Only the radio played on, its distorted melody filling the room with a sound that shouldn't exist.
It stopped as abruptly as it had started, and Max, realizing how loudly his breaths had been since the radio started playing, held his breath.
One of the creatures who was headed for the living room, probably to get the radio stopped moving. Instead, it turned away, and faced the opposite direction.
But the radio, as if under some control, turned on again. But it was not music that was aired this time. But a message that sounded urgent.
"By order of the Government of Trevok, every citizen aged fourteen and above is hereby conscripted into the Trevok Armed Forces. Immediate enlistment is required. All able-bodied youth will report without delay. This measure is mandatory to strengthen our defenses against the invading entities that have descended from the skies." The radio resumed playing loud music after transmitting the message, and the creature turned again, towards the living room.
Fourteen years to enlist in the army? The government must be mad. Max thought, angrily. He envisioned fourteen years olds holding weapons, and his anger only increased.
The creature's unhurried movement created rhythm in the deadly quiet room, and disrupted Max's thoughts. Max's eyes were fixed on the creature who was headed for the young man, and he didn't dare turn to look at the other who was headed for the living room. As far as the creatures were concerned, he too was frozen like the others in the room.
The sound of metal hitting violently against the wall filled the air, an indication that the creature had laid its hand on the radio.
Somehow, the heavy sound of smashing broke the ice in the room, and restored movement to every single occupant in the room.
The real madness began right after. Like people under some control, every last person in the room rushed towards the doorway, to run out. No one was willing to give way for another to pass, and in a few minutes they were stuck by the door.
For sometime, they struggled to break free from the doorway which seemed to hold them put. But there was no result.
The creature which was heading for the young man behind the table turned towards the door, where a rout had now formed, giving the young man a chance to make a run for his life.
The creature was slow, so the young man easily ran past it, and headed for the door. For the briefest of time, he turned towards Max who, the whole time, sat and watched the whole scene unfold before his eyes, and did nothing to go out. He looked at Max with wonder, and continued with his race.
With his strength, he pushed the people who were stuck by the door, not caring about the pain he caused them. A few of them fell off the door heavily, breaking the stuckness.
He scurried out through the door, and disappeared into the hallway, leaving the others to either find a way to escape the creatures or be killed by them.
The other creature emerged from the living room just then, and seeing the crowd, he headed towards them in their usual unhurried movement.
Seeing the creatures approaching, the scramble to get past the door increased, leading to a heavy scuffle. Their expressions showed terror, none of them wanted the creatures to get to them.
Max watched them, amazed at how selfish and foolish a large group of people could be. If they had tried to get past the door in an orderly manner, they all would be out of the room long before any of the creatures would get to them, but no, they all wanted to be the first to come out, and so they all got stuck by the door.
The creature which emerged from the living room got to them first. Max saw the cables behind him blink a red faint light just as it reached out, and grabbed a woman's head.
Max's eyes shot wide, as he watched the woman scream, and then stopped once the creature detached her head from her neck which now was a bloody pop.
Panic broke.
A mad rush followed, amidst fearful screams but the doorway was still stuck with people scrambling to get out all at the same time.
She was not the closest to the creature. There were a few others that were closer to it, but it had bypassed them, and picked her instead.
They weren't killing at random, Max thought. There was a pattern, a selection process for each killing, and the woman had been chosen for a reason.
But why?
Somehow, one of them stuck by the door fell out. It created space for the others to scurry through. Hurrying footsteps now echoed in the hallway, accompanied by fearful screams. Those who had been fortunate enough to escape ran for their lives, chasing what they believed–or hoped–to be safety.
Hurrying footsteps now accompanied fearful screams in the hallway as those who were fortunate enough to have gotten out ran for all their lives was worth towards what they believed or hoped to be safety.
But the creatures didn't seem like they wanted to kill anyone else, or maybe no one else meant the criteria.
Soon the room was cleared, leaving just Max, sitting fearfully but acting brave with the killer creatures in the room. There was Clifford too, but now reduced to ashes, and the woman also who was now a headless body, and a head without a body.
There'll be so much cleaning to do, Max thought in his head as his eyes caught the woman's headless body which sprawled out on the tiled floor, and staining it.
But the thought caught in his throat when all at once, both creatures turned towards him. Although their faces lacked human features and expressions, something about the way they looked at Max with their eyelight sent a shiver down his spine.
Then they looked back at each other, and Max could have sworn that he saw them nod, and in the same slow movement with which they had come in moments ago, they left the room.
Max waited until he heard the sound of their footsteps in the far end of the hallway before he let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding.
That was close, he said to himself, and sunk deeply within himself. Maybe now was the time to grieve Clifford.
But he was wrong.
"Ma–ma" A small voice called from the door, forcing Max to look towards the headless woman by the door.
A child no older than four knelt beside the headless body, tugging weakly at her blood-soaked arm.
"Ma…wake up." He cried, but she didn't move.