Wings of Death

Let there be hope

Nathan took a deep breath and stepped outside. It was dark, the streetlights had been shattered and the power still hadn’t been restored. With feline poise, he traced his way to the storage room. He had to get the backup generator up and running. After fumbling for the keys for a few seconds he finally managed to open the door. The flashlight guided him to the backup generator and he pressed the power button. He was breathing uneasily and his mind was still focused on those winged monsters. He had been outside for three minutes now but he could not hear any screams.

Nathan decided to investigate the matter and crawled up to the broken window. He peeped outside with a trembling heart. Nothing! It looked just like a normal night. It was raining outside and the monsters were nowhere to be seen. Mustering up his courage he slowly climbed out of the window, careful not to step on the broken shards of glass. As he looked at the street, he saw clumps of feathers scattered all around along with the corpses of many of his neighbors. He was perplexed by these clumps of feathers and decided to examine them from up close. It seemed as if they had been burned by some acid. He poked at the clumps with his shoes; they revealed a mass of corroded bones and scales. Taking out a handkerchief from his pocket he picked up a feather with it. He thought to himself, “Could these be the feathers of those monsters?” By now he was completely drenched in the rain. After surveying his immediate surroundings for a while he decided to go back inside the house. Nathan still needed to get back to his room and find his backpack. He moved quietly up the stairs and reached his room on the first floor. He picked up his backpack and grabbed a few shirts and track pants from the closet.  Nathan’s backpack contained a laptop, a portable charging device and a pepper spray.  He sat down on his bed and thrust the clothes into his backpack. “Oh. I almost forgot about the food and water”, he said to himself. Nathan got out of his room and went to the refrigerator to stock up on supplies. He took out five cans of sardines, three cups of ice cream, a few bottles of water and some cinnamon rolls. There was only one insulin injection left. He grabbed it from the tray and put everything inside a plastic shopping bag and tied a knot at the top. Before going back to the basement he thought perhaps he should grab some biscuits and chips from the kitchen. As soon as he opened the kitchen door, he heard that familiar screeching sound. It sent a shiver down his spine and he started shaking in terror. He knew he could not loiter around anymore and went back to the basement.

Mr. and Mrs. Browning were waiting for him with baited breath. Mrs. Browning hugged him tightly and started sobbing, “Thank God, you are okay”.

“I was about to go out and look for you”, added his dad.

“I told you I’d be back dad. You don’t need to worry about it”, replied Nathan.

Mr. Browning noticed that he was holding something in his handkerchief and his clothes were all wet. With a look of horror he questioned Nathan, “Why are your clothes all wet? Had you gone outside?”

Nathan put his backpack and shopping bag on the ground and tried to avoid his dad’s gaze.

“Look at me son! I am asking you a question” thundered Mr. Browning.

“Dad, I just went outside for a minute. There were no monsters outside and it was raining. Just stop shouting at me. I am fine. See?”

His dad could not believe what he had just heard. “You were supposed to get the supplies and return immediately. This is not a game son. You just saw what happened out there on the streets. You could have died son! Promise me this won’t happen again.”

“I promise dad. I just got carried away”, Nathan replied apologetically.

“You still did not tell me what’s that you have over there in your handkerchief?”

Nathan was about to say something when his mom interrupted him by saying, “Okay, I think that’s enough”. Turning to Mr. Browning she added, “We need to stop quarreling among ourselves. Let us just sit down and eat something now”.

The feather remained a secret. Nathan switched on the lights and they all sat down and ate a can of sardines and some cinnamon rolls. After eating his dinner, Nathan decided to turn on the T.V. Oddly enough the news channel displayed an error message which read, “WE ARE EXPERIENCING SOME TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES”. He tried surfing the other news channels but they all were blank. A thought flashed across his mind, maybe the monsters had reached the news studios and the reporters were trapped inside. He was terrified at this thought; it meant that they would no longer be able to know what was going on outside.

Mrs. Browning insisted that they should try and get some sleep now but none of them were feeling sleepy. They were anxious and needed to find out what was happening outside. Nathan tried surfing the internet but the websites were down. None of the news apps were working. Even the social media platforms had shut down with error messages.

Mr. Browning remembered he had an old radio stashed away in a cupboard in this room. He took out the antique radio covered in dust and cobwebs and began cleaning it with his handkerchief. After having thoroughly cleaned it, he adjusted the antenna and turned it on. It was rather difficult to get a clear signal in the basement, so he had to keep on adjusting the antenna. Ten minutes had passed and Mr. Browning was still scanning through all the known frequencies. Suddenly, a female voice was heard on the radio. She kept on repeating the following lines:

“This is an important government announcement. All surviving civilians should pay close attention! I am Dr. Erica Von Hart. We are now broadcasting from an open military frequency. The monsters are everywhere now. The news studios also came under attack and now none of the news channels can reach out to the public. So listen up people, this is going to be your only source of news from now on”.