The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Hannaford was hit hard by the hurricane, and the town was dead silent.  There were no lights on anywhere.  The cars looked like empty shells scattered to the side, but the streets were filled with people.  They acted like it was just another summer’s night, and the rain falling down did not bother them.  And the night sky was filled with glowing, blue butterflies.

I had my men capture all the blue butterflies.  There was a factory a short distance away, and it was a miracle that the funnel cloud had missed it.  The people did not seem to mind the debris or broken streets.  They just continued to wander around without saying a word, glancing at the blue butterflies that fluttered in their containment bottle, and the truck drove past the people, who barely stepped out of the way.  And the factory rose up into our view along with a young girl, who trailed behind the truck on her bicycle.

The young girl kept pace with the truck.  Her blue eyes shined against the dark.  Her gaze never shifted from the butterflies except to briefly meet mine.  She continued to follow us until the truck parked at the factory gates, and I thought then that she would approach us.  Instead, she waited on her bicycle, watching us go inside.

Once in the factory, I had my men place the containment bottle into the furnace.  I glanced over my shoulder and looked through the open doors.  The girl was still there, watching us, and then I watched the butterflies go up in blue smoke.  I knew that they were radioactive, but how did they escape?  Why did they come to this town?  I looked back at the girl, but she was gone.  Her bicycle was still there, and its wheels slowly spun around.

My men and I left the factory, and I rode up front, looking for the girl.  Where did she go, and why did she leave her bicycle behind?  Then, as the truck drove through the town, I realized that all the people were gone.  I had my men search for them, but no matter how hard we looked, we couldn’t find anyone.  Not a single soul or body.  They were nowhere to be found, and neither was that girl.  It was as if they all went up in smoke like the blue butterflies that had flown through the night sky.