by Jacob Raya
“Wait, Mom! Mom? Hello? Hello?”
Dammit. My mother had just hung up on me, and now I don’t even know if Rebecca and I will be safe tonight.
“Come on, Matt! Let's get the hell out of here!”
“Where will we go?”
“Back to the airport and catch a flight to the best safe haven!”
“And which one would that be?”
“The one down south near Los Angeles.”
“Okay, let's go get our tickets, and we should be able to get down there before night falls!”
“If we leave now, we’ll be able to buy last-minute tickets and catch the flight on time!”
“Then let's go!”
We headed back to the airport and got two tickets for Los Angeles for 8:00 p.m. We were lucky that it was almost summer and it didn’t get dark until around 8:30 p.m. We waited a few minutes until we could get our tickets, but the most unthinkable thing happened when the wait was over.
As soon as I got my ticket, a man with glasses was looking at Rebecca and I. He was staring at us without even moving a single muscle. I thought he must have been just a crazy person, but when we left the airport to get something to eat really quickly, he followed us to the restaurant. Shortly after, I got a call from my mother.
“Matt? Matt? Are you all right, son?”
“Yes, I’m fine Mom, why? What happened?”
“I tried calling your aunt to see if she and the others were safe, but she didn’t answer, and I tried calling her over five times already. I left three messages and just wanted to make sure that I could at least contact my kids.”
“I’m fine, Mom, and I’m pretty sure Jack is fine too, and Amy, she is probably with her boyfriend on their way to safety just like us.”
“This is serious, Matt, don’t turn it into a joke!”
“I’m not! I’m sure Aunt Clarissa is fine. She’s probably just as worried as you are and searching for a safe place, and most importantly, answers for this whole situation.”
“You’re probably right, but I tried calling her before about five hours ago, and there was no answer at that time, either!”
“Like I said, Mom, don’t worry about it. I’ve got to go now. I’ll talk to you soon. Love you.”
“Okay, bye, my sweet son! Love you too! Your dad wants to say hello as well, wait.”
“Son?”
“Yes, Dad?”
“Think smart, as I raised you. And take care of Rebecca. You’re the man, and a man takes care of his lady, right?”
“Yes, Dad. I will, don’t worry. The things you taught me won’t be forgotten.”
“Well, the phone will disconnect soon. Bye, my son, I love you and will see you soon. Love you.”
“Love you too, Dad, bye. Be safe.”
The phone disconnected.
After I hung up, Rebecca had that confused look on her face, but I could tell she knew what was going on, as my mother would worry more often than she sleeps.
“Was that your parents?”
“Yes, I don’t even have to say. You know when I’m talking to my parents anyway. They worry so much for no reason most of the time.”
“They’re just looking out for you, that's all, babe. They want to make sure their kids are all right, and that's what parents do. I’m pretty sure we’ll do the same when we have kids.”
“Yeah, I’m sure that you’ll be just like my mother when it comes to their kids growing up too fast and worry about what they will get into, or whether they raised them right.”
“Hey, we would be great parents. We have to figure out a way to get out of this problem we found ourselves in and start fresh.”
“You’re right about that part, but what about everyone else?”
“Like who?”
“The rest of my family? Your family? And all of our friends and people we ever knew?”
“They will all be fine. They are in good hands and so are we. We will be guided and know that we have taken the right path and that we will live the best lives we were guaranteed to live after we get past this terror.”
“But what about my cousins? They’re all dead! But who's to say that my uncles and aunts are all dead or alive, too?”
“Matt, even my cousins and other friends are probably dead, too! And from what has been going on, it seems that this thing is not going to stop! But as I said before, we must have faith that we will be guided to the right path, and we’ll be able to get out of this together!”
“That sounds enthusiastic and all, but can we get back to eating, I’m super hungry!”
“I’m hungry, too! Let's enjoy the rest of this meal.”
“That would be nice!”
So much for enjoying a meal surrounded by people panicking like us and news outlets going crazy over the massacres across the country.
We got back to eating, and in the middle of our dinner, we started to glance at the same man with the glasses and gray suit from time to time. We were scared as he walked passed us, swiftly dropping a card down on our table.
He left outside and drove away in an SUV. Rebecca and I were confused as to who the guy was, and if he was possibly working for the government and knew what that creature or series of events were.
“Do you suppose that guy could tell us what that creature is? Or what the hell is even going on?”
“I don’t think so, Rebecca.”
“Why not? There’s a number on the card. Let's try and call it to see who picks up.”
“Only one call.”
I called the number on the card, and it led me to a voicemail. The voicemail sounded a bit weird, but when I listened carefully, it turned out it was a prerecorded message and not a voicemail.
“Hello. Thanks for calling. We have tracked your number, and you are one of our first callers!”
The voice started to go from a solicitor’s voice to a more serious tone of voice.
“Matt, I know who you are. I know your wife too, Rebecca. Don’t say anything and just listen.”
“Ummm, okay?”
“I can lead you to the answers as to what killed your neighbors and those others in your city, state, and across this whole country.”
“How?”
“Trust me on this. This was a prerecording, and if you have gotten this far, you would have heard me say to look outside and you’ll see a black SUV out front.”
“I do see a black SUV!”
“Are you okay, babe?” Rebecca interrupted.
“Yeah, totally fine.”
“Now, just come join me, and I’ll show you the answers you seek.”
“Hold on; you might be a scammer yourself! Aren’t you?”
“Think that if you wish Matt, but I can help you protect your family from these creatures and tell you how to destroy them.”
“Wait, creatures? I thought there was only- “
“The choice is yours…”
My mind was racing as to what we should do, so I told Rebecca, and it was tough to convince her.
“Rebecca, this person that I called says they could help us.”
“Help us how?”
“Help us find the answers, and the fact that there is more than one creature crawling all over the country as well as how to put an end to them!”
“No, babe! No! Let’s stay here-”
“Hello, Rebecca.”
The man approached us at our table faster than we could speak.
“Who the hell are you?”
“I’m the person that spoke to Matt. I can show you all that will help you and he survive and tell you how we got to where we are in the first place. Trust me on this, please!”
“Well, we have no other choice now, do we?”
“We might as well trust you on this! Ain’t nobody out there ready for what could happen!”
“My car is right outside, and from this moment on, I will lead you to our facility, where we kept these creatures, and tell you how they got loose as well as how to kill them.”
&nbs
p; “How do you know all of this?”
“Trust me, I do. I worked for the facility and had federal documents on absolutely everything that needs to be known about this horrific disaster. We must trust one another and work together if we want to stay alive! This is only just the beginning of a disaster that we hoped wouldn’t have come true.”
6
Dawn of Perpetual Demise
Rebecca and I trusted the man, who hadn’t even mentioned his name to us. So we ended up following him to his car. He told us he would tell us the answers to all the occurrences and how these creatures even got here.
“I will tell you everything on the way to the safe zone. This zone is safe from those creatures and is highly protected. You won’t have to worry about anything.”
“So everything is taken care of?”
“Yes, Matt. All of your needs, including food, water, beds, bathrooms, showers, and things to keep you and Rebecca occupied so you don’t get bored, which happens from time to time. You both should be fine with us until we resolve this problem and put these creatures away for humanity's sake.”
“Okay, my fiancé and I trust you and will listen to whatever you have to say and whatever you may have us do, we will be obliged to do so.”
“But Matt, we don’t even know this guy,” Rebecca whispered.
“Trust me, Rebecca, this man seems trustworthy, and besides, we have no one else to turn to. It’s not like we would be safe at any of our family member’s homes, let alone our own parents’ houses.”
“I guess you're right. I’ll have to let you win this one, then. We’ll listen to him, and hopefully, he will lead us to safety away from those things.”
“Okay, you ready for a ride?”
“Yes.” Rebecca and Matt both said nervously.
“Okay, cool. It will take us approximately 30 minutes to get to our destination. So in the meantime, I will tell you how this all started.” “You have our ears, go ahead,” Matt said.
“Thank you. And where are my manners? I didn’t properly introduced myself back there. My name is Blake Michaels. I’m a CIA agent for the United States government and have been involved in many cases around the world, including terrorism and political issues and agreements. The start of all this found its birthplace at Franklin Avenue’s secret base. The base is located roughly two hours away from your home.
We have many other stations around the country, but this one in particular was home to some of those creatures, while the other stations across the country housed more of those creatures, and that’s how they all spread quickly amongst the United States. Let me not get sidetracked; for now, I’ll be discussing the base near your home.
This secret base was home to many things that were a subject of controversy and perfect for conspiracy theorists. A lot of the secretive stuff that was housed at the station included secret weapons that were not yet available for the military, secret locations for high income, such as natural minerals and resources, and, most significant and mysterious to the public, home to alien life forms. What we like to call these guys are code-named “EETS,” or Exothermic Extraterrestrial Species.
These aliens first came from an asteroid that was from the constellation Sagittarius. This asteroid came into contact with one of our space probes, called Empire 461. The probe was studying moons nearby that may have had water and minerals located on them.
Unfortunately, the asteroid hit our space probe, which sent all of our location devices off track, and we couldn’t track where the probe was anymore. We tried to get a secondary signal for Empire 461, but there was no luck in finding it.
Eventually, an unidentified flying object was seen around the International Space Station, and we were immediately contacted. We were told that it looked like our probe was in good shape, but we were of course confused, as we couldn’t get any signal from the space probe. And usually, when we or other space programs lose contact with a space probe, we assume it’s too late and is destroyed or lost in space.
Anyway, we waited for it to land on Earth so we could analyze if the asteroid left any fragments on our probe. It eventually fell precisely 200 yards from where I’m taking you right now.”
“What the hell, man?” Matt asked aggressively while clenching his fists.
“No, you're safe. That area has been contained, and there are no alien life forms there at the moment.”
“There better not be anything!”
“As I was saying, we took the asteroid fragments from the space probe and took them back to the labs for inspection. While we were looking over the fragments, we got an eerie phone call from one of our satellites, called Willow X1635Z. This satellite was in charge of keeping an eye out for solar flare threats that may find their way to Earth.
The phone call left me scared, as one of the crewmen was heard in the background yelling and panicking like the whole crew was more than just in trouble.
“Hey, get the hell off the phone, we need to get out of here now! Wait, wait! NO!”
“Then, the radio just cut off from there. We tried to make out what was happening on Willow X1635Z since we heard screams coming from all parts of the space station, and when we tried to locate the crew, there was no trace left of the station or information on if any of the team survived. All we found was a bit of black liquid contained on some parts that fell to Earth from the satellite. Oddly, these fragments were pretty close to where our original space probe was found.
We immediately sent out rescue teams to that area to see if there were any survivors. Sadly, all crew members had perished, and there were no life signs left from any of them. I remember shortly after returning to the base the fragments were just left unattended on a table, and I found a hole about the size of a basketball on the most substantial chunk.
I was angry and asked who was keeping watch, but of course, all of them didn't have the guts to say it was their fault. We don’t know what the hell came out of there, or if it was even something dangerous enough to alert the whole base.
Well, we found out the hard way that night. Night had fallen, and I was exhausted. It was about 1:00 in the morning as I was searching the whole base to see if there were any threats to us or signs of the fragments scattered across the base. But I found nothing. I decided to hit the hay, and the supposed two hours of sleep I got ended to the sounds of screams.
These sounded more terrifying than just a cry for help, as they were close to me; only a few feet away. I thought I was dreaming and got out of bed to splash my face with water. I went out into the hallway of the employees’ quarters and saw a few of my friends and coworkers lying scattered across the hall dead.
They had blood all over them, and a few of their arms and legs were missing along with their eyes, ears, and noses. I grabbed my security rifle and went searching the rest of the rooms. Sure enough, my neighbor was torn to pieces.
Poor fellow, he was so young, too. Fresh out of college and with a bright future ahead of him. I continued my search in the other rooms and found all my coworkers dead in pieces with blood splashed all over the walls in their rooms.
After a few minutes of searching, I came across a survivor. It was my friend Michael Anderson. He told me with his final breaths, “That thing must be stopped. Kill it. KILL IT!”
Those last words haunt me to this very moment. I searched the rest of the base, and in my search found something I didn’t want my precious eyes to see again. I walked into the rest area, but saw nothing but pitch darkness.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a little light that had fallen from the ceiling but was still functional. I saw something chewing on my friend's chest with that little bit of light that was in the room. The only thing that I could see was a black-looking hand on his face with white glowing eyes and razor-sharp teeth digging into his flesh.
Its hand looked like it had five fingers like us, but the only difference is that each finger was a long claw or talon of some sort. The claws were about 4 feet in length each!
I
stepped back quietly, and with my luck, I hit a cup that was resting on the countertop, and it fell to the floor with a loud bang. The sound alerted the creature, and at this moment I thought I was done for.
The creature stood up, and the small light revealed a taller, more intimidating being with small spikes sticking out of its back with no ears or nose.
The creature stood about 7 feet 6 inches tall, which scared me since I knew I couldn’t allow it to kill me, yet I didn’t know where to go. It just stared at me with its bloody mouth and claws, just watching me, ready to strike and put more pain on me than I already had endured.
But I turned around really fast and ran out into the hallway. I heard the creature following me with a full and terrifying roar, but when I looked back after only running about 10 feet, it was gone.
I looked back at the rest area where it was, and all I saw was that same black hand resting on the side door with one of its eyes staring at me. I thought to myself that this was my chance to run and save my life, and perhaps help others who may need me.
I ran to the main site of the base, where all the members could be located using the GPS as well as the tracking devices, which we had with us as rings on our index fingers. To my horror, there were no life signs left throughout the whole base.
Just a cold feeling of darkness, death, and only myself. Either they were dead, or hopefully had escaped and couldn’t be found on the tracker. I looked at all the security cameras and only saw a massive bloodbath. Body after body, friend after friend.
Just legs and arms here and there, those two parts missing on most of them, and even some were torn to pieces or in half with their intestines sticking out.
Others even had their chests ripped open with their hearts torn out. I threw up, but felt that it wasn't a sick feeling like when you have the flu, but rather a feeling of dread, and if I died, it would be sweeter than life right now.
I came across the camera view of the rest area and still saw the creature standing there with its hand on the door, and its one white, pale eye looking straight into the camera. It’s almost like it could sense where I was but didn’t want to come out and kill me for some reason. I searched for any files lying around the base, but found only bank statements and personal mail.
