.....minutes earlier....
The sky was heavy, swollen with rain. On a street, a girl moved carefully between the abandoned cars and the destroyed road, her boots moving quiet against the pavement. A device on her hand was emitting steady, rhythmic beeps.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
She stopped, looking at the device.
"That's not right..."
...she gets a two way radio from beside the bag she was carrying. Still looking at the device, she brought the radio to her mouth. Static crackled softly as she pressed the button..
"Come down"
..she looked to a building...a figure appeared from the edge of the rooftop. She lowered the radio and gestured sharply.
Two fingers, down.
She put the radio back in her bag and stares at the scanning device which was still emitting steady beeps. She taps the side of the scanner gently. The screen flickers but the beeps didn't fade.
Moments later, boots hit the pavement beside her. A guy stepped into view, catching his breath. He looked at her.
"Anything on the rooftops?" She said without looking at him, her gaze still focused on the scanner.
"I was still looking. You shouldn't have called me. I just risked my life on that unstable fire escape...i'm not going back up again."
She pressed the scanner into his chest until he took it. The beeping was louder up close. He stays silent for a few seconds looking at it.
"That's....new."
She looks at him.."yeah we should see what it is. We can collect new samples"
"No, thanks. Willow.... I'm going back." He turns on his heels heading to the opposite direction.
She moved and grabbed his jacket collar before he even moved three steps and yanked him to a stop.
"Nathan, the whole point of us coming here is to collect samples." She let go of his collar and started walking.
"No. The point is staying alive" He stood there for half a second and then followed. "We don't even know what it is.."
They kept moving slowly down the street. The red dot on the screen stayed steady.
The beeping didn't speed up. The air still around them.
"Shouldn't it be getting louder?"
She didn't answer. She stopped in her tracks, her gaze fixated on the boy standing not so far from them. The same dark stain of blood on the sleeve of his shirt. His dark hair matted to his forehead. He looked terrified. His hands hung at his sides, trembling faintly.
She snatched the scanner from Nathan. The beeping still steady. The red dot pulsing on the screen.
Centered.
Directly ahead.
On the boy.
"This doesn't make sense..."
The boy was not facing them. She followed his gaze to the creature. Standing right across him, staring at him back.
The boy's feet were planted. Wrongly still. Like his body has refused to react.
His knees bent slightly, just for a second
Like his body was deciding whether to run.
It didn't.
He stayed there.
Frozen.
Then the creature stepped forward towards him. His grip faltered and the phone slipped from his fingers. It hit the pavement with a sharp crack.
Then.....
Fast....too fast...The creature lunged to his direction. Straight at him. The boy's body jerked violently. But still refusing to move at all.
The creature closed in ....arms outstretched.
And then a sharp crack split the air. The creatures body snapped sideways mid-motion. A heavy thud against the ground. The creature lied..no movement.
His chest heaved as he slowly turned. His eyes found them. Willow and Nathan standing across the street.
They stood few meters away. Her arm was extended. The weapon in her hand didn't look like any gun he had seen before. Smoke was curling from it's tip.
She didn't lower her weapon. Not even when the creature stopped moving. Nathan was the first to move. He rushed past her.
"Hey, are you okay?"
The boy blinked slowly. Like the words were struggling to reach him.
"Are you hurt or something?"
"I'm okay" he managed, voice unsteady. "Thank you"
Nathan sighed a low laugh escaping him.
"That's was insane...did you see how fast that was. I swear it was already on you"
Willow stepped closer. Gun still raised. Her eyes shifting from the boy to the creature on the pavement. It's limbs were twisting unnaturally. Dark fluid pooling beneath it. She stared at it for a long second.
"Normal.." She said under her breath.
Nathan looked back at her.."Normal? That almost tore him apart"
"This was just a fully developed one. And the signal was different. Completely different"
...her gaze flickered to the scanner still in her other hand. The beeping echoed in the wide street.
Still steady.
Wrong.
"Check him."
Nathan blinked. "Willow?"
She points to the boy with the gun. "Check. Him."
The boy stiffened. "I-I'm fine." He said, glancing between them. "I swear. I'm not hurt."
Nathan gave him an apologetic look and asked him while pulling out a small flashlight. "What's your name?"
The boy opened his mouth. Nothing came out. "I don't remember.."
"You don't remember? What do you mean by that?"
"I just- i can't. It was just there. I know i have one. But..."
Nathan grabs his shoulders. "It's okay. Alright, now look at me."
The boy hesitated but obeyed.
Nathan lifted the light, shining it into his eyes. The beam reflected in wide, frightened pupils.
"Follow the light.." "good ...good"
Nathan checked his neck and his pulse.
"Do you feel pain anywhere? Do you have any wounds?"
The boy shook his head.
"Where is the blood from?" Nathan lifted the boy's arm.
"I don't remember"
"You sure you didn't hit your head or something?"
The boy nodded.
"He's human." Nathan turned to Willow.
The scanner continued it's steady beeping.
She slowly lowered the gun. And looks back at the scanner which was still beeping in the same steady way.
Beep.
Beep.
She turns off the scanner. She steps and stands infront of the boy.
"What were you doing here?"
"I don't remember."