Ravenous (The Ravening #1)(2)
Author: Erica Stevens

I shut the thought down; it was too much to handle right now. This situation was awful enough without adding to it. Darting forward, I snagged hold of the bag and ripped it off the counter. The rustle of the plastic set my teeth on edge. I ground my jaw, fighting back a scream as I took an abrupt step back. The woman remained unmoving, her hand still extended with my change. Her warm brown eyes didn’t even flicker as I waved a hand in front of her face. I was tempted to see if she was still breathing, if she had a pulse, but try as I might I could not bring myself to touch her. I was ashamed of my cowardice but the thought was completely revolting.

Keeping my eyes on the human statues I edged cautiously toward the door. I didn’t know what they would be like if they came to life again. Images of every zombie movie I’d ever seen flooded my mind. I pictured them coming back to life to tear me to shreds as they tried to get at my brains, and organs. A shudder tore through me.

Reaching the door, I pulled down on the blinds in order to peek out at the seemingly peaceful day. People were frozen in midstride, or leaning against store fronts. Some were stopped in mid conversation with their hands in the air, or their heads tilted back to peer at the sky. A man and woman had been riding their bikes down the road when the strange freezing had occurred. They were now sprawled upon the street, their feet tangled awkwardly in the toppled bikes. The wheels were still spinning slowly; the only movement in the otherwise still day. Neither of them had made an attempt to break their fall, they had simply face planted into the asphalt. Blood had trickled from the man’s nose and formed a small puddle beneath him. The woman’s face was obscured by the brown hair tumbling around her shoulders.

Swallowing heavily I tried to gather my courage to step onto that deserted, desolate street. Was there no one else that could still move? I couldn’t be the only one. That thought was almost as terrifying as becoming one of the frozen people.

If I was frozen at least I wouldn’t be alone, and perhaps I wouldn’t even know what had happened to me. Or perhaps, chillingly, I would.

I removed my trembling hand from the blind. I couldn’t stay here, I had to move. I had to get to my family, to see if they were safe. Gradually, I eased the door open. The small bell above it was a mellow sound that was piercingly shrill in the hushed day. I winced at the noise, scrunching up like a turtle as I waited for something to attack me. Everything remained still.

Involuntarily my gaze went to the sky. A cold trickle crept through me as I spotted the ship hovering over Boston. It was a good sixty miles away but its ominous presence was felt just as strongly as if it had been directly over head. I shuddered at the reminder of it, shuddered at the realization that though they had spouted peace, they had finally revealed themselves to be anything but peaceful. Something I had suspected since their arrival, though I had never suspected anything like this.

Who could have?

I slipped from the store, closing the door silently behind me. It took me a moment to realize that not even the birds were singing. I glanced around, but I didn’t see animal bodies littered amongst the people in the streets. They may have been affected also, but I didn’t think so. There would be some birds lying amongst the people if that was the case. Apparently the birds had even been scared off by the sudden pall that hung over the world.

My heart was thumping loudly in my chest as I crept through the still streets, trying not to burst into tears or flee screaming as I studied the alien ship warily. It wasn’t coming toward our town, it didn’t appear to be moving, but I knew it was only a matter of time before they appeared in the streets, before they came to take everyone. Somehow I knew that was exactly what they intended to do.

It was what they were going to do with everyone after they came that frightened me most.

I slipped down another street, keeping my eye on the hovering spacecraft in the distance. Bret had once told me he thought they had eyes everywhere, that they knew our every move. I could only pray that he’d been wrong. Their technology was far superior to ours, that was an undisputed fact, but I had to cling to the hope that they hadn’t mastered the ability to know where every person was at all times.

Please let that be true, I pleaded frantically. Please. I was nobody of importance, there was no reason they would monitor my movements.

I turned another corner, slinking through the shadows as I moved toward the center of town. I didn’t know if it was possible for the inside of a ribcage to become bruised, but I was almost certain that mine was due to the drumbeat of my heart.

People were scattered about the streets in different positions and different situations. One couple was kissing and another was holding hands on a bench. A family was getting their picture taken by the old mill, and a group of children were frozen in the middle of a game of tag. I stopped to study the children. Goose pimples broke out on my flesh, even in the hot summer sun I was chilled by the sight of them. They were the creepiest things I had come across so far, so innocent yet spine-chilling and unnerving in their immobility.

I forced myself to turn away from them before I started screaming hysterically and didn’t stop until the aliens were drawn by my screams. I slipped into an alley, leaning against the cold wall as I struggled to catch my breath. I closed my eyes, trying not to fall apart as I fought not to completely freak out. It was still over a mile to my house, I wasn’t sure I was going to make it.

I tilted my head back as I scanned the roofs in search of cameras. I saw none, but that didn’t matter. For all I knew they didn’t even have to have cameras to spy on us. For all I knew, they were omniscient. That thought didn’t seem entirely farfetched, not anymore. They could apparently freeze people in an instant after all, why wouldn’t they know where we were at all times? Taking another deep breath I attempted to gather my waning courage.

I felt like a criminal as I crept stealthily down the alley. I glanced quickly away from the man leaning against the brick building at the end. He’d been in the act of relieving himself, urine had stained the bricks and formed a puddle before him, but thankfully there was no urine still coming out. Slipping onto another main road, I dashed quickly down the sidewalk, dodging the obstacles the immobile people represented.

Lifting my arm, I used the back of my arm to wipe the sweat from my forehead as it slid into one of my eyes. I slid into another alley and bent over as I was gripped by the sudden urge to curl into a ball and let my sanity go. I thought the world might be a better place if I did. At least I wouldn’t be alone anymore. For a minute I was consumed by the urge to just give up, to wait here until they found me, but I had never quit before and I wasn’t about to start now. Not when I didn’t know what had become of my family, maybe after, if they were gone…