It was a chilly December night when the police car was driving around the neighborhood for its routine patrol.
Nothing seemed out of order.
The inhumane cold of American streets, the light smothering fog and the eerie silence were all parts of a very normal winter night in the US. The vehicle had killed the sound of the hooter and only its red-blue light flashed, throwing its weight around in the fog.
One of the 2 officers in the car doubtfully said, "Ain't the fog a bit too drowning tonight?"
Smoking a cigarette, the other dismissed it as an unwarranted worry.
It had been an hour and a half since midnight and generally no movement was expected at this time but it was at this moment that something started glowing deeper in the fog, a bright red glow which had been heavily scattered by the fog but remained visible nonetheless.
Both of the officers noticed it at the same time and looked at each other. Not wanting to get out of the car, they decided to drive towards the source. As they got closer, the red glow became brighter and more unbearable. They slowly started feeling breathless, as if we're approaching a very high altitude. But the breathlessness was a bit more severe.
They reached a small clearing, devoid of any fog and saw an unexplainable phenomenon, a slit, a bright red slit in the very fabric of reality. It was as if someone had taken a knife and cut through a cloth.
They wanted to approach closer, but at about 100 meters away from the opening, they couldn't breathe anymore. They tore off their bullet proofs and warmers as they struggled to breathe. They opened the car doors, fell out, and struggled to crawl away from the oxygen less clearing. Their breaths grew heavy and short. They started gasping for air, but even the smallest of activity seemed to consume more oxygen than they could breathe in. They collapsed a few feet away from the car, due to severe asphyxiation.
Slowly the slit started growing wider and the colour grew deeper, becoming as red as blood. There was a loud explosion before a red viscous liquid began pouring out of the tear, rapidly flooding the street. The nature of the liquid was unknown, that is until it touched the police car. The tires melted rapidly, bringing the car down to touch the liquid. Just as the car's bottom touched the surface of the liquid,there was a huge explosion and the liquid spewed everywhere, making a hissing sound, burning into the surfaces that it touched. The liquid reached where the officers lay, burning through their boots to touch the skin on their feet. The pain woke them and they started screaming.
The prior explosion had garnered attention from the nearby residents, as their windows lit up and they opened their windows. Before the two men could escape the acid had reached the upper body and started burning off their skin. The surface of the liquid boiled as it made contact with their bodies, giving rise to fumes. The flesh and bones were revealed as they screamed in agony before they drowned in the red acid.
Reddish fumes rose and filled the air and filled into those unsuspecting rooms that had opened their windows to see outside. Soon the entire neighbourhood was filled with screams of anguish and horror, before the eerie silence of death enveloped it entirely.
It was the start of a great tragedy.