With the echo of his first words spoken in the ruins of what clearly appeared to be his lab, Thomas moved off the platform before any further unpleasantness could occur. He moved over to the still sparking wall of servers, a few lights could be seen blinking beneath a thick layer of dust.
The building began creaking ominously causing him to look towards the gaping holes in the wall. He could see the dark and somehow even angrier looking clouds growing closer. That will be a problem soon, he thought while turning back to the server racks. “Ah-ha, there you are” Thomas said while tugging on a grime covered handle. After a couple tries, a tray slowly began to slide out with the squealing of seized up bearings being forced to move.
With a grunt of effort he managed to pull the tray out to its full extension and quickly pushed up on one section revealing a screen and keyboard. The screen flickered and blinked a few times before the image resolved to a familiar login screen, and Thomas offered up a quick prayer before entering his password. The two most glorious words appeared, Password Accepted, and Thomas let out a breath he didn''t realize he had been holding as the screen switched over the desktop view.
“That can’t be right,” he said, staring at the little date/time indicator in the bottom corner of the screen. “No way that can be right” he repeated as he tapped the side of the screen, hoping that would change the numbers being displayed. Stepping back from the terminal, he began muttering over and over that there''s no way this can be right, no possible way 86 years had passed. A loud crack of lightning followed by a bone rattling rumble of thunder refocused his attention
Returning to the computer terminal, Thomas pointedly ignored the date, still having difficulty coming to terms with it showing November 3rd, 2138 instead of June 20th, 2052. That was a problem he could break down over later, after finding some shelter. Furiously typing away at the keyboard, casting the occasional glance over his shoulder at the quickly approaching storm, Thomas finally found the info he was looking for as the first pattering of rain began to strike the hole in the wall. Closing the lid and pushing the release latch on the side, he detached the terminal and tucked it under his arm as he looked around the room, his eyes settling on a pile of rags in the middle of the room. That would have to do, he thought, casting a glance at the increasing number of rain drops making it through the hole. A burning sensation in his leg suddenly interrupted all thought, snapping his gaze down to his right leg, and the shaft of wood sticking out of it.
With a scream of pain he stepped back, causing the shaft of wood to pull out. Thomas immediately regretted this as the sudden weight being placed on his now bleeding leg caused it to begin to buckle and collapse. Catching himself on the remains of a chair did not help as the chair broke apart under his weight, and Thomas collapsed to the floor, groaning in pain.
A chittering noise drew his attention back to where he had been heading. Through eyes teary with pain he saw the pile of rags shift and a twisted looking creature stood up. A bit over a half meter in height, grayish skin with a leathery appearance, close set eyes, nearly black in their appearance in the rapidly fading light. What he had originally taken as a pile of rags was actually the creature''s cloak, hanging down its back with bits of the torn fabric blowing in the wind. Its lips pulled back as it opened its mouth, revealing pointed teeth that it ran its black tongue over. In its hands it held what may have once been a wooden broom or mop handle, one end sharpened to a dull point.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The creature began shuffling forward, toward Thomas lying prone on the floor while thrusting its spear at him. He quickly began to shuffle and slide backwards, trying to avoid being hit and only being mostly successful. Most thrusts at his body hit only the floor, and once the sole of his left boot, urging his retreat from this creature. One hit scored a shallow gash on his already wounded leg, and the creature seemed to let out a gurgling noise that may have passed as delight.
As Thomas felt the back of his head strike the wall, he knew he was in trouble. He had no combat training, he wasn''t a soldier and had no interests in martial arts besides in movies. He had no weapons and nobody was coming to save him, Panic raged within his body, fight or flight took over and as the creature leapt forward, aiming to pierce his chest, Thomas rolled to the left.
The creature''s spear splintered against the wall, sending the creature stumbling forward. Thomas kicked out at it with his good leg and connected with its torso and sent it flying. Clenching his teeth in pain and using the wall to help him stand up, he looked first to the creature, laying in a crumpled heap on the far side of the room, and then at the hole in the wall.
Thomas fled, he had no allusions of being a great fighter, and he figured something that small probably didn’t hunt alone. Tucking the case close to his chest, he limped as fast as his injured leg would allow for the exit and passed through the hole into the downpour outside.
A flash of lighting saved Thomas’s life, revealing a group of the creatures lurking between two buildings that had collapsed into each other that he had been making his way towards. He was using the old water tower, now missing half its top as a guide on his trek across the base. It was less than a kilometers distance between the building that had held his lab and the mess hall, but burnt out hulks of vehicles, collapsed buildings and even collapsed and flooded sections of road kept causing him to have to detour around.
Ducking around the corner of a wall, praying that he hadn’t been noticed, he continued to limp along. He knew he needed to do more to treat his leg than the quick wrap he had done with a torn piece of his shirt, but that would have to wait until he was safe.
Crossing the street to avoid another flooded section, he stepped into a covered bus stop and dropped to the ground as a terrifying screech echoed from above. Over the sound of the rain he could hear agitated chittering from the creatures and as the lightning flashed once again, he saw the group he hoped he had avoided.
The Creatures were scurrying away in all directions, the reason revealed itself as a monstrous bird plummeted from above, crashing into the party of creatures and appearing to crush two of them beneath its body. It looked like a mad scientist had taken a goose, made it ten times bigger, ripped out half its feathers and for good measure, gave it wicked looking talons.
Some of the remaining creatures seemed to regroup and made to threaten the massive bird monster, but its hissing screech caused the rest to flee. Slowly, Thomas rose from the ground and moving as quietly as he could, continued on. It took him another thirty minutes of cautiously moving forward before he arrived at the mess hall.
It appeared that the roof had been blown off at some point, like some giant had taken a can opener to the top of the metal structure. Thomas entered cautiously, drawing on every action and spy movie he had ever seen for inspiration as he limped forward. He crept through the darkness, lit occasionally by the increasingly frequent lightning strikes until he found what looked like an ordinary closet double door.
Inside the closet he saw his goal, faded yellow and red paint in a stripped pattern around a metal door set in the wall. A dust covered sign proclaiming [ Emergency Shelter #05 ], a metal wheel set in a bracket on the wall next to it. Thomas attached the wheel to the door, and with a long and loud grunt of effort, felt the wheel begin to turn and the bolts retract within the door. With the last of his strength he heaved and pulled the door open just enough to step inside.
Detaching the wheel and entering, Thomas closed and resealed the door before collapsing to the ground in relief and exhaustion. Safety at last, was his final thought before his consciousness faded.