Chapter Text
It had been raining for the past four days.
The town of South Park had been taken entirely off guard and flooded with a rainstorm that lasted a bit too long to be a normal spring storm. The rivers had risen considerably but today was the first day they'd gone down and Kyle would be damned if he didn't go out for his normal walk.
He sighed as the light sprinkle started to pick up a bit and pulled the edges of his hoodie out, away from his face. His feet scrunched in the mud that had been pushed onto the sidewalks either by people walking or flowing water. Water had seeped into his shoes and soaked his socks by this point.
You need to go home, idiot. He scolded himself.
His mother would no doubt be upset if his shoes couldn't be dried and it turned out he ruined them. He could see the fit she'd throw while he tried to defend himself and offer that he was trying to exercise. It had never mattered to her why things happened anyways.
Picking up the pace, he treaded across the street to the next block. He could be back to his house in ten minutes if he walked fast enough.
He pulled out his phone from his pocket to check the notification while he walked. Three texts from Stan sat at the top, along with a missed call from Kenny and a voicemail- Kyle assumed- from the blonde as well. He pursed his lips. Part of him always got worked up over these things and it mostly turned out to be a forgotten test he'd promise to help study for or simply the fact that the boys were bored without him. By now he should have been used to the two blowing him up, Kenny especially, since they did it so often. He considered ignoring the texts until he got home but curiosity tended to get the best of him.
Stan 8:17 pm
-Dude did you hear?
-I heard the sirens go right past my house! You good?
-Yo answeeerrr meeee
Kyle frowned, the words staring blankly up at him but not truly sinking in. He couldn't fully make sense of them. He swiped his notifications down again and clicked on the voicemail.
Kenny's slightly muffled voice called out the instant he put the phone to his ear. "Hey I saw on the news there was some sort of drive-by shooting! Stan said he tried to get a hold of you but you weren't answering, when you can lemme know if you're good!"
Fear settled into his stomach and it left him feeling almost sick. Was his family alright? Stan said he head the sirens go by his house, but there was no telling from which direction. Wait. No. If something had happened at his house Stan could have seen it or heard the sirens stay there, so it must have been someone down the road. It had been twenty minutes since Stan's text, so the ambulance would most likely be gone by now.
The hair on the back of his neck stood up. He heard loud whooping in the distance, undercut but the harsh screeching of tires. His head turned to watch as an old pickup truck swerved onto the road ahead of him and flew quickly past. Unsure of whether or not it was dangerous to stare or keep his phone held up he moved fast, shoving his phone in his pocket and picking up a steady pace walking down the sidewalk.
Look like an innocent bystander. His mind urged. You never know if they could be the ones that did it.
They continued quickly down the road, their whooping echoing in the quiet night air. From the corner of his eye Kyle could see at least three sets of arms hanging out the windows, fists pumping. He risked a glance and recognized one of the boys from a few months back, one of Cartman's ugly schemes that involved some very pissed off seniors and things Kyle preferred not to remember.
He shuddered visibly once the truck had gone behind him, pushing forward to get to his house even quicker than before. The wind chilled him and the rain poured even harder. He took a breath in through his nose and tried not to think about the fact he's just walked by a truck full of possible murderers.