Below Zero

-Chapter 2-

Darkness began to inch into the room as the hours lingered on. Matt grabbed our heavy trench coats from the closet where the weapons were kept. 

"Just in case, let's be prepared for the worst," I told to Matt as I sheathed the katana across my back. After I was done and he had finished strapping the knives to his belt, we grabbed the lanterns and headed out. 

Once we got to city hall, we noticed that almost the entire town had decided to come to this meeting, which was odd considering the recent attacks at night. The group leader, Jason, was standing at the nearly destroyed podium in the center of the old and stained marble building. Jason began to speak, so the large crowd's murmurs died down rather quickly. His loud voice echoed throughout the iced over street. 

"We all know about the mysterious nightly attacks. Recently, one of the nightly city scouts has spotted one of these attackers." 

The crowd erupted into a mix of fearful, worried, and angry shouts. People began to yell at each other, but Rick got them back under control so that Jason could continue speaking.

"As I was saying, one of the scouts has seen the attackers. He described them as humanoid figures cloaked in long coats who he saw climbing buildings, and not killing, but instead kidnapping, our fellow citizens. What struck him confused though, is that these people seemed to be leaving with them out of their own free will. A few members of the council have theorized that this could indeed be the Guardians of legend. The ones that come and go from the Great City, bringing survivors of the Freeze with them to the solitude of this city surrounded in secrecy, myth, and mystery." 

Faces of the few children we had in this town lit up in awe and joy. People throughout the crowd began to hug each other and shout in happiness that they were saved. But all of this was rudely interrupted by an explosion further down the street. I looked at Matt and he nodded as we both ran towards the light of the fire, weapons ready.