Day One: An Angel Of Death

When Ethan came to, the world was sideways. His head throbbed, and something warm and sticky trickled down his face. Smoke filled his nostrils, and he could hear the crackle of flames.

"Zoe," he croaked, fighting against his seatbelt. "Zoe!"

A soft moan answered him. Relief flooded through him as he saw her stirring, suspended by her seatbelt in the passenger seat.

"Uncle Ethan?" Her voice was small, frightened. "What happened?"

"We crashed," he said. Stay calm. Assess the situation. "Are you hurt?"

Zoe took a shaky breath. "I... I don't think so. Just scared."

"Good girl," Ethan said, fumbling with his seatbelt release. "We need to get out of here. Can you move?"

The acrid smell of smoke filled his nostrils, mingling with the metallic tang of blood. He could hear the crackle of flames, growing louder by the second.

"Zoe," he called again, his voice hoarse. "We need to move. Now."

He twisted in his seat, ignoring the sharp pain in his ribs, and reached for his niece. Zoe's eyes were wide with fear, her face pale beneath a smear of dirt and blood. She nodded shakily, her trembling fingers working at her own seatbelt.

"That's it," Ethan encouraged, his tone soft but urgent. "Nice and easy."

The truck groaned ominously as they shifted their weight. Glass crunched beneath Ethan's boots as he maneuvered towards the shattered windshield. He kicked at the remaining shards, clearing a path.

"Follow me," he instructed Zoe. "Watch your hands."

Ethan dragged himself out of the wreckage, his muscles screaming in protest. The world outside was chaos. The sky burned orange and red, thick plumes of smoke rising from multiple points across the city.

He turned back to the truck, reaching in to help Zoe. Her hand clasped his, cold and clammy with fear. As he pulled her free, Ethan's enhanced hearing picked up a sound that made his blood run cold – a high-pitched, inhuman shriek in the distance.

"Uncle Ethan," Zoe whispered, her voice quavering. "What was that?"

Before he could answer, a familiar voice cut through the chaos.

"Ethan! Oh God, Ethan!"

He whirled around to see Sarah stumbling towards them. Her apron was torn and stained with blood, and jagged shards of glass protruded from her left arm and shoulder. Her eyes were wild with terror.

Ethan opened his mouth to respond, but the words caught in his throat as movement caught his eye. A blur of pale, leathery skin and grotesque limbs. It happened so fast, Ethan could barely process it. One moment Sarah was there, reaching out to them, her mouth open in a silent scream. The next, she was gone, snatched away by... something.

A creature unlike anything Ethan had ever seen or imagined.

The thing moved with terrifying speed and grace, its elongated limbs propelling it across the debris-strewn street.

Sarah's scream was cut brutally short.

"Oh my God," Zoe whimpered beside him. "Oh my God, oh my God."

Ethan's military training kicked in, overriding the paralyzing fear. He grabbed Zoe's arm, his grip tight enough to bruise. "Run," he hissed. "Now!"

They took off, weaving between abandoned vehicles and piles of smoldering debris. Ethan's eyes darted frantically, searching for cover. The street was a war zone – overturned cars and terrified people fleeing in every direction.

A deafening boom shook the ground, and Ethan stumbled, nearly losing his grip on Zoe. He looked up to see a meteor streaking across the sky, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. It slammed into a building several blocks away, sending a shockwave of dust and debris billowing towards them.

"Down!" Ethan yelled, pulling Zoe behind an overturned pickup truck. He shielded her body with his own as the dust cloud engulfed them.

For a moment, the world went dark and silent. Then, as the dust began to settle, Ethan became aware of a new sound – a rhythmic clicking, like the chittering of some monstrous insect. It was close.

He peered around the edge of the truck, his breath catching in his throat. The creature was there, no less than twenty feet away, and they were directly in it's line of sight. Its head swiveled from side to side, petal-like structures opening and closing as it... listened.

Ethan's mind raced. The creature had responded to Sarah's voice, to her scream. But now it seemed... uncertain. As if it couldn't pinpoint a specific sound to target.

A theory began to form in Ethan's mind, one that sent a chill down his spine, if it couldn't see them…. Then things were drawn to noise.

Which meant silence might be their only defense.

He turned to Zoe, pressing a finger to his lips in a desperate plea for quiet. Her eyes were huge, brimming with tears, but she nodded in understanding.

The creature took a step closer to their hiding spot, its movements jerky. Ethan could see now that its eyes were nothing but smooth, featureless skin. The thing was blind.

Suddenly, a shout rang out from down the street. "Help! Somebody, please!"

The creature's head snapped towards the sound. In a blur of motion almost too fast to follow, it leaped over a pile of rubble and disappeared from view. A second later, another cut-off scream pierced the air.

Zoe opened her mouth, a sob building in her throat. Ethan clamped his hand over her mouth, shaking his head frantically. He leaned in close, his lips barely brushing her ear as he whispered, "Not a sound. No matter what. Do you understand?"

She nodded, tears streaming silently down her face.

Ethan's mind raced. They needed to move, to find better shelter. He scanned their surroundings, looking for anything that might mask their movements.

That's when he saw it – a fire hydrant, knocked loose by debris, spewing water into the street. The rush of water might just be enough to cover their footsteps.

He pointed, mouthing the words, "On three."

Zoe's grip on his arm tightened. She nodded again, her jaw set with determination despite the fear in her eyes.

Ethan held up one finger. Two. Three.

They burst from behind the truck, moving as quickly and quietly as they could. Smoke stung his eyes as they reached the hydrant, the spray of water soaking them in seconds.

"This way," Ethan breathed, guiding Zoe towards a half-collapsed storefront. The building's awning had fallen, creating a small, shadowy space that might just offer them a moment's respite.

They huddled in the darkness, both panting heavily but silently. Ethan pulled Zoe close, trying to still her trembling. His own heart thundered in his chest, loud enough that he feared the creatures might hear it.

As the adrenaline of their dash for cover began to fade, the reality of their situation crashed over Ethan like a tidal wave. The world had changed in a matter of minutes. These monstrous creatures were everywhere. And Megan...

Oh God, Megan.

Ethan closed his eyes, fighting back a wave of despair. His sister was still out there somewhere. He had to find her.

A sound caught his attention – a low, guttural clicking. Ethan froze, barely daring to breathe. He peered out from their hiding spot, and his blood turned to ice.

One of the creatures stood in the middle of the street, its head swiveling slowly from side to side. It was so close that Ethan could see the way it plates shifted with each movement, could hear the soft scrape of claw against asphalt.

The creature paused, its head tilting as if listening intently. For one heart-stopping moment, Ethan was sure it had heard them. But then another explosion rocked the city, and the creature's head snapped towards the sound. In a flash, it was gone, bounding away with that uncanny, terrifying speed.

A muffled whimper escaped Zoe's lips, and Ethan instinctively clamped a hand over her mouth. His eyes darted frantically, searching the smoke-filled street for any sign of movement. Nothing. Just the eerie stillness of a city holding its breath.

"We need to move," he whispered, his lips barely brushing Zoe's ear. "There's a convenience store across the street. We'll make a run for it on three, okay?"

Zoe nodded, her eyes wide with terror but filled with a determination that made Ethan's chest swell with pride. She was holding it together far better than he would have expected.

"One... two..."

Before Ethan could finish the count, a piercing shriek split the air. His blood turned to ice as he saw not one, but three of the monstrous creatures bounding down the street, their elongated limbs propelling them with terrifying speed.

"Go!" Ethan roared, abandoning all pretense of stealth. He shoved Zoe ahead of him, sprinting towards the store's shattered facade.

They burst through the doorway, glass crunching beneath their feet. The store was a maze of overturned shelves and scattered merchandise. In the dim light filtering through smoke-smeared windows, Ethan could make out huddled forms - other survivors, hiding among the debris.

A woman clutching a toddler to her chest raised a finger to her lips, her eyes wild with fear. An elderly man crouched behind the checkout counter, his weathered hands wrapped around a baseball bat. In the back corner, a group of teenagers huddled together, their faces pale and streaked with tears.

Ethan raised his hands, gesturing for calm. He pressed a finger to his lips, nodding to show he understood the need for silence. The creatures were drawn to sound - that much was clear. But how acute was their hearing?

A sudden movement caught Ethan's eye. One of the teenagers, a gangly boy with a mop of dark hair, was slowly rising to his feet. Ethan could see the panic in his eyes, the trembling of his limbs. He was going to bolt.

"Don't-" Ethan mouthed, reaching out a hand in warning.

Too late.

The boy's foot caught on a fallen display rack. The clatter of tumbling cans echoed through the store like a gunshot.

For a heartbeat, the world seemed to freeze.

Then came the clicking.

Ethan's muscles tensed as he heard the sound growing closer. He grabbed Zoe's arm, pulling her behind a toppled refrigerator case. His eyes locked with the terrified mother across the aisle. He pressed a finger to his lips again, then pointed to a door marked "Employees Only" at the back of the store.

The clicking grew louder. Claws scraped against asphalt outside.

And then it was there.

The creature burst through the doorway in a blur of pale, leathery skin and grotesque limbs. Its head swiveled from side to side, those petal-like structures opening and closing as it searched for the source of the noise.

The boy who had stumbled let out a strangled whimper.

The creature's head snapped towards the sound with preternatural speed.

What happened next would haunt Ethan's nightmares for years to come. The creature propelled itself toward the boy with unearthly speed. All that filled with already clouded vision was the blood, gore and the separated torso of the once alive teen.

Wasting no time, he lunged forward, grabbing Zoe and half-dragging, half-carrying her towards the back door. All around them, chaos erupted. Screams filled the air as people abandoned their hiding spots, fleeing in blind panic.

Ethan shouldered through the door, emerging into a narrow alley choked with debris. He could hear the sounds of pursuit behind them - both human and inhuman.

"This way!" he gasped, pulling Zoe towards the far end of the alley. His eyes darted frantically, searching for an escape route, a hiding place, anything.

That's when he saw her.

Megan stood at the mouth of the alley, her auburn hair wild and tangled, her clothes torn and smeared with ash. Her eyes widened as she saw them.

"Ethan! Zoe!" she cried out, relief and terror warring in her voice.

Ethan's heart soared even as fear clenched his gut. They'd found her. But her shout...

The clicking grew louder.

"Run!" Ethan roared, pushing Zoe towards her mother. "Get to the house! Go!"

Megan hesitated for a split second, torn between relief at finding her family and the instinctive urge to flee. Then she grabbed Zoe's hand and took off running.

Ethan turned to face the oncoming threat, determined to buy them as much time as he could. The creature burst into the alley, its featureless face turning towards him with unerring accuracy.

He grabbed a chunk of broken concrete, hurling it down the alley behind him. The clatter of stone against metal drew the creature's attention for a precious moment.

Ethan ran.

He caught up to Megan and Zoe at the end of the block, all three of them gasping for breath.

"The house," Ethan panted. "We need to get to the house. It's our best chance."

Megan nodded, her face pale but determined. "It's not far. We can make it."

A chorus of inhuman shrieks split the air, coming from multiple directions. Ethan's blood ran cold as he realized the implications. There were more of them. Many more.

"Stay quiet," he hissed. "Move fast, but quiet. They hunt by sound."

They set off at a hurried pace, every step a calculated risk. Ethan's eyes darted constantly, searching for signs of movement, for potential hiding spots, for anything they could use to their advantage.

The distant wail of sirens mixed with the sporadic pop of gunfire, terrifying, but a good mask of sound.

As they rounded a corner, a group of panicked civilians came sprinting towards them. Ethan opened his mouth to warn them, to tell them to be quiet, but it was too late.

The creatures descended upon the fleeing group with horrifying speed and brutality.

Ethan grabbed Megan and Zoe, pulling them into the shadow of an overturned delivery truck. They huddled there, barely daring to breathe, as screams and inhuman shrieks filled the air.

When silence finally fell again, it was somehow even more terrifying.

"We're almost there," Ethan whispered, his voice barely audible. "Just a few more blocks. We can do this."