A Night of Horror with a Gas Mask Man

Gas Mask Men – Background

The world has been gripped in the terror of the ongoing Gas Mask Man crisis. The ravaging of human society by these seemingly paranormal entities has reached existential proportions (you can read more about this crisis in our earlier investigative article). The global death toll has run into the millions. One of the greatest economic crashes and restructurings in human history arose as a result of the mass deaths. Governmental and security structures have undergone wholesale transformations to combat the Gas Mask Men threat. The very nature of how humans relate to each other has required re-think.

Whilst the macro level impacts of the Gas Mask Men have understandably commanded more and more attention, we at Crunch Days will continue shining a light on the individual human stories that underlie this global disaster. We must remind ourselves of the daily impacts that the Gas Mask Men have on real people.

It is because of this belief that we conducted an interview with Mr Ross Marsden about an incident where he woke up to find a Gas Mask Man his bedroom on the morning of Monday 13th July. His wife was in the bedroom with him.

Interview with Ross Marsden

Crunch Days (CD): Thank you very much for agreeing to speak with us Ross. I understand it cannot be easy.

Ross Marsden (RM): That’s fine. I want people to know what happened. People should know.

CD: Could you recount the events of the morning of Monday 13th of July please?

RM: Ok….

CD: Please take all the time you need

RM: Well, it is hard to remember exactly how it started. I was still half asleep when it all went down. It just…

CD: Why don’t you start by giving us some background on yourself?

RM: Oh, ok. Yes. My name is Ross Marsden. I am an accountant. I am…I was married. I also have a daughter. Meghan. She’s ten years old

CD: And you were asleep when the GM2 event occurred?

RM: Yes. Me and Rachel – my wife – were asleep in our bedroom. I’m guessing Meghan was asleep too in her room, but who knows? She’s glued to her phone almost all hours.

CD: How is Meghan doing?

RM: She’s erm… she’s not good. I’ve tried to speak with her about what happened but it’s…not easy.

CD: I understand. Why don’t you talk to us about what happened?

RM: OK. Well, we were all asleep by Eleven. Me and my wife both had work the next morning. My wife fell asleep quickly after we got into bed. She was always good at getting to sleep quickly. Me, on the other hand, i’m always fidgeting or on my phone. So it takes me ages.

CD: Do you think the treat of GM2 events also played a part in your difficulties with sleep? It’s been demonstrated the much of the human population have reported sleep problems derived from anxiety over GM2 events.

RM: In the early, sure I was. Yeah, it did. We were scared to fall asleep. I mean we heard all the stories of GM Men appearing in peoples houses out of the blue and killing entire families. Me and my wife were terrified at the thought of Meghan meeting one of those things. It got to the point where any noise, creek, shuffling or slight movement out of the side of our eyes made us all jump.

CD: You said you were afraid in the early days. Does that mean you were less afraid over time?

RM: Yes, at the start of this we were nervous and on edge like I said. Over time, however, we just… got used to is. Got back to our routine with only a few slight adjustments. We’d set the GM detector and alarm in our house and do a quick look around before going to sleep. Other than that, however, we were largely back to the way things were despite what was going on in the world. I mean, how could we not? We just couldn’t be paranoid and on high alert every single second of every single day.

CD: You didn’t wear any sleep masks at all?

RM: No…no. I honestly don’t know what happened. Why we stopped using them. I guess we had some complaints about them itching or being too uncomfortable to sleep in….

CD: It’s OK. Please continue.

RM: So at some, point I feel asleep. I didn’t know what time at first, but the next thing I remember I had woken up again at some point whilst it was still dark. I have no idea why. It happens sometimes. It was dark and quiet in our room.I was also half asleep so still catching my bearings. I looked at the my phone on the bedside [table] to see what time it was. It was around One Thirty AM. I was annoyed that I woke up from my sleep for no reason but, at the same time, I was happy in a way. Happy that I didn’t have to get out of bed right then and there and could enjoy getting back to sleep. You know what I mean? Like I got a few hours of my life back.

Anyway, I put my phone back on the charger on the bedside. I tried to go back to sleep but something in the corner of my eye caught my attention. Some tall dark shape in the area between the shadows and the little moonlight that came in through the windows. It was mostly blended into the shadows but I could still see it. Even being half asleep, it caught my eye.

CD: This was the Gas Mask Man?

RM: Yes.

CD: Did you then realise it was a Gas Mask Man at that moment?

RM: No, not right away. AT first, I thought it was just shadows from the cabinet or some bit of furniture itself. I would’ve gone back to sleep with that thought but something about the shape…it’s height, how it had parts sticking out of it like limbs. And – maybe this is just me looking back on it now – even though I couldn’t make out individual features, I got the sense that the shape was…looking in my direction.

I was looking in its direction. It didn’t even dawn on me straight away what it might have been. It’s like I was looking at myself looking at this shape. Like a part of my mind was disengaged with the rest of my mind, which was further disengaged from my body. Looking back on the whole thing now, I can’t believe I was so stupid!

CD: You had just woken up from sleep though? Surely it would have been impossible to be fully alert and thinking clearly in that situation?

RM: Yeah but… I didn’t exactly help myself. I took the training on how to respond to GM2 events at home and the work place. But I never really TOOK it if you know what I mean? I just sat through it because I had to. I just thought I already know what to do if we see a Gas Mask Man. It was common sense. Why would I need extra training? I mean a GM2 event in your house was still statistically less likely than one in most other locations. I just thought that if I ever found myself in that situation I would know what to do…

[Ross needed a moment to compose himself]

CD: It’s OK, take your time. If you want to pause the interview –

RM: No, no… it’s OK. When push came to shove, I couldn’t do what I had to do. I want people to know that and how easily it could happen to them.

CD: What happened next?

RM: It happened [recognising it was a Gas Mask Man] when I heard it breathe. It was an unnerving sound and creeped me the fuck out. It was like if Darth Vader’s mask was made of old steel and rust. The breathing that came from the shape was… jagged. If that makes sense. That’s when I finally realised what the shape was.

It’s like my eyes finally adjusted to the darkness in that very moment. I could then clearly see its arms dangling by its sides. The green army uniform. That weird old mask.

CD: Did you look into its visor?

RM: Yes, for maybe half a second. Then, without thinking, I just said ‘Oh shit’ and fumbled. I guess that made me break eye contact just in time.

CD: What happened next?

RM: My wife woke up with a start. She did that thing where you shout when violently woken up but you don’t form actual coherent words. Her arms flailed for a bit as she sat up quickly from the mattress.

I saw it happen but it all felt like a blur. And I was already half asleep and in lazy autopilot mode. I was on the way down to hide under the duvet. I know I should have stopped and pulled her [Rachel] down with me but I didn’t. In that moment, I just… I don’t know. I…saved myself…

CD: It’s OK, take your time.

RM: I found myself under the duvet before I even knew it. Before I could get back up for her [Rachel], I heard this scream that made my blood curdle. Unlike me, Rachel saw it and knew what it was straight away.

I felt her [Rachel] hand grope around looking for me but before i could hold it, her screaming changed. I became drawn out and guttural. It went from a scream of terror to a scream laced with intense agony. I could feel her convulse and tremble. I knew that it had gotten her and she was being eaten from the inside out.

Rachel stopped reaching out for me but did keep screaming. She [Rachel] kept convulsing too, which led to her constantly pounding against the bed. It was like the bed was a nail and she was the hammer.

It kept going like that for what felt like an eternity. The whole time, I wanted to come out from under the duvet at least be there for her [Rachel]. But I was afraid. Afraid of what I would see. Afraid of what she [Rachel] would see in me. Maybe she would have enough life left in her to see me for what I was. A coward.

CD: Did Meghan know what was going on?

RM: She did, eventually. She screamed for her mum from her room. I could hear from down the hall. Then I heard the quick patter of clumsy footsteps. She was running towards our room and shouting for her mum. My daughter was going to be in the room with that fucking Gas Mask cunt. The thought of that finally snapped me out of my daze.

CD: And what happened next?

RM: I finally jumped out from under the duvet. I had to stop Meghan from coming into the room. The Gas Mask Man could sense that someone was approaching. His head turned to face the door. It felt like my heart stopped. This time, though, I actually did something. I screamed at Meghan through the door telling her not to come in.

CD: Did she listen?

RM: No, she was already pulling down the door handle when I tried to warn her. She burst into the room. I screamed at her to get out but, in my state of terror, I didn’t even realise that the Gas Mask thing had disappeared.

CD: So Meghan never laid eyes on the Gas Mask Man?

RM: No, she didn’t. I’d say she was lucky but then I noticed that the pounding on the bed had stopped.

CD: Your wife had already passed away?

RM: Yes. Her body was contorted horribly like she had been crunched up. And the look on her face. Oh god…

CD: We can end this interview as i’m sure this must be very painful for you and you family. We are truly grateful to you for sharing your story with us. I just have one more question before we end things if that is OK?

RM: That’s fine.

CD: Did you not download the Fortress Anti-GM2 app on your phone?

RM: We did, but put switched off its warning notifications whilst at home. We got tired of all the high pitched, flashing light warning alerts when there was a Gas Mask Man just outside on a nearby street.

CD: You also mentioned earlier that you had a GM2 detector and alarm system installed in your house. However, from your account, it sounds like the alarm never went off. Why –

RM: The batteries had run out. And I forgot to replace them.

CD: I see.

RM: Yeah.

CD: Thank you. We will end it here and, once again, I am very sorry.

RM: Thank you. I’m glad I could get my story out.