The Chaos Nexus

The Emergency Shelter

Witness account from Rebecca Hughes on the events of 19 March 2023:

"My family and I showed up to the emergency shelter outside Whitecourt at around... half-past-eight? I recognised some of the people there from Whitecourt. What I saw horrified me. There were people covered in blood, people who lost limbs, and people with concussions. There were dead bodies in blankets and bags being carried into the shelter. People lost their lives, and I still thought it was only an explosion, a terrorist attack at most. I just couldn't believe it when they told me that monsters did that to them. They said the monsters were scaly, reptile-like creatures that went on a frenzy, doing nothing but killing and eating. I just couldn't believe it at the time."

Felicia:

As you all know by now, the demonic invasion happened on 19 March 2018, the same day Owen and I evacuated to the emergency shelter along with the other Whitecourt and Swan Hills residents. And the same day Nolan got attacked and transformed. Just thought I'd give this extra piece of context here to try and make the timeline click together a little smoother.

Now where I last left off was where I called out to Owen as he was leaning against a car at the shelter. My mother, brother, and I had just arrived and parked our car a few rows away from where he stood in the parking area. Owen looked up and he gave a half smile. It seemed like he was forcing a smile, but it couldn't reach his eyes.

We hugged each other as I said, "I'm so happy you're safe!"

"So am I, about you, I mean," he said, his eyes wandering to Darryn, my older brother. "Darryn, shit, I haven't seen you since... your father's passing. You look great, though," he said as he and Darryn shook hands.

"How is it going, Owen? Where's Phoebe?" asked my mom.

"Oh, Mom's asking around about what happened in town this morning. She's trying to find out if Dad's okay."

"He got caught in the explosion, didn't he?" Darryn asked.

"Not just an explosion," I added, "I'm not sure if you saw or heard anything but there-"

"There were these ugly monster things that attacked the town, I know. I heard," Owen interrupted. "At first I thought it was some quick messed up rumour that spread around... until I saw the expressions on some of the Whitecourt folks' faces and their injuries. Some of them stopped here, missing a leg or an arm, a lot of them stopped here with bites, cuts, and scratches. Some people are saying it's the end of the world. Not sure I believe that, but I do believe my dad was caught in the explosion."

"I'm so sorry to hear," said Mom.

"Thank you, Miss Moore, but I'm not the only victim here. Hell, I'm not even a real victim. I didn't see any of those creatures, I wasn't attacked by them. I'm still in one piece. I feel guilty for even feeling so worried when these people here got it way worse than I did."

"Don't say that," said Darryn, "This shelter is filled with a group of people who were struck by a horrible event in the area. Everyone here's allowed to feel as terrible as they want. I mean that in a good way."

"I know you do. Thanks."

I looked around, investigating the people as they were climbing out of cars, talking, crying, walking around, and rushing to the paramedics who came to the shelter.

What happened to them? What attacked them?

There was a crowd forming outside one of the shelter's brick buildings. An injured man was loudly explaining to the crowd what he saw, and other people were joining him in his talk about the monsters that attacked them. Nobody seemed to argue against the testimonies. The injuries and looks on people's faces were enough to convince everyone of what had happened.