The morning had started with cautious optimism. They had covered nearly eighty kilometers since leaving the farm, and the road ahead looked clear. Meera was navigating while Alvik drove, Rayan and Nisha dozed in the back seat, finally allowing exhaustion to claim them in the relative safety of the moving vehicle.
"Another hundred kilometers and we'll reach the district boundary," Meera said, tracing their route on her phone. "Then maybe sixty more to my parents' village. We could be there by tonight if we don't encounter major problems."
"Don't say that," Alvik replied, keeping his eyes on the road. "Every time someone says things are going well, everything falls apart."
She smiled slightly. "Superstitious?"
"After the last five days? Absolutely."
The road curved through a valley between two hills covered in forest. Beautiful country in normal times, though now the trees showed signs of damage and fires had scarred sections of the landscape. They passed another abandoned vehicle—this one looked like it had been picked up and thrown off the road, landing on its roof in a ditch.
"What could do that?" Meera wondered aloud.
"Something we don't want to meet," Alvik answered.
The attack came without warning.
One moment the sky was empty except for clouds. The next, a shape dove from above with impossible speed. Alvik saw it in the rearview mirror—a massive flying creature with wings like torn leather, a body covered in dark red scales, and a head that was all angles and teeth.
"Down!" he shouted, jerking the wheel instinctively.
The creature's claws raked across the roof of the car, metal screaming as it tore like paper. The vehicle swerved wildly. Alvik fought to control it but the tires had been damaged in the attack. The rear tire blew with a sound like a gunshot.
The car spun. Everything became chaos—the screech of metal, Meera screaming, the children crying out in terror, the world rotating as the vehicle left the road. They hit something hard, the impact throwing everyone against their seatbelts. Glass shattered. Metal crumpled.
Then stillness.
Alvik's head rang from the impact. Blood ran down his face from a cut on his forehead. His chest hurt where the seatbelt had caught him. But he was alive and conscious. He turned to check on Meera.
She was slumped against her door, a cut on her arm bleeding steadily, but her eyes were open and focused. "The children?"
"I'm okay," Rayan called from the back, his voice shaky. "Nisha?"
"My head hurts," Nisha sobbed. "Daddy, I'm scared!"
The shadow passed over the car again. The creature was circling for another attack.
"Out! Everyone out now!" Alvik commanded, fumbling with his seatbelt. The mechanism was jammed. He yanked hard and it finally released. He kicked his door open and tumbled onto the ground beside the road.
The car had crashed into a concrete barrier and spun sideways into a shallow ditch. Steam rose from the crumpled hood. The passenger side was less damaged. Alvik scrambled around the vehicle and pulled open Meera's door, helping her out. Rayan was already climbing out the back, then turning to help his sister.
Above them, the creature shrieked and dove again.
"There!" Meera pointed to a cluster of buildings about fifty meters away. It looked like it had been a small commercial area—shops and offices, now abandoned. "Run!"
They ran. Alvik grabbed Nisha's hand, pulling her along. Meera had Rayan's arm. The creature's shadow swept over them, and Alvik felt the wind from its wings as it passed directly overhead. It was toying with them, enjoying the hunt.
The nearest building was a three-story structure with most of its windows shattered. The door hung crooked on broken hinges. They crashed through it into a dim interior filled with overturned furniture and debris. The place had already been looted and abandoned, papers and broken equipment scattered everywhere.
"Keep going, deeper inside!" Alvik urged, pushing them toward the back of the building. Behind them, they heard the creature land in the street with a heavy impact that shook the ground.
The building's interior was a maze of offices and corridors. They ran through it blindly, looking for anywhere that offered protection from something that could fly and tear through car roofs. Alvik's mind raced—how did you hide from a creature that could probably smell them, hear them, sense them through walls?
They found a stairwell and took it up to the second floor. Maybe height would help, maybe the creature wouldn't follow them inside. But as they reached the second floor landing, they heard the building's entrance being torn apart. The creature was coming in after them.
"This way," Rayan pointed down a hallway. They ran, passing empty offices with broken furniture and shattered computers. At the end of the hall was a larger room—looked like it had been a conference space. Multiple exits, windows on two sides, a solid door they could potentially barricade.
They rushed inside and Alvik immediately started dragging a heavy desk toward the door. Rayan helped him, the two of them straining to move the furniture. Meera looked around frantically for other defensive options while Nisha stood in the center of the room, crying and shaking.
They had just gotten the desk in place when something massive hit the building from outside. The entire structure shuddered. Dust and debris fell from the ceiling. Through the windows, they saw the creature's head pass by, those predatory eyes scanning the building's exterior.
"It's circling," Meera whispered. "Looking for us."
They heard it land on the roof above them. The ceiling creaked under its weight. Footsteps moved across it, slow and deliberate. Hunting.
"Daddy, what do we do?" Nisha asked, her voice breaking.
Alvik had no answer. They were trapped. No weapons that could hurt that thing. No way to fight it. Running outside would expose them. Staying here just delayed the inevitable.
Another impact struck the building, harder this time. The creature was testing the structure, looking for weak points. Somewhere below them, they heard the sound of walls being torn apart.
"The building is partially collapsed on the west side," Rayan said, looking out the window. "Part of the wall came down. I can see through to the street."
"That's our way out," Meera said. "We go down, get to that opening, run for the next building."
"The creature will see us," Alvik protested.
"Staying here means certain death. At least running gives us a chance."
She was right, though he hated it. They moved the desk away from the door and opened it carefully. The hallway was empty, but they could hear the creature moving somewhere in the building—heavy footsteps, the scrape of claws on walls, that constant low growling that vibrated through the structure.
They crept toward the stairs, trying to be silent. Every sound seemed amplified in the empty building. Nisha's breathing was too loud, Rayan's footsteps too heavy, Alvik's own heart hammering too audibly. Surely the creature could hear them.
At the stairs, they paused and listened. The sounds were coming from above now—the creature had moved to the third floor. This was their chance.
They descended as quickly as they dared, taking the steps two at a time but trying not to make noise. The first floor was a disaster zone—walls had been knocked down, the ceiling in one section had partially collapsed, debris was everywhere. But they could see the opening Rayan had mentioned, a gap in the wall leading outside.
"Slowly," Alvik said. "We go slow and quiet, then when we're clear, we run fast."
They picked their way through the debris carefully. Twenty meters to the opening. Fifteen. Ten. Almost there.
Nisha's foot caught on a piece of rubble. She stumbled, catching herself but knocking over a metal filing cabinet in the process. It crashed to the floor with a sound that echoed through the entire building.
From above came a roar that shook dust from every surface. Heavy footsteps thundered across the ceiling. The creature was coming, fast.
"Run!" Alvik grabbed Nisha and sprinted for the opening. Meera and Rayan were right behind him. They crashed through the gap in the wall into bright daylight just as something massive hit the building behind them.
They ran across the street toward the next structure—this one looked more intact, taller, maybe offering better shelter. Behind them, the creature smashed through the wall they had just exited, roaring its frustration at the fleeing prey.
Alvik risked a glance back and immediately regretted it. The thing was huge up close, at least ten meters from nose to tail, with wings that stretched even wider. Its entire body was built for killing—the claws could disembowel a human with a casual swipe, the teeth could bite through metal, and the eyes held a cruel intelligence that was somehow worse than mindless hunger.
They reached the next building and found the entrance blocked by collapsed rubble. No time to find another way in. The creature was closing the distance, building speed, preparing to strike.
"There!" Meera pointed to an alley between buildings. They pivoted and ran into it, the narrow space barely wide enough for them to move single file. The creature could not follow into the alley—too large, too wide. But it could circle around to the other end.
They emerged into what had been a parking area behind the buildings. Several vehicles sat abandoned, and on the far side was another structure—looked like an apartment complex, multiple stories tall, many entry points.
"The apartments," Rayan panted. "We can lose it in there, all those rooms and hallways."
They ran again, legs burning, lungs aching, fear driving them beyond normal endurance. The apartment building's main entrance was open, the glass doors shattered. They rushed inside into a lobby filled with abandoned luggage and overturned furniture. People had been here, trying to escape, though whether they succeeded was unclear.
"Stairs," Alvik commanded, pointing to the emergency stairwell. They climbed rapidly, going up three floors before Alvik called a halt. "This floor. We need to find a defensible position."
The third floor hallway stretched in both directions, dozens of apartment doors on either side. Most stood open, already looted or abandoned. They needed to find one that was intact, secure, somewhere they could catch their breath and think.
Apartment 307 looked promising. The door was closed but unlocked. Inside, the space was small but undamaged—a living area, tiny kitchen, bathroom, two bedrooms. Whoever lived here had left in a hurry but taken most of their belongings.
Alvik closed the door and locked it, then pushed a sofa against it for good measure. It would not stop the creature if it found them, but it might buy a few seconds. They all collapsed onto the floor, gasping for air, bodies shaking from exertion and terror.
"Did we lose it?" Nisha asked between sobs.
"I don't know, princess. I hope so."
They sat in silence for several minutes, just breathing, listening for sounds of pursuit. The building was quiet except for the normal creaks and settling sounds of an abandoned structure. No sounds of massive wings or heavy footsteps or predatory growls.
Meera crawled to the window and carefully looked out. "I can see it. The creature. It's perched on top of the building where we crashed the car. Just sitting there, watching."
"Waiting," Alvik said grimly. "It knows we're in this area somewhere. It's patient enough to wait us out."
"We have no food," Rayan observed. "Maybe two bottles of water in the emergency bag. We can't stay here long."
"We can't leave while that thing is watching," Meera countered.
"So what do we do?"
No one had an answer. They were trapped, and the creature that had hunted them was patient enough to wait. Eventually they would have to leave, and when they did, it would be there.
The afternoon stretched into evening. They took turns watching from the window. The creature remained on its perch, occasionally shifting position or preening its wings, but never leaving. It was waiting for them, specifically. This was not random hunting—it had marked them as prey and would not give up.
As darkness approached, they gathered in the living room to discuss their options. They spoke in whispers even though the creature was far away and probably could not hear them.
"We wait until full dark," Alvik suggested. "It's harder to see at night. We slip out, move quietly through the shadows, put distance between us and this area."
"What if it can see in the dark better than us?" Rayan asked.
"Then we're in the same situation as we are now. But we have to try something. We can't stay here without food or water."
Meera was quiet, staring at nothing. Alvik recognized that look—she was thinking, working through a problem. Finally she spoke.
"One person runs out into the open. Makes noise, draws the creature away. While it's chasing them, the others escape in the opposite direction."
"No," Alvik said immediately. "Absolutely not."
"It's the only way to guarantee the others get away safely."
"We stay together. We all escape or none of us do."
"Alvik, be realistic. That creature is faster than us, stronger than us, and it's not giving up. Our only chance is to split its attention." She looked at him steadily. "You know I'm right."
"Mom, no," Rayan said, his voice cracking. "We can find another way."
"There is no other way. And it has to be me. The children need their father. You're stronger, better able to protect them. I'm the logical choice."
"I won't let you—"
"You don't get to decide this," she interrupted gently. "I'm making this choice. For them." She looked at Rayan and Nisha, both of whom were crying now. "For our children."
"Please," Alvik begged, something he had never done before in their fifteen years together. "Please don't do this. We'll find another way."
"There is no other way. You know it. I know it. This is how we save them."
She moved to her children, pulling them both into a fierce embrace. Nisha was sobbing uncontrollably. Rayan tried to maintain composure but tears streamed down his face.
"Listen to me," Meera said to them, her own voice thick with emotion. "You are both so strong, so brave. I am so proud to be your mother. You're going to survive this. You're going to live and grow and have full lives. Do you hear me? You survive. That's an order."
"Mommy, don't go," Nisha pleaded. "Please don't go."
"I have to, baby. But I'll always be with you, in here." She touched Nisha's chest over her heart. "Always."
She turned to Rayan. "You're the man of the family now. Help your father. Protect your sister. Be the good person I know you are."
"Mom..." Rayan could not continue, the words choked off by grief.
She kissed both their foreheads, holding them one last time. Then she stood and faced Alvik.
"Take care of them," she said simply.
"Meera, please—"
"Promise me. No matter what happens, you get them to safety. You protect them. You help them survive in this new world."
"I can't do this without you."
"Yes, you can. You're stronger than you know. Promise me, Alvik."
He wanted to refuse. He wanted to grab her and not let go, to find any other solution, to keep his family whole. But looking into her eyes, he saw her determination, her certainty that this was necessary. And he saw her fear too, carefully hidden but present. She was terrified, but she was doing this anyway.
"I promise," he whispered.
She smiled then, sad and beautiful. "I love you. I have loved you since the day we met. These fifteen years have been the happiest of my life."
"I love you too. I always will."
She kissed him once, soft and lingering, then pulled away before either of them could break down completely.
"Wait five minutes after I leave," she instructed. "The creature will follow me. When you hear it move, go in the opposite direction. Don't stop, don't look back, just run."
"Meera—"
But she was already moving, pushing the sofa away from the door, unlocking it. She paused at the threshold and looked back at her family one final time.
"Be safe. Be strong. Survive."
Then she was gone, closing the door behind her before any of them could react.
They heard her footsteps running down the hallway, then the sound of the stairwell door slamming open. Alvik rushed to the window, the children right behind him. They saw Meera emerge from the building entrance into the parking area, running directly toward the building where the creature waited.
"No," Alvik breathed, his hands pressed against the glass. "No, no, no."
Meera reached the center of the parking area and stopped. She looked up at the creature on its perch and started yelling, waving her arms, making herself as obvious as possible.
"Come on!" her voice carried faintly to their ears. "Come get me! I'm here!"
The creature's head swiveled toward her. It stood, wings spreading. Then it launched itself from the building, diving toward the small figure in the parking lot.
Meera ran. She ran faster than Alvik had ever seen her move, sprinting away from the apartment building, leading the creature away from her family. The creature pursued, closing the distance with terrifying speed.
"Mommy!" Nisha screamed against the glass. "Mommy, run!"
But running was not enough. The creature was too fast. It caught up to her within seconds. A claw descended.
"Don't watch!" Alvik grabbed both children and pulled them away from the window, turning their faces into his chest, covering their eyes. But he could not look away. He watched as the woman he loved, the mother of his children, disappeared beneath the creature's bulk.
Her screams cut off abruptly.
Silence filled the apartment. Complete, horrible silence.
Alvik stood frozen, unable to process what had just happened. His mind refused to accept the reality. Meera was not gone. She could not be gone. They were supposed to survive together, reach her parents together, rebuild their lives together.
But she was gone. In seconds, brutally and finally, she was gone.
Rayan was the first to speak, his voice hollow. "She's dead. Mom is dead."
The words broke something in Alvik. Grief crashed over him like a physical force, so intense he could barely breathe. But underneath the grief was the promise he had made. Protect the children. Get them to safety. Survive.
He forced himself to move, forced himself to think past the pain. They had five minutes, Meera had said. The creature was occupied with its kill. They had to use this chance, the chance she had died to give them.
"We have to go," he said, his voice mechanical. "Now. We have to go now."
"Dad—" Rayan started.
"Now!" Alvik's voice cracked. "She died to give us this chance. We don't waste it. We don't let her sacrifice mean nothing. We move. Now!"
He grabbed the emergency bag, took Nisha's hand, checked that Rayan was following. They left the apartment and ran down the hallway in the opposite direction from where Meera had gone. The stairwell at the far end, down to the ground floor, out a back exit.
Behind them, they heard the creature's victorious roar. It had finished with its prey.
They ran through the dark streets, not knowing where they were going, just putting distance between themselves and that place. Tears streamed down all their faces. Sobs escaped despite their efforts to stay quiet. But they kept moving, because Meera had told them to survive, and that was all they could do now.
They ran until exhaustion forced them to stop, collapsing in the doorway of an abandoned shop. The three of them huddled together in the darkness, holding each other, crying for the wife and mother they had lost.
Alvik clutched his children and let himself break, just for a moment. The pain was beyond anything he had ever experienced. The guilt that she had died while he lived was crushing. The knowledge that he would never see her smile again, never hear her voice, never feel her touch—it was unbearable.
But they were alive. She had ensured that. And he had promised her he would protect them, help them survive. So he would. No matter how much it hurt, no matter how impossible it seemed, he would keep that promise.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered to his children. "I'm so, so sorry."
They cried together in the darkness, three people who had been four, a family shattered but not broken, mourning their loss while the destroyed world continued around them.
And somewhere in the distance, the creature that had killed Meera returned to its perch, sated for now, waiting for new prey to hunt when hunger returned.
The world had taken so much already. But it was not done taking.
Not yet.
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