We arrive at the node before noon.

It stands deep in the waters of a man-made lake, casting a rippling shadow towards the shore. Picture perfect, with the wind sweeping across the waters, and the trees rustling on nearly every side of it. I want to study it closer, and see for myself, this symbol of alien force that's disturbing our lives. But we roll right on past.

I settle with craning my neck, watching from the window, waiting for it to show itself as more than just a pillar of stone, more than something of our mundane world, more than a man covered in metal and a woman carrying a sword, claiming to be alien warriors...

But I have to wonder to myself, what I expected to see, when all that's left behind the Expedition is a long line of students and hangers-on, playing follow the leader, flowing blindly down Reservoir Rd, into the national forest beyond.

And what did I expect from the node?

Magic?

Answers?

I don't know...

But whatever it was, I didn’t get it. As the procession slows, and we see cars pulling off the road, we still don't have answers. There are people standing by the roadside. They wave us on, pointing ahead, shouting over and over again:

"Keep going!"

The line's backed up with traffic now, slowed to a crawl. I can see people starting to get aggravated, arguing with the ones who've come to tell us we have to keep driving, even though they've stopped and stretched and taken that one step closer to the finish line.

Arthur rolls his window down beside a man in cargo pants and an American flag tank top.

"What are we doing?" He asks.

"You'll see! Keep going!" The man responds.

And on we go. Stop and go. Stop and go.

I listen to the Expedition's brakes complaining the whole way, tires grinding the gravel and sediment on the road, A/C blowing, Caesar clicking his tongue.

Lola’s curled against the window, swiping on her phone. There's an expression on her face I can’t decipher.

"What is it?" I ask.

She looks at me for a long time, then down at the screen that's gone dark.

"I saw this article just now." She says. Pauses. "…I think we got our first monster sighting."

"Monster? What was it?" Arthur's quick to ask. Then, Caesar shouts:

"Will these assholes hurry up?! STOP STOPPING! Holy fuck!"

I tap Lola's leg to get her attention. She unlocks and hands me her phone. The screen shows a red-faced man, frozen mid-step, crossing through what looks like a gas station: there's a cooler with 99 cent icebags in the background against a dingy wall. It's a photo taken at a distance, in motion, blurry and low rez.

I'm still looking for meaning in it when Lola says:

"They caught this thing stumbling around Philly. They said it didn't have any more skin around its mouth. Just muscle and teeth. Scared the shit out of people, they got to shouting, trying to keep it back. Shots fired- don't know if they hit. People started running and calling 911. Cops came, and uh... well..."

"Out with it. Jesus." Caesar scowls.

"Shhh," Arthur snaps in Caesar's face, provoking the worst glare yet, then adjusts the rearview so he can see us. "What happened?"

She sighs and rubs her eyes, before mumbling:

"It was standing behind some dumpster..." She clears her throat. "They say it was... tearing... skin off. Just... throwing it on the ground. A couple of cops surrounded it. They shot it about fifty times. Emptied whole clips." She shakes her head again. "Didn't go down."

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"Well how'd they get the bastard then?" Caesar's voice comes out high. He's leaning back like the answer might jump at him. "They did get it, right?"

"Somebody doused it in gas and lit it up."

"The cops?" I ask.

"Dead. It ate them."

"Ate?!" Arthur slams the breaks, and we all lurch. I hear horns blaring behind us. He turns in his seat. "Did you say, 'ate them?'"

"Fucking zombies?" Caesar asks.

"Not like a zombie." Lola closes her eyes. "It ate them really, really fast. All of them. Boots, body armor, everything. Fucking... inhaled them."

Something bangs on the glass, and I flinch.

"Keep! Going!" Someone shouts. They stand under the window of the Expedition, pointing down the road ahead. The engine revs and Arthur takes off.

"It was eating the guns when somebody tossed a jerrycan in its face." Lola adds.

"Are you for real?" Caesar studies her, disbelieving.

"Saw the video." She holds up one of her wireless earphones, then offers it to me when she sees the phone in my lap.

"No!" I toss the phone back like it's cursed. "I'm good. I'll take your word for it."

"Hand that over." Caesar snatches it up.

"I'm not comforting you if that gives you nightmares." Arthur says. Caesar doesn't dignify that with a response. He settles in with the phone pressed against the dash. After a second, he asks:

"No sound?"

"Caesar..."

I shift around in my seat, juggling disorganized thoughts. A man-eating monster... Christ. From what Lola said, it wasn't even a normal creature, wasn't even living by our rules. Something Other. But wearing clothes. Was that a person before? Transformed? Lost... somehow?

For the second time, Lola's phone is thrown at her.

"Hey!"

"This is why we have the apostles." Caesar says in a rush. "Them, the node- this is why we're here, right? So we have shit to fight with. Right?"

Lola shrugs, and Caesar turns to the window. I join him in silence, watching the tree trunks slide past.

This is why we're here right? If people don't start dying, then we're all just crazies following strangers to the middle of nowhere.

***

The Expedition finally stops in a clear-cut acre. People are getting out of their cars, stepping over saplings and stumps, looking worn and wistful, already missing the conveniences of modern life, barely a foot in the wild.

There's a feeling in the clearing, in the still air and soft sounds, under the shade of canopy leaves dripping with dew. The forest is full of misty sunbeams, climbing skyward, peeking through mossy branches of gnarled wood. The smell of rot and new growth comes as pine needles crunch underfoot.

The cars are packed in, but there's a small lane left, where the apostles walk, breaking through a path of headlights and whispers.

"Peace!" The warrior woman from the auditorium speaks. She sweeps past in the same granite armor and ivory cloak, holding her hands high in the air. "Please give me a moment of peace!"

The clearing doesn't grow quiet immediately. Conversations linger in the air. She claps her hands.

"I know you have questions-"

"I heard the president and his staff went to their bunker!" Somebody shouts. "Why they runnin?! Nothin's even happened yet!"

"QUIET!" The metal man's voice echoes and crashes like a thunderclap. The command cuts the noise in one breathless moment. The rest of what he says rumbles, rustles the leaves and vibrates the air. "We can't speak on what your government plans. We can't speculate on their motivations. We don't know. They are consulting with apostles. We are not those apostles. Different aliens, friend. I've never met your president, and now I think it likely I never will-"

"Listen," The warrior woman jumps in, putting a hand on her companion's shoulder. "I'll tell you what I can. There have been... unexpected complications. The Earth is experiencing unusual levels of corruption. And we are all under quarantine.

For those of you who haven't heard, higher corruption means higher danger. It's too early to say exactly what we'll face. Not which monsters or what changes... but, it will not be easy.

Do you understand? This is going to be the hardest thing you've ever done. For all your lives, you've been civilians. Now, you need to become survivors.

We will help you, but everyone has to take responsibility! There will be stress and struggle! Our lives will become strict. No more moving through the world however we want; The world is changing. We'll need to change with it.

So be ready to fight. Stay focused. Do not falter...

Most importantly!" She links her fingers in front of her face. "Trust in and support each other! Because we are building our sanctuary together! Before it's too late, we will make this node as secure as we possibly can!

This will be a commitment! For us to stand our ground here! To defend our future here! To rise above no matter what the world throws at us! Can you do that?!"

There's a moment of silence, where no one's really caught on that she wants a response.

"Can you fight for yourselves?!"

Finally, someone speaks up:

"Yes..."

"What?!"

“Yes.”

“Well?! You can fight?!”

"Yes!" The students around me raise their voices. They raise fists in the air.

"Are you ready?!"

"YES!"

The cheer swells and bursts into a wordless declaration. 'Here we are!' It says. 'No longer fat and lazy and ripe for the taking. We humans will fight back!' It's the sound of change. Maybe the sound of a chance.

I nod my head and clap along with the rest; feels like the thing to do. But in the back of my mind I wonder, are we really prepared to have to fight for our place in the world? Are we ready to drop down the food chain again? To be endangered by more than ourselves?

I clap and put a smile on, but deep down I chide myself. I don't know what the fuck I'm doing here. Don't know where I'm going. And I have no idea how I'm gonna fucking make it.

Smile and fake it.

Just nod and say 'okay!' until it makes sense.