Birds continued…
Nat decided that his family needed to rest, he knew he needed to rest too. He and his wife settled the children on the mattresses. Three hours, that's all they had. That's all the peace they had left for the day.
Nat laid down next to the fire and stared at the burning cigarette. He gazed sleepily; the heat gently licked his face as he drifted in and out of consciousness. The wind was thrashing its self against the house, engulfing it in a swirl of cold. A gust of chilly air blew down the chimney and fanned the fire high. Nat was slightly startled by how hard the wind was blowing and by the sudden uprising in the flames, but has too exhausted and run-down to take too much bother by it. He closed his eyes and listened for a moment to the soft breathing of his children. They were so innocent they didn't deserve to go through this. His thoughts drifted away as he slid contently into a troubled dream.
The house was shivering, it started rocking so violently. His wife and children were screaming, something was wrong, but Nat couldn't figure out what. The clock chimed and he opened his eyes to look at the clock. It was time, high tide was now. The last chime rang out and the house was tossed out into the field like a child's unwanted toy. Nat ran all he could think to do was run, run to his children and wife. Protect them in some way, but he might as well have been running through molasses. They were so close, yet so far away, just out of reach.
The birds, the birds were coming. Their wings flapping added to the strength of the cruel wind and their heartless battle cries were heard for miles. They were doomed, human kind was doomed. Nat could only watch in horror at his crying family as they were encircled by the black birds.
"Take me, take me instead, please!" He found himself begging with the dark beasts. They wouldn't listen, why wont they listen. He couldn't do anything; he couldn't even make himself move. All he could do was watch the demons rip his family. The birds split a little so Nat caught a glance at his wife and kids. They were thrashing around, flailing their arms in an attempt to fight back. They were hurt tremendously, they were bleeding everywhere. Their eyes, their eyes were missing; the birds had eaten their eyes. He could hear Jill and little Johnny whimpering "Daddy, daddy, help, daddy!"
Then he woke up. They were really calling for him to help, but why? He rolled over to see what the commotion was all about. His wife was hollering that the house was on fire. Nat jumped up and looked around. She was right the kitchen was in flames.
"Kids, out, get out of the house now!" He ordered, and then he commanded to his wife, "Help me put out the fire, get a bucket of water, and fast, hurry!" She turned to find a bucket or something to hold water but there was nothing. The fire was out of control. It was out of hand and way too big to even attempt to put out. Nat stood in wonder and awe of the massive inferno in front of him. "Forget it, it's hopeless, lets just get out of here!" he yelled to his wife over the crackle of the blazing fire.
They ran out of the house, grabbed the children and moved far away from the house. They stood in the wide open field watching, weeping their silent sobs, shivering in the icy wind, as the house they had cherished, the stuff they had owned and all the memories they had burned slowly to the ground. No one spoke, no one moved, and no one could take their eyes off the currently blazing bonfire that was once their home. The one to break the silence was Mrs. Hocken, "How could this happen?"
Nat thought for a minute, how could this happen? What could have done this? Was it the cigarette? The wood? The wind, the wind, it was fanning the fire. "The wind must have blown hard enough to send some sparks onto the dry wood floor." He announced sorrowfully to his family though his eyes had yet to leave the tragic sight. The silence started up again for a few brief moments. Only, Jill was the one to break it this time, "what are we gonna do now daddy?" she inquired innocently.
Nat broke his stare to look at her, "I honestly don't know yet honey." He admitted. He noticed there was something wrong with the look on her face. It wasn't calm or sad or confused. It was pure fear and horror. He kneeled down to where he was eye level with his scared daughter, "What's wrong baby girl?"
"The birds are back daddy, didn't you notice? Look daddy the birds are back in the sky." She pointed in the direction of the coast only higher. He followed her little finger, and gasped as he stood up slowly. She was pointing directly at an enormous flock of birds, flying directly for them.