that sound

A man and his wife had just crossed the railroad tracks.

The snow made a temporary journal of their travels.

It had just turned to dusk as they walked to their car.

They were talking about a movie they had just seen.

At first, he heard a sound; but could not connect it to anything.

Then he felt something smack him in the side, just above his right hip.

If this was a scene from a comic book, the sound would be graphically registered as a "splattt-tt" or a "tha-wock".

The man looked up and saw a SUV with the passenger side window rolled down. It was too dark, and the windows were too tinted to see anyone. Darkness surrounded the vehicle, as it slowly drove away.

The man was dumbfounded.
He looked down at his side and saw a dark stain growing on his jacket.

The only thing he could say to his wife was, "Why?"

She answered his question with a question, "Would an explanation even help?"