There was only one thing Noel could compare the madness before her eyes to, as a way to best describe how she felt as she saw every man, woman, and child dragging their tailfin-attached bodies to the common destination of the seaside, all with the same mindless determination.
Noel had once read a short manga written and drawn by Ito Junji, following the story of a fault in the side of a mountain revealing countless human-shaped holes in it after an earthquake, and every person who laid eyes on a hole that looked identical to them was suddenly determined to go into the holes for no good reason, despite knowing all too well the holes spelled out nothing but doom. And watching all these people turned into what she could only describe as merfolk now trying to get to the seaside at any cost, and with no rhyme, reason, or humanly emotion for that matter, gave Noel the exact same feeling she got when reading that particular manga.
As these thoughts raced throughout her mind, Noel could only think of one thing to do. She rushed to the apartment’s front door and jammed a shaking hand onto the elevator button. As much as the moral part of her mind kept tugging at the back of her mind to at least try to stop the people out there from doing whatever they were up to, the intellectual part told her there wasn’t anything she COULD do. How was she supposed to react to any of this without knowing what the hell was going on, and that aside, how was she going to deal with everyone’s blind obsession to get to the ocean? Hell, she had no way of knowing what getting to the ocean would even mean for anyone!
Her heart pounded at her chest as much as her feet did on the floor while her eyes were fixated on the numbers on top of the elevator door counting down closer and closer to 1. She didn’t think she could bear to watch any more of the chaos happening outside, or listen to the blank voices of people grunting as they pulled themselves across the ground. Some of those voices even included little children, whose noises almost caused Noel physical pain somewhere in her to listen to. So when the elevator finally reached the first floor with its familiar ding, Noel was more than relieved to rush in as soon as the door slid open.
She got into the elevator as quickly as she could and pressed the button of the floor on which she lived. After that came the silent few seconds of the elevator ascending, which felt to Noel more like hours in her state of mind right now, and the faint noises of the few people still in the apartment who also no doubt had grown tailfins where their legs used to be didn’t help either.
When the elevator finally stopped and Noel ran as fast as she could out of it, down the hallway, and into the front door of her home before slamming it shut before her, the catharsis of relief that washed over her was overwhelming. She couldn’t be 100% sure, but some part of her mind seemed to tell her based on what she had just seen that she was going to be alright for now.
Not wanting to accidentally look outside the windows and see more of the chaos unfolding out there, Noel pulled the shades down on every window in the living room and settled down on the couch. All while she didn’t notice the silver turtle in the tank looking almost pitifully at her nonstop.
Noel gave herself a good several minutes to calm down, then with her fingers crossed inside her mind, she pulled out her phone and dialed her mother’s number. But much to her dismay, and even concern, she wasn’t picking up even after five attempts in total. It was the same with her father, whom she tried calling next.
“Why aren’t you guys answering?” Noel muttered to herself. Were they in a situation that made them unavailable to pick up her calls? If the way all those people outside behaved had no exceptions aside from probably her, that could very well be the case and her parents could also be trying to head to the seaside from their workplaces.
Now Noel felt worse than she did before. This hit her far differently from when she witnessed all those people on the streets or outside the apartment being turned into merfolk and crawling in the direction of the ocean. These were her parents she was trying to reach, not some random strangers she had never seen before. The fear of potentially never seeing her parents again was even greater than any sense of terror she had felt this morning.
“No… No… I won’t let that happen… they can’t be past the point of no return…!” Noel kept telling herself, despite the implications she was getting from the silent phone calls. She absolutely refused to consider the worst possible thing this scenario was suggesting, which was death. They couldn’t possibly be dead, could they? Were they just in the same state of mind as everyone else to be unable to return her calls? Did they even have their phones with them at all?
The turtle continued to watch Noel from inside the tank as she hung her head for a good few seconds, trying to think of what to do. Her head then perked back up and the turtle saw her dial a different number. A brief moment of silence passed, and then Noel’s eyes could be seen widening with both surprise and partial relief.
“Caleb?! Are you alright? Did you see what’s happening outside?”
Finally getting to hear the voice of someone she was close to on the phone sent another wave of relieved catharsis over Noel. At least she knew now she wasn’t going to be alone in the middle of all this, whatever it was.
“Hi, Noel? I was about to call you just now but looks like you read my mind – nobody else is picking up the phone no matter how many times I’ve tried! Where are you?” Caleb asked, sounding just as relieved as Noel but not without some sense of fear in his voice.
“I’m at home, where are you?” Noel asked, to which Caleb replied, “I’m also home! Dad left for work something like an hour ago and when all this weird stuff started going down I tried calling him to no avail, and-“ He then paused for a second, which momentarily caused Noel to worry as she thought something might’ve gone wrong, but then the moment was over as he continued, “Are your legs still okay? I think I might be the only one around here who’s not affected by whatever’s affecting everyone else!”
“I’m still fine too, but I don’t know for how long we’ll be fine!” Noel replied, relieved once again to hear this piece of news. “I don’t know what’s going on out there and what kind of random pattern it’s following as it’s changing everyone, so I don’t know whether or when we’ll be next!”
“Tell you what, I’ll come over to you!” Caleb suggested. “I don’t feel safe enough being home all alone while the whole town’s going to shit – pardon my French – so I figured we might as well stick together as the only ones unaffected and, well, try to get through whatever’s going on!” Despite the panic of the unknown, it was very in line for Caleb to still be able to make Tremors references as he talked, what with him saying to pardon his French after letting profanity slip like the movie’s characters did on several occasions.
“By all means come, I don’t feel all that safe either after my own parents won’t return my calls…” Noel agreed, and Caleb hung up just before assuring her he’ll be right over.
During the short time it would take Caleb to arrive, Noel turned on the TV in the hopes of seeing if any news channels were covering this unexplainable phenomenon. When she did turn on the TV however, every single channel she could access (that wasn’t offline with a “please stand by” screen accompanied with elevator music) was showing breaking news reports about it. That was when Noel heard knocking at the door, and she went to answer it, knowing who to expect.
Sure enough, Caleb was standing in the doorway, but for some reason he was wearing a mask over his face and even had gloves on, despite the weather being warm.
Letting him in and closing the door quickly, Noel asked, “What’s with that getup?” and he replied, “I just wanted to be safe in case all of this is being caused by some new virus spreading between people through the air or physical touch.”
Noel shook her head, though with a little bit of uncertainty. “No, it’s probably not a virus. I was outside on my way to work when it happened all around me. Everyone was stopping everything they were doing all at once before heading to the seaside and their legs changed into fish tailfins, except me. No idea why, but judging from that I presume it’s not something infectious like a virus.”
At this Caleb instantly took off the gloves and mask, and Noel could see a few tiny beads of sweat around his nose and mouth where the mask was. “Thanks for letting me know, it was getting hot as hell under these things.” He muttered.
“Maybe there’s anything we can get from the news.” Noel suggested, and sat down in front of the TV, where Caleb joined her.
The news showing on the channel Noel had stopped at was currently stating that the same thing seemed to be happening all around the world, and at almost the same time as well. This was particularly the case with either seaside areas or more inland places close to any large bodies of water such as rivers or lakes. The behavior of those affected were also the same; everyone just stopped whatever they’d been tending to – even waking up from their sleep in places that were still night – and mindlessly went to the nearest accessible shores, where their legs all turned to tailfins, A few who had turned when they haven’t reached water yet were even resorting to driving their cars to said bodies of water, despite not being able to handle the vehicles properly due to the lack of required limbs, which inevitably resulted in countless accidents and/or pileups on the roads. Some places even had planes crashing onto them or straight into the sea. The whole world had plunged into madness without warning, and now they were left to wonder what to do about it.
Both Noel and Caleb were unsure if they wanted to keep watching any more of the news or just shut off the TV right then and there. Sure, they had to know what was going on out there, but did it help them to any extent when what was indeed happening out there was more of the same, with no answers? And seeing the sheer scale of this phenomenon didn’t seem to help either. The idea of everyone in the world turning into merfolk hell-bent on reaching any body of water with nothing else in their minds, and the two of them possibly being some of the extremely few who were still human and sane was too much of a burden for their minds.
“Now I’m really lost…” Caleb sighed, slumping down into a heap where he sat. Noel couldn’t agree more and nodded. Most of the time in books, film, or TV when a disaster broke out, while chaos and confusion was inevitable at first, there were at least some ideas the characters had to make the best out of the worst, or just simply not face doom right on the spot. With this, neither Noel nor Caleb had any ideas. The fact that they were still unaffected was relieving, but the fear of not knowing either what caused everyone else to turn into merfolk and so crazy for water or if their families were at the very least alive was far greater than that sense of relief. Not to mention they were too scared to go outside at the moment to do any searching themselves, because based on what they saw on the news, literally everything being out of control – from the roads to the various emergency services that could really be of help right now – meant it most likely wasn’t safe to step outside the walls of the house.
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“You were really THAT scared to actually trample all those people on your way back home...” Caleb exclaimed with wide open eyes when Noel told him the details of her tale. “Now I really don’t feel like it’s safe to go outside… as much as we feel the need to do just that.”
Noel sighed deeply. “Getting help aside, I just want our parents back if they’re alright – look at us, we’re completely stuck and out of options… if they were here with us I’m sure things would be better, we wouldn’t feel as scared as we are now and they could help come up with a solution if they’re still right in the heads…”
Surfing through any other channels that were still up, Caleb agreed, “We seriously need help from those wiser than us, like them… they’d definitely help us figure out what we can do to make the most out of this situation, because no matter how many news reports I come across, currently I’m just as clueless as I was before.”
Noel glanced back at the TV screen to watch the news report on the channel Caleb had just stopped at. From what they were hearing from this particular news report, apparently even the government was powerless to properly react to any of this. Noel was guessing it was probably because everyone who was part of the government had also been turned into merfolk and right now was much more focused on how to get to the nearest river or beach rather than protecting and saving the nation’s people. And no surprise, it was the same with every other nation in the world as well.
“If even the government’s down from all this then I’m really, REALLY lost…” Caleb muttered. “No upper hand to provide any form of help, and the people are just left alone absolutely clueless…”
That pretty much summed up how Noel felt about being stuck here with Caleb and no one else. No matter what they tried to think of doing in the face of this disaster, it was useless and they couldn’t get themselves to advance beyond square one. Both of them were in dire need of someone (preferably their families), anyone, to provide them with any good ideas so they could get a move on and find a solution to their predicament, or at least a decent way to get away from the worst this disaster could possibly offer. But until then it was just no options, no way out, no anything.
“I can’t imagine how I would have handled any of this if I was still alone.” Noel thought aloud, and Caleb, having heard this, replied, “Same – that’s one thing to be grateful for.”
Noel breathed deeply through her nose and patted Caleb on the shoulder with a sigh of, “Thanks man…” prompting him to quietly utter, “Sure…” with a slightly pink tinge in his cheeks.
As if trying to give herself some sense of comfort, Noel walked over to the tank from which the turtle had been staring at both her and Caleb this whole time without either of them knowing it. While she was grabbing the can of fish food at the top of the tank, Noel noticed the way the turtle’s eyes were open wide and still looking at her. She muttered, “You scared as much as us? Oh what am I saying, as if you understand English…” and shook several pellets of fish food into the water.
* * *
Noel and Caleb spent most of the day either trying to deduce more information from the few TV channels still showing the news (to neither of their surprise, they seemed to decrease in numbers as time passed) or calling their parents on their phones. Neither attempts were successful, as all the news did was offer nothing new except reports of the world spiraling more and more out of control (by now many cities around the world were having their power cut off, engulfing some in the total darkness of night). And the more Noel tried to call her parents only to receive no reply, the more her fear of expecting the worst case scenario regarding them grew bigger.
At one point apparently Caleb had the same thoughts as her, because he suddenly asked with the tone of a schoolboy who came home with an F on the report card, “Hey Noel, not trying to sound pessimistic or anything but… you think maybe there’s the possibility of our families, uh…”
“No! Absolutely not, I refuse to believe that until proven otherwise!” Noel cut him off, and Caleb jumped back a bit at this unnecessary outburst.
Seeing the startled look on Caleb’s face, Noel quickly apologized and said, “We just… don’t know for sure what’s become of them by now, that’s what I meant…”
Caleb nodded slowly and muttered under his breath, “So you’re scared too…” before trying to offer a comforting pat on the back to Noel.
Noel appreciated the gesture even though it did nothing to make her fears go away and replied, “We’ll just have to keep trying until we can get help in any form – better if it’s from our parents – and when that’s done then things will hopefully take a positive turn.”
Those were really just empty words, since Noel had no idea how much longer they’d have to try or wait before they could reach a source of help, especially with even the government now rendered useless. But like with his pat on the back to her, Caleb still appreciated Noel saying those words to him and attempted a smile at her. “Better to try something and have a slight chance at a way out of this rather than try nothing and remain sitting ducks to whatever’s happening out there.” He said.
“Wise words.” Noel muttered. “Let’s just not give up for anything.”
“Yeah.” Caleb agreed. “But if we can’t reach anyone by tomorrow morning then I guess we have no choice but to go look for help ourselves.”
Noel didn’t like the sound of that very much, her mind jumping to that fear of the unknown again. Caleb noticed the look of unease on her face and told her in his best reassuring tone of voice, “I know you don’t fancy going outside considering the circumstances, but if we wait any longer than one day it might be too late to find any help. Hopefully things will be a bit calmer than today when we get to that point. I don’t want to make any promises, but we don’t have any other options either.”
Noel paused for a bit as she contemplated this idea, and eventually nodded. “That’s the closest thing to a solution we’ve come up with in hours…”
Caleb attempted a smile again at this. “It’s at least something rather than nothing.”
Noel walked over to the fish tank again to feed the turtle and the fish (the former still looking at both of them from where it sat) after this exchange. She didn’t know if there was any reason for this, she just felt like she was obligated to keep the other living beings in the house alive even during this unexplainable disaster. With that said, watching the turtle eat the fish food from the surface of the water and settle back down to the bottom of the tank reminded Noel of something else and she asked Caleb, “Are you thinking of going back to your house when we have to sleep?”
Caleb gave Noel a sideways glance behind her back and scratched his head, feeling awkward for some reason upon being asked this even though it was no big deal, but gave his answer to the question straightaway, “No, I’d rather keep staying here. In case anything happens to us, best if we stick together to get out of it instead of being apart.”
Noel thought for a bit, and replied, “Guess that makes sense. So I assume you’ll use my parents’ bedroom while I use mine?” and Caleb said yes to that.
After this agreement, they both proceeded to plug their phone chargers into a couple of sockets to charge their phones, as their batteries had run quite low from all the calls they’ve been making. During this, Noel and Caleb prayed to themselves nothing would happen to them in their sleep later and they would wake up with their legs replaced with fish tailfins like everyone else.
* * *
That day eventually passed and next morning arrived, with both good news and bad news. The good news was that Noel and Caleb’s legs were still unchanged and intact. The bad news was that neither of them could still reach anyone through the phones, let alone their parents (again).
“Well, that does it.” Noel said, fixing sandwiches for themselves as breakfast in the kitchen. “We’re going out there for ourselves, right?”
“Like I said the other day, no other choice than that.” Caleb answered. “When we’re out there, be sure to always keep your eyes peeled for any dangers that might lurk out of sight or earshot, like any out-of-control vehicles or damaged structures.”
“Yeah, you be careful too.” Said Noel, handing him a sandwich while she ate hers.
While eating, Caleb suggested, “If the roads allow it, by that I mean if they’re not blocked by any stopped cars or something of the sort, you don’t suppose you can take some random car out there that still has its keys and drive that to seek help?”
“No chance of that.” Noel replied. “I’m not taking any chances with my rookie driving skills – why don’t we just use bikes instead?”
“Fair point.” Said Caleb. “I just suggested it because I felt like it wouldn’t be that safe to walk around on foot. Not when you never know what could happen next outside.”
“Well, that’s another fair point.” Noel replied. “Let’s just hurry with our eating so we can go.”
Some time later, once they obtained their bikes from the apartment hallways and got them all the way down to the first floor and out the front door, Noel and Caleb were good to set off.
Both of them pedaled through the streets and looked around thoroughly for either help they could call out to, or threats they had to avoid. In the process they took a good look at their surroundings, and couldn’t help but feel like even though they knew this town ever since childhood, it felt like a completely alien place to them now. Every inch of the deserted paths, buildings, and vehicles they passed on their way seemed to scream society’s final days, like in a post-apocalyptic movie.
A part of Noel thought this setting was legitimately creepy even in daytime and didn’t feel like shouting out hello in all directions to attract anyone who might still be here. But she knew where her and Caleb’s priorities lay and pushed the thoughts away to focus on what they were here for.
“At least I guess we should be grateful there’s no immediate out-of-control threats anywhere to be seen…” She thought to herself while passing by a group of abandoned cars on the side of the road.
Quite a while later and they were pedaling their bikes across a big bridge hovering over seawater, with still no luck at locating anyone whom they could reach out to for assistance.
“So empty… it’s hard to believe pretty much everyone in the city went all the way to sea overnight, with or without legs.” Caleb sighed. “Or at least that’s what it seems like.”
Glancing at more empty vehicles on the road – along with broken gaps in the railings presumably caused by cars driving through them and into the water - as they kept crossing the bridge, Noel replied, “That’s what I’m scared of; that we might be the only ones around here who still has legs.”
“You saw the news reports, surely there has to be some people out there like us.” Caleb muttered.
That was when Noel caught something out of the corner of her eye and braked her bike to a stop. She called out to Caleb who was in front of her, “Hey, come look at this here!” and motioned at him to come towards a dark green van crashed front first into a blue pickup truck.
Just as Caleb was about to ask what was the matter, he saw what Noel was looking at and exclaimed, “Well I’ll be darned!” as they could see the still but sure silhouette of a person sitting in the driver’s seat of the van. Actually, scratch that – upon a closer look, Noel and Caleb could see what seemed to be at least four people in the van, two in the front seats and another two in the back.
They wasted no time getting off their bikes and pulling the van’s doors open in the hopes of finally finding other people, only to realize all four in the van had their legs turned into tailfins as well.
Regardless, Noel and Caleb inspected the four people’s bodies to check if they were alive. Though they soon found out there was no need for it, as during their inspection the one in the driver’s seat stirred and woke up, apparently having been knocked unconscious from crashing into the truck.
“Are you alright? Can you hear us?” Noel began to ask, and at the sound of her voice the other three began to wake as well. Caleb was asking the same questions when the four people reached their shaking and bruised hands out to them to hoarsely whimper, “Help us out of here… please…”
Feeling it was the least they could do, Noel and Caleb helped all four of them out of the van, albeit with much difficulty. Once they were all out, the van’s occupants uttered to the two in the same hoarse voices, “Thanks…”
Noel and Caleb were about to ask them if they could offer to take them somewhere safer, but they hadn’t so much as opened their mouths when the four people suddenly rolled away in the direction of the nearest broken gap in the bridge railings and threw themselves into the water below.
“What the-“ Noel and Caleb could only stare at the four folks descending closer and closer to the water. Now they were starting to regret ever pulling them out of the van in the first place.
But then what happened next made them regret their decision to help even more. Just when it looked like the people falling off the bridge would hit the water with a painful looking splash, something broke the water’s surface and came out at them with its huge mouth wide open. Noel wasn’t sure how to describe whatever had come out of the water as it was so grotesque-looking; its appearance resembled that of a shark, except it was unlike any shark Noel had ever seen in aquariums or even books. Its jaws alone looked more than large enough to fit the green van she and Caleb had found the four people in, with several rows of chainsaw-like teeth lined all around the inside of its mouth. And right now that mouth was catching all four of the falling people in it, before snapping shut and disappearing back into the water, leaving no trace of anything behind.