I rushed towards the radio and grabbed it, hungry for any information I could find. Our ears were assaulted by loud static the moment I turned it on. I cursed, then fumbled with the dials until I found a station that partially worked. A man was speaking in a voice that put me on edge. The panic in his voice was palpable, and he spoke so fast it was almost hard to understand him. It didn't help that he would occasionally be interrupted by static.

This is what I managed to hear:

...and this is why we urge you to evacuate the area if- in or around Arborline. The recent rumours may be tr- some- in the storm. Survivors that have been questioned say they see- shapes- fog. Damage to the city... unprecedented- strange string of deaths on the east side of the city- much like in Boston. If you live deep in the city it is suggested that you go as close to the ground as possible. Both the military and the police force is- ing action. There's a search for survivors undergoing around the clock, but there's something else that they're doing in there. It may all just be a front for something- It is unknown exactly why the military- but it seems likely it has something to do with- and the sounds- This storm... it's much more than we were led to believe. Whatever is going on it there... We... We don't even have a fraction of the real story! If you have something you can use as a weapon, keep it with you! They can't-

It cut out into static. I waited for a minute or two but he didn't speak again. I fiddled with the dial again but I couldn't find any other working stations. I tried not to let the utter horror I was feeling show on my face, but I don't think I did that great of a job; Aaron was looking at me with a worried expression. A strange string of deaths, just like the events in Boston. People seeing shapes in the fog. Although it wasn't much information, it gave me something to think about. A lot of things seemed to be linked together, like the screams and the deaths. Did the shapes have something to do with the deaths too? Where did that loud sound we heard tie in with all this? What about the earthquakes? Where did it all add up? Where did it all intersect?

I sighed. No point sitting here asking questions to myself. We would only find the answers we were seeking if we moved out of here.

I took our flashlight and a few batteries that we had for emergencies and put it in my pocket. That way our trek down the stairs would be a lot safer.

I noticed Aaron was holding the bag that had the half of the cookies we had saved for today. There were tears in his eyes. I hugged him, and stroked his head reassuringly.

"Come on Aaron," I said, "We're going to find mom, we'll finish those together. And then, we'll drive far, far away from here where we can be safe. It's all going to be okay"

"But... But what if we don't find mom?" Aaron muttered.

I hugged him, "If we don't, that just means she left the city. We'll find her eventually."

He squeezed me closer, "Alright, dad. Let's go find her!"

After packing as much as we could into some bags, I made to leave but stopped when I saw an envelope on the floor. The letter from my dad's friend! I had completely forgotten about it. I put it in my coat pocket, then we started to make our way down the hall. As we stepped through the door into the stairway, Aaron picked up the backpack he had dropped earlier.

"Hey, turn on the flashlight so we can see what's inside," he asked me as he opened it wide and held it out to me.

I set the bags I was carrying down, took the flashlight out of my pocket and shone it into the backpack. There were a few cereal bars, a bottle of water and...

Aaron shrieked, and fell back into the hallway. He dropped the backpack as he landed, and its contents came flying out. The cereal bars silently fell to the floor, the bottle landed then rolled down the stairs and a single eyeball rolled towards my foot. What the hell? Despite my shock, I was quick to move. I picked it up, gagged a little in my mouth as I felt it was surprisingly stiff but squishy and slimy. I stared at it for a moment. It was real, it was a real human eye. Before Aaron could get up and see it again, I threw it into the potted plant that was nearby.

"Dad, what.... What was that?" he stammered as he got up.

"It was just some weird toy... a, uh, bouncy ball," I lied. I was surprised with how quick I had been to shield him from seeing it.

"It really looked like... like an eye! Where did it go?" he asked, glancing around.

"It fell down the stairs. Guess our nerves got the better of us, haha! We just need to calm down a little," I tried to convince Aaron and myself.

We stood there both feeling uneasy for a moment, then without saying anything we picked our stuff up again, Aaron took the cereal bars and put them in his pocket and we began to go down the stairs. I held the flashlight in one hand so that we could see ahead of us. As we walked down, I tried not to lose the false composure I was putting up for Aaron. What the hell was that?! What the hell! Why was there a human eyeball in that backpack? What in God's name happened in here? The eyeball had felt fresh. Wording it that way in my head made me shiver. I'm no expert, but when I held that eyeball for that moment it felt like it had been removed fairly recently. What could have done that? Why? Why was it in the backpack? Did some psycho take advantage of the situation and commit murder here or something? Or was it something else? What else could it even have been? I shook my head. I don't know, but I do know we need to get out of here and find Jessica as quickly as possible. I quickened my pace.

We were almost at the bottom of the stairs, and I started to notice that the metallic smell was a lot stronger than it had been on our ascension. I heard a clunk as Aaron dropped one of the bags he was carrying on the steps above me, which made me jolt a bit and aim the flashlight to the bottom of the stairs. What I saw there made me gasp.

I turned the flashlight off.

Aaron had picked the bag up and turned to me, "Huh? Dad, why did you shut the flashlight off?"

My response was barely audible.

"What? I couldn't hear you..."

"The battery ran out!" I yelled suddenly.

There was silence for a moment.

"Sorry for yelling... the... the battery ran out so we need to be careful now. But let's hurry, I want to get out of here as soon as possible..."

He nodded, then we kept descending.

I made sure to keep to the left side of the stairs. I made sure to prevent Aaron from looking under the stairs. I made sure to push him into the lobby as fast as possible. I couldn't help stealing a glance back at the stairs. I held back a curse, then we both stormed out of the apartment complex, through the storm and back into the car.

As I started the car, I couldn't stop my body from shaking a little bit as I recollected what I had seen in the apartment:

When the flashlight had shined onto the bottom of the steps, it had revealed a red liquid that was very slowly but surely spreading out from under the stairs. As I looked more closely, I spotted another eyeball floating in that puddle. I was quick to shut the light off. There was no way I wanted Aaron to see something like that. That was the source of the metallic smell. When I looked back as we made our way into the lobby, I had made out the outline of two people slumped up against the wall. The blood came from their bodies.

They were both eyeless corpses.

I didn't know what had done it, but whatever it was... it could still be around here.

I violently slammed on the gas as I was seized by a sudden wave of panic. What the hell could have even done that? Why?!

A human...? or...?