Strange

Paris Time: August 17, 1998.

Location: Charenton Street, Paris.

Charenton Street is located on the north bank of the Seine River, within the old district in the northeast of Paris. The buildings here are mostly low-rise apartments constructed in the early twentieth century.

Although every aspect of this street is dilapidated, the relatively cheap rent still attracts a large number of immigrants to rent here.

This has also resulted in the public security on this street being much worse than in other areas of Paris, with the crime rate remaining consistently high.

05:42.

Numerous old-model vehicles are parked on the street, making the already narrow thoroughfare even more congested, and the streetlights on the sidewalk have yet to be extinguished.

In alley entrances and street corners, many ragged homeless people can be seen, covered by clothes or newspapers.

Most of them are individuals without legal visas who, for various reasons, went bankrupt or lost their jobs but would rather linger in Paris than return to their war-torn, impoverished homelands.

At this moment.

Three black vans appear on the street.

They are not moving fast, and the engine noise is low, failing to attract the attention of the homeless on the street.

Soon, the three vans stop in front of a four-story apartment building with the house number 26.

Illegal parking.

However, at this hour, the vast majority of Parisian police are still fast asleep at home, while those on duty are sipping coffee and slacking off.

Unless it is an emergency homicide, no police will come to this street before ten o'clock.

"Swish!"

The sliding door on the right side of the first van opens, and eight fully armed personnel pour out from inside.

They are wearing uniform black combat gear, bulletproof vests, tactical belts, and Mechanical Exoskeletons, and are also wearing the USS's iconic 'Octopus' masks.

The two groups of USS quickly widen the distance, approaching Apartment 26 while covering each other, and stand by in front of the apartment's main entrance, one behind the other.

The leading USS reports in a low voice: "Sir, Alpha Team has arrived at the designated location, requesting authorization to proceed."

A few seconds pass.

"Yes, sir, understood." The USS nods slightly, then ends the communication and orders his subordinates:

"Team A, follow me inside. Team B, provide support."

After speaking, Team A, where the USS is located, enters the apartment first, with Team B following closely behind.

That USS is Hunk. Led by this 'Grim Reaper', Alpha Team has come to contain or neutralize the first anomaly.

Inside the apartment, there is light brown carpeting, white walls with peeling paint, and warm-colored lights that flicker on and off...

In short, it is no different from a dilapidated apartment in a horror movie.

Hunk and the seven members of Alpha maintain their spacing and cautiously enter the first-floor lobby of the building. Team A takes up guard positions in the left corridor, while Team B does the same on the right.

From the moment they entered the lobby, all the Alpha members noticed the anomaly here.

The security room on the left side of the lobby is empty, the doors to all the rooms on the first floor are wide open, and there are some strange, low noises...

"Skree-clack!" It sounds like fingernails deliberately scraping against a chalkboard, or the sound of knives and forks cutting on empty plates.

The eerie atmosphere makes Hunk and the Alpha members even more cautious, and they tighten their grips on their guns.

After observing for a moment.

Hunk raises his left hand to signal the cancellation of splitting up, changing the plan to having both groups check the left corridor together, with Team A in front and Team B covering from behind.

After giving the order, Hunk and Team A walk quickly to the first apartment with an open door, with Team B following closely behind to cover the rear.

Standing at the far right of the doorway, Hunk first signals everyone to stand by, while he takes a small mirror from his left waist pouch to observe the situation inside the apartment.

Through the reflection, Hunk discovers a family of three inside the apartment, sitting at the dining table by the window, 'eating'.

They are Middle Eastern, and the three are wearing old clothes. The husband and wife are about thirty years old, and the girl is around ten.

However...

The couple's skin is deathly pale, their expressions are dull, and they are holding knives and forks, making mechanical cutting motions on empty plates.

The harsh sound is coming from there.

As for the little girl, she is curled up in her chair, looking at her parents with a face full of terror. There are two tear tracks on her cheeks, and her eyes are red and heavy with sleep, yet she dares not fall asleep.

Seeing this, Hunk's brows furrow beneath his mask; even this 'Grim Reaper', who is unfazed by everything, feels a bit of trepidation.

Adjusting the angle of the mirror, there is no threat within his line of sight.

Hunk then puts away the mirror and uses hand signals to indicate that Team A will storm the first apartment in three seconds to clear any potential threats and subdue the family of three.

Since they will be exposed once the action begins, Hunk does not issue an order to maintain silence, and instead raises his left hand to begin the countdown...

Three, Two, One!

Counting down to "one," Hunk tightened his grip on his gun with his left hand and charged into the apartment with Team A.

Team B also arrived at the front door; while Team A cleared the rooms, Team B needed to remain vigilant for any movement in the hallway.

"Thud, thud!" In an instant, the heavy sound of military boots echoed throughout the entire corridor, as there were no carpets in the apartment.

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

From inside the room came the muffled reports of two Alphas, their voices distorted by their "Octopus" masks.

"Ah!!" followed by the little girl's shrill scream.

The moment they stormed into the room, Hunk and one Alpha aimed their weapons at the family of three, while the other two checked the bedroom and bathroom.

It was a small one-bedroom apartment.

Within a few short seconds, Team A confirmed there was no one else in the room.

"Raise your hands! Did you hear me?! Raise your hands and get on the floor!" the Alpha standing to Hunk's left roared at the family.

Hearing this.

The terrified little girl, seeing the men who had stormed in and assuming they were like the police on television, became docile. She obediently raised her hands, moved away from her seat, and lay down on the floor beside the dining table.

However, the girl's parents continued their inexplicable cutting motions.

"Raise your—"

"Enough." Seeing the couple failing to comply, the Alpha prepared to shout again, but was softly interrupted by Hunk.

Because the couple had finally stopped their cutting motions and turned their heads in unison to look at that Alpha.

!

This movement made the Alpha involuntarily shudder all over.

But it was only a sense of unease, not fear.

"Roar!" (x2)

Suddenly!

The couple let out low growls, thrust their hands out, and lunged from their seats, charging straight at the Alpha.

"Pop! Pop! Pop!"

"Thud! Thud!"

Following the crisp sound of controlled bursts, the couple, who had gone "berserk" for unknown reasons, were taken down by Hunk and the other Alphas, their bodies crashing heavily to the floor.

"Papa! Mama!"

Seeing her parents die for a second time, the little girl ignored the Alphas' previous orders, scrambling from the floor to the two corpses and breaking into uncontrollable sobs.