They're Awake

   

The swamps were flooding. The storm just wouldn't let up, not even for a moment it seemed. There had been talking on the radio about a hurricane moving in off the coast of Florida, but for it to have made its way this far into Louisiana seemed odd. But then, Kelly was new to Louisiana, all she really knew about it was that it was going to be humid, wet, and full of bugs.
Why in the hell she'd agreed to move there in the first place seemed beyond her at that point.
All the stations were out and had been for the last three days. Every now and then they might catch a snippet of a report but it was always distorted and just sounded like screaming. She'd given up on trying to hear anything, whether it be on the TV or the radio. The sky could only hold so much water, it had to stop eventually.

But something about how the sky had changed over the last day and a half seemed a little more unnatural. It wasn't just that it was darker, but it seemed greener as well. The rain wasn't as hot anymore, it had a chill to it and it almost hurt to stand in it. It was coming down in sheets, but that wasn't the part that made it hurt to the touch. It just felt like it was eating at your flesh. Not like acid rain or anything, just something indescribable about it that made you feel...unwell. 

The thunder was so deafening that sleeping had become next to impossible. And the lightning was unlike any lightning Kelly and Donna had ever seen. I lit up the sky, but it wasn't in a flash of bright white. It was almost ultraviolet. An incredible flash streaked across the sky and illuminated the bogs and overflowing rivers.

     "You saw that, right?" Kelly nodded slowly, afraid to make a sound.
They figured their eyes must have been playing tricks on them.
The lightning had momentarily lit up the back deck of the house and both women had thought they had seen something. Something hanging from the roof of the deck.
The rain was thundering down on the tin roof as it had been for days, and the perpetual gloom was starting to feel permanent. Its effects were making Donna and Kelly both feel a little stir-crazy. But there was no doubt about what they had both just seen. It hadn't been the first time. And it was in moments like that, that Kelly's mind was filled with worry. She could picture the shed and the gas cans stashed out there. There was still enough to keep the generator going for a few more days at least before she would have no choice but to try to go to town to get more.
But it had been several days since the news stations told people to stay home and avoid traveling. Most of the roads had all been washed out.

They were in the kitchen, talking over coffee about the start-up company Donna's husband was working on in China when they heard it. It was late, the clock on the oven rudely proclaimed that it was just past midnight. It couldn't care less about the fact that yet another day had passed without a single hint of sunlight.
No further than eight feet from where they sat at the kitchen island was the back door of Kelly's house. It was the middle of August and the rain wasn't affecting the Louisiana heat in any way, so the screen door was open. It was hot as hell, until you let the rain actually touch you. That was where the heat didn't make sense. The rain felt ice cold and unsettling.

Nothing but a thin layer of mess separated them from the outside and whatever may be lurking in the swamps all around them. It was a silly thought to creep into her mind, But Kelly had read enough about the alligators and the snakes and the other horrible shit that lived there. Why humans would ever decide to take up residence with them was completely beyond her grasp of understanding. There was absolutely nothing about this place that made it desirable.

As she tried to get the images of what kind of monsters might be right outside her screen door, there was the very distinct sound of one of the deck boards creaking. Kelly was used to it, they heard it every time someone walked over that spot, and both Donna and Kelly turned to look out the door. Who in the Hell would be out there in this weather, and at this time? They thought silently as they stared out into the dark.
There was nothing.
Probably an animal, Kelly assumed. A terrible one most likely, but just an animal nonetheless. They ignored it and kept talking.

Moments later they heard it again, but this time it was accompanied by another sound, kind of like the sound cats make when they fight but it was very faint. And again, this wasn't something completely out of the ordinary, so once again they ignored it and continued talking.
The third time they heard it, however, it seemed louder and closer. What they saw when they turned to look towards the door again paralyzed them. They had been right when they thought they'd seen something hanging from the roof.
Something was indeed, hanging from the roof of the back porch.

Directly above the creaking floorboard. It looked a little like a person, only as if it was upside down, swinging back and forth gently, staring at them. Two little green dots flashed from what must have been its face, like when light reflects off a raccoon's eyes in the dark.
Kelly's palms were instantly drenched in sweat and Donna was holding her breath.
It seemed as though hours had passed as they sat motionless, horrified, and then a huge crack of thunder and flash of lightning echoed through the sky, shaking the house a little.

Both women screamed and closed their eyes. Kelly threw her hands up to cover her face and Donna slid off the chair and onto the floor, crouching in a ball. The lights flickered for a moment and then everything was silent. Completely silent. Not even the sound of the rain was audible, just for a second.
When the moment passed, and nothing had happened, they opened their eyes and looked out the back door. There was nothing, just the rain falling heavily beyond the back deck.
They were both thinking the same thing as Donna stood up slowly and looked across at her friend.

     "What the Hell was that?" She whispered.
     "I have no idea...you saw it too?" Kelly replied in a hushed tone.
     "Yes."
     "We need to close that door."
Cautiously, her whole body still riddled in terror, Kelly tip-toed around the edge of the island and silently made her way to the door. One hand stretched out, she was only inches from the handle when the sound of thunder rippled through the air once again, quieter than before but still extremely unsettling. Then the flash of lightning came.

It was right there. Its horrible, black mouth open wide and hissing, drowning out the sound of their screams. Grabbing the handle Kelly slammed the door closed as her heart pounded in her chest. It felt like it was right in her throat.
     "GET AWAY FROM THE DOOR!" Donna screamed the second Kelly turned the deadbolt into its lock and then ran towards her.
     "The windows! Close the windows, Donna!" Kelly shouted. They bolted and ran from room to room, slamming all the windows closed and locking them, closing the blinds. They almost ran straight into each other when they made it to the living room to get the last window, where the horrifying realization sunk in.

The big bay window was broken.
The latch had snapped off a few weeks before and it couldn't close. Kelly hadn't had the time to fix it, with the heat it wasn't a big deal, the window was open all the time anyway and the front porch was covered so the rain couldn't get it. They stood there, horrified, neither of them even breathing, straining their eyes and ears for a sound or a glimpse of what may be out there.
     "We gotta block it with something," Donna whispered urgently, her whole body shaking.
     "With what?" Kelly wondered aloud as she looked around the room for something to wedge in there.
Then the lights went out.
Donna screamed.

Reacting without even thinking Kelly clamped her hand over Donna's mouth, pulling her closer.
     "Shhhh." She whispered, "Do you hear that?"
They were completely bathed in darkness, there wasn't a single source of light anywhere in the house or the world outside of it. Kelly hoped for a flash of lightning, but at the same time, she dreaded what she might see when it came. Then it came.
Only, it wasn't a flash. It illuminated the sky in a bright blue-white light and remained there, blinding. The entire house was lit up and they stared out the window in shock.

The black clouds above were streaming down in tendrils from the sky like smoke, little flashes of static visible inside them. It was like hundreds of giant black jellyfish had taken over the sky. They watched as the tendrils connected with the ground in the distance, and as they did so they were overwhelmed by the screeching sound of fighting cats echoing all around them. The entire world shuddered like an asteroid the size of Texas had just collided with the planet.
     "Oh my God! What is that!?" Donna cried, tears streaming down her face which was now lit up brightly as they stood in the light from the window. Kelly opened her mouth and shouted,
     "The basement! We need to get in the basement." Why this idea seemed wise, she didn't know, but it didn't matter anyway because before any words could come out another sound drowned out everything else.

Pounding on the roof of the bungalow, hundreds of heavy thuds created an immense din. The light of the sky suddenly being broken by things falling all around the house. Kelly grabbed Donna's hand, unable to move as their brains tried to rationalize and figure out what fresh hell this was, on top of the already insurmountable chaos. They didn't have to think about it for long, the answer flew into the house through the open window.
Birds, dozens of birds barreled through, smashing into the walls and flapping around erratically, all squawking and screaming, breaking their necks as they collided and falling dead to the floor.

They were all around them, flying into them with such force it was like they were being fired from a cannon. Kelly yanked Donna's hand, pulling her to the floor and dragging her as she made her way to the basement door.
     "What is this!? What is happening?!?" She screamed hysterically.
Kelly didn't have the words to reply, her only objective was to get them to the safety of the basement. For whatever safety it may hold. They crawled swiftly, hands becoming drenched in blood as they dragged themselves across the dead birds and broken glass that had now blanketed the floor. There were hundreds of them, the screaming getting louder and louder. Their knees crushed them as they crawled. They could feel their bodies crushing tiny bones, snapping under their weight. The ones that weren't dead yet shrieked in protest.

Finally, after crossing what felt like a football field, they made it to the door. Kelly reached up for the handle, she had to lift her body up off the floor to grasp it and as she did so, she was pummelled by more birds. Barely managing to get the door open, she basically threw Donna in front of her and down the short staircase.
     "Get in! GET IN DONNA!" Kelly screamed as she pushed her down the stairs and followed. At the top of the stairs, she turned and slammed the door closed. At that exact same moment, Kelly swore she heard every single window in the whole damn house shatter.
     "LOCK IT!" Donna screamed from the bottom of the stairs.

Hands trembling, Kelly turned the switch on the handle. This won't keep anything out, she thought grimly as she turned it. Then came a new sound.
It was unmistakable. The howling of wolves and coyotes mingled with the screeching of the birds, all coming from the other side of the door and all throughout the house. They were panicking as well. It wasn't the sounds of a hunt.
It was the sounds of the hunters being hunted. Kelly jumped back from the door as fast as she could, almost falling down the stairs herself, and joined Donna in the pitch-black nothingness of the basement.

     "Kelly I can't see! Where are you?! Is that you? Kelly?!" she yelled as she grasped around for her friend in the dark.
     "Shhhhh..." Kelly whispered into her ear. "I'll find a flashlight." She went to move away from her, but Donna wouldn't let go of her T-shirt.
     "No! Don't leave me alone!" She cried. So, Kelly grabbed her hand and tried to usher her towards the back wall where there stood a large shelving unit. Holding her hand over Donna's mouth as she did so.
     "Donna, shhh, shut up. Listen to me. Do not make a sound. Do you hear me?"
Donna shook her head. Kelly could feel her warm tears falling onto her hand as she nodded frantically. "Do you understand me? Not a fucking sound. I don't know what is happening, but whatever it is, it's bigger than us and bigger than we think. I need to find a light. Then we need to find a way to secure that door."
Donna nodded again, tears still streaming silently from her eyes.

Kelly kept canned food, tools, extra bedsheets, and blankets down there and she was pretty sure that somewhere on the shelves there were a couple of flashlights. They could hear the intense wind rattling the entire house above them. It had come out of nowhere. Before then the storm had been raging, but the air was completely still. Now it was obvious from the sounds of things crashing and falling in every part of the house that it was swirling like a tornado. 
Maybe it is a tornado...Kelly thought. She hoped it was a tornado.
They had almost made it to the shelf when something clattered to the ground behind them. It was so faint of a sound and hard to hear over the chaos coming from above, but it was enough to make them both stop dead in their tracks, holding their breath.

Donna was doing her best to suppress sobs, but Kelly could feel her shaking beside her.
She tried her best to logic out what could have possibly fallen to the floor, but there was nothing. There were no cabinets or shelves, only the ceiling rafters above them. Then the entire house shook. Kelly felt dusk and dirt raining onto them. It wasn't uncommon for a strong thunderstorm to send reverberations through the bungalow, but never as hard as that had been, and neither of the women had heard any thunder. It was just this massive thud, that had shaken the earth.
     
     "Don't move," Kelly whispered to Donna, who was slowly lowering herself to the floor in fear, presumably to curl up in a defeated ball and wait for death. Then the house shook again, stronger this time.
     "We're going to die down here, aren't we? Kelly?" Donna whispered shakily through silent sobs. Once again, Kelly hushed her and focused on listening to the sounds above them. Suddenly, everything stopped, and it was silent.
Nothing was moving upstairs; the birds had ceased seemingly instantly.
Then the thud came again.
They waited for what seemed like an eternity. Then, another ground-shaking thud.

Like colossal footsteps were pummeling the ground. Once...twice...nothing. Once...twice...nothing. Closer and closer as they cowered in the darkness. Again and again, it came, harder, louder, closer.
Something else clattered to the ground in front of them, close to where the first sound had come from. Kelly realized it was a part of the ceiling. Again, the world shook. The house shook so hard and they could hear it creaking all around them with every rumble. The basement was well insulated, there had been tornado warnings in the past when the rain and the thunder fell harder than Kelly could even imagine it possible to do.
She had fled to the basement on those occasions, but she couldn't hear a single crash of thunder outside.

This time, however, she could hear it plain as day. As though she was standing outside in the middle of it. Assuming that it was because the windows had all broken that she was able to hear the rain hailing down in buckets. Or, perhaps, because it was so dark her other senses were heightened, but that didn't explain what was causing the ground and the entire house to shake like it was.
The sound of the water was so close as well. There had been many flood warnings, and Kelly had been keeping an eye on how close the river had been coming to the house. She could hear it all around them. It was only a matter of time.

Kelly tried to tell herself it was just because of the dark that she could hear it. Until she felt it.
Donna shrieked again and threw her hands up to her head.
      "Kelly! The water! There's water dripping on me!" she whispered in frantic confusion. Kelly felt it too. At first, it was just a few drops, but within seconds it became heavier. The swamp was flooding...The house wasn't that close to the edge of the river, but it was there. It had made it to the house. And they were in the first place it would drain into.

The enormous thuds came again, once...twice...nothing, and while Kelly waited for another succession of them, she heard water trickling a few feet in front of her.
      "The flashlight Donna, I need to get the flashlight." Remembering her objective, Kelly turned and stumbled her way through the darkness toward the back wall. There was water at her feet now, enough of it to make her steps splash a little as she went. Reaching the shelf and feeling around for what she hoped was still there, and much to her great relief, Kelly was successful. She grabbed the flashlight and flicked the switch, dimly illuminating the cement walls of the basement. She shined the light on Donna who was standing a few feet away, arms wrapped around herself and tears streaming down her face as she squinted in the light.

Then she looked past her at the stairs leading up from the basement and discovered the source of the trickling water sound. It was flowing down the steps, and heavily, flooding them in. Again, the thuds came, once...twice...nothing.
     "Kelly...Kelly what is happening?"
Frustrated and terrified, Kelly tried to find an answer.
     "I don't know Donna! I have no idea but whatever it is it will stop. I promise it will stop." Trying to keep her own fear masked in her voice for Donna's sake. But Donna just shook her head back and forth.
     "No, it won't...No, we're going to die down here. There's something out there Kelly." Sobbing harder now and clearly in shock. "It's the end of the fucking world and we're gonna die in a basement in the fucking swamp!" she cried as her entire body shook forcefully.

     "Shhhh...it's just a storm, Donna. It's just a bad thunderstorm. Remember? They said it could get really bad on the news, look at all this water, it's just a storm." Kelly replied half-heartedly, secretly agreeing entirely with everything her friend had just said.
     "No. No this isn't a storm! It's not a fucking storm! This is something else!" Donna refuted. She was pale and soaked from head to toe now, the water leaking from the ceiling was coming in steadily. Streams of it cascaded down from the cracks in the floor.
Once more, Kelly tried to reassure her friend, to calm her, and convince her that they would be alright. She took a step towards her and opened her mouth to speak when the ceiling collapsed in front of her.

The sky above was still blinding, though it was a deep green now and the clouds were still as black as all hell. A sound louder than anything she had ever heard before pierced her ears as the water fell so heavily upon her that Kelly collapsed to the ground.
     "Donna!" she screamed, looking back to the place where her friend had been cowering. The entire upstairs bathroom was there now, heaped in a pile of rubble.
    "DONNA!" Kelly screamed again. Then the thuds came again, once...twice...but this time they kept coming. Once...twice...once...twice...

Everything around her was falling apart, lightning lit up the sky even brighter for a moment and the clap of thunder mixed in with the pounding of the ground. Once...twice...once...twice...closer and closer. She knew it was footsteps, giant, monstrous footsteps, every moment approaching her at an alarming speed. A completely delusional and hopeless need to free Donna from the rubble came over her and Kelly ran to where her friend had been standing.

Another flash lit up the wreckage of the basement, the water around the debris was red, the blood seeping from Donna's crushed body underneath it. Kelly grabbed at whatever she could, screaming and throwing pieces of wood and concrete aside as she did so.
Another deafening screech tore through the sky as the pounding of giant footsteps grew closer.
Kelly only had a second to look up and see one horrifically gigantic wing stretch above her, causing her to lose any lingering grip on what sanity she still had left before the entire house came crashing down.

The rain never ceased, and into the night the ancient creatures walked on, taking back the world that was once their own. Sleeping no longer, the migration had ended. They were home, and they were awake.