Tales of the First

Sienna got the feeling he was fishing and decided she wasn’t going to tell him about Wendy’s family problems. Instead she finished her tea and stood up. “Let’s go and wait for Wendy then.”

The police officer nodded and led them out to the front desk. “Goodbye, Miss Munroe,” he said. “Be careful out there.”

“Oh, I don’t think I’m these psycho’s type.” Sienna's mouth went dry again.

“Well you don’t seem to be,” he said. There was a subtle emphasis on the seem that made Sienna stare at him. Did he suspect she had powers? How could he?

“What?” she said but he was already gone.

A few minutes later Wendy and her cousin, a tall black man in his early twenties, joined them near the front desk. He had a rather harried expression on his face. As they walked towards the carpark he paused.

“I hate to ask this but after what happened with Keith earlier Mum and I are trying to persuade Helen not to take him back. We both think that it would be better if Wendy was out of the way. Could you…” he trailed off.

“Of course Wendy can stay with us for the night,” Sienna’s father said. “I imagine both girls would be happier with comforting company after earlier anyway.”

Wendy’s cousin nodded. “Honestly I think what Wendy described seeing earlier was worse than yesterday even if only one person was killed.”

“It was,” Wendy said. “It was awful. Those poor poor people.” She looked close to tears as she hugged herself. “Who were those men? Why did they do that?”

“Did you catch the people who did this?” Sienna asked.

He hesitated visibly, glanced at the inactive tape recorder then shook his head. “No. There was a brief road chase then their vehicle turned a corner and just disappeared into thin air. I mean literally – they were just gone.”

Sienna’s father narrowed his eyes at the man. “That sounds a bit unlikely. Are you sure they aren’t actually with the military and you’re helping cover it up.”

“No more unlikely than people throwing fireballs and that happened apparently.” The police officer shook his head. “If they are military then no one told us and we’re certainly not covering anything up.” He hesitated, “Of course I’d say that anyway, wouldn’t I?”

“Probably,” Sienna’s father said. “But I suspect you’re being truthful because I’m pretty sure you’d come up with a better story than a disappearing Range Rover if you were. Who do you think they are?”

The police officer sighed heavily and double checked the recorder was switched off. “Well whoever they are they’re well organized and seem to have been expecting this. I really shouldn’t tell you this but I think that we have some sort of messed up paramilitary group on our hands, though I don’t know how they knew this would happen.”

“I don’t either,” Sienna’s father said. “But I have a horrible feeling that this is far from over and we may yet find out. I hope I’m wrong.”

“I do as well,” the police officer said before turning back to Sienna. “Your friend has nearly finished her statement. Once you’ve finished tea you can both go.” He shook his head. “You know it was her cousin who came and sat with her not her mother?”

“I do indeed,” the man raised his gun again and shot the male captive in the head. Then when the woman wailed he turned around and cracked her with the rifle butt. She fell to the ground and he hit her again. “And you disgust me, traitor. Trying to protect him.” He turned and addressed the crowd. “If any of you are sheltering invaders you’d best destroy them before we find you or we'll kill you too.”

He pointed his rifle at the woman and Sienna was certain he would have fired but one of the others grabbed his arm and said something Sienna couldn't quite hear. A quiet but obvious argument followed until sirens in the distance made all four flee. The car sped off just as the police arrived but by then Sienna was too busy retching up her lunch on the grass to care and she wasn’t the only one. It was only when her phone rang that she realised her house would have been in earshot. She grabbed it from her bag and answered it.

“Mum, I’m okay!” She spotted a policeman heading towards her and Wendy. “But I’m likely to be late. I think the police are going to need a statement.”

Sienna’s father came to the police station to sit with her while she gave her statement. She was still shaking as they sat in the interview room after her statement. Eventually the police officer who had taken her statement came back and put a mug of sweet tea on the table in front of Sienna.

“There you go, Miss. Drink that before you go out to face the world again,” he said. “You’ve definitely had a rough couple of days.”

They hadn’t got far when the sound of squealing brakes made them stop. A black range rover with tinted windows screeched to a halt outside a house at the end of the road.

“That’s odd,” Wendy said. “That car has no number plate–” She broke off as four armed men in a military style clothes jumped out. All of them were carrying assault rifles. “Shit!”

Sienna didn’t say anything. Her mouth was too dry. She looked around for somewhere to hide certain the men were looking for her.

Instead they smashed down the door of the house they had stopped outside and rushed in, emerging moments later dragging a middle aged woman and a young man who looked enough like her that he was probably her son. She kept trying to escape her captors and go to him.

He seemed somewhat out of it and Sienna suspected he had a milder version of whatever had afflicted their attacker yesterday. That or he'd had longer to recover.

By this point a small crowd had gathered from neighboring houses and one of them rushed at the man who was holding the woman but there was the crack of a gunshot and he collapsed to the ground, his knee a smashed and bloody pulp by a well-aimed shot.

“The next person to interfere gets it in the head.” The man who had shot him had an accent that Sienna thought was American. He glared at the crowd before turning his attention back to the male captive. “Are you sure about this one? He hasn't done anything yet.”

“I’m sure,” the one holding him said. "Look at him."

"Even if he wasn't she gave us this address and she's never wrong." The fourth gunman whacked the captive with the butt of his rifle. The victim roared and a blast of fire flew at his attacker who side-stepped it calmly. “See?”

“Hmm… I can see that,” Wendy said. “But I think we’re okay here where nothing happened. You can but ask. You can’t practice here.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Sienna said, “Let’s go and ask.”

“That’s the spirit,” Wendy said.

“Mum, Dad do you think it’s safe for me and Wendy to go for a walk?” Sienna asked once they got downstairs. “I need to clear my head.”

Her parents didn’t answer immediately but instead looked at each other.

“Well whoever shot those poor people is still at large,” her mother said hesitantly. “Though there hasn’t been any more since the gas cleared.” She looked at Sienna’s father. “What do you think?”

“It should be okay,” he said. “There was no trouble when I went to the shop so the local major incident plan seems to have coped. The police have said it’s safe to go out as long as people avoid the town centre. Just be careful though. It is worrying that they don’t know who murdered those people yet. I don’t think you’re at risk though. From what the news said all the victims were men.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Sienna said. “We’ll be careful.”

“Take your phone in case something happens, sweetpea,” he said. “And don’t be gone too long.”

“Okay, dad,” Sienna grabbed it from where it was sitting on the sideboard and put it in her bag as she and Wendy headed out the door. When they reached the end of the path Sienna turned to Wendy. “So where’s this factory.”

“Not far,” Wendy said. “Follow me.” She set off down the road towards the edge of town.

“You have a secret base?” Sienna said. “Why don't you just rent a warehouse like most robot fighting geeks?”

“Well, you know how Keith is about me being involved in ‘Martin’s hobby’. It’s not suitable for a girl.” She scowled at the wall. “Like Martin could build a robot – he’s a programmer not an engineer. I’m only allowed to study science because Keith thinks I want to be a nurse. Is he in for a shock. He’s obviously forgot I don’t need his money to go to university – I have dad’s trust fund – which Keith and mum can’t touch – for that. But anyway, it’s out of the way so you can practice safely.”

“It’s also trespassing by the sounds of it,” Sienna said mildly.

Wendy waved that concern away lightly. “Nope. It's technically mine. It was one of Dad’s that he bough to redevelop into student flats. That fell through due to planning issues but it’s still on the portfolio. If the company sells it or actually moves to redevelop it we’ll move but it’s derelict for now and no one else goes there.” She paused then added. “But I had to tell Martin what was happening since it’s his base as well.”

“That’s okay,” Sienna said. “Martin is cool.”

“He is,” Wendy said. “But I don’t think he believed me about you.”

“Can you blame him?” Sienna asked.

Wendy snorted. “No, not really. He’s coming to see for himself. Shall we go?”

“I’m not sure mum and dad will let me out today and I don’t blame them, not with a mass shooter still on the loose in town.”

“Are your mum and Keith arguing again?” Sienna asked as she sat back down at her computer and continued scanning through the Twitter hashtags about Castleham to see what people were saying. Keith was Wendy’s stepfather and something of a bully in Sienna’s opinion.

Wendy sighed and nodded. “For a certain value of argue where you mean verbally abusing mum until she gives in. It got really bad this time.” She looked down before grinning viciously. “Martin physically kicked him out of the house this time. I think that really shocked the bastard – that his own son would side against him.”

“Go, Martin!” Sienna said.

“Yeah,” Wendy said then sobered. “But I’m worried it will make things worse because you know she’s not ready to admit there’s a problem yet. So she’ll probably let him back in. Martin says he’s going to talk to her.”

“Ah!”

“Yeah. Mum’s still fixated on the fact he’s a genius. I really don’t understand how someone so intelligent can be so mean and stupid when it comes to women. But we should get down to business.” Wendy peered over her shoulder at Twitter. “Anyone said anything useful?”

“Not really,” Sienna said. “Lots of wild theories all of which seem unlikely but any of which could be true given that there aren't actually any likely theories.” She lowered her voice to make sure her parents wouldn’t hear. “So where’s this place you think I can practice?”

Wendy gave a half-grin. “Mine and Martin’s secret base.”

“A bit, though the town centre is a wreck and will likely be a mess for weeks if not months.” He sat of the edge of her bed. “And they still can’t explain the gas or the shootings. I think they’d assume the gas was some sort of volatile from the meteor but all the witnesses and the mobile phone camera footage indicate it came from the ground.”

“It did.” Sienna nodded as started eating her breakfast. “And it was magenta too which is even more weird. Whoever heard of a magenta gas?”

“The colour is odd,” her father agreed. He reached over and ruffled her hair. “But I’m more worried by the fact that there is a murderer loose in the area. The police are certain it’s safe to go out but still I’d be happier if they had someone in custody.”

“Yeah,” Sienna agreed though she remained silent on the fact that she thought she might be a special target for the killer. It would just worry her parents if they believed her and more likely they wouldn’t when she explained why.

“Oh, Wendy called as well,” he said. “She’s okay as well and says that she’s coming over later.” He rose to his feet. “Anyway we need some milk so I’m going to the shop and hoping there hasn’t been a run on them.” He gave her a hug. “I’ll see you later, sweetpea.”

Wendy arrived late morning and had a slightly harried look on her face when Sienna’s mother let her in. It was a look Sienna knew all too well.

When she woke the next morning she was in her own bed. She lay there staring at the plain white ceiling as the events of the previous day came to back her. She still couldn’t make sense of what had happened and who had carried her her to bed? Mum was probably too small.

That last question at least got an answer when there was a quiet rap on the bedroom door before her father came in with a breakfast tray.

“Morning, Sweetpea,” he said. “You were fast asleep on the sofa when I got in about 3am, so I put you to bed.” He put the tray on the bedside table and smiled at her. “I thought you deserved breakfast in bed after what you went through yesterday.”

Sienna was about to say she wasn’t hungry when her stomach rumbled and she realised that she was. “Thanks, dad,” she said as she sat up and pulled it towards her.

“Anne rang,” he said. Sienna straightened up quickly and looked at him. Anne was Lucy’s mother.

“Oh! Is Lucy okay? She seemed to be getting better last night.” Sienna asked.

“She’s fine,” he reassured her quickly. “She’s off oxygen and feels much better but the Doctors are going to keep her in hospital for observation for another couple of days because they still don’t know what happened. Anne wants to thank you for getting Lucy to the hospital. She’d probably be dead if you hadn’t.”

“Thank goodness,” she said. “Have things settled down in the town?”

“Ugh!” Sienna said. “I’m glad Wendy realised that we needed to get to inside… do they know what caused it yet?”

“The first thing was a meteor that exploded in the air,” her mother said. “The fog is still a mystery as are the shootings. They don’t think they are related.”

Sienna snorted sceptically and sipped her milk. “It seems a bit too coincidental.”

“Coincidences do happen, Sienna.”

“So someone happened to release a mysterious gas at the same time a meteor explodes overhead while someone else goes on a shooting spree?”

“Well when you put it like that… but how would they have known about the meteor?”

Sienna threw her arms in air. “I don’t know, that’s part of why I can’t sleep. This whole situation is way too scary.”

Her mother didn’t reply but just pulled her into a hug. Sienna hugged back before pulling away to finish her milk.

“Let’s watch the documentary instead,” Sienna said. “I’m sure the experts will figure it out in the end.”

“I hope so,” her mother said.

The documentary did provide a nice distraction and between it and the warm milk Sienna felt comfortably sleepy by the time it finished. She was just considering getting up and going upstairs when her mother popped a granny blanket over her and offered her a cushion.

“Stay down here,” her mother suggested, “You’ll probably be less anxious if you know you’re not alone.”

“Okay.” Sienna took the pillow and curled up on the sofa.

It seemed there was something to that because Sienna soon drifted off into a surprisingly dream-free sleep.

She only managed to eat one slice but she felt a bit better afterwards but it did seem to satisfy her mother who simply put the rest the pizza in the fridge for tomorrow’s lunch.

“I think I’ll go to bed now,” Sienna said even though it was only early evening. “I’m really tired.”

“I’m not surprised.” Her mother hugged her and kissed her forehead. “Sleep well, sweetie.”

After an hour of tossing and turning while the events of the afternoon replayed on a loop in her head Sienna realised that she was not going to fall asleep easily so got up and padded downstairs.

“Mum.” Sienna poked her head into the lounge where her mother was sitting watching the news.

“I’m going to make myself some warm milk.”

“Okay, sweetie,” her mother looked around. “Trouble settling down.”

“Yeah,” Sienna said. “Every time I close my eyes I see what happened.”

“Not surprising,” her mother said. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not yet.” Sienna slipped into the kitchen and heated herself a mug of milk before returning to the lounge.

“Anything changed?” she asked, nodding towards the television.

“Not really,” her mother said. “I don’t know why I’m watching it.” She picked up the remote and flicked through the channels until she found a documentary about the middle ages. “I’ve seen the same report several times and it just makes me think about how you could have been one of the hurt or dead people.”

“Did a lot of people die?”

“Quite a few,” her mother said sadly. “Not just the ones that some nutter shot, but quite a few people who had the same symptoms as Lucy but didn’t get help in time and a couple who were unlucky and got lacerations bad enough they bled to death.”

“I’m fine, dad,” she said. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“No, sweetpea,” he said. “I really did. I would just have worried myself sick about you if I tried to stay.”

Sienna couldn’t help smiling at that. “Thanks, Dad.”

“You’re welcome,” he said. “Now I know you’re probably wound up after such an exciting day but do try and get some sleep.”

“I will, dad,” she agreed. “At least I think I will. I’m actually pretty tired.”

“I’m sure,” he said. “But things like this tend to stick in the head.”

“Sienna!” he mother called from the kitchen. “Say good night to your father. Dinner’s ready.”

“Gotta go, Dad,” Sienna said obediently. “Mum says dinner is ready.”

“I heard,” he said. “Goodnight, sweetpea.”

“Night, Dad.” Sienna ended the call reluctantly and headed to the kitchen. It was testament to how worried her mother was about her that she’d cooked Sienna’s favourite pepperoni pizza rather than something healthier but less tasty. Of course it had a wholemeal base and she’d made the whole thing from scratch but that just made it better. Sienna just wished she was hungry enough to do her mother’s efforts justice but her stomach was still churning over what had happened and instead she found herself picking at it unenthusiastically.

“Not hungry, huh?” her mother asked softly. “I’m not surprised after what you’ve been through, but you do need to eat something.”

“I know,” Sienna said. “But my stomach is churning.” She stared at the pizza for a moment then forced herself to pick up a slice and take a bite. “Thanks, mum.”

Sienna’s mother Margaret fussed over her when she picked her up. Her father Robert was out of town at a conference but he called as soon as the phone network was back up and was obviously just as frantic.

“Are you sure you’re okay, sweetpea?” he asked after she’d told him about Lucy’s collapse.
“I think so, Dad,” Sienna said. “It was scary but whatever that gas was it didn’t have the same effect on me it did on Luce and she’s going to be fine even though they’re keeping her in for observation.”

“She’s lucky to have such cool-headed friends as you, Charlotte and Wendy,” he said. “If you hadn’t borrowed that wheelchair–”

“Oh, Lord, the wheelchair!” Sienna said. “The police took it. I hope they’re returning it.”

“I’m sure they will, sweetpea,” he said soothingly. “They’re probably just testing it for residue first.”

“I hope so,” Sienna said. “I don’t think my allowance would stretch to paying for a wheelchair.”

“We’ll sort something out if it’s gone missing,” her father said. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

“But the convention–”

“Screw the convention,” he said. “You’re more important than that. I’d be home already but the trains aren’t running into Castleham because the station was damaged so I’m on the coach and won’t be in until the small hours.”

Sienna stared at the phone, uncertain what shocked her more. The fact her father had just sworn, however mildly, or the fact he’d left an important conference to hurry back. The last time he’d done that was when she’d come down with appendicitis when she was twelve.

When she finished Wendy frowned.

“It sounds like you controlled it when you threw him,” she said. “So you need more practice.”

“And where can I practice?” Sienna asked. “I can’t tell my parents about this they’ll think I’m mad.”

“I know somewhere,” Wendy said confidently. “I’ll show you up tomorrow afternoon. For now let’s keep Lucy company until her parents arrive. I hope they remembered to call our parents with the shooting starting just when they were taking our addresses. I’ll go and check with one of the nurses.” She slipped out of the cubicle leaving Charlotte and Sienna standing there with Lucy.

“So,” Charlotte said awkwardly. “What do you think happened to you?”

“I really don’t know,” Sienna said. “Obviously it was related to the headache but…” she trailed off.

“Yeah,” Charlotte looked at her feet. “I’m scared of you right now. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Sienna said. “I’m scared of me right now. I don’t understand how Wendy is so calm.”

“She’s bluffing,” Lucy said. “She’s absolutely terrified. She only stops waving her hands about when she’s scared. But you know Wendy she’s too curious to let fear get in the way.”

“I guess,” Sienna said then broke off as she heard several sets of footsteps approaching. A moment later Wendy pushed back the curtains and came in with Lucy’s parents who immediately rushed to their daughter’s bedside.

“Our parents are on their way as well,” Wendy said. “Let’s leave Luce to reassure her parents and go and meet them.”

“We saw it,” Charlotte said. “I know it sounds unbelievable but it’s true. I still say we should go to the police.”

“No!” Lucy said. “Not until we’re sure it’s safe at least, possibly not then unless she wants to. If this is true then Sienna saved us, even if it isn’t I’m pretty sure she saved me by getting the wheelchair. We owe her.”

“Thanks, Luce,” Sienna said.

Charlotte stared at the others for a moment with an extremely conflicted expression but then she nodded. “Okay, you’re right. But you have to get this under control.” She gave Sienna a determined stare. “But is you ever push me like that again I am going to the police.”

“I’ll try,” Sienna said. “But it wasn’t intentional.”

“What’s this?” Wendy asked.

“When I was frozen after she threw that guy she forced me to get moving,” Charlotte said. “I don’t know how but when she snapped at me I had to move.” She looked back at Sienna. “That’s why you have to get this under control. You can’t override people like that.”

“Is that true?” Wendy asked.

“I think so,” Sienna said. “I’m not sure, but something clicked inside my head when it happened.”

“Hmm.” Wendy frowned. “That’s a point. What happened from your point of view. That might help us work out what happened.”

“Ah.” Sienna cast her mind back and described how she’d felt during the incident and the sudden departure of her headache when she stopped the stuff that was flying at them.

She was about to beg her friends not to reveal what had happened to her when she registered what the headline was saying and she grabbed the remote and put the subtitles on. The reporter was apparently saying the same thing — other people were reporting being attacked by people who seemed to be suffering from some sort of neurological symptoms. She even mentioned – albeit sceptically – the fact that people were claiming poltergeist like phenomena had attacked them. Experts thought it was probably falling glass and masonry from the damaged building being interpreted through the lens of confused shock she said.

What had caught Sienna’s attention, however, was that the headline said people had been reporting that men in military uniform had been shooting the attackers. The reporter said that both the government and military had been denying this but several people had indeed been shot and police were searching for the perpetrator and believed it was probably a lone gunman taking advantage of the chaos to settle some grudges.

“Oh come on!” Wendy said from behind her. “Like some random dude just happened to have a gun to hand to take advantage of this mess.” Sienna looked around at her. Wendy looked serious. “Someone knew this was going to happen. I’m not sure how they arranged the meteor but that fog was not natural and I’m sure these shootings are not a coincidence either.” She paused for a moment. “And if these reports are right. I think you’re in danger, Sienna.”

“Thanks!” Sienna said and the three of them headed to the portacabin where hair samples and skin swabs taken before they were told to shower thoroughly. When they emerged their clothes were gone replaced by coveralls.

"You’ll get them back,” one of the technicians promised. “But we need to test and decontaminate them as well. For now let’s get you to the hospital to join your friend.” He hustled them outside and into a waiting police car which just as promised took them to the Accident and Emergency department.

“We don’t think anything criminal has happened at the moment,” their escort said. “But if that changes we’ll need a statement so I’ll have to take your addresses, and with the mobile network currently overloaded we’ll be able to reassure your parents you’re–” He broke off as the very noticeable sound of gunfire came from  direction of the town centre. “Now that certainly is criminal. I’d better go and find out what's happening.” He hurried off leaving them in a cubicle with Lucy who was still unconscious and on Oxygen but no longer struggling to breath.

In the corner of the cubicle was a television and someone had set it to the news. Sienna wasn’t surprised to see that everything centered on Castleham and what had happened there. From the way that the reporter was standing outside the Star Centre among the dust and ruin but with no sign of the strange magenta fog and ambulances behind her she gathered that it must have cleared and the cordon lifted which meant other casualties would start arriving soon.

Sienna wouldn’t have minded knowing the answer to that herself but right now she was more concerned about the fact that Lucy seemed to have passed out.

“We need to get Lucy to help then we can worry about that,” she said.

Wendy stared at her for a moment then nodded but Charlotte continued staring at her and didn’t seem ready to move until she got an answer.

“Look, Charlotte, I’m as baffled and scared as you are!” she snapped after a moment. “I don’t know what’s going on but I do know Lucy needs help now and this wait so get bloody moving!” As she snapped at Charlotte she felt something click inside her head and her friend seemed jolted backwards. Charlotte’s eyes clouded for a moment then she nodded.

“You’re right,” she said and began pushing the chair again.

Sienna started walking again but she was frowning as she did. She didn’t know how any more than she knew how she’d thrown their assailant into the wall but she was certain she’d just made Charlotte start moving again and her stomach roiled guiltily as they hurried the last few hundred yards to where the mist finally petered out and they found a police cordon with paramedics and fire engines just beyond them.

As they came up to the cordon someone spotted them and several paramedics came running and took Lucy off their hands. Then a policeman pointed them towards a portacabin.

“Go and get decontaminated, girls,” he said. “Then you can join your friend. We don’t know what this agent is yet or where it came from but we have established that it's not biological and doesn’t seem to be an attack. Fortunately it only seems to be affecting some people so I don’t imagine we’ll hold you long.”

Sienna readied herself for another attack signalling her friends to carry on while she had the guy distracted then froze when instead of charging again he gave another inhuman bellow and shattered glass and broken masonry rose off the ground and flew towards the four of them. Sienna threw up her hand in what should have been a futile warding gesture and the pain that had been building in her head exploded before fading to nothing. In the same instant the flying masonry stopped short, disintegrated and fell to floor as a fine dust.

“What the fuck!” Sienna usually tried not to swear because it upset her parents but right now it seemed appropriate. She didn’t have time to puzzle over the problem any more than that because their assailant rushed at them again. Sienna didn’t even think about it she just threw out an arm again and imagined him being thrown away from them. She had no idea why she knew it would work but she did and she was right. A wave of energy passed out of her and struck the man. He cried out and flew back into a wall with a sickening crunch. He hit the ground unconscious, at least Sienna hoped he was unconscious and not worse. After a moment she saw his chest rising and falling and sighed with relief. She steeled herself and turned to look at her friends. Lucy was still struggling to breathe and seemed unaware of what had happened but as Sienna had feared Charlotte and Wendy were staring at her with scared and bewildered expressions. Sienna imagined her face looked much the same.

“H-how did you do that?” Charlotte asked. “What are you?”

“Thanks!” Sienna said and began leading them towards where they’d been told they’d find help outside the fog covered zone. They’d been walking for a few more minutes when she realised that visibility was improving slightly and there was less masonry in their path as well. She breathed a sigh of relief and they sped up slightly. As the fog turned into mist Lucy’s breathing eased slightly. Sienna just wished that her head would stop aching as well.

“Go back!” A woman came running out of the mist ahead. She was barefoot and had a panicked look on her face. “He’s crazy!” She cast a fearful look over her shoulder and darted past them with one more frightened “Run away” before she disappeared into the fog again,

“What the–” Sienna began but stopped as a man appeared from the same direction. He had a strange, shambling gait and his eyes were glazed, almost like a zombie from a movie but she could see him breathing. As he approached she saw that he was drooling and his face was fallen on one side. The woman who’d fled past them had said something about a crazy guy and she probably meant this man but Sienna rather thought he looked more like he was having a stroke. She was wondering why the woman had been so scared of him when he suddenly roared incoherently and charged at them.

Sienna didn’t even think she leapt between him and her friends. She had no idea what she was doing so she followed her instincts and twisted around digging her elbow hard into his solar plexus. He grunted and fell backwards. He scrabbled around on the ground for a moment but then regained his feet and roared again.

She was right Sienna realised. The front of the Primary Care Centre had been blown out too. Which hadn’t stopped the doctors there from trying to help. There was a basic first aid and triage centre set up outside but they were definitely swamped by people who had got there first. As they wheeled Lucy towards them a harried looking nurse ran up. Took one look at Lucy and called for some Oxygen.

“We only have enough to give it her for a few minutes before we have to give it to the next person.” He knelt down and took her pulse. “She’s holding in there. Hopefully it will help until help arrives.”

“We’ll carry on towards the perimeter once we have to pass it on then,” Wendy said. “A policewoman said we could get help there.”

“You probably can,” he said. “But it’ll take a while to get there. You might be better staying here where the doctors can keep an eye on her.”

The three girls looked at each other and then at Lucy who seemed a bit better on the Oxygen.

“What do you want to do, Luce?” Wendy asked.

“Carry… on…” Lucy managed to gasp out after a few moments. “I need to get out of this stuff. It’s horrible.”

“Okay, I guess that’s what we’ll do then,” Wendy said. “Let’s wait until they need the oxygen for someone else and then go.”

Lucy didn’t try to speak again. Instead she smiled tremulously and nodded. The nurse brought a blanket and tucked it around her.

“We’ll need the Oxygen in a minute. We’ve got half a dozen more respiratory distress cases just stumbled in.”

Lucy nodded, sucked in another lungful of Oxygen before handing the mask back to him so he could take the tank to someone else.

“Good luck,” he said.

“Oh, good idea,” Wendy said when she saw it. She and Charlotte helped Lucy into it.

“Sienna, you go in front. We’re going to have to navigate around the glass and rubble. Charlotte you push the chair. I’ll stay alongside and keep an eye on her.”

“Perhaps we should try the Primary Care Centre first,” Charlotte said as she began pushing the chair. “It’s in the direction we’re going and they might have some oxygen.”

“Ooh that’s a good idea,” Wendy said. “I should have thought of that. I suspect they’ll be swamped but it’s worth a try.”

“Okay, let’s go.” Sienna rubbed at he head. A strange headache was creeping into her skull and she hoped it was just the stress and not the fog. She went ahead of the others kicking smaller bits of rubble out of the way and grabbing the larger chunks and lifting or pushing them out of the way. Fortunately none of the lumps was too large for her to move but they were large enough for her to worry about just how much damage the airburst had done to the town.

What was harder was when their path was blocked by an injured person. Sienna couldn’t bring herself to push someone who was unconscious or worse out of their way – she might hurt them worse than they already were – so she guided the others around them.

It would normally have been a five minute walk from Costa to the Primary Care Centre but in the chaos it took closer to half an hour and by the time they reached it Sienna’s stomach was roiling. This was taking too long what if Lucy was already dead or too far gone to save.

“Doesn’t look like we’ll find help here,” Charlotte said as they rounded the corner.

“I don’t know,” Sienna said. “But she’s going to die if we don’t get her there so we have to try.” She went back to the others and told them what she had learned. Lucy was still slumped against Charlotte and each breath made a terrible sawing sound but she was still breathing at least.

“We don’t even have a stretcher how do we carry her?” Charlotte asked.

“Luce, can you walk if we help you?” Wendy asked.

There was a long pause and Sienna wasn’t even sure if she was conscious enough to understand the question but then she shook her head.

“I’ve got an idea! Wait here.” Sienna raced down the street to where a small mobility aid shop lay. The owner was standing outside staring at the shattered windows.

“Excuse me!” she said. “We need to get my friend to the edge of this fog.” She pointed to where Lucy and the others were just visible. “She can’t breathe. Can we borrow a wheelchair from your stock, please? I promise that I’ll make sure that you’ll get it back.”

The man scowled at her. “Well at least you’re asking but you should wait for the paramedics.”

“Probably, but I don’t think Luce has time for that,” she said and then told him what the policewoman had told her.

He stared at her a moment longer his annoyed scowl collapsing into a more thoughtful frown. “Okay, but if I don’t get it back you’ll have to pay for it.” He disappeared into the shattered remains of his shop and returned with a small folding wheelchair. “This should do the job.” His expression softened slightly. “Don’t worry if it gets damaged. Just don’t steal it.”

“Thanks!” Wendy threw him a grateful look and raced over to Lucy who was still gasping for breath. “It’s got to be this fog,” she said. “We need to either get her out of it or above it.” She looked around irritably. “Where are the ambulances? This has to be a major emergency. They should be arriving by now.”

“I called them,” one of the Baristas said. “They say help is on the way.”

“How do we get her above it?” Charlotte asked.

“I don’t know,” Wendy admitted. “It’s already over head height and still rising. Even if we carry her upstairs somewhere it's no guarantee it won't reach us again before help.”

“In that case we need to get her out of it.” Sienna looked around and spotted a policewoman making her way among the injured. She was checking on them and then mumbling into her radio. Sienna ran over to her.

“Excuse me, is help coming?” she asked. “This fog is doing something to my friend. She can’t breathe.”

The policewoman looked at her and bit her lip. “They’re waiting for protective equipment because no one knows what this gas is or where it came from, but it’s obviously dangerous. It’s taking longer than it should.”

“Uh.” Sienna understood the logic of that but it didn’t help Lucy. “Would we be allowed to carry her out to where help is?”

“I-” the policewoman frowned. “Let me ask.” She mumbled into her radio again and listened to the response. “Yes. You’ll be quarantined at the edge of the affected area in case it's biological but if you can get her there your friend will get treatment. Fortunately whatever this is it’s fairly self contained. Your best bet is about half a mile that way.” She pointed back along the high street. “Can you make it with her?”

Sienna forced herself not to snap about the fact she had noticed that at her friend. Instead she took a deep steadying breath. The strange fog hadn’t reached them yet and she wanted to avoid breathing it for as long as possible before having to hope that a mere damp cloth would block the strange gas as well as the dust. Then again she couldn’t avoid talking.

“It is,” she agreed. “What shou–” She broke off as the magenta mist reached them, roiling around them and engulfing them in a matter of seconds. A strange bitter taste filled her mouth and Sienna knew her worst fears were right, the cloth hadn’t blocked it at all. Fortunately it didn’t seem to be having any effect beyond the horrible taste – at least not in the short term.

“Ug, that’s disgusting,” Charlotte said.

Lucy however made a strangled sound. Sienna and Wendy both turned to find that Lucy had collapsed to her knees. She was clawing at her throat and gasping for breath. Charlotte, who was closest, knelt beside her looking frantic.

“What’s wrong, Lu?”

“C-can’t… breathe….” Lucy managed to gasp before collapsing in Charlotte’s arms.

“What do I do?” Charlotte stared at Wendy. “You should know right?”

“I-” Wendy stared at Lucy, obviously wanting to run and help but then looked back at the man who she was stopping from bleeding to death. “Uh…”

“I’ll do this, miss.” A middle-aged man knelt down beside Wendy and took over holding the apron over the man’s wound. “Go to your friend.”

They ended up making rudimentary breathing masks by tearing up a couple of the baristas’ aprons and soaking them in water before tying them around their faces and heading out into the dusty gloom.

Outside it looked like a war zone from the news. Some of what had been a cheerful crowd moments before were wandering around in obvious dazed shock while others were sitting in the street weeping or clinging to each other or their children. Most were bleeding from at least a few cuts from the shattered glass while more than a few were lying on the ground unconscious and bleeding out from severe lacerations. Wendy headed to the nearest one and began applying pressure to the unconscious man’s wound with another barista’s apron. Sienna looked around anxiously. She wanted to help but she didn’t know first aid and was worried about doing more harm than good.

The dust was slowly settling, coating streets, objects and people with a powdery layer of white and yet visibility didn’t seem to be improving at all. If anything it was worsening and the air along the street seemed to be taking on a peculiar magenta tint. Sienna looked around for the source and so was one of the first to notice that the magenta was actually from a strange fog which was roiling up from drainage grids and cracks in the ground. She tugged on Wendy’s arm and pointed to it.

“What’s that?” she asked.

Wendy looked up and froze. Sienna guessed it was only her friend's first aid training that stopped her releasing the pressure on the man she was helping's wound. “I-I have no idea. A superbolide meteor shouldn’t cause anything like this. I-I don’t know anything that causes magenta fog.” For the first time her voice shook and Sienna realised that Wendy’s calm demeanor was mostly bluff and shock much like her own. “I-I really don’t like this. Something is very wrong.”

Wendy's words finally stirred the other three into action and they let her hustle them inside the coffee shop. Some of the other al fresco diners also hurried inside having heard what she’d said. They huddled at the back of the shop with the baristas and waited.

“It could be a few minutes,” Wendy said while they waited. “It was in Russia.”

Sure enough it was several minutes before the sound of the explosion and a great burst of air rolled through the town shattering windows and smashing masonry just as Wendy had predicted. The noise was deafening in the most literal sense, so loud it hurt Sienna’s ears and once it finally faded her ears were ringing so badly that she couldn’t hear what the people around her were saying nor hear the screams that she knew must be coming from outside.

She knelt there until the ringing subsided and her hearing began to return. “I-is it over?”

“I think so,” Wendy said. “Let’s see if we can help.” She pulled herself to her feet and headed to the door, or where the door would have been except that there was a hole and a pile of shattered glass and plastic where the front of the shop had been, outside the previously clear day had gone dark and the air was clogged with dust. “Bloody hell! It must have been larger or closer than the Russian one. The damage wasn’t this bad in Russia.” She turned back. “I think we’ll need to improvise some sort of masks before we head out there.”

Sienna took the money with a sigh, somehow Charlotte always did this when their little group went shopping together. One day she would get to a table first. Charlotte must have read her expression correctly because she laughed.

“Not a chance,” she said. “I am the mistress of table snatching.”

“Sounds like a challenge to me,” Wendy said. “But for another day. For now Lunch!”

A few minutes later the four friends sat gigging over their coffees and sandwiches as they tried to decide what to do for the rest of the day.

They still hadn’t decided when Sienna noticed quite a few of the people in the street had stopped and were staring skywards and pointing before fumbling for their phones and pointing them in the same direction. She twisted slightly in her chair to see what they were looking at and grabbed for her phone as well.

A glowing sphere of light with a silvery tail was carving its way across the cloudless sky in perfect silence.

“What on Earth is that?” Even as she asked the sphere exploded in a blinding flash of light and yet eerily silently leaving nothing but a fluffy white contrail in the sky. “Buh?”

“Inside now!” Wendy said before raising her voice. “Everyone get inside and away from the windows!” Then when people stared at her stupidly she muttered. “Am I the only person who watched the documentary about that meteorite in Russia.” She grabbed Sienna and Lucy and dragged them towards the coffee shop door. “Come on, Charlotte. When the sound finally gets here we’ll have shattered glass and possibly masonry flying everywhere. We need to be in the back of the shop.”

Wendy shook her head and scowled. “No, it’s me he’s watching. I know that prat. Last time I was here he stopped me and searched my bag. Seemed very disappointed when everything matched my receipt. I heard he did it to Munira just last week as well. I think he’s just racist.”

Charlotte made a hissing sound and made as if to turn around, probably intending to march over and yell at him but Wendy grabbed her wrist and shook her head.

“Please don’t,” she said softly. “You’ll just make it worse. Let’s just pay for our stuff and go to Costa like we said.”

Charlotte frowned at her for a moment but obviously took in the anxious way Wendy was looking at her and nodded. “Okay. But if he challenges us I’m going to give him a piece of my mind.” She popped the foundation she’d chosen into her basket before heading to the tills. Sienna gave the security guard one final long look, making it clear they’d seen him before following the others. He scowled at her before turning away to follow a young Muslim woman in a brightly coloured hijab into the dental hygiene section. Sienna paid for her lipstick and they headed out of the store into the street again.

“It’s such a nice day let’s sit outside,” Wendy said when they reached the Costa Coffee across the street.

“Great idea,” Charlotte flopped into one of the seats just outside the door and pulled out a ten pound note. “I’ll guard the table. Get me a Tuna Melt Panini and a medium skinny latte please.”

“You want to eat again?” Wendy – her other best friend – asked lightly. “Good grief where do you put it all? If I ate that much I’d balloon.” The dark skinned girl grinned in a way that showed she meant no malice.

“You know where I put it.” Lucy grinned in response. “Into training to jump over hurdles very fast. You could eat more if you spent less time building junkyard robots with Martin.”

“Hey, everybody should have a hobby,” Wendy said. “And designing fighting robots and using them to smash up other people’s in the arena is mine.”

“That’s because you’re weird,” Charlotte said. “I’m surrounded by weirdos. But I agree with Lucy it is nearly time for Lunch but I want to visit Boots first. I need some foundation.”

“We can do that.” Sienna tore herself from the window and looked around. “I could do with some new lippy myself."

Boots was a little way away from the Star Centre, across the High Street and along the road. The four girls headed through the shopping centre and out into the street where the stalls of the Saturday market were bustling with people enjoying the Spring sunshine. As they walked along towards their destination they chatted about where to go for Lunch and to buy the fabric for Sienna’s dress.

Five minutes later they were standing at the make up racks discussing which colours to choose when Sienna noticed one of the security guards standing behind a pillar trying to be inconspicuous but definitely watching them. She looked back at the rack and whispered about him to the other three.

Charlotte glanced over and smirked. “Four teenage girls,” she said wryly. “Clearly he thinks we’re plotting a make-up heist.”

A flash of blue in the corner of her eye caught Sienna Munroe's attention as she and her friends made their way through the Star Centre. She stopped and looked mournfully at the gorgeous summer dress in the window of River Island. She wanted it - she really wanted it - but there was no way that her allowance would stretch to it. Not that her parents were mean they just couldn't afford to give her that much money. She stared at it a moment longer and then sighed. Maybe there would be something similar in New Look or Peacocks but she doubted it. Their clothes were nice but not as lovely as that. She only realised how long she had been staring at it when her friends stopped and headed back to her.

"I could make you a dress like that if you want," Lucy said. "And buying the fabric would be cheaper."

Sienna looked around at the athletic brunette who was one of her closest friends. She too was studying the dress and sipping a banana smoothie.

"Oh, would you?" Sienna asked. “I really want it but it's just too much.”

"Of course," she said. "If you buy the fabric and notions and say I can put the design in my fashion and textile A-level portfolio. You've always had good taste."

"Of course you can," Sienna said. “Thank you so much.”

"Great!" Lucy pulled out her phone and snapped a couple of pictures of the dress from different angles. I'll need to draft the pattern of course but we can nip to the fabric shop after lunch. Speaking of which isn't it time to eat?"