The sun was slowly dying into a blood red sky as night began to make its way down the horizon. Reggie Macart was driving to work after completing his last class of the day at John M. Lamb University when he noticed an unusual fog obscuring the road and concealing the bumper-to-bumper traffic that had no business being there. Caught unaware, he didn't have time to get out of his lane and take the residential streets to work, so he reluctantly joined the gridlock.
The setting sun stabbed at the fog as it weighed down over the world, creating a fine red mist that draped the fraying sky. Reggie imagined the there must be a horrific accident ahead of him to have stopped traffic like this on a Tuesday. The blue and red beacons of flashing lights in front of him signaled that emergency vehicles were working vigorously to save lives. It was unusually hot and humid for the end of October and Reggie found that he needed to roll down his window to cool off.
The electric motors of the power windows emitted a low whine as the dusk crept into the car, accompanied by screams and shouts that were barely audible over the night sounds and activities of the rescue operations up ahead. Curious as to what was going on, he turned on the radio to see if the accident had caught the attention of the local radio stations.
Almost twenty minutes had passed as Reggie jumped from station to station, listening for the different traffic reports in hopes of learning something about what had trapped him on the normally congestion-free road. While he anxiously hunted the different frequencies, he became increasingly agitated with the delay that was undoubtedly going to make him late for work.
Looking at the car radio's clock he saw that it was now 5:47 pm and the area newsradio station would be giving their listeners a traffic update as part of their "Traffic and Weather on the 8's." Annoying commercial jingles that hocked everything from legal advice to cure for social and physical inadequacies blared from the speakers once he tuned in the station.
The final rays of the sun winked out as it hid below the horizon for the night. The red mist had thickened as he sat in his car listening to the radio. While the mist danced and swirled on invisible currents it also cloaked the helicopters that Reggie was now faintly aware of overhead.
Closer to the accident, he could see the very large, slow moving shapes of the emergency vehicles. The flashing lighter had become harder to see through the thickening mist, which was thickest to his right, in the direction of the shallow valley of the Des Plaines River. Almost a mile away, the river bank was crowded with the building lights of the utility company and the shipping barges that often docked and loaded in the area. The Autumn temperatures often conflicted with the river's waters and the surrounding land nearby was often cloaked in the thickest fog, even when other areas were clear.
Despite the fog's thickness, Reggie thought he could make out a faint orange light glowing in one of the prairie fields ahead of him, but not too far from where the accident appeared to be. As he watched the light slowly seem to get brighter, he thought he could see large shadows passing in front of the light. Soft but forceful vibrations gently rocked his car, causing the air-freshener to sway from side-to-side. Before he could ponder this further, the news station had finished the weather and began their traffic report as a female voice breaks in:
"This is Jackie Swike reporting from Chopper 780 high above Rt. 53 in Romeoville. Traffic is backed up for almost a mile in either direction as emergency crews are working to remove a deadly multi-car crash that has brought traffic in both directions to a stand still. A strange red fog is emptying from the Des Plains River and has crawled its way over the road and into the town. The large stacks of the Midwest Generation electrical coal burning plant have been completely swallowed by the fog."
Another female voice breaks in:
"Jackie, this is Regine Schlesinger, is there any idea what caused this?"
"No Regine, businesses along the affected area where the mist is spreading from have denied any connection or knowledge as to the cause. Attempts by our NewsRadio crew to get to the scene have been denied by local authorities. At this point we're limited to what we can see from the Chopper, which is largely shadows and the flashing lights of the emergency vehicles."
There is a brief pause.
"Wait a minute! It looks like people are getting out of their vehicles and abandoning them, running in all directions in a panic. I can just make out the screams of the fleeing pedestrians that are heading in our direction. There seem to be large shadowy shapes, possibly some kind of large emergency vehicles, advancing on the area the people are fleeing from."
Loud crashes are faintly heard in the background from the traffic reporter as an uncomfortable radio silence hangs in the air. After only a few seconds, soft sounds of screaming and panic can be heard in the background above the noise of the helicopter before the station anchor fills in the void with a question:
"Jackie, what more can you tell us?"
"Oh my God! The people! They're getting tossed around like nothing, the cars are being pushed and thrown out of the way by.................................skrrreeeeeeek!"
Static fills the radio as the transmission from the helicopter ends abruptly. Reggie looks out his windshield at the road which is now filled with people screaming and yelling as the run past Reggie's car. He can see several large shapes behind the people that must be at least 13 feet tall or more, but the red mist obscures any further details. The shapes appear to be throwing cars out of their way and looking for people foolish enough not to have run.
Shock has glued Reggie inside his car. As the large shadows thud closer and closer towards him, he is able to see them more clearly. Despite everything his mind is telling him that what he's seeing isn't possible, he knows that he is looking at some kind of giants. He can't fully make out their appearance or what they might be wearing, but he can see that they are holding huge clubs. Behind the foremost creatures he can see countless other shadows in the mist that are similar.
As the need to flee finally breaks through his inertia, Reggie watches the butchery of the giants as people are being pulled from their cars and either torn to pieces or sent flying lifelessly from the end of the creature's giant clubs. Two of the creatures begin to lumber towards Reggie's car. Other cares are being lifted, turned, or thrown into the air by the fog draped monsters as they wade through the cars looking for ways to inflict more carnage.
Just as he reaches to open his door and try to escape on foot, a vehicle several places in front of him is ripped open and the giant grabs the scared and helpless passengers from their seats, hurling them in the direction of Reggie and his car. Both bodies slam through the car windshield and crash into his front seat hitting Reggie and knocking him unconscious.
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