Ravenous

   “Shh Abby,” I whispered frantically. “Please be quiet, please.”

   Lights flashed over the windows, blazing into the darkened store. Bret pulled us further back, stepping in front of us as the lights danced over the broken frames before moving on. “What’s going on?” Je

   “Quiet!” Cade hissed.

   Another rattling bang shuddered through the building swaying us all back and forth. Though I had never experienced an earthquake, I imagined that this was what it felt like. There was a heaving, rolling, sensation that staggered me to the side. The world was completely unstable beneath my feet, and the ground felt like it was going to plummet out from under me again at any minute.

   It was awful, and it was petrifying.

   A loud twisting screech filled the air. I cringed, clutching tighter to Abby as the noise grew in intensity, piercing the night with its shrill sound. Abby’s moan was drowned out by the ever growing din. Bret pushed us back, keeping us behind him as light flared through the store once more. A twisting, heaving, drop caused the floor to fall out beneath us and more boards to splinter and crack. This time I could not bite back my startled cry of terror as we were lurched violently to the side. I staggered, struggling to keep hold of Abby as I fought to keep my balance on the rocking floor.

   “We have to get out of here!” Bret hissed, pulling me back as more windows shattered and the shelves began to tumble rapidly, destroying the precious contents upon them.

   The whole store was going to come down on our heads if we stayed in here. A shelf crashed behind me, catching the back of my leg. I stumbled awkwardly forward, nearly dragging Abby down with me as my legs gave out. Bret and Abby managed to keep me on my feet, but just barely. “We have to go! We have to go!” Je

   Cade was pulling her toward us, his jaw locked and his nostrils flaring as another rousing crash shook the building. It wouldn’t be long before the whole thing toppled in on us. This was not the west coast; this building wasn’t built to survive the shaking jolts that it was receiving, it wasn’t built to survive anything more than a moderate hurricane. If even that.

   Aiden was coming at us, his arm raised protectively over his head as bits of ceiling began to rain down. “Mom!” Abby was yelling. “What about mom?”

   “Backdoor!” Cade shouted, pointing behind us. “Head for the backdoor.”

   No one tried to be quiet anymore. There was no need to be. If the aliens could hear us over the screeching, tortuous racket echoing outside, then they deserved to get us. There was no way that we would ever be able to constantly elude their grasp if they were that much more advanced than us. If they were thatsuperior to us. That would mean they were even more powerful and dangerous than I had ever imagined.

   Abby was tugging at me, Bret was pulling me, and I was desperately trying to elude the merchandise that had gone from being inane to dangerous and deadly. I thrust Abby at Bret before we reached the backdoor. “Mom!” Abby was still yelling but I could barely hear her over the crashing bangs resounding throughout the store.

   “I know.”

   I turned away, struggling to get back to our mother, fighting to keep my balance in a rapidly unraveling world. Aiden grabbed hold of my arm as a resounding crash rocked the store. We tumbled to the side, slamming off a set of rattling shelves. A silver elephant toppled off the shelf striking Aiden in the shoulder. He winced, darting away from the shelf as it began to rock treacherously back and forth. It was a heavy shelf, large, and if it fell on us we would be trapped, pi

   For a moment I was frozen as my terror over being trapped anywhere flared to hot, vivid life. I couldn’t move; my panic was too strong, too intense, and all consuming.

   Aiden threw himself away from the shelf. He wrapped his arm around my waist as he dove forward. We fell to the floor in a tumbled heap; the breath was knocked out of me, my tailbone screamed in protest as we bounced across the hard ground. The shelf toppled, spilling its contents upon the floor, and us. I was able to breathe again, but not very well.

   A huge crack fissured across the ceiling, a resounding bang rocked every wall of the building. Debris began to rain down on us, plaster coated the floor, covered our clothes, stuck to our hair and skin. Hands seized hold of me, lifting me roughly up. Bret’s deep green eyes were kind, worried, and terrified. He hauled me to my feet as the front of the store suddenly crumpled. I stared in wide eyed horror as plaster, wood, and nails toppled as if they were no more than tooth picks.

   Bret was pulling me forward, dragging me toward the open backdoor. Aiden was behind us, limping slightly as we stumbled forward. Cade appeared suddenly, striding purposely toward us through the store. He took hold of my other arm, hurrying me forward as we fell into the warm night air. I inhaled the fresh air greedily, trying hard not to cry, trying hard not to panic as I spun rapidly back around. I pulled free of Bret’s grasp, stumbling back toward the store. Peter! My mother!

   Lights flashed throughout the night, illuminating the crumbling buildings around us as it flared hotly. The awful screeching noise seemed to be moving away, but the building was continuing to crumple before us. Two by fours cracked, heavy roof beams caved like toothpicks. My heart plummeted; I fell limply to my knees, my hands clasped before me as I stared in horror at the back wall, the only piece of the store that remained.

   The rest of it was gone. It was nothing but a pile of rubble.

   How could we possibly dig them out of there?

   I knew the answer to that question before I even answered it. We couldn’t. We simply couldn’t.

   My heart was aching; my whole body was trembling, shaking. Broken. I was so broken. My father had died because I had failed to get out of that car, because I had failed him. And now my mother was dead because I had failed once again. I had left her in there, and she was gone.

   I was shaking, numb with horror and grief. Aiden shushed Abby softly, as she began to weep openly, and loudly. I turned to look at my siblings, my gaze landed upon Aiden’s wide, distraught eyes. I saw the answering hopelessness in his eyes, the tears that rimmed them.

   In his gaze I saw the truth. We were now orphans.

***

   Abby was crying silently, her head bowed, her dark hair falling around her slender shoulders. I couldn’t comfort her, not now, that had fallen to Je

   Even Aiden had shed a few tears, he’d tried to keep them hidden from us, but I had seen them. I had not cried. I was fairly certain that I would not cry, not now, not in front of my siblings. Someone had to stay strong, and just like with my father, it would be me. I didn’t meet Cade’s gaze, I could feel it on me, burning into my back, but I would not look at him. Bret kept his arm around me, seeking to give me comfort even though I didn’t want it. He didn’t seem to understand that though, and I had given up shrugging his arm off. What was the point?

   “Why did the building collapse like that?” Abby moaned. “What caused it?”

   A muscle in my cheek jumped, my jaw ached from clenching it so tightly. I didn’t know what had caused it, but it had been big, it had been brutal, and it was going to come for us. Of that much I was certain. It would continue to hunt for survivors. It would be unrelenting and ruthless in its pursuit. It apparently hadn’t known that we were in the store, but I was certain that once it got a bead on us, it was not going to stop in its desire for blood, in its desire to drain us dry.