"Honestly, aside from that old woman, she's the second person I want to take out," Martin muttered.
"Yes, we're in serious trouble." Kurt looked worried too. "Unless the fog clears soon, there's nothing we can do. As long as she keeps rambling, people will start buying into her spiel before long."
"Why?" Jules asked in confusion. "Everyone else seems to hate her cult theories."
Kurt reached out and pulled his girlfriend into his arms, offering his perspective as a sociology student. "There's a concept called cognitive dissonance. It refers to when reality goes beyond people's understanding, like right now, with unknown monsters or dangers lurking in the thick fog outside.
"People's brains enter a state of intense anxiety, and to ease that anxiety, they desperately search for anything that can 'explain' the situation, even if it's utterly absurd."
"But you said yourself that it's absurd, didn't you? Just like that old woman's lies back at the altar... Besides, didn't we see that thing get killed with our own eyes?" Jules's eyes flickered, and she lowered her voice further, afraid someone nearby might hear.
"Of course people wouldn't believe it under normal circumstances, but is any of this normal? When familiar rules stop working and there's a vacuum of authority, people instinctively crave someone who can offer 'certainty.'
"Even the certainty that 'we're all doomed to go to hell' is easier to accept than the emptiness of 'I don't know anything, and I can't control anything.'"
Listening to Kurt's explanation, Martin fiddled irritably with the lighter in his hand. "We also have to consider the fog's influence. Lila said it could amplify people's emotions without limit.
"If these people are only scared and worried right now, we'd better pray the people who went outside come back safe, or..." He didn't finish,