Monday March 12th, Afternoon
Death had heard the commotion in the rec room and had promptly rolled over and gone back to sleep. She didn't wake up until mid-day and by then she was so bleary that she'd ducked through the rec room directly to the kitchen, fetched herself a cup of coffee and went outside. People were so noisy at times.
She wandered into the grass, marvelling at the clouds and the steady booming thunder. It almost didn't sound like thunder at all. Part of her wondered if something important was happening since there seemed to be nobody outside, and even the dogs that normally ran about were just...gone.
The booming thunder grew louder and as she took a sip, the cup clinked against her teeth. That was when she realized the sound wasn't coming from the sky. It was coming from the island. She'd seen the births of volcanos, and their rebirths, so when she turned around, she fuly expected the distant mountain to be belching ash into the sky.
The absolute last last thing she expected to see was a family of brachiosaurs making their way south-west. They towered over her and for the first time since she'd been alive, she felt very small in the presence of another being. She had been Death. She had been the end of all things. She had...about two seconds to move or she was getting squished.
Death ducked to the left, her cup falling from her hand. There was nowhere to go as they passed over her, unaware of such a small and insignificant mammal in their presence. The matriarch first, a bull, and several young. Too many feet. Too much motion. She stepped left again, then ran to the right, and just when she could see the end of the motion of powerful legs, a tail whipped down and around and caught her squarely and sent her flying.
Air was something humans needed and she wasn't getting any. She gasped, but none came, and the little that did make it in hurt. Her bones were wrong, her body was all fire and bubbles and gurgles and tearing.
She felt the ground when it rose up to catch her, her body first and then her head. White light exploded behind her eyes and suddenly there was no more booming. No more irritation of chatter. No more sunlight. She just lay there, meters from the Compound. Something inside the black warmth told her this was it.
Death was certain.
She wandered into the grass, marvelling at the clouds and the steady booming thunder. It almost didn't sound like thunder at all. Part of her wondered if something important was happening since there seemed to be nobody outside, and even the dogs that normally ran about were just...gone.
The booming thunder grew louder and as she took a sip, the cup clinked against her teeth. That was when she realized the sound wasn't coming from the sky. It was coming from the island. She'd seen the births of volcanos, and their rebirths, so when she turned around, she fuly expected the distant mountain to be belching ash into the sky.
The absolute last last thing she expected to see was a family of brachiosaurs making their way south-west. They towered over her and for the first time since she'd been alive, she felt very small in the presence of another being. She had been Death. She had been the end of all things. She had...about two seconds to move or she was getting squished.
Death ducked to the left, her cup falling from her hand. There was nowhere to go as they passed over her, unaware of such a small and insignificant mammal in their presence. The matriarch first, a bull, and several young. Too many feet. Too much motion. She stepped left again, then ran to the right, and just when she could see the end of the motion of powerful legs, a tail whipped down and around and caught her squarely and sent her flying.
Air was something humans needed and she wasn't getting any. She gasped, but none came, and the little that did make it in hurt. Her bones were wrong, her body was all fire and bubbles and gurgles and tearing.
She felt the ground when it rose up to catch her, her body first and then her head. White light exploded behind her eyes and suddenly there was no more booming. No more irritation of chatter. No more sunlight. She just lay there, meters from the Compound. Something inside the black warmth told her this was it.
Death was certain.