[Litodude]

Everyone gathered around the auditorium, agitating for a closer spot to hear the mayor give his speech. The crowd was restless, and the heavily armed guards at the doors didn't do much to inspire calm. There'd already been five killings this week alone, and quarantine was going to be announced today, along with whatever plan the city had come up with to try and deal with the problems.

Mayor Price approached the podium, and the mutters started to die down, though of course one wag kept on rambling as though nothing had happened, and his exclamation "Bah, they're going to kill us all and there's nothing the city is even going to do about it" echoed over the sudden silence. Blushing furiously, he tries to hide his face before giving up and just addressing the crowd "Ah, you know it's true, you'll see."

At this, all eyes turned back towards the major, trying to see how he would react to this challenge.

"Citizens," he began, looking more than a little nervous at the size of the crowd, despite the soldiers guarding the doors and the stage. "The city understands that a crisis is facing your cell in these trying times. Foul criminals are afoot and rest assured, the local law enforcement is doing all they can to catch these miscreants. We've detached a special unit from the special forces team to oversee all police activities here." (At this, some grumbling from the sheriff, standing on stage, trying not to look too upset at basically being shoved aside for the SWAT boys to take over)

"We have no doubt that these fine men and women will get to the bottom of this rash of violence, and bring the wrongdoers to justice."

"For your own safety, we have declared a state of emergency and quarantined the area." This was met with a chorus of grumbles. The Mayor holds up his hands "Now, now, I know you're afraid, but our intelligence indicates there may be as few as 3 men behind this whole situation, and with the area closed off, we're confident that we'll have this situation resolved within a week."

"Everyone please, just return to your homes, stay calm, but stay vigilant. If you suspect anybody around you might be one of these cultists, please report it to the authorities immediately. We will be using this auditorium as a command post for the duration of this crisis, and we will be holding an open hearing every morning for people to discuss their suspicions, and answer to charges."

"We have faith in you citizens. Together we will end this crisis, and go back to our normal lives."

With that the Mayor steps down from the podium with some scattered and awkward applause, the kind you get from people who are used to applauding when someone is done speaking, but not when it's pretty much all bad news.

People begin to file out of the auditorium in small groups, receiving sharp stares from the soldiers, and slowly, as the message of the speech begins to sink in, from others around them as well.

As darkness falls, most people are in their houses, curtains closed, doors locked, more lights on than is maybe strictly necessary, but in the dark shadows, three men meet to plot their dark plots, and after a whispered conference, one man slips off into the shadows to claim the heart of their next victim.

Sullyman2007 has been killed.

1. Temote (Sumote)
2. DarkManticoreX2
3. sc979 (sam97379)
4. travman301 (RBennie362)
5. jump_the_bullet (aksmooth77)
6. BDN (MegamnGTX)
7. LifeVirus7 (psimasta666)
8. pntballa18 (Merlonifan28)
9. FoJar (thisisfojar)
11. argo15 (Argo1516)
12. tupacodaman

It is now Day 1. Day ends 48 hours from the time of this post.