The End

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

A scream gets caught up in my throat, strangling my voice, enabling me to speak. I look around at the sight before me. People screaming. Building collapsing. Different creatures attacking and demolishing the citizens of my city. My voice gets caught up, so I just run. Run away from all of this although it's impossible. More screams. My neighbor gets pounced on by a huge tiger-like thing who digs his teeth into her throat. Her guttural shriek gets caught up as her neck gets ripped open and her body stills, her eyes wide open. I avert my horror-stricken gaze and keep running, adrenaline racing throughout my body. I look to where I am running. The woods. I finally reach the tree line and collide into the wood in a wrack of caught up shrieks. I cling to the tree like it's my life and I scream and scream, the screams of agony of my fellow neighbors piercing my eardrums, melting my legs, wracking my mind of common sense. The tears don't come. My screams sound strangled, like I can't scream loud enough. My fingernails dig deeper into the bark. My head whips back around and the ugly creatures keep splattering the lives of my fellow citizens. I turn back around and hug the tree so hard the bark starts peeling.

"Jaden." A hand cups my shoulder and I jump. It's Ethan. Relief floods through me and a second later I am in his arms.

"Jaden, okay listen to me." I reluctantly look up at him and wipe the hair from my face. "Jaden, we aren't safe here. We need to get to safety. There's this underground tunnel where all of the survivors are hiding. You have to follow me, okay?" I nod,my thoughts all jumbling together. Then he grabs my arm and leads my breathless figure around the tree line and the many dying souls and eventually we come to a cave-like entrance. I think that it's one of our underground food farms. I look around for my family and I soon find my mom and brother huddling together a little ways away. Patrick is sobbing into my mom's dress and my mom has her arms around him, crying as well. I rush over to them in a hurry.

"Jaden!" My mom holds her arms out once she sees me and bundles me up into a hug. Part of me actually wants that hug, but something else is on my mind.

"Where's Dad?" I softly push her away and look from her to Patrick.

My mom's face twists into a devastated state. "Jaden..." She reaches out to stroke my cheek, but I slap her hand away, impatiently.

"Where is he?" I repeat. "Is he..."

"Jaden, dear...he went off to fight. Fight the monsters."

My face goes white. This can't be happening. Fear claws and spears and scrapes and pummels me over and over again.

"Jaden, no!" My mom screams as I turn around and start running to the exit. People's panicked screams and voices all blur as the reality of my dad's fate dawns on me. I sprint out to the broken up city. I hear Ethan going after me, but I don't stop. I need to find my dad. I need to find my dad. I hide around buildings. He couldn't have gone very far. I hear a gutteral shriek and I turn in horror to see a huge, skeletal-like serpent thing with huge jaws armed with teeth. It lounges at me and I jump away onto the floor. I scream as it tries a second attempt. I roll on the ground to try and shield myself of the terror. I scream again and the thing comes for me again. This time it grazes my arm. Pain explodes through my arm.

It's teeth are glowing white. Just like the other creature. I look at my arm. No tooth is embedded. I stand up, but stumble to my shaking knees. It coils up, ready to strike me again.

"Jaden!"

Both relief and terror pulses through me. The voice belongs to my dad. He shoots at the creature, who yowls and turns to face him. He shoots again, hitting it square in the head, creating a dent. But this thing is stronger than it looks. It's body whips around to coil around my dad, who is trying to break free.

"Dad, no!" I shriek. I crawl on my knees to try and distract the thing, when all of a sudden, it goes limp and falls to the ground. My dad must have killed it. He gets up unsteadily and I rush over to him to help him up. "Dad! Dad we have to get out of here. Please, come with me!"

My dad shakes his head. "I'm sorry, Jaden. But this is my duty. I have to go out and fight."

"But Dad--"

"Jaden, just stay in the shelter. We're planning an escape route. You're going to be okay." He grips my face with both hands. "You hear me? You're going to be okay. Be strong. I love you. And tell Patrick and your mother that I love them too."

I stare into my father's steady, hard eyes, his face covered with dirt. "I love you too." I whisper. Fear claws at my stomach and bites down hard.

Then my father kisses my forehead softly, then disappears into the smoke.

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I gasp for air. Then I obediently return to the shelter where my mother and Patrick and Ethan are waiting. I keep my face clear of emotion. What if my father does come back? He's strong. He'll come back for us. I'm sure of it. At least, I want to be optimistic about the situation.

The next couple of hours are brutal. The constant shrieks and wails for help pierce the underground with terror. What if they find us in here? Every time I hear a human scream, I always wonder who it was that got killed this time. Patrick continues hugging my mother and I'm trying to stay strong, but I still let Ethan kind of shield me from the horror.

Finally, after what seems like ages, a man tells us that a plane is going to come for us in a few minutes, but that we will have to run out in the open for a few seconds to reach it. My stomach is tight with terror at the thought of running out there with those vicious things after us. But I know that I have to stay strong and get through it for my safety.

Finally, the plane reaches us. Everyone lines up, getting ready to run a be-line for the plane. I gather up my breath and remember to keep my eyes forward and focus on the plane. My fingernails dig into my palms. My mother grabs my wrist and Patrick's as we near to the front of the line. I take a deep breath, trying to ignore the feeling that I'm gurgling my heart.

Then it's our turn. My mother squeezes my wrist, then lets go and disappears into the smoke and ruins ahead of us.

I take one more gulp of air, then follow her into what seems like an earthly hell.

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Adrenaline shoots throughout my entire body. My vision all seems like a blur. The sensation is like the sensation you get while riding a roller coaster, only about a hundred times worse. The smoke billowing up into the sky and the cries of both humans and aliens alike is all that I can process as I sprint forward into seemingly nothingness. Then I see it. A small plane landed just several feet from me. My breath quickens even more. The adrenaline quickens. All I'm thinking is get to the plane. Get to the plane. Get to the plane. And then I spot something. Something just a few feet from me laying on the ground. Blood mats the entire body, and the limbs are twisted in unnatural ways. My eyes focus on the fallen body, and once I recognize it, I feel everything internal collapse. I lower my pace to a stop as I stare at the fallen figure. A scream rips its way inside of me. I dreaded, horrified, disbelieving scream. My knees shake harder than they ever have. My lungs stop functioning. My heart stops. My entire body goes numb. My eyes widen. My soul screams and screams and screams.

The body of the fallen man is my father.