Wings of Death

The creature

Dr. Erica Von Hart was a biologist who had spent 5 years of her life working for the secret research facility in Area 31 . She had a knack of examining every living thing she could get her hands on, under the electron microscope. She enjoyed conducting all sorts of experiments on different birds and fishes. Three years ago she had created a genetically modified Eagle which could spit venom while airborne. What happened to that crazy eagle? Some say she had to put it down due to some complications. Others spread stories about how she is trying to secretly breed the eagle and create another monstrosity. Dr. Von Hart had also engineered a virus which was capable of killing cancer cells in the lungs without causing any harm to the patient. She was currently trying to find out more about these monsters which had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and started killing everyone in sight.

She continued on the radio, “As you all know, we are facing an unknown enemy. I am a biologist working for the department of defense and tonight I am about to give you some valuable information about these creatures.” There was a pause after which she continued, “Well, if we are to discuss these strange avian monsters I think it is best to give them a name. From now on they will be known as ‘Bloodwings’. From the eye witness accounts and video recordings it is clear that the Bloodwings are roughly the size of a human being, they have a large wingspan of three metres which allows them to fly at an altitude of about 500 metres. We have also heard reports of their incredible flying speeds. I estimate their average flying speed to be in the range of 100-150 miles an hour. Their bodies are covered in tough scales which deflect all small arms fire. However, explosive rounds such as rockets and missiles are capable of shattering them with ease. The main problem is getting close to them to land an accurate hit with a rocket or grenade launcher. It seems they do not like engaging in close combat so they use their terrifying screams to hunt down their victims. If you hear their screams for more than five minutes you will suffer internal bleeding, go partially blind, and experience a complete loss of hearing and eventually end up dead. Their screams also cause interference with the RADAR systems and propellers on air crafts and choppers, which is precisely the reason why our choppers lost control and crashed. There is only one way to escape from these creatures. Hide in any underground facility such as a basement, parking lot, bunker or subway. Just make sure that there are no glass windows or openings because the sounds they emit easily penetrate glass, plastic and wood. It appears that concrete and metal structures absorb most of the sound. In other words, if you are inside a concrete basement or bunker then their screams won’t kill you. At the most the dampened noise can cause some temporary uneasiness and nausea. If you get caught in the open, the best thing to do would be to cover your ears with your hands and run for the nearest underground shelter. Covering your ears will reduce the intensity of the noise before it reaches your ear drum. This will buy you valuable time. Just remember that covering your ears is not a permanent solution. At best you will have 10 minutes before you start to bleed out. So your first priority should be to find a closed shelter as fast as possible. You will now be hearing the first-hand account of a survivor who successfully managed to flee from a Bloodwing.”

The scholarly female voice was replaced by a shrill girly voice. The speaker was probably a teenager. She spoke in an uneasy and nervous manner, “I am Olivia Jones. My family was killed by the Bloodwings. I managed to outrun them but my…mom and dad…” She broke down into tears in the middle of her account. Another voice, probably Dr. Hart's, was heard, she was trying to console Olivia as best as possible. After two minutes she continued with her story, “We were returning from the shopping mall when those monsters appeared out of nowhere. My dad told me we should stay in our car but that was a terrible idea. We heard terrifying screams and in a few minutes our car’s windows were shattered and I convinced my parents to get out of the car. We started running for our lives but then dad suddenly stopped in the middle of the road. A Bloodwing came near him and I saw its face. It had the face of a beautiful girl. My dad just kept looking into her eyes and he would not even listen to our shouts and screams. My mom tried to pull him away but it was of no use. It was as if my dad had gone into a trance, he just kept smiling. I tried to help them but a military captain pulled me away and shoved me into his car. I know I would have been killed too if it was not for that captain. I just wish my parents could have been saved too.” She started sobbing again and kept on muttering, “Why would you just stand there dad? You should have run dad, you should have run”.

Dr. Hart cut her short and went on to give further details about the Bloodwings. Nathan and his family felt sorry for Olivia but they were relieved to find out that the basement was a safe spot. They were glad that all of them had managed to survive the beginning of this ordeal. Only time could reveal what lay in store for them. For now, all they could do was hide from these monsters. Without wasting any more time, Nathan decided to call Alex and Margaret and let them know about the radio announcement which they had just heard.