Night Terrors

We only had a few hours to get to the nearest outpost. I was pushing the big tub of a car as fast as it could go, yet all the smaller cars buzzed past. I knew it was no use. Even if we made it before the deadline, the place would be packed, and we would never get in. We had to figure something out quickly.

Jason the Jerk suggested, of course, that we simply leave the others behind to fend for themselves, including three small children. I couldn’t help but be shocked by the comment, but I was not surprised. In my opinion, he was much worse than his nickname. He was a horrible human being.

My hope for humanity was restored when Aaron pulled the controls down and to the right, towards a small coffee shop, then turned and punched Jason in the face, knocking him out. We drifted to a parking area, and came close enough for the structure to latch onto our car and direct us into a space.

The place was empty. It had probably been mostly empty for the past several weeks, ever since the Night Terrors began to attack. They would attack in massive groups, with those terrifying screams and teeth. The teeth were all you could see, like flying wolf dentures. They were always covered with blood and puss, and bits of flesh, which meant they had already killed many others. I never saw their bodies, if they even had bodies.

None of us ever expected it to end this way. We always assumed it would be global warming, or even a massive volcano or asteroid. We never expected to be ripped apart by one of nature’s new creations. We never expected one of nature’s creations to be so terrifying.

We immediately began reinforcing all of the walls of the coffee shop as best we could. There was no way to make it as secure as the outpost, with it’s two foot thick metal walls, and all those extra layers of protection and monitoring equipment between each layer. The outpost also had enormous guns that would actually work against those things. Regular hand guns were useless.

By the time we were finished, the sun was about to go down. I looked through the last little viewing hole to see how much time was left. Some idiot made the last hole behind some bushes, so we wouldn’t know for sure when it was time, but it was beautiful, so I snapped a picture of it. Then I prayed I’d get to show my future children the picture one day. I was already pregnant with you, Danny. Lydia, you would come three years later. The idiot who had decided to put our last viewing hole behind some bushes was your father. Don’t worry, I forgave him.

I set my camera phone in a safe place. The night terrors didn’t care about anything but blood. The only way my phone would have gotten destroyed is if someone fell or stepped on it. I came back to the hole. The sun was already completely gone, behind the bushes. We covered the hole, and secured the metal. Luckily, the coffee shop had plenty of supplies. Most establishments had begun to keep their supplies stocked up to help anyone who could not make it to an outpost. We were very grateful, and it meant that if we lived, we would be the next to stock the place up, which as you know by the fact that you exist, your dad and I at least were two survivors.

Suddenly those horrible screams began. When I first heard them, I thought the sound was coming from screaming people. The fact is, people don’t scream that loudly. The sound the NT’s made was deafening, and horrifying. It was truly a scream that made our blood curdle.

The NT’s first headed for the outpost to grab all the stragglers who had missed the cut-off time. I remember feeling guilty; hoping there were a lot of stragglers, so the NT’s wouldn’t have time to get to us. Fortunately for my physical well being, but unfortunately for my psyche, there were. I guess there had been a big concert in town, but the logistics had not been well planned. At least they had a good time before the feast began.

When the NT’s finally came for us, there must have been only a few hundred of them left. The outpost had gunned down most of them. They would fold their teethy beaks together to form long spears. Some of them would fly up high, then take a nose dive straight down and stab the roof. Others would fly far out, then attack the sides of the coffee shop, stabbing through the wood, denting our metal defenses, and loosening the screws and bolts.

Suddenly I had my first encounter with a night terror. One of them stabbed straight through the weakened metal, and slammed against the wall on the other side. It pulled itself up onto the bar with what appeared to be an invisible body. We could only see those bloody teeth. This one had what appeared to be very thick drool oozing out, and three fairly large pieces of brain stuck to it’s teeth. It quickly surveyed the room, then stared directly at me. I must have looked like the juiciest person there, with my big Danny belly sticking out.

I went to prepare my weapon, and realized it was much too small to fight the thing off. The NT widened its mouth in preparation for a big bite, and let out one of its ear-piercing screams, then flew straight for me. I fell, and one of its teeth nicked my knee as your father stabbed the thing from the side with a long pole. The NT knocked him out of the way with one of its invisible wings, then widened its mouth and screamed again. It was right above me, about to take me up in one bite.

All of a sudden, the thing turned its attention. It seemed to be listening to something the other NT’s were communicating through their screams, and flew off. They left us alone after that, and didn’t come back. It all ended as soon as it had begun.

Scientists think it’s some sort of hibernation we don’t understand. They believe the NT’s had been hiding underground for thousands and thousands, or maybe even millions of years. They have been coming out of hibernation about every seven years, for about six weeks, attempting to viciously attack and eat every living thing on Earth. They then go back into hibernation or living underground. This all started happening 27 years ago. Nobody wants to search for them to find out the details.


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