SmackDown: Back to Our Roots

Round 1: Clitter Clatter - @Sephuran

Clitter Clatter

by Sephuran

We are many. We are one. We have seen what has become of this world, and who is responsible. We demand punishment. We demand repayment. We do not forget.

Bray sleeps restlessly, pawing at his bedsheets as he squirms.

We have seen this world burn. We have seen this world freeze. We have seen this world suffocate. We have survived these calamities but you, you must be stopped.

Bray's skin crawls and his body shivers as he wrestles with his seemingly un-ending nightmare.

We have waited for you to right your wrongs. We have waited far too long. No more waiting. This ends now!

Bray mindlessly flings his arm which swipes the ceramic lamp sitting precariously on his bedside table. The lamp falls to the floor and splinters apart with a terrific crash. The sound of the break rouses Bray and he awakens with a sharp intake of breath. His room is dark and still, the nightmare is over. After taking a moment to collect himself he crouches onto the floor and picks up the pieces of his broken lamp. As he dumps the ceramic shards, he notices Betty, his pet mantis, watching him clean.

"Sorry Betty, I hope I didn't scare you. Not that you can feel fear, right?"

Betty shifts her legs and cleans her mandibles.

"Heh, I didn't think so. These nightmares have been getting worse but at least I have you looking after me."

Bray pets the top of Betty's plastic tank before heading back to bed. He resets his sheets and tucks himself in tight. He does his best to fall back asleep but for a long while he struggles with shaking the feeling that something is terribly off.

***

The following day is a miserable one. The sky is a foreboding dark grey with rain spitting down onto the small town of Crawford. Bray's sleepless night has left him in an almost zombie-like state, dragging his feet around his home as he slowly washes up, gets dressed and eats a mediocre plate of strawberry jam on toast. His parents pay little attention to his fatigue, instead giving far more value to getting ready for work and making sure the cat is fed and happy. Bray for the most-part is left to care for himself which he does without much fuss. Despite his slow pace Bray still manages to make it out the door on-time and out to the curb where he finds his friends waiting for the school bus.

"You look like crap Bray," Dennis remarks. A big call coming from a tall, pale, ghostly looking teen.

"Thanks Dennis, I wasn't sure until now," Bray smirks.

"Nightmares again?" Troy asks. Unlike his namesake Troy is small and meek but makes up for it with plenty of pep.

"Yeah. Although they're not like normal nightmares," Bray furrows his brow and scratches the back of his head.

"What do you mean by that?" Dennis inquires.

"Well...Other nightmares I've had are just scary situations. Falling off a cliff, being chased through the woods, embarrassing myself in-front of Victoria Crane...stuff like that. Lately though they've just been...feelings."

"Feelings? How do you dream about feelings?" asks Troy, sceptical as always.

Bray racks his brain trying to explain himself and struggles to recall what he'd felt in the first place. Before Bray can compose his thoughts, another boy runs up to the group; Finlay, the final member of this intrepid quartet.

"Guys! Guys! You won't believe what I just saw!" Finlay yells as he practically bowls over the other three.

"Christ! Calm down Fin." Dennis barks, brushing himself down, "what's got you so excited?"

"You know that old bloke with the big garden? Mr. Fletcher? His whole house has been infested with bugs!"

"Eww, gross." Troy shivers.

"What kind of bugs?" asks Bray.

"That's the crazy thing. It's all sorts of 'em! Roaches, centipedes, ants, mantids, you name it that place is crawling with them."

"Now that's a nightmare. Mr. Fletcher must be off his nut about it!" Dennis giggles.

"I'm not so sure about Mr. Fletcher. All I could see was all the bugs." Troy replies.

As the boys talk a blaring of sirens emanates from up the road. In no time at all a convoy of police and medical vehicles speeds past the four boys heading back towards where Troy had come from. Following soon after the emergency vehicles is the school bus which pulls up in-front of the boys.

"Hurry up! Traffics a disaster today. Don't want to be late," barks the bus driver.

The boys all comply and quickly mount the big yellow bus. Bray hops on last but out of the corner of his eye he spots some odd movement. The back-wheel of the bus looks funny, as if it was jiggling. Peering closer Bray manages to spot a fat cluster of grubs crawling over the hub-cap.

"Oi! What'd I just say!" yells the bus driver.

"Oh, sorry. I'm just a bit out of it." Bray responds.

Bray hops on the bus and takes an empty seat behind his friends.

***

The bus driver wasn't wrong when she said the traffic was rough. No sooner had they entered the highway that they'd find themselves stuck in a vicious gridlock. The bus driver, in her wisdom, turned on the radio and played it through the speakers, hoping that the soothing tunes of Kidz Bop would soothe the restless teens. Shortly afterwards however an alarming tone begins to blare, the driver tries changing station but all of them have the same clanging tone.

"This is the emergency broadcast system. This is not a test. This is the emergency broadcast system. This is not a test."

The students all sit in silent either looking at each other or outside for some sort of clue as to what is going on. The radio keeps repeating the alarm until it is interrupted by someone speaking with a great deal of authority.

"Ladies and gentlemen of this great nation. I am here now to inform you all that an event is currently taking place that is beyond comprehension or reason. From the early hours of this morning we have been receiving reports of attacks of a biological nature from all over the country. Not only that, we have confirmed reports that similar incidents are occurring throughout every corner of the globe. The cause for these attacks remains unknown. What we understand is that insects, of all varieties and sizes, have begun to swarm and act violently to any and all human beings they encounter. Current efforts to stem the threat of this plague have so far had limited success. As such, I implore you all to remain indoors, seal your homes and businesses as best you can and await further instruction. This is a crisis of biblical proportions. God help us."

The message begins to repeat and continues to do so. Panic begins to settle in the eyes of the students, even the bus driver is clinging tightly to her steering wheel. Most of the kids turn to their phones and begin to realise the gravity of the situation. Bray however is fixated on what's outside. He begins to recall the words that were reverberating in his head as he slept. He notices on the horizon an odd black cloud. Slowly but steadily the cloud begins to grow, shifting in an unnatural pattern, almost as if it were alive. It is at this moment, over the panicked cries of his peers and the ominous tones of the emergency broadcast, he hears it. He hears the buzzing. The endless, overwhelming buzzing.