know.” He wasn’t making much sense with his fragmented sentences and jumbled thoughts.
He wanted to be the rock, to comfort his wife, but he couldn’t muster the strength. “I wish I had the answers. I wish I could bring her back.” A thought popped into his mind for the first time that actually seemed coherent. “Were the others, the ones that were taken…” Alec began to choke up, struggling to finish the sentence. “Was there any kind of pattern?” Natalie considered the question for a moment, “No. No, I don’t think so. There was a couple near our age at the table next to us that disappeared, but others around us remained. Women, men, children. It all seemed random.”
Alec nodded as Natalie spoke and then stood up, noticing Mrs. Cortez and her youngest child, Enrique, for the first time. They were sitting at the other end of the elongated party table. Alec gestured towards them and asked, “Where is Mr. Cortez?” Natalie slowly shook her head from side to side. “I think he was one of the ones that vanished.” Alec grimaced as he thought about Gabriella hunched over crying, and he began to connect the dots. A wave of guilt swept over him as he now realized why Gabriella was so upset. He hadn’t even stopped to consider why she was so distraught. “I’ll be right back,” he told Natalie.
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