The Creatures

The Creatures Part 1

            “Father,” I whisper, shaking him gently. “Father, I hear them! They have come closer, I hear their vicious voices.” Father stirs, mumbling something about waiting for the morning. “No, Father, I hear them now.” Father’s eyes open wide and I know he is fully awake.

            “You hear them? Where are they? How close are they to the base? Do we have enough time to lock down?”

My father breathes out questions only my ears can hear. When they are near you must be cautious and be quiet. We were quick to learn that when we almost lost Mother.

            “I’d say about 50 yards, maybe a little less, Father,” I whisper.  I cringe when the cries get louder. They are getting closer. “I will get the windows.” I whisper.

I crawl so that the creatures will not see me, and I latch the windows, double-checking to make sure that they are latched tight. Father makes sure that the bolts on the door are strong enough to hold back the creatures long enough for us to escape if it is necessary. This leaves Mother to make sure we have our travel bags in order, so as not to leave traces for the creatures to track us.

            My family has been on the run for fourteen years. It began when I was just 3 years old. The creatures (we have not a name for them except for the creatures) arrived on our planet for reasons that is unknown to our race. We had no prior knowledge of their existence, but now we wish that we could have prepared for the apocalypse that they have brought us. First we tried to be friendly, but they do not communicate the way that we do. They are loud and speak with noises that we do not understand. Communication was impossible. They began to poison us, adding things to our precious water. They gave us paper with meaningless marks on it, no doubt trying to tell us something. We did not understand, but they were killing us. Just a touch to our skin would have us writhing in pain. These things were toxic to us. And no method of extermination seemed to work. We had no other choice but to hide. As far as my family and I know, we are a part of the last of a dying race, because of these galactic immigrants that have invaded us.

            “Johanna, they’ve begun walking about the outer perimeter of the house, I feel that they suspect us,” Father informs me.

I peek out of the window, over the plane that stretches far beyond our base. Ah, yes, they are close enough for me to see their hideous, flat faces. They have horrible wide eyes that seem to sink into their face with mouths that are much too big, and gape open. That is when I lock eyes with one. We stare for half a second before I quickly duck down, hoping that I have not been seen. I was wrong. The all too familiar shriek signaling they’ve found their next game rings out.

            Like clockwork Mother, Father, and I have all grabbed our bags, ready to move as fast as we can. We are fast on our feet and as quiet as we possibly can be. Father, after making sure we are clear to exit through the back entrance, unbolts the door and we are on the run, leaving no tracks in the dirt. The shrieks become louder behind us. They’ve discovered that we have escaped! I push on, my legs burning with the effort. That is where I made my mistake.

            I’ve exhausted myself too quickly because I am in a hurry to get to our next base; the one Mother and I have so carefully and discreetly set up, under the noses of those things. I fell. Mother or Father did not notice, for they kept running. I struggled to get up quickly but I am too late because one of the creatures has caught up to me. It is not three feet from me; so close I can see the strange, flexible horns that grow upon their head. I hold my own, stand up straight, preparing myself for the pain that will inevitably come. It reached out but paused just before it touched me. Its posse was not too far, but not close enough to see us yet. The creature turned around in the direction of its flock, and almost as if it were hesitating, slowly turned back to me. It pushed its arms out and I flinch, thinking it was going to touch me, but it did not. It was making strange motions with its arms. I caught on. It was telling me to leave, to go. I went.