He looked out the window, one of the few intact panes of glass in the entire city. It offered a view of the downtown area. He saw crisscrossed roads lined with the remains of eaten, burned, and other wise destroyed trees.
Stone felt a tremble. He had been feeling those trembles all morning, yet not seen anything. He worried it might possibly be a Goat-Walker on the prowl.
In any case, at least brilliant rays of sun bathed downtown making for a glorious clear morning. Perhaps they could make good time today. Perhaps The glow of the morning sun went black, his view out the window obstructed.
By an eye.
A big black and white eye surrounded by gray, tough skin, staring in directly at him through a quarter-inch of fragile glass.
Then the eye withdrew, replaced by some sort of huge arm or fist or ball of claws or something. Whatever it was, it cocked then rushed toward the window.
'Oh…shit.'
Trevor zipped and ran.
'We’ve GOT A PROBLEM!'
The window smashed in as a colossal appendage the size of the entire room crashed into the wall, obliterated the office, and pushed all the way through to an inner hall.
Trevor barely escaped the strike. Crossbeams and dusty powder-the Chaktaw’s version of drywall-billowed around him but he did not stop even as the vibration tried to knock him from his feet.
Nina met him and together they raced further inside the office complex as another heavy strike rattled the building to its very foundation.
'What was it? What was it?'
'I have no idea! Just run 'cause whatever it is it’s as big as this building!'
They ran along a tight, dark hallway. A porcupine-like thing saw them and disappeared into a side room. They paid it no mind as they navigated by the light of their flashlights and the occasional ray of sun beaming in from splintered windows.
Those beams, however, flickered between light and dark as the massive creature circled the building, searching for them by punching through walls.
'Stairs! We nee to find the stairs and get out of here,' Nina shouted the obvious.
An entire section of the corridor collapsed. A gust of fresh air blew inside with dust riding along; dust from a new hole stretching several yards from the outer wall, through what looked like an old conference room, and into the inner hall.
Trevor and Nina ran along the fourth floor. The thing that had punched the hole had to stoop to peer in at them.
With a quick glimpse, Trevor’s mind categorized it as a rhinoceros, except it stood on its rear two legs. Its arms were thick and ended in massive claws. One big horn grew from the center of its forehead and two more adorned the side of its skull. The black and white eyes of the creature looked dazed, almost hypnotized.
As the dust cleared, the monster spied its quarry. A humungous arm cocked back.
Trevor and Nina raced for a door at the end of the hall.
A locomotive-sized arm speared the building once again, obliterating walls-including a support pillar-and passing through the corridor three yards behind the fleeing humans.
Chunks of the sixth and fifth floors collapsed down onto the fourth, partially and temporarily capturing the giant’s arm. The creature let out an annoyed grunt in response. The bright morning sun shown in from above with only a handful of crossbeams and roof panels to obstruct its brilliant glare.
A chain reaction rippled across the fourth floor as it started to collapse, the floor buckling like an ocean wave, spitting wood and metal beams in a series of pressure-driven explosions.
Nina reached the door first and held it open for him. The collapse nipped at his heels while the weight of his back pack and gear slowed him enough that he might…not…make…
Trevor jumped through the open door into the stairwell. Nina timed her own pivot perfectly and avoided the disintegrating floor in less time than it takes to blink an eye.
While large shards of the building collapsed, the stairwell and its protective walls stood tall like a chimney surrounded by the burned ruins of a wooden home.
With the door shut behind them, the stairs went dark but the loud sound of smashing and crashing dominated the hollow acoustics of the chamber.
Nina pulled her flashlight and surveyed their surroundings through a cloud of dust.
'Down, huh?'
He nodded his head as he caught his breath.
The top of the enclosed staircase exploded away and light from the sky burst in. Pieces of the building materials-both large and small-fell like rain. Fortunately, the larger pieces missed the refugees.
Apparently, the Rhino creature had batted away the roof above the stairs as well several flights.
'What is this friggin’ thing?' He allowed the slightest hint of panic to creep into his voice, primarily because he realized they would need an attack helicopter to scratch it.
'Run! Down!' Came her answer.
The remains of the destroyed upper floor chased them down the stairs.
'They’re indigenous to this Earth! But they’re not aggressive! They’re herbivores!'
Another tremendous, thunderous explosion of brick and dust and metal erupted above. The rhino had swung again, taking out another ten feet of stairwell and sending more debris falling. The thing was ripping the staircase shaft apart floor by floor with each swing of its arm.
As they jumped to the bottom floor, the entire shaft collapsed, the stairs falling together like a collapsing accordion…just as Trevor and Nina knocked open the exit door at the foot of the towering giant.
It searched the ground with its big, glazed-over eyes. Trevor saw a massive, heavy, thick animal with a body that appeared nearly armor-plated. He was no longer so sure that even an attack helicopter could do the job.
Realizing that the thing could easily step on them with one of its humongous, round feet, he ran out onto the street with the aim of finding another building in which to hide, but he quickly found himself in the wide open with the closest cover dozens of yards away.
At that moment, he realized the Major was not with him. She had waited behind at the giant's feet, just outside the now-blocked stairway door. He saw the massive hostile looming above her. Its eyes looked down at the puny being standing between its feet.
'Nina!' He screamed, expecting to see her squashed.
On the contrary, the creature turned away from her and locked its eyes on Trevor. It ignored the easy kill and took a giant step in his direction. The ground rumbled.
'Oh…oh…Christ.'
Another big giant step.
As Trevor turned to run he absently took note of Nina raising her rifle and aiming it toward the back of the monster. If not for the shadow threatening to step on him, he would have laughed at the sight. He did not expect this monster to feel the impact of a rifle round.
Bang.
The Rhino stopped in its tracks and hovered. Its glazed eyes blinked, looked about, and blinked again. Then the creature dropped to all fours. Not a collapse, but into what appeared to be its natural walking position. Yes, very much like a rhinoceros.
As it did, something fell from its hide. More specifically, something big and black dropped to the ground like a lifeless sack. Trevor could not see anything more.
The rhino creature stumbled side to side, actually shook its head as if it had just awoken, and then adopted a very docile attitude. Indeed, the thing looked at a loss.
Much to Trevor’s amazement, it calmly walked away without giving him a second glance. Its heavy feet thumped with every step, but suddenly seemed no more threatening than a kitten. Albeit a gigantic kitten.
Trevor wiped the sweat from his brow and joined Nina who casually slung her rifle and examined the black sack-like mass that had fallen from the rhino-creature, apparently after she had shot it.
