Project 81

Captain Sarah McIntyre listened to the quiet whispering of the officer next to her as she checked her shotgun. In times of crisis people were known to go to places they thought were safe, and the police station was usually one of them. But with all that had been going on in the last hour, the crowd had to be moved to a nearby school until they could be safely evacuated. Whenever that would be.


“So, when do you think the choppers are getting here?” Officer Mitchell asked, handing her a cup of coffee.


“Choppers? What choppers?”


“The ones we’re waiting for. That is why we’re here right?”


Sarah shook her head. “There are no choppers. No rescue.”


“What? But Kyle said-”


“I told him to spread that lie. That way everyone would be more willing to do what we say.”


“Lie? But then that means-”


Sarah nodded. “That’s right. We’re going to die here. Every single one of us are going to die at the hands of those monsters.”


Suddenly the crowd screamed, as the building’s lights abruptly went out leaving everyone in darkness. Flipping on a flashlight, Sarah brought the shotgun to her chest. They had arrived. The power outage was proof enough of that.


“Showtime.” Mitchell whispered cocking her rifle.


The high-pitched groan of wood and steel creaking and giving in to a powerful force filled the building. Pieces of wood and debris rained down on the crowd, causing a panic. From the hole in the ceiling, two figures appeared descending toward the crowd. They stopped a few feet off the floor.


“Your time has come humans,” one of the figures said. As if to emphasize he grabbed a nearby man by the neck and threw him through the window.


Before anyone could dwell on what had just happened, the other figure let out a loud moan. As the crowd watched his body began to dissipate into a yellow cloud that quickly filled the entire area. Almost immediately people began to collapse as they breathed the noxious fumes.


Dropping to her knees, Sarah coughed loudly as the gas filled her lungs. So they weren’t going to be killed quickly like everyone else. Instead, they were going to be slowly suffocated. Was this any better?


Soon only Sarah was left. Having only survived longer by covering her mouth with her heavy jacket. Not five feet from her, Sarah could see the other figure watching the events unfold. He seemed to be enjoying the look on her face as she struggled to breathe. The stare-down lasted for nearly a minute, Sarah’s eyes boring holes into the cold dark eyes of the figure.

“Your turn, human.” The figure whispered giving a wide grin. “Go ahead and die for me.”


“No.” Karen whispered back, as she began to fade.


With her eyes burning and the world beginning to grow darker, Sarah made one final decision. Captain McIntyre stopped holding her breath and inhaled deeply. She screamed as she felt the air burn her lungs. She fell to the ground, clawing at the hard tile floor with her fingernails, wishing for it all to come to an end. And it did.