A message from your local weather reporter

***<br><br>Hello there, and thank you for watching. My name is Samantha Edwards, and I’m here to help you figure out if it’s safe to go outside tonight, or if you need to conceal yourself somewhere. <br><br>I know it’s not ideal, but we can’t tell you exactly how long you’ll have to do this for. The experts are saying maybe twenty-four hours, or maybe a couple of weeks. <br><br>To be honest, though, not one person on earth knows what we’re really up against. <br><br>This all started happening just a few days ago. It was just a weird coincidence the first time—it was a very specific storybook ending an on-duty police officer witnessed in the middle of his shift out on the streets. <br><br>He responded to a strong armed robbery at a downtown convenience store just after closing time on a Saturday. <br><br>The clerk working the late shift was rushed into the ambulance, and a few minutes later the paramedics radioed the police, asking them to come check something out. <br><br>The two responding officers pulled up to the ambulance, where two paramedics were giving mouth to mouth to the bleeding and battered convenience store clerk.<br><br>He died on the way to the hospital, and the paramedics had to start CPR in the back of the ambulance. The police officers pulled up right as one of the paramedics was giving the man mouth to mouth. They said at the time that they assumed the man was doing CPR, but they noticed something strange as they got closer to the vehicle and looked inside. <br><br>The paramedic giving the man CPR was using one hand to pump on his chest while simultaneously giving the man mouth to mouth. The other paramedic was giving the man sets of chest compressions in between the mouth pieces, and a female bystander was kneeling beside them. She was holding the man’s hand. <br><br>The police officers watched as the man coughed up all the blood in his body and then sat up. <br><br>“Wow, you poor thing!” the female bystander exclaimed. <br><br>The paramedics got off of the man and started tending to their own wounds. They were bleeding out at an alarming rate. <br><br>One of the officers stepped into the ambulance. “Sir, are you okay? We need to ask you some questions.” <br><br>The man who had been beaten half to death just a few minutes before looked up at him and started to cry. The woman who had been holding his hand was now hugging him and patting him on the back. <br><br>“Sir, we need to speak with you.” The cop said again. <br><br>The injured man slowly stood up from the gurney. He wobbled a bit as he tried to find his balance. <br><br>The cop tried again. “Sir, can you hear me? We have questions for you.” <br><br>The man looked at the cop. “Sir? Ma’am? Is that me? Was I a police…officer?” <br><br>The cop looked at his notes. “Sir, you work at a convenience store downtown.” <br><br>The man thought for a moment before responding. “I remember,” he said. “I was working late. Two men came in. One of them pointed a gun at me. I couldn’t breathe. I tried to breathe. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t breathe. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, I couldn’t breathe.” <br><br>The female bystander put her hand on the man’s shoulder. The bleeding paramedics were gone. <br><br>The cop stepped off of the ambulance. He radioed dispatch. “I think this guy’s gone a little crazy or something. He keeps talking about not being able to breathe. We’re gonna need an ambulance for him.” <br><br>A few minutes later, another ambulance showed up. This one had a very different story to tell. <br><br>Two paramedics got out and walked up to the police car where the injured clerk was waiting. As they were walking towards the car, one of the paramedics sniffed the air. “Do you smell that?” he asked his partner. <br><br>The other paramedic sniffed the air. “Smell what, Frank?” <br><br>“Like that movie where the bad guy kills people using the smell of fear.” Frank answered. <br><br>The other paramedic chuckled. “That’s not a real movie.” <br><br>“I know. But if it was a real movie—it would smell like this.” <br><br>The two paramedics walked up to the police car. They looked inside and saw the injured man. He was sweating profusely, breathing very heavily, and hyperventilating. <br><br>“Sir, what seems to be the nature of your emergency?” Frank asked. <br><br>The man didn’t answer. He didn’t even look at them. He just kept hyperventilating and looking through the windshield as if he were in shock. <br><br>“This man is in shock!” his partner called out. “Grab the kit and let’s go!” <br><br>Frank walked around to the back of the ambulance and opened the doors. He walked inside and saw two paramedics giving mouth to mouth to the bleeding and battered convenience store clerk. <br><br>He thought about just walking back to the police car, explaining what he saw, and driving the poor man to the hospital himself. But something compelled him to stay. <br><br>The two paramedics doing the CPR were bleeding out at an alarming rate. The man they were doing CPR on coughed up all the blood in his body and sat up. <br><br>“Wow, you poor thing!” a female bystander exclaimed, hugging the man. <br><br>The paramedics got off of the man and started tending to their own wounds. They were bleeding out at an alarming rate. <br><br>Frank thought to himself. *This is the same story I saw outside.*<br><br>He watched as one of the police officers stepped into the ambulance. “Sir, are you okay? We need to ask you some questions.” <br><br>The man who had been beaten half to death just a few minutes before looked up at him and started to cry. The woman who had been holding his hand was now hugging him and patting him on the back. <br><br>“Sir, we need to speak with you.” The cop said again. <br><br>The injured man slowly stood up from the gurney. He wobbled a bit as he tried to find his balance. <br><br>The cop tried again. “Sir, can you hear me? We have questions for you.” <br><br>The man looked at the cop. “Sir? Ma’am? Is that me? Was I a police…officer?” <br><br>The cop looked at his notes. “Sir, you work at a convenience store downtown.” <br><br>The man thought for a moment before responding. “I remember,” he said. “I was working late. Two men came in. One of them pointed a gun at me. I couldn’t breathe. I tried to breathe. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t breathe. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, I couldn’t breathe.” <br><br>The female bystander put her hand on the man’s shoulder. The bleeding paramedics were gone. <br><br>The cop stepped off of the ambulance. He radioed dispatch. “I think this guy’s gone a little crazy or something. He keeps talking about not being able to breathe. We’re gonna need an ambulance for him.” <br><br>A few minutes later, another ambulance showed up. This one had a very different story to tell. <br><br>Two paramedics got out and walked up to the police car where the injured clerk was waiting. As they were walking towards the car, one of the paramedics sniffed the air. “Do you smell that?” he asked his partner. <br><br>The other paramedic sniffed the air. “Smell what, Frank?” <br><br>“Like that movie where the bad guy kills people using the smell of fear.” Frank answered. <br><br>The other paramedic chuckled. “That’s not a real movie.” <br><br>“I know. But if it was a real movie—it would smell like this.” <br><br>The two paramedics walked up to the police car. They looked inside and saw the injured man. He was sweating profusely, breathing very heavily, and hyperventilating. <br><br>“Sir, what seems to be the nature of your emergency?” Frank asked. <br><br>The man didn’t answer. He didn’t even look at them. He just kept hyperventilating and looking through the windshield as if he were in shock. <br><br>“This man is in shock!” his partner called out. “Grab the kit and let’s go!” <br><br>Frank walked around to the back of the ambulance and opened the doors. He walked inside and saw two paramedics giving mouth to mouth to the bleeding and battered convenience store clerk. <br><br>He thought about just walking back to the police car, explaining what he saw, and driving the poor man to the hospital himself. But something compelled him to stay. <br><br>The two paramedics doing the CPR were bleeding out at an alarming rate. The man they were doing CPR on coughed up all the blood in his body and sat up. <br><br>“Wow, you poor thing!” a female bystander exclaimed, hugging the man. <br><br>The paramedics got off of the man and started tending to their own wounds. They were bleeding out at an alarming rate. <br><br>Frank thought to himself. *This is the same story I saw outside.*<br><br>He watched as one of the police officers stepped into the ambulance. “Sir, are you okay? We need to ask you some questions.” <br><br>The man who had been beaten half to death just a few minutes before looked up at him and started to cry. The woman who had been holding his hand was now hugging him and patting him on the back. <br><br>“Sir, we need to speak with you.” The cop said again. <br><br>The injured man slowly stood up from the gurney. He wobbled a bit as he tried to find his balance. <br><br>The cop tried again. “Sir, can you hear me? We have questions for you.”