~Lima, Ohio, United States, Earth, Ceti Universe~
Raven stopped at an intersection, watching the red light blinking. The McDonalds to his right was oddly empty. Not even an employee car in the parking lot. On the opposite block diagonally sat the county museum. A few buildings down from that sat the library. If things were really spiraling as fast as they seemed, that was somewhere he intended on checking on beyond a shadow of doubt. Computer information was undoubtedly helpful, but there was something to be said for the written word.
With no other traffic in sight, he pulled forward. He saw the random police cruiser and ambulance going this way and that as he made his way across town, but there was hardly any other traffic on the roads. He absent-mindedly slowed as he saw an individual with the same glowing blue veins chasing after a couple down a side street. He saw the glowing person grab onto the male of the couple. A house blocked his view of what happened after, but things looked grim for them. If he were not focused on getting his sister-in-law, he would consider stopping.
Several other glowing people were involved in other altercations as well as a couple groups clustered around businesses. He continued on his route, unwilling to put his goals at risk for the time being. Ten minutes later, he pulled into an apartment complex. Her building was the third building on his left. Raven pulled in to a parking spot and parked. Sascha wasted no time in bringing out a rolling suitcase along with a small duffel bag slung across her back. She threw her baggage into the back seat and sat down in the front passenger seat. Raven backed out and sped away. He could see a few aggressive shapes glowing in the distance running their way.
"Have you seen TikTok," she asked, "a bunch of influencers are saying aliens have replaced people and are invading Earth."
Raven sighed, "no, haven't been on anything social media related really. From what the tv and radio are saying, it's related to the mutated virus goin around. That it's causing people to go crazy, lose their minds, like the deer and elk. Just becoming more aggressive than the animals."
"Yeah, that makes sense. Thought it just caused the animals to just wander around though?"
"If you listened to the reports, they do. In humans though, think about this. We're predators. We hunt and eat other critters. Like rabies in some animals, it causes abnormal aggression. Wouldn't be surprised if rabies was involved in the new viral cocktail thing. Nobody knows for sure what all is mixed in cause it keeps mutating so quick. That's why there's no cure for it yet."
Sascha just sat back. Her eyes looked flicking back and forth between the windshield and passenger window. Her brother-in-law usually had his views and opinions on just about anything big on the news. He usually wasn't too far off though. His OCD often pushed him to go down research rabbit-holes on things that caught his interest. Sometimes this lasted for weeks at a time.
BAM! CRACK!
A figure bounced off of the hood, then windshield, leaving a streak of glowing blue liquid going up. Raven looked back at where the figure had landed. Amazingly, it stood up, shook its head, and took off in another direction. It didn't seem remotely fazed by the collision it had just taken. He looked back to the road and kept driving. There was a small dent in the hood and hairline crack at the top of the windshield. Nothing too bad from what he could see. Sascha's eyes were wide.
"Did we just hit someone," she exclaimed, "they... just... they just got up and ran! What the freak?!"
Raven just shrugged. Nothing made sense right anymore. Of course they just hit someone at around forty miles an hour and the person just ran off. Why not? He had watched an elderly woman charge her own son like a hungry linebacker at a buffet just an hour ago or so. Then, he saw a few dozen different glow-in-the-dark people going berserk across the entire city. Now this had happened. Who knew what would happen these days. He could think of more than a few people who were expecting and or hoping Jesus Christ returning was the next thing to be dotted on their bingo cards.
A few cars appeared on the roads. They were probably those who hadn't stocked up or others on rescue or recovery runs themselves. Regardless, it wasn't any of his business right now. They continued undisturbed until they pulled into the driveway. Raven pulled around to the back of the house, parking next to the minivan. He unlocked the kitchen door while Sascha grabbed her bags and they rushed in. He locked the door quickly as they moved towards the basement door. The sound of the children playing drifted up to them.
When they entered the basement, toys were scattered across the floor. Surprisingly, Lynette was sitting on a cot with a book in her hands. Raven glanced at the title- Survive and Thrive: Skills for Surviving an Apocalypse. One of the few copies of a book he had tried to publish years before. With so many survival books out there, he had failed to stand out in the vast self-help sea and it had sunk beneath the waves. Three or four copies rested here in their basement.
"You know what," she began when she saw them, "I thought you were more than a little paranoid when you wrote this... Guess you were right again."
She continued her musing to herself. Ky moved to sit next to her. She looked at the pictures as Lynette occasionally flipped the page. Sascha followed Raven over to his workbench.
"Is she okay?"
Looking over his shoulder, "I don't know. You know yer twin has always been kinda soft. I don't think she knows what to think right now. I'm not pushin anything with her right now. She's close to gestational diabetes, her stress levels and emotions are all over. Just not somethin I can deal with right now."
Sascha breathed out heavily. She knew how her twin was. In practically all ways but appearance, they were essentially polar opposites. If it weren't for the turnover rate and lack of managers, Lyn probably would have lost her fast-food job months ago. She stood silently by while Raven fiddled with some wires between a large solar panel and a converter. There were already several bolted to the sides of the house and along the top of the roof. He had been working on a battery bank down here for over a year. It was the only reason her sister had been able to get the money to waste on clothes she mostly never wore or just wouldn't fit her ever again. She had been to their bedroom and seen both closets. Lyn's side was three rows deep of unused clothes while Raven's was a single row at the front and boxes full of electronic stuff.
"Our neighbor died this morning, forgot to mention that."
Sascha involuntarily jerked out of her stupor, "what? How'd that happen?"
"She was sick with the virus. Her sons were over and she attacked them. Then her older one shoved her off, she tripped, and bam done. Didn't know Chumpkin was up there and saw it. Doesn't seem to be too badly bothered by it but gonna need to be watched in case."
"I'll help," Sascha said, turning to her niece. Other than being quiet, she didn't seem bothered as Raven had said.
She walked over and sat next to her and Lyn on the cot.
"Hey. Whatcha readin?"
Kylette looked up at her aunt, "we're readin one of daddy's books. It's got pictures of his tools and stuff."
"Ah. Learning anything?"
"No, I can't read it and mommy isn't readin out loud."
"Maybe I can read it to you later."
"Okay."
Kylette quietly went back to looking at the pictures in the book as another page was turned. She tried touching the picture of a hammer like one of those hanging on the far wall. Lynette absently smacked her hand. Kylette pulled her hand back and laid her head on her mother's arm. Silence filled the basement aside from the occasional sound of Raven knocking a piece of metal with his smaller hammer.
The silence continued for a couple hours. During this time, small arcing sounds occurred now and then while Raven hooked the long wires into the battery bank he had constructed. He secured the new converter next to the others. Once finished, he took the newest solar panel outside with a handful of bolts and his power drill. It fit next to its siblings without a hitch, and he looked around the side yard. Maybe with Sascha here he could get the yard secured properly. It was something he could manage alone, he had done it with one arm at their previous home, but he preferred to have help if possible.