Immediately after geography lecture I scrambled out of the class, holding up my books high above my head because of the bustle in the wide hallway filled with overly-energetic promising students going and coming from their various classes.
I probably looked dorky holding my books up like that but I didn't care much. I wasn't exactly the tallest person around and I was certain someone in the crowd would knock my stuff out of my arms, accidentally or maybe just for fun. Yeah it happens.
I finally broke out of the chattering crowd and bounded past the double glass doors that led to the fields. Wellington University was designed like a final boss' castle with its greyish theme and cobblestone walls, and the college's dark ripped flags hanging from the corners.
I hurried past students hanging out on the field, having lunch in small groups or throwing frisbees. They all looked so happy for whatever reason.
Ugh, I hated school.
I finally stopped at a huge pine tree and plopped down, pouring my books from my arms onto the grass.
I didn't get to complete my assignments. Once again. And I'd blame Meg for distracting me with a new shonen anime…but let's forget about that for now.
I had about thirty minutes until the next class which was enough time for me to scribble a few answers down on my math question book. I just had to wait for Meg to bring our coffee...
Meg and I had been friends since freshman year. We'd bonded over a couple of anime shows. It turned out we both had an unhealthy addiction to extremely violent and traumatizing anime. Meg was a super weird individual, not that I cared...too much. I was just glad to have a friend.
Speaking of, what was taking Meg so long?
I'd been sitting here, waiting, for nearly ten minutes now. She should know we needed to finish our assignments…together. I actually just needed her help with the quadratic equations part.
She was much smarter when she's locked in. Though, her ADHD was a problem—somehow even worse than mine. She'd linger over the most dumb stuff... and that was probably what was keeping her now.
A warm breeze blew across the field picking up dead leaves and sand. I remained there, watching students chasing each other and laughing as the wind picked up, ruffling their hair and clothes.
They all looked so happy and gleeful, it almost made me want to throw up. Nobody should be that happy in a school environment.
"I'll just do the assignment anyway." I decided to myself after another empty two minutes. I hoped Meg would fix up the wrong answers when she got back.
As I picked up my pen to start ticking answers, I heard a sudden deafening guttural unearthly noise.
So deep and violent it resonated inside my rib cage.
Kind of like a roar…or a belch?
Everyone froze as one, searching each other's faces, snacks forgotten, confused.
Was there an earthquake? Or perhaps a weird-sounding thunder? Then I heard it again, louder this time.
UURGGHHHHHHHHHH.
This time I knew for certain it came from inside the school building, the branch where I'd just come from.
Where I'd left Meg...
Oh my God.
There was a rumble from inside…and then hundreds of students spilled out the front of the building, screaming in panic and falling over each other, trying to get away from something.
Where was Meg?! I scanned the crowd for her outstanding bright pink hair but there was no sign of her.
I stood up, my chest tight with panic.
Another roar sounded, even louder than last time, shattering the windows around and vibrating the ground.
Students clutched their ears and screamed, the field filled with complete commotion as people darted in every direction, tripping over each other.
I sprinted towards the building, my heart pounding almost as loud as the deafening belch/roar. Students brushed past me as I ran in the opposite direction, eyes scanning the crowd for Meg, my throat tight.
Just as I got near the building, the concrete wall in front of me exploded, spraying bricks and glass everywhere and the monster appeared.
What I was looking at was a nightmare fuel. Something that couldn't possibly be real.
It looked like a cross between a boar, a warthog and some kind of insect. It was about the size of a world war II tank with thick earth clods stuck all over its insect legs. It had long curved horns protruding out the sides of its long mouth and when it opened its mouth, that horrible sound blasted out, nearly knocking me unconscious from being so close to it.
It charged right towards me and by reflex, I dropped and rolled to the side, the side horns nearly skewering me as it thundered past.
It didn't continue chasing me after, instead it ran into the crowd, scattering through the mob of panicked students.
Was it attracted to crowds?
But I didn't have much time to think about that. I had to find Meg.
I darted into the damaged school building. There were massive holes on almost every wall. Like the monster had ran through them all. The place was littered with overturned desks and debris of broken walls.
I know I mentioned I hated school earlier, but this…this broke my heart somehow. This was the place I'd first met Meg.
When I got to the gymnasium, my heart sank.
There was a new massive hole at the center of the gymnasium. Like something had dug out from underneath the earth…
I couldn't see the bottom of the hole…it was just pitch black inside, with some burst pipes peeking from the sides. And for some reason, the whole gymnasium had a weird ozone smell.
I finally found Meg in the lunch hall, looking unhurt—thank God—standing just next to a half collapsed wall, hugging our coffee in her arms ...well just our coffee cups since her dark gothic makeup, black crop top and shorts were already soaked with its contents. Her bright pink hair was looking completely heavily ruffled and her mouth was hanging slightly open, looking a little lost.
"Meg!" I stumbled towards her, massively relieved. "You fool, I thought you were dead!" I searched her face and arms. She seemed fine on the outside, would be a bit difficult to get those coffee stains off her clothes though.
I took her by the arm and pulled her back outside. We needed to get out of the school immediately. I could already tell the building was going to collapse at any moment, given the damages it had sustained.
When we got back outside to the field, Meg finally spoke.
"Zeph." She muttered. Her hands were shaking. That was my name, which she barely ever called me. She usually called me sweet names like gremlin, idiot, stupid…you know, those names.
"Something's off." she said, her eyes slowly widening, like she'd just realized something.
"I mean, yeah. There's literally a 50 ton monster ravaging our school." I pointed out.
Was she in shock?
A nearby building—the school library—collapsed with a loud crash, white dust billowing in every direction. I didn't know when the moose monster had entered the main school area, tearing down everything in its path, all the while its roar echoing across the entire valley like a terrible alarm that wouldn't go off.
Beside me, Meg gasped loudly and yanked my arm, "we gotta go!" she said with a new urgency, "Something else is coming! Something worse".
Huh? Have you finally lost your mind?" I said, now mildly annoyed at her. "You nearly took two damn day-"
"Zephan!"
The ground started vibrating so violently we landed on our asses. The ground rumbled and heaved like something enormous was trying to break out from underneath.
Without a word Meg took my arm and we sprinted across the field which was almost now completely deserted, towards the front gate.
The last of the escaping students were crammed at the mouth of the gate, trying to get as far away from this nightmare as possible.
Meg and I still had about half a kilometer before we got there.
The ground heaved again and something groaned.
Twenty feet to our right, near our favorite hamburger store, the ground exploded like a landmine going off. A mini explosion.
Then another explosion followed, not far from the main gate, flipping over a Honda, nearly crushing some kids in lab coats.
Soon the entire area was looking like the middle of a war zone. Each explosion came with a spray of hot lava. What was a green field packed with flowers and butterflies mere minutes ago, was now looking like a volcanic zone.
Then the place where Meg and I stood before, exploded, leaving a red hot smoky crater. I turned and glimpsed a leathery wing, twice the size of a ship sail break out of the ground, raining clumps of hot soil on us.
"Meg, that's a-" I muttered, my throat parched. I pulled her behind an overturned car.
The air was charged with the smell of ozone. There was a loud metallic groaning sound somewhere below the ground. Meg grasped my shirt and squeezed it, her face pale and sweaty.
Then as we watched, something resembling a massive dragon dragged its body out of the ground, the wings spreading to full length, covering more than half of the field.
I couldn't see or hear the Moose-Boar monster anymore. I almost missed it.
Compared to this, that monster felt like a dress rehearsal. It had two horns each protruding on either side of its head. Six beady bird-like eyes and a long curved beak giving it a crazy bird of prey look. It would have been a cool design if it was something I saw in my comic book back in my dorm room. But unfortunately this was too real.
My breathing became labored. The ozone in the air was choking my lungs. Meg tightened her grip on me and shook her slightly, indicating I don't dare cough or make any sound for that matter.
The creature turned its head to the side, listening in a very bird-like creepy manner. The silence was loud except for a clicking sound coming from somewhere down in the monster's throat.
The thick smoke was choking me, my throat itched badly but I didn't dare cough. Couldn't. However, at that moment Meg let out a small whimper.
The monster snapped it's head towards our direction immediately and let out a loud piercing caw.
Just great.
I didn't wait. I grabbed Meg and ran as fast as I could, even though I knew there was no escaping something that large with wings too. Meg stumbled behind me trying to catch up amd I knew her knees were probably weak from fear because she usually left me in the dust during races. I tightened my grip on her hand.
We had to make it somehow.
I heard the gigantic monstrous wings beat through the air, momentarily blowing away all the smoke and I glimpsed what looked like police sirens about twenty feet ahead. I didn't know what the police would do in this situation but I just needed to get out of this vicinity.
Right behind us, the flapping grew louder, approaching rapidly, then the sound of a slow long inhale followed.
At that moment I thought about the ways we were going to die. Hopefully it would exhale super hot flames that would turn us to bones in seconds, I'd rather not be roasted slowly in a weak flame. Or worse fed to its babies, little demon birds tearing us to pieces didn't exactly sound fun.
We were just halfway to the police cars, there was nothing those cops could do against something so powerful anyway. I mean, they had just pistols…
Before I knew it, the monster was already on us, it opened its beak and I saw its pinkish throat getting charged up with bluish flames. I pulled Meg into my arms and tried to shield her with my body as much as possible. And waited for death to come.
It never did.
There was no impact. No heat
Instead I heard a blade swing through the air, followed by a loud screech…