Memories of Before
I remember when we first heard about it.
Liam, Alex, and I were sitting in our usual spot, waiting for our lecture to begin. Like normal, our lecturer was late, most likely grabbing her coffee from the canteen with its forever bustling line. Alex had been scrolling through her phone when she made a strangled noise of shock. Liam and I had stopped our conversation and looked at her. Alex shook her head before slowly turning her phone.
At first, I did not know what was happening. She was showing us a video. The quality was not the best, but it was clear a figure was hunched over with its attention on whatever was lying in front of it. The person videoing the scene was shaking, the camera’s focus dipping in and out while a nervous laugh came through the speakers. The sound caught the hunched figure’s attention. My breath had hitched. The face staring back at the camera was horrifying. Its eyes were too big, the skin stretched unnaturally over its skull, its mouth bloody, and its throat…
“Fuck…” Liam had whispered, hand squeezing mine as he pressed his shoulder against me.
“That has to be a hoax,” I muttered just as the thing jumped and the phone clattered to the ground. A terrifying scream followed. I had clenched my jaw and turned the phone back to Alex. “What the hell did we just watch?”
“I don’t know, but people are calling it a Siren.” Alex had shrugged, running a shaky hand through her dyed hair. “Don’t know why that name before you ask me and that’s the first real footage I’ve seen. Apparently, all the sightings have been around Escort. It's got people really riled up.”
“As it should, if it’s real. Where’s Escort?” Liam had asked with a frown. That question was never answered. Our lecturer had waltzed in, waving her coffee and stating we’d be working on Global Diplomacy.
I don’t remember much else from those early days. Time went on, and life went on. Talk of the Sirens took on little traction as no one truly believed in it. At least, not until Carte Blanche took up the story. They hosted some insane-looking scientists who claimed the attacks were an adverse reaction to Flux, the most recent drug competing alongside Tik. It hadn’t made sense. The drug explained the violent attacks but not the corpse-like appearance of the Sirens. When it was brought up, Alex shrugged it off. Even though she had been the first to see the footage, she had waved it off as a scam. We left it at that. We had exams to focus on and in the bubble of our small city, the outside world was quickly forgotten. In that blissful lull, all talk of the Sirens dropped even though Escort continued to be the centre of attacks. I guess that’s how the mind worked. You blocked out what no longer seemed necessary. You focused on what was important and what affected you the most.
If you had to ask me to choose a day that I would never forget, I would tell you Day 1. It's permanently etched in my mind.
We had been gathered in the small university airport. Liam’s arm was around my waist, his hand lightly tracing patterns on my hip. Alex was on her phone with her father, a giant grin on her face as she let him know she was boarding soon. I remember being fidgety, cracking my knuckles and biting my lip until Liam whispered something reassuringly in my ear. With him going back to the States, we were placing our relationship in unknown waters. Even though I was nervous about that fact, another feeling mingled in. One that was more primal. It was that feeling that put me into flight where everyone else went into freeze.
Alex had just pocketed her phone when shouts and gunshots surrounded us. Men in camo ran into the airport, and a woman holding a megaphone came to stand in front of them. Liam had grabbed my hand in a crushing grip while Alex stood frozen with wide eyes. I don’t remember exactly what the woman said, but I remember my legs were moving as soon as she had finished her speech. I know I dragged Liam behind me as I pushed Alex in front of us.
As soon as we were outside, the sound of helicopters had shut out any other noise. People were panicking around us. Luggage was forgotten or hurriedly shoved back into vehicles as everyone tried to escape the parking lot. We hadn’t been any different. I had instructed Alex and Liam to throw their bags in the back of my old Hilux before climbing into the driver’s seat. When I had the bakkie ready to go, someone was banging on my window. I wanted to race forward and prevent some random person from stealing my vehicle in desperation. But I had recognised that face and he became our first of two strays. The pair had been in the bin of the Hilux, hanging on for dear life as we sped back to my house.
I remember my hands cramping from holding the steering wheel in a vice grip, my lungs screaming for oxygen. My nerves had been shot. Three times, we almost were caught in an accident and once we passed the carnage of a car crushed and burning under a truck. It was scary. No, terrifying. This was a taste of change no one thought would happen. Not here, at least. Definitely, not our city or our country. But this was our world as we knew it, ending.
