Yesterday's Gone: Season One

Luis said. “Because we saw some during the day. And they killed my friends in the apartment across the street earlier.”
    Whatever wind Joe had beneath his sails, evaporated. “So, if they can walk in the day, then the rice might not work.”
    All three men stared at the ground as if it were harboring answers.
    “Have you seen anyone else?” Brent asked, “Gina or Ben?”
    Joe’s eyes widened, “You mean they’re not here?”
    “No, I woke up in the morning and they were gone, just like everyone else.”
    “I’m so sorry,” Joe said, his lips trembling, eyes red and glassy. “Other than the girl, I haven’t seen anyone else. I went door to door. Nobody answered in your apartment earlier. I wasn’t even gonna come back, but something told me to try again.”
    Joe turned to Luis, “You said you had some friends who were killed?”
    “Yeah,” Luis said, “Two friends.”
    “So there might be more people?” Joe asked.
    Brent told him about the radio broadcast they heard earlier and that they’d be going to Black Island in the morning, once the streets were safer. They invited Joe to go with them. But first, they’d need to get some sleep.  
    Brent took the first shift, sitting in the recliner. Joe slept on the couch and Luis on the floor, which he swore he didn’t mind at all.  
    As the men slept, Brent reached into his pocket and pulled out Stanley Train. Its big, goofy smile greeted him.
    Brent prayed he’d be able to give the train back to its rightful owner soon.

    **

    In the morning, the men loaded supplies into duffel and grocery bags and prepared for the trip.
    Brent wrote one last note to Gina, telling her where they were going. He doubted she’d ever see the letter, but it still pained him to write it. He imagined her showing up an hour after they left, stuck in the apartment with the jumbees, aliens, or whatever the hell the monsters were.
    “We’ve gotta go,” Luis said, likely sensing Brent’s hesitancy as Brent took forever to tape the note to the phone on the wall.
    They made their way downstairs, Brent and Luis carrying bags and weapons, while Joe walked behind them, a pistol in one hand, a bag of rice in the other. Joe had never used a gun, so Luis went over the basics with him, all three men hoping he’d never need to put his lesson to use.  
    As they reached the ground floor, Brent feared once they got outside that one of two things would be waiting — either a pack of creatures or a demolished car. But he kept the fear to himself.
    The glass of the lobby doors was shattered. Luis readied his shotgun, pushing through to the street. He scanned the avenue, then waved for the other two men to follow.
    The streets were still wrapped in the eerie fog, cutting visibility to 10 yards at most. The car was thankfully intact. Luis opened the trunk, loaded the supplies, then hit the button on his keychain to unlock the doors. The car’s alarm beeped twice, then bounced across the empty hallways of the ghosted metropolis. Brent cringed, hoping the sound wouldn’t attract the creatures’ attention.
    A shrieking sound from above crushed that hope.  
    They all looked up at once, unable to see anything other than fog.
    “Get in the car!” Luis screamed.
    The creature fell from the sky, landing between all three men.
    It was at least a foot taller than Luis, its limbs impossibly long, just like its fingers. Its body was black, with lights under its wet skin. Its face was long, a giant maw of teeth for a mouth, and two almond-shaped eyes, ink black. If it had a nose or ears, Brent couldn’t see them.  
    It surveyed all three men, turning in half circles, body hunched as if ready to spring into action.
    Luis took a shot as the creature leapt into the air, into the fog, and then came back down, landing on top of Joe. It stood up in one fluid motion, bringing Joe with it, one arm around Joe’s chest and the other around his neck.
    Joe dropped both his gun and the bag of rice — which didn’t distract the creature a bit. It opened its mouth wider and made that god-awful Click Click Click Click sound, then held Joe up as a human shield.
    “I can’t get a shot!” Luis yelled.
    Joe cried out, trying to squirm free from the creature’s grip. As if in response, the creature’s right hand moved up and gripped Joe’s skull, its fingers covering his entire head and dripping half way down his face. Joe’s entire body began to shake violently as the lights, or whatever it was