An Attack
A terrified shout blurted out of Ren. They pushed against the side of the driver’s seat to sit “upright” with the car. Maria was in a heap against the driver’s door, half buried in empty coffee cups, change, and trash. Her arms were held up in the air in front of her scrunching face like someone in prayer. The airbag was deflating slowly. Ren saw her eyes darting behind twitching lids.
“Maria!” they shouted. “MARIA!”
“I’m OK…” she said in a weak groan. “I’m fine. Fuck. We got T-boned.” She opened her eyes and saw the detritus of her car. The view of the city had gone sideways. “God… They ruined my car!”
Ren could hear people screaming outside. The squeal of tires, opening doors, panicked cries. “I think we got something bigger to worry about than the car.”
“You’re right. You’re right.” Maria blinked and opened her eyes, flaring the soft brown that colored her irises. In a burst of vigor she pushed her hand against the asphalt outside her window, pressing the flesh of her palm directly into a pool of broken glass. “We gotta get out of here.”
Ren stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “Easy. I’ll get us out.” Ren grabbed the passenger grab handle and unbuckled their seatbelt. They drew one leg from beneath the dash and carefully stepped down onto the driver’s door, right in front of Maria. The other leg came down, and they were able to stand at a slight crouch with the back of their head against the passenger door, ears folded backwards. They opened the door and gave it a big shove. It uncovered the muffle on the surrounding screams before coming back down. Ren caught it and stood upright. Like a submarine captain looking out from a conning tower, they surveyed the scene.
People running, screaming. Maria’s car had come to a stop near the end of the intersection in the middle of the road. The cars stopped in line for the light were all abandoned with open doors. The adjacent road was empty, featuring charcoal skidmarks where cars had peeled out of their lane to make a hasty getaway. Ren turned their head and saw the truck that had hit them, a red pickup. The front end was crumpled and the airbag had deployed. The driver’s seat was empty. Whatever had scared them into running the red light was much more terrifying than having almost killed someone. Whoever they were, they were lost with the herd of frightened people running for their lives.
Ren turned around, carefully maneuvering their feet on the passenger door. They looked down the road the truck had come barreling out of and saw pure carnage. Flipped cars, shattered windows, white smoke billowing from engine fires. The scene stretched for the entire road for as far as Ren could see it framed by its two rows of buildings. Then came the malefactor, droning towards the intersection all carefree and gleeful in the terror it had created. The lavender creature swayed in the air, streamers of some queer flesh squirming along the road in exotic dance that propelled the creature and its bulbous head. Huge, unblinking eyes stared at nothing from above a cranium-spanning grin of gum and tooth. Something like emaciated rabbit ears grew from the head and drooped well below a star colored neck ruffle. It sauntered through the abandoned street among its toppled cars and scattered glass with fat, gangly arms swaying whimsically. Smoke billowed from the corners of its mouth, the aftermath of its assault still burning on the ground, on cars, and on buildings around it.
Written by TheGreatJaceyGee on 03 January 2026
The end (for now)