I woke up in the passenger cab of a fire engine wearing an oxygen mask and a bloody bandage on my head. A weary firefighter looked up at me when I stirred. I asked him what had happened, but his answer was entirely unbelievable. Until I looked outside at the horror scene of carnage and destruction in the street.

He explained in a calm demeanor that alien ships entered our atmosphere during the meteor shower. Clouds of debris trailed behind them, settling to the ground in their wake. The clouds seemed to be both dangerous and electrically charged. Tiny metallic particles glittered within the clouds, glowing when touched by electricity.

The unfortunate people caught in the clouds suffered immediate trauma. Some were electrocuted. Some caught on fire. He could tell when someone had inhaled the glowing particles because the glow was still visible from inside them. It started in their lungs, dispersed through their blood, and seemed to collect in their brains.

Many suffered convulsions and fits. They gasped for air until they were panting in shallow, rapid breaths. As they inhaled more of the particles, they glowed brighter. Burns would appear on their skin as they discharged tiny bolts of electricity into the surrounding air.

This was when they would start running. Sprinting. They would build up speed, mostly in a straight line, until some obstacle would force them to stop and change direction. They did this until they came into contact with another person or animal, which delivered a deadly electric shock. That's why I put all of the trash bags on the ground around the dumpster. It created another barrier that diverted the runners.

After explaining the dangers of the situation, he told me I had to leave the truck. The hotel that towered over us was burning, and if the building collapsed, which he believed would happen, the firetruck wouldn't protect us. He suited me up in a full firefighter's suit, which he said had protected him from the cloud. He also said that water caused the particles to become temporarily inert, so he would spray the street down as far as he could reach with the fire hose.

He hoped I would be able to escape the contaminated zone and tell the authorities what had happened, but if I couldn't, find a place to hide and only travel when it rained.