The next day was rough. I had not slept the night before and we all had to hike down the road silently for hours. By late morning, the hundred or so survivors, the unit of soldiers, my friends, and I all stopped to rest for a bit. I sat down and so did Ernest and Ava. We all just glared at each other for what seemed like hours. 

The group was just about to continue walking to the airport, when I heard a piercing loud shriek from above. I stared down the street and saw about thirty armed enemy soldiers, each with a black gas mask and a gun.

Some of the soldiers shot their guns and bullets blasted forward, knocking some survivors to the ground. The small militia we had shot back, but the bullets that came forth just bounced off the black suited soldiers’ vests. They were wearing bulletproof equipment! At this point, we knew we would die in seconds. Then, I heard what I assumed was Ava screaming really loudly in horror.

Then I heard it again. The shriek echoed in my head bouncing off my skull. I looked for the origin of the noise and found it. A ginormous blackbird, the size of a large garbage truck, flew from its perch on a damaged building. The creature was wearing a gas mask that seemed especially made for giant ravens and a soldier sat on top guiding it with reins.

“What is that?” Rob exclaimed muttering a curse word under his breath. He grabbed a rifle from his sack and started to aim at the monster. Rob pulled the trigger. A bullet blasted from the tip of the gun and hit the bird creature on the side. It turned to its attacker unharmed and screeched. He folded his wings back and dove forward toward Rob.

“Holy cow!” Ernest said pushing his glasses up his nose. 

“Run!” Rob yelled to us. I backed up from the screaming monster as it dove through the sky, almost knocking everyone down with a gust of wind from his wings. 

Ava and I pulled Wyatt back to safety and watched as Rob faced the terrible raven. The bullets coming from his sniper rifle seemed to do no damage to the bird, only aggravating it even more. My friends and I tried to find a safe place from both the giant bird and the soldiers. 

We finally hid behind a big slab of concrete sticking from the ground. All of us peeked out from behind it except for Mary. She sat on the ground and closed her eyes.

Rob was still having a hard time slaying the giant bird. A small burn on Rob’s shoulder from a laser beam slowed his reflexes. Wyatt, normally being stupid, went out, grabbed a dead soldier’s gun and shot a few bullets at the bird.

He got a few good shots, and even though he injured the bird it kept flying. 

“What the f—-!” SCREECH! The bird turned towards Wyatt, irritated. It pounced on Wyatt, but he dodged it.

“Wyatt!” Rob yelled. 

“I told you to run!” 

“But theses guns are the only things that can injure the bird,” Wyatt said. 

“Then, give it to me,” Rob said. Wyatt tossed the gun to Rob and ran to catch up with us. We stopped running after we were a safe distance away and watched Rob fight the beast. We saw the giant bird use his talons to stab Rob in the chest. 

Rob screamed in agony. The bird picked up Rob with his talons and dropped him. Now, Rob wasn’t moving. 

“Rob!” I cried. I tried to run to Rob, but Finn pulled me back. 

“It is too late, Dylan.”

“No, it’s not! We can save him!”

“No, we can’t. Rob told us to run and save ourselves,” Finn said

“No, he didn’t!”

“Well, he would have wanted us to run and live.”

“No!” I started to run over to Rob, but while I was running an explosion went off. I went flying backwards unconscious.

…

I woke up with my friends circling around me. 

“Is he dead?” asked Finn.

“Nope, he seems alright,” said Wyatt. 

“Where is Rob?” I questioned. No one said a thing. 

“Where IS he?” I angrily yelled. 

“G-g-gone,” Mary said eventually, her voice wavering. 

“It’s your fault!” I yelled at Finn, getting up. 

“It is your fault he is dead!”

“No, it is not!”

“Yes, it is. If you didn’t stop me, I could’ve gone and saved Rob! He could be standing here right now!”

I shoved him backward. Finn got mad and punched my face. I fell and Finn backed up with a startled expression. 

“Shut up, both of you!” Wyatt interrupted.

“Oh, you’re the one to talk? You distracted Rob by pelting that monster with a random gun,” Finn complained.

“Guys, stop it! If you want to live, then we need to get out of here,” Ava commented. 

I nodded to her and we ran off, not knowing where to go. I looked away from Finn. I looked through my pocket and grasped my phone. Then I realized, we could get help! There was hope!

I grabbed my phone and tried to text my friends. Maybe they were sick at home during the bombings at school. 

None of them answered. 

“What are you doing?” Finn questioned.

“I’m trying to get help.”

I tried contacting my parents, too. Nothing. My sister, Sophie. Nothing. Eventually, I turned on the emergency SOS signal on my phone. A few minutes later, some police arrived with stolen Nazi guns and masks. They gave us gas masks and spare clothes. I saw a backpack through the broken window of an apartment and filled it with the stuff the police gave us. 

They gave us a ride to the police station and we stayed there for the night. There, at the police station, they let us sleep in prisoner cells, with real beds! The beds made it easier to sleep, but I couldn’t sleep because of the guilt from the death of Rob.