Gorilla Warfare

Threats don't have to be understood to be avoided.

A little girl slept in her bed. Suddenly she was jarred awake by some commotion she could not identify. Still reclining on her pillow, she stared at the ceiling and tried to decipher the noises she heard. Someone was moving heavy objects, like furniture, in the middle of the night? She listened more to the racket that seemed distant, yet extremely loud. She was only a small child, but these seemed to be sounds she was not familiar with. 

Then there was arguing. Or was that yelling? Someone didn't like how the furniture was being moved? She listened a bit more then there was a thunderous roar, objects being hit or thrown, she couldn't determine, but now she decided she had enough. The noises getting louder seemed to signify they were getting closer. She looked up from her bed to see her baby brother in his crib, standing to attention. He was looking back at her, confused by the disturbance and what they should do next. 

She got out of bed and walked to the crib. She began lowering the sides so she could get the baby. She wasn't leaving him here. She placed him on the floor and held his hand. She led him to the bedroom door and into the hallway. As they looked about, there was a massive sound, thunderous. She hurried herself and the baby down the hall to a pair of silent, sleeping figures. 

"Momma?" she whispered. They moved closer to the bed. "Momma?"

The woman in the bed sat up. 

"Shanesia, what are you and Andrell doing here?"

"We're scared, Momma. There's, . . . we're scared."

"Oh, come on, baby."

"Hmm? What's going on?" the big man in bed asked, hafl-awake. 

Shanesia and Andrell are scared and want to sleep with us." 

"Hmm, okay, hold on," the man said. He lifted the girl over and she continued on to be on the far side of her mother, so she was near the window. Andrell was lifted up as well and came down between the adults. The man turned to face his wife and extended his arm across the pillow so it reached Shanesia. 

"Allright," he said. "Everybody comfortable? Let's go to sleep." 

Shanesia rested her head on her father's hand as she looked at the window. The sky was dark with no visibility whatsoever. She moved closer so she could see the street below and maybe see what was going on. 

Seven floors down, the street seemed cold and empty, for what she could see. A small flicker caught her attention and she watched it. Something seemed to be going on. She gazed further up to the building across the way to see what was happening there. Lights were on, then went off and more lights came on elsewhere in the building. Higher up. Another light. 

Then she heard the noises again. Like machinery operating, she thought. Then there was another boom, like she'd heard before, but she couldn't pinpoint where it was this time, her building or in another building. 

It was then Shanesia saw the ghosts. Lots of ghosts came running down the street. They seemed to be moving so fast. She watched the white forms race down the street, flying up walls and buildings. A car suddenly appeared and caught the ghosts in the headlights and for a brief moment, Shanesia saw the figures illuminated and they didn't seem to be ghosts, but they were flying toward the other building across the way. The forms turned on the car, attacking it, yelling at it, smashing it. 

Then she looked back at the building to see the ghosts running throughout the building, when she could see in windows. And there was people with the ghosts and the people were screaming. The ghosts weren't nice to them. Ghosts were all flying up the outside of the building. She kept looking at all the horror going on, all the while her small hand was still tucked in her father's. This was when she became aware her father was now leaning over toward the window as well, to see what was going on. Without opening the curtain up further, he looked down at the fast-moving ghosts, attacking everything, flying all over the building across the street. They must be in this building as well, Shanesia thought, this being what she and Andrell had heard earlier. 

Then her father whispered right over her ear. 

"White," he said, barely making a sound. "They're white gorillas."

Shanesia stared at the forms and now began to distinguish arms and legs. They were monkeys, she thought, but these were big. What her father had called them, gorillas. And for some reason, they were white, almost to the point of glowing in the dark, the moon or any other light, when they didn't destroy it, illuminating them up like fireflies. 

Her father said nothing else and he had actually moved his hand to cover Shanesia's mouth, knowing she would say something. All he could do was watch them as quietly as possible. he seemed to recline back in bed, but still able to see out of the small gap in the curtain. A gorilla swung on the window ledges across the way with such ease, going from one floor to the next with no problem. Shanesia lay her head on the pillow so only one eye was looking now, into the dark, into the chaos. She didn't blink. 

This was when her eye caught a figure in the opposite building; one of the white gorillas stood in the building, visible through the window with a light fixture of some sort not been destroyed. There was screams coming from somewhere close to the window, but the visible ape just seemed to stand there. There was another scream, then a loud crash, but the ape just stood. 

This was when Shanesia decided the ape was staring directly at her. She didn't move, barely blinked, but she could sense he was watching her. He could see her as plain as she could him, across the way, in the dark, but he was in light and she sat still in the bed. The ape continued to stare and Shanesia made no move whatsoever. 

Then the ape moved out of the window so he couldn't be seen again, but she saw another ape now on the same floor approach the window and climb out. Was it the same ape? She wasn't sure, but he looked across the road and gave with a snarl, then started swinging down the face of the building so fast, he might as well have just been flying again, like they seemed to be doing before. 

Shanesia sat very still, almost afraid to move for whatever this all was going on outside. Her father moved his hand a bit, so she knew then he was still awake. Her mother and Andrell were quiet. 

Smoke began billowing up from the distance, then a fire. More screams and yells. Shanesia just stared ahead at that balcony where that gleaming, white ape had stood. She just stared at it, listening to bangs and thuds, like something was being broken. A car alarm went off. Glass was broken. They were surrounded, so all they could do was remain perfectly still and quiet. 

Then the entire outside of the small corner of the window she was looking out went dark. She could see nothing anymore. She turned her eye to look further beyond and still was nothing. This was when her father reached to seize the corner of the curtain and gradually pull it back to learn what had happened and still saw nothing but darkness. He pulled the curtain away as much as he could to see what was there and now the distant moonlight and smoldering headlights or streetlights gave way to the visage of one of the snowy apes, perched on the window ledge, snarling with foam. 

Shanesia could only stare at the monster seemingly looking at her. She felt a hand tighten around her throat and knew the beast had her, then realized it was her father grabbing her shirt collar. The thing gave with a snarl, showing sharp teeth and its tongue. It was as tho it was mad at Shanesia because she had stared at it, watched it, from across the street. Now she stared at it, transfixed, as it pulled back an arm and brought it forward to shatter the window, hurling glass all over the little family. 

Glass stung Shanesia all on her face and hands. Her mother screamed as the events unfolded. 

"Hold on to Andrell!" her father screamed to her mother. As he said this, he rolled out of the bed, clutching her as she held the toddler. With his other hand, he had hold of Shanesia by her shirt collar, a handful of fabric. He hit the floor with their mother and son, but it was then Shanesia became aware of another presence on her person. She felt rough surfaces around her small ankle, seemingly growing tighter and looked to see the massive hand clamping on her foot. She just went completely limp, totally unsure of what to even try to do, but her father still had her by her shirt and wasn't letting her go. Tossing and guiding his wife, still holding the infant, who was just as bewildered as the rest of the family, to the furthest side of the room, Shanesia's father shoved the mattress with his foot, seeing that the creature was making his way in upon it. 

As the mattress moved beneath the gorilla, it inadvertently pulled at the object as well, making shoving it toward the now shattered window even easier. The father held to Shanesia, and by now, she had managed to turn a hand toward him and grabbed his wrist. The horror released her foot, continued to seek to enter on the mattress and still persisted in pulling it toward him, while dad continued to send it toward the window. In no time at all, the gorilla's greater size was more out the window than in, and the mattress was no substitute for a sturdy surface. The animal clawed to stay upright, by once again, grabbing the mattress, as it slowly ripped on bits of glass still in the window and soard out the window straight down. 

"In the closet," the father said. Andrell was frowning, but this all just had him too afraid to cry out loud. Shanesia said not a word as she too stood up and raced to follow after her mother. Her father stumbled to his feet, stomping barefoot on the broken bits of shattered glass, as well as having been cascaded in it with the rest of his family, grabbed the bottle of rubbing alcohol off the dresser and unscrewed the cap and flung it across the room. He then followed Shanesia and her mother and brother into the closet and huddled on the floor, pulling coats and other garments over themselves. 

The family sat huddled, unmoving, watching and waiting. They heard whoops and yells, a scream, something being hit, something being damanged. The father peered out under the tiny gap at the bottom of the door. A noise in the distance from outside could be heard. Was that a helicopter? Then as he anticipated, the gorilla came crawling back through the window. The beast looked around and saw no one anymore, so it hobbled into the empty room. Didn't enjoy that seven story plunge, did you, dad thought to himself. It growled upon smelling the alcohol and being stuck with the glass further irritated it. It wanted to escape this unpleasantness and lumbered out the door into the rest of the apartment. The alcohol had made the glass unpleasant to tread upon, as well as it clearly succeeded in disguising their own body scent, so the gorilla couldn't detect them in the closet. 

Rumbling was heard elsewhere in the apartment. There must be another gorilla in the living room, the father supposed. Roaring and smashing was heard, then more roaring. A flash from an upset lamp or some electrical appliance startled the animals, then caused them to rage even more. More smashing. More destruction. More noise. 

Shanesia sat in the closet, toward the back, laid out flat, unmoving, covered in whatever clothes her parents tossed over her. She was stinging from the glass being tossed over her, but she didn't make a sound as she too heard the chaos in the apartment. She could feel her father's back, hot and sweaty, and no doubt trickles of blood upon him as well. Finally, she became unbelievably exhausted and in the dark, she managed to nod off and go to sleep. 

Next thing she knew, she was startled to see light coming in the closet. Her father stood there, but so did another man. Her father seemed to be limping. Shanesia sat up, stretching and sore, stiff from this awkward slumber. Her dad reached in and grabbed her up, then held her in his arms. Slowly, her mother rose from beneath the attire and also came forth, still clutching a sleeping Andrell. 

"Can you move okay," the man asked. 

"Yea, I think so," her father replied. 

"Well, the elevator is out. We have to check the rest of the building. You can make your down the stairs and get checked outside, but ah, going down, . . . . just be careful. Watch what the kids see." 

Shanesia's father nodded and slowly he and his wife walked out the bedroom into the hall and entered what had been their living room. It was completely demolished and a dead gorilla sat on the far wall. Her father quickly shielded his daughter's eyes from the spectacle. Likewise, the mother also turned away, not wanting to see the creature. 

Making their way into the hallway, the scent of the animal was all about them. It honestly wasn't known if Andrell had relieved himself or not, the animal stench was so much stronger, but they would truly be surprised if he didn't after what he and his family had endured.They made their way to the staircase. Paramedics and firemen were all over the hallway and all up and down the stairs as well. There was a young fellow just in front of them they recognized from elsewhere in the building, but he, like they, was just too give out to speak about anything. Other people were present in the stairwell, some bandaged, others carried on stretchers by the rescuers. As they reached the ground floor and walked into the lobby, the elevator was ripped open, doors bent and twisted, and within the elevator car was unfortunate victims as well as another dead ape. There was at least two more the father saw in the building before he just stopped looking. And of course, there was more outside. 

The family came out and were taken to the nearest ambulances to be treated. They were checked over, seen what could be done about wounds, mainly from the glass, tho dad seemed to have a bit of a limp from all that fancy footwork he had to do against the marauder. Finally, feeling safe out of the building, but not sure about the surroundings, he asked the officer the obvious question. 

"What in the world happened last night?"

"Secret test animals," the officer said, looking him right in the eye. "Can you believe that?"

"Test animals where?"

"Down the road a good bit."

"They escaped," mom queried. 

"We're still learning what all took place, but it seems that was it. Listen, we want to get everyone out of here as soon as possible. Are you up to being taken to a nearby facility? We got a bus being loaded now." 

The father faintly nodded and slowly the couple, each still holding a child, made their way in the direction of the transportation. 

As they did so, Shanesia looked back at their building, directly under where the window had been, there was her parent's mattress. Fabric ripped and stuffing pulled out. Nearby was a dead gorilla. Shanesia stared at the animal. Was that the one that tried to pull her out the window? She thought the one who climbed back in might be. 

She decided she didn't care and buried her face in her father's shoulders.