by John J. Rust
Something flitted past behind her, racing from left to right.
“Did you see that?” Cheryl asked. Jesse nodded absently.
The reporter stopped talking and moved sideways. She remained partially in the frame and staring off camera at something. She seemed puzzled by it. Behind her, a white shape went streaking past. Then another. And another. They looked like the blurry forms Jesse had seen earlier.
The reporter kept moving closer to something.
Closer still.
They did look a lot like what Hannah had said, like dino-saurs. But that was impossible.
The woman’s eyes shot wide in terror. She opened her mouth to scream. It seemed to take a long second before any sound came out. Then it erupted all at once, and she screamed so loudly that her microphone clipped.
Cheryl flinched and grabbed Jesse. “What are those things? What the hell are they?” Her voice was pleading. She was shaking her head as if her mind was refusing to believe what her eyes were telling it.
“I dunno,” he replied, watching the reporter stop and take another breath before screaming again. He tucked his arm around Cheryl and pulled her closer.
Something slammed into the reporter. Cheryl jumped and pulled herself even closer to him. He could feel the bite of her fingernails through his work shirt. If he hadn’t been wearing it, she’d have probably drawn blood.
The reporter staggered forward. Again, she was struck hard. She collapsed, disappearing from the shot, going si-lent for a moment. Then from off camera she began shriek-ing, “Oh God, oh God, no!” And the oversized speakers next to the TV amplified her wailing cries.
The TV screen went dark. Had they cut it? Had they cut the feed? Mouth opening and closing mechanically, Jesse got stuck between hoping so and hoping not. The image stabilized. They hadn’t cut the feed. The reporter came back into the frame, rolling away from the camera, trying desperately to lift herself to her knees and escape her at-tackers. White-skinned creatures smothered her, too many to count.
“Hannah, shut your eyes!” Jesse snapped, keeping his own eyes glued to the TV.
In seconds, the reporter’s clothing was shredded and fall-ing off. She screamed out another high-pitched shriek and tried to stand, only managing to rise to her knees, her face remaining twisted and strained. She stumbled toward the camera, reaching out with bent fingers for the lens. She got nearer, and the microphone dangling from her hand fell away. The audio signal popped twice and cut off. Sound-lessly, she fought to get her feet beneath her while using her arms to protect her face. One of the white-skinned creatures leapt high enough to grab her arm. The thing hung there by its teeth, thrashing. Ribbons of pink flesh tore off, along with the navy blue material of her pantsuit. Skin, muscle, and tendons stretched like red rubber bands, pulling away from her body before finally snapping. The startled creature fell to the ground. Its mouth was full of meat and fabric. In a frenzy of chaotic motion, more creatures pounced on the stolen flesh while still more leapt on the woman and dug at the growing wounds, clawing away at them with three-toed forearms, or biting and tearing at her with their teeth. The reporter’s arms fell limply to her sides as if she’d lost control of them. Her mouth swung open. Stumbling closer to the camera, she dragged the mass of creatures along with her. Her lips began moving. She was trying to say something. It could have been, “Help me,” or maybe “Mama.” One of the creatures landed on her shoulder and perched there, digging in with its hind claws. It bent its neck sideways, obscuring most of her face from the camera. Then it shuddered, pulling at something. Finally, it leapt away, springing off her, leaving behind two gaping holes where her nostrils had once been.
Trina Martinez-Herald frantically snatched again for the camera. She gripped it with her bloody fingertips. On the screen, her face was huge, red, and out of focus. She and the camera fell as one to the ground. The image shifted to display a sideways picture of short, brown grass, lit by the high-powered light mounted on top of the camera. Jesse wanted to look away but couldn’t. He was too enthralled by the unfolding violence. One of the creatures moved closer to the camera. This time, the harsh light brought out every detail in crisp, clear high-definition. He realized Hannah was probably right. They did look like dinosaurs, straight out of Jurassic Park, only paler, meaner, and a whole lot uglier. In its mouth, the creature held a long bluish-gray cord with an orb attached to one end. The orb swung back and forth like a ball on a string.
“Is that… Is that her eyeball?” Cheryl asked in a quaver-ing voice.
The creature cocked its head to one side and stared into the camera lens. It blinked twice. Crimson blood ringed its maw. It then jerked its neck upwards and opened its mouth wide. Eyeball and trailing optic nerve vanished down its throat in one swallow. Icy waves of revulsion shot through Jesse. He instantly regretted what he had seen, but there was no taking it back. Movement in his living room caught his attention. As if yanked from a nightmare, he remem-bered his family and turned to Cheryl and Hannah.
Cheryl had covered her mouth with her hands. She was shuddering uncontrollably. She slowly leaned forward, roll-ing onto her feet. Without saying a word, she went stum-bling down the hallway toward the bathroom. Jesse sucked in a breath, fully inflating his chest. He rested his palms on his knees and forced himself back into a state of practiced calm.
Taking him by surprise, Hannah, with her teddy bear firmly clenched in her hands, clambered onto his lap and wrapped her arms around him. She was breathing rapidly. He could feel her tiny heart thudding away. She saw that? he thought. She saw that? Aching inside for being so stupid as to let her witness the brutal attack, he scolded himself, wanting to take it all back and somehow erase it from her memory. But he realized he couldn’t, so he did the only thing he could think of doing. He wrapped his thick arms around her and held her close to his chest. She sniffled and let go of her teddy bear to hug him even harder.
He held her and started rocking, listening to the sounds of Cheryl retching in the bathroom down the hall. He fig-ured he’d better check on her soon, but she was an adult. She’d survive. He had something more important that he needed to do. He bent and kissed Hannah gently on the top of her head. “It’s all right, pumpkin. Don’t be afraid. I’m here, and I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She pushed away and gazed up at him. Her pupils were large. He could clearly see the terror in them.
“Promise?” she asked.
“Promise.”
Raptor Apocalypse is available from Amazon here