Scarlet Prison

Chapter 5

The next morning, the dogs were all over the news. They played montages of clips that people had managed to capture during the panic. Why did everyone seem to have this weird impulse to grab a camera, at the first sign of danger? That had been the last thing on my mind. I would rather survive than commemorate. Of course, without survival, there would be no commemorating. But judging by the large quantity of clips being played on the news, I didn't hold a very popular opinion on the matter. Perhaps my upbringing had something to do with it.

My mom's first impulse had been to grab a gun, not a camera. I wasn't sure that was any better. In the end, nobody's impulses put them at any particular advantage. My mom didn't fire the gun, and if she had, she wouldn't have killed anything. Our beloved robot dog, Max, had never been alive in the first place. As for the people that allowed themselves to be attacked by vicious robot dogs, for the sake of capturing such an exciting moment, they all woke up alive and well. The bites of the dogs merely knocked them out with some sort of sedative.

And what about me, one of the few people that had the first instinct to save our asses? I came out of the incident, missing the only ass that had really been in danger that night. I could still hear the girl's screams echoing in my ears. No mention of her on the news. I'd been too busy worrying about saving her life to record her losing it. Such a video wouldn't have been a service to anyone, though.

As I ate breakfast, I listened to the news ponder about the cause of the incident. The "authorities" had collected the "sedated" dogs and were apparently now refusing to tell us anything. I knew what had happened. I knew that some sort of system malfunction had caused our robot dogs to turn on us. I knew that the Travelers were vampires that had not sedated the dogs, but turned them off. I could march up to the news station, right now, and they'd probably listen to my story.

But people seemed to be doing just fine converging on the truth, without my help. One woman reported seeing sparks, instead of blood, coming from a dog's wound. A man described the Travelers' touch as causing all life to slump out of the dogs, like they hadn't even been alive in the first place. Other people complained that the Travelers were acting like they owned the dogs, carrying them away, without permission or explanation. Many witnesses reported unusual displays of strength by the Travelers, as they carried multiple dogs at a time.

As I watched, the ponderings and observations regarding the dogs and Travelers began to morph into accusations. Pretty soon, everyone was in agreement that the Travelers were to blame. There'd always been something strange about them, and now people were determined to figure out what. And they certainly weren't going to stand by, while the Travelers executed some sort of conspiracy against them.

I watched apprehensively, wondering if these were the events that would lead to the long-anticipated apocalypse. They would certainly lead to chaos, at the very least. I wondered if I should try to placate the masses, somehow. I was just as much against the Travelers, as they were, maybe even more so, since I knew the truth about them, but I also knew we wouldn't survive a confrontation with the Travelers. I didn't think warning everyone that the Travelers were vampires would help, though. People would just become more scared and more capable of doing something stupid that would get them killed.

Before I could come up with a decent solution to the impending chaos, the news acquired an urgent tone. I shoved my empty bowl aside and gave the T.V. my full attention, in anticipation of the new development.

"A man named Mike just arrived at our office. He claims to have an explanation for the weird behavior of our dogs," Shebalma, the reporter, announced. "Now, over to Mike."

The camera switched views to a young man, the same young man that had spoken at my school. Only now, I couldn't stop thinking about how very pale he appeared. "Thank you, Shebalma." He smiled widely at the camera. "This town deserves to know the truth, but I am warning you, it is not for the weak hearted. You may feel frightened of what I am going to tell you, and that's only natural, but you have no reason to be afraid. I am asking you to remain calm and wait for my entire explanation."