In the After

trigger.
    It fell, twitching, and two more pounced on it, tearing into its yellow-green flesh. There were quite a few feeding, but I left them for now. They wouldn’t be done for a while and I was more concerned with the creatures still looking for food. After, I could go back and pick off the feeding Floraes one by one.
    I heard one behind me and spun around to fire.
    “Cool it, it’s just me.”
    Kay’s voice came from the hood of a synth-suit. She blended in with the night and I had to squint to make out her form.
    Her voice carried across the Quad, and several Floraes looked up at us, torn between their fresh kills and the promise of more meat. I sprinted quickly to her side and placed my head next to her ear.
    “What is happening?!” I whispered desperately.
    Kay shook her head. “I wish I knew.”
    “Do you have an extra synth-suit?”
    “At the Rumble Room . . . I can’t spare a Guardian to go with you, but I could give you my keycard . . .”
    “That would take too long. Forget it. I’ll be fine without one. I’m used to this.”
    “Good luck,” Kay whispered, and disappeared into the night. Hopefully the Guardians were prepared. This wasn’t search and rescue, this was war. The Guardians were accustomed to meeting the Floraes with other Guardians as backup. We had to protect the people of New Hope now. They were absolutely defenseless.
    I felt dangerously exposed with the moonlight reflecting off my pale skin and white pajamas. But at least I had a gun. I snapped into focus.
    There was a Florae to my left. I knew it had spotted me because of its frenzied snarl and its sudden galloping strides. I turned and shot it in the shoulder, which barely slowed it down. I re-aimed and managed to get its neck. Its momentum threw it forward and it fell at my feet, its head flopping to the side. Black-green blood spurted and I jumped back. I didn’t want the scent of blood on me.
    I needed to make every shot a head shot, or I would just piss them off. That’s what the Guardians taught me: to kill a Florae you have to shoot it in its head or slit its throat, detaching the head from the body. I remembered every training session. Don’t fear Them. I am the one with the gun .
    More screams tore into the night from across the Quad. The world was ending again. I fought my urge to run and hide, like I did so many times in the After.
    A blur of yellow sped by me, then one of red. I killed the two Floraes following the children, whose jumpsuits reflected the moonlight so they were lit up like beacons. They were running home, to their dorm, but the movement only attracted more Floraes. How are there so many? How long were our defenses down?
    I crept along the shadows to the school, where dorms took up the two top floors. Those kids were all sitting ducks, but I didn’t know what I would do when I ran out of bullets. I had no knife; besides, I doubted I could actually kill a Florae with just a blade, even though I’d been training for it.
    I reached the school’s main entrance, and from the splintered wood it was clear the Floraes were already inside. My heart stopped. The children in their beds would have nowhere to hide. They would be slaughtered.
    I rushed inside and down the hall, keeping as silent as possible. Most of the yellow and orange doors were closed. Upstairs past the red doors, I crossed back to the stairs that led to the dorms. I was in too much of a hurry. I didn’t hear the heavy breathing until it was almost too late. One of Them was nearly upon me when I spun around to fire. Luckily my shot found its forehead. Its yellow eyes, fierce and burning, extinguished as it fell to the floor.
    I took the stairs sideways, trying to keep one ear above and one ear below. When I heard whimpers, I burst through a door and skidded into the room, almost falling. When I regained my balance, I realized why the floor was wet; it was slick with blood.
    Crazed, I scanned the room, shooting the feeding Floraes one by one. There were no survivors. I wasn’t thinking straight; I should have started at the first room and worked my way down. I stepped back into the hall, leaving a trail of bloody footprints behind me. I heard a noise from behind a closed door.
    I leaned in, listening. I heard a whimper, then a soft “Shhhhhhh.”
    I opened the door and stepped into the room quickly, closing the door behind me with an almost inaudible click. The Floraes would be there soon. If I heard, They did too.
    The room