Chapter Text
I see a stranger on the sidewalk, slowly walking towards me. They look normal. Their eyes are clear, their smile not overly stretched, they aren't violently twitching… nonetheless I jog to the other side of the street, just in case. We exchange wary glances once I'm far enough away, still suspicious of one another- everyone is suspicious of each other nowadays. You can never be too careful.
Long ago, everything was so… wonderful. To be fair everything seems ‘wonderful’ when you're a kid. School is easy, parents still care enough about you to fight behind closed doors, and you're actually dumb enough to believe adults when they tell you about all of the possibilities and experiences you'll get to have when you're older. The world just seems so much bigger than it actually is.
But there is only so much a child can be shielded from.
At first there were only rumors, ramblings from people deemed to be going through nervous breakdowns. People that were ignored. They became neighborhood ghost stories used to scare children into coming home at sundown instead of trying to play with their friends well into the night.
But after a while missing person cases rose to unprecedented levels, and posters of these people's faces could be found on all the corners of the city.
Then- they began uncovering bodies.
They were found in junk yards and empty alleyways mangled, and missing large chunks of their flesh. On some occasions, only a finger or some teeth were found. Until finally the source of the attacks were discovered and these monsters, these ‘anomalies’ , became a world wide phenomenon.
Mass panic ripped through cities and small towns alike igniting chaos in the streets. People began looting stores, violent crimes skyrocketed -ones not committed by anomalies- and the stock market crashed, effectively taking down every country's economy with it.
The world as we knew it had ended.
Legislation -that was drafted too quickly to be well thought out- was passed, and people were told to stay in their homes. And so… they waited. And waited. And waited. Soon people began to lose access to water and electricity within their homes and those who were unable to stock up on essential supplies -those who did not participate in the looting- were left to starve. But still, what could anyone do but wait?
Until suddenly- everything was turned back on.
Anomaly sightings had dropped to manageable levels and after several broadcasted public service announcements on how one may be able to spot an anomaly, as well as how to defend oneself if it were to attack, schools and business were allowed to re-open. Of course a mandated curfew was put in place but even that only lasted for so long. A sense of normalcy was returned to the world.
But everyone knew it wasn't the same. That it never would be.
We all just decided to ignore the newest missing person posters, there was nothing that could be done for those people anymore. We locked our windows and shut our curtains at night in a way no one did before.
So, although people were technically allowed to go out at night, only the dumb and truly desperate do.
And, well… I'm desperate.
Unemployment is currently at a staggering 30% as countless businesses had either downsized or shut down entirely after the first attacks. A 30% that I'm unfortunately a part of. So when I found a job in a thrown out newspaper of all places… well. I haven't eaten a proper meal in months, I sprained my wrist a while ago and couldn't afford to go to the doctor so I just kinda of wrapped it up with an old t-shirt and hoped it would heal (it didn't), I am at risk of becoming homeless every month and just- its bad. Really bad. So as of right now a job is a job.
Though this job is… shady, to say the very least. There was practically no job description , in fact the only words in the ‘ad’ were “Interns Needed”, “No Interview Required!” which was underlined three times, and the address.
There's a 75% chance this is a trap. I heard that the anomalies are getting smarter everyday. This is NOT a risk I should be taking. I'll find an odd job, hold on for just a little bit longer, I always do.
But my threadbare hoody and worn down shoes disagree as the cold easily slips past them, seeping into my bones. There's no way I'll be able to replace them.
I really fucking need this job.