Bones of Disaster

Chapter 3: A monster of a problem

As they went inside Max saw a enclosure that looked like a massive shower cubicle. It had large rods on the top of it that looked like power lines. It was filled with some sort of gas and Max couldn't tell what was inside it but he could make out a smoky silhouette. But whatever it was it was loud. Crashes and bangs filled the air, and with each smash the cage shook. The rest of the building was filled with conference rooms and large levels with stairs leading to each stage. Max looked questioningly at the others. They shrugged and shook their heads.

'What's in there?' asked Ash.

'Nothing you need to know.' replied a soldier.

Ash looked at Max and snorted through his nose. Olivia and Alice glanced at each other. The enclosure shook again and the concrete cracked. Three huge sharp claws broke through and dragged down leaving long gashes in the concrete. A large eye appeared in the gap, blazing with fury. In a second it was gone, and the raging continued with more ferocity than before. The cracks enlarged and the soldiers began backing away. One soldier pressed a button as he ran past and the rods on the top crackled with electricity then shot blots of lightning down in the cage. A pained bellow split the air and the shaking increased dramatically then stopped suddenly with a loud thud. The lights flickered and went out. The whole building seemed completely silent without the racquet that the creature was making.

No one made a sound, waiting for a response from the creature. After about two minutes people began to whisper among themselves. The whispering stopped when a wall of the enclosure gave way and a gas poured out, obscuring vision. Then out of the gas a rectangular shape rose up into the air. It split in half and a ear-splitting roar shook the building. Light began to slowly turn back on, illuminating the gas. The creature roared again then stepped out of the gas. It looked like a dinosaur with long muscular legs and forearms, each ending with three claws, the hands also having a clawed thumb. It had dark green scales with black-orange markings all along its body down to it's long tail which ended with vicious spikes and a large head with powerful jaws filled with curved teeth. It shook itself and began walking towards a level scattered with people trying to put as much distance between themselves and the creature.

'Open fire!'

The creature bellowed as soldiers began to spray the air with bullets. It turned and roared a challenge at its attackers. The soldier driving the car that Max, Ash, Olivia and Alice were in swore and began to speed towards the exit. The creature stomped its feet, destroying the rest of its cage. Everyone swarmed around the exits, each trying to get through.

The creature looked towards the huge mass of people and snorted. It began to stomp towards the crowd closest to it. That happened to be the one Max, Ash, Olivia and Alice were escaping from. The car accelerated and sped out into the open.

'Shit!' Max looked back to the building and cursed. Alice and Olivia both gasped and Ash was silent. People were still rushing to get out of the building and away from the giant beast.

'Come on, we need to go faster.' Ash said, urging the driver on. 'I don't want to be any where near this place when that thing comes out.

A loud crunching sound made everyone look back. The wall were breaking in on themselves. After three more bashes, the whole wall gave way, and the monstrous beast broke through and roared in triumph. A cloud of dust rose up temporarily obscuring view. Ash nudged Max and he looked towards the dust cloud. He saw the shadow of the beast roar and large flaps of skin unfolded from its body. The things went down and the dust blew away. Max could now see that the flaps were actually giant wings. They were folded up so tight that Max hadn’t even noticed them. The creature roared and brought it's wings down and jumped at the same time. It rose slowly into the air. The wings went up and down once more and it got high into the air and it flew away out of sight.