Lila's legs burned as she ran uphill. Her lungs felt like they would burst, but she didn't stop. Screams echoed behind her, sharp and endless. The sound of metal bending, glass breaking, and something heavy crashing into the land filled the air.
"Don't look back," Marco shouted, pulling her arm.
But Lila did look.
She wished she hadn't.
The whale was no longer stuck at the shore. It had pushed itself forward using its massive body, crushing boats like toys. Its skin scraped against buildings, breaking walls as if they were paper. Water poured into the streets behind it, carrying sharks huge ones flopping violently and snapping at anything that moved.
People ran in all directions. Some fell. Some didn't get back up.
"This can't be real," Lila whispered, her voice shaking. "This can't be happening."
A woman ahead tripped while holding her child. Lila rushed forward without thinking. She grabbed the child, Marco helped pull the woman up, and together they ran.
"Thank you," the woman cried. "Oh God, thank you."
"What's your name?" Lila asked, still running.
"Anna," she said, clutching her son tightly. "This is Leo."
Leo didn't cry. He stared behind them, silent, eyes wide.
Lila followed his gaze.
A massive octopus crawled out of the sea, its tentacles wrapping around cars, streetlights, even people. One tentacle slammed onto the road, cracking it open. Another lifted a bus and crushed it slowly, as if testing its strength.
The ground trembled again.
"That thing is climbing," Marco said in disbelief. "It's climbing buildings."
Gunshots rang out. A few soldiers fired from the end of the street. The bullets bounced off the octopus's thick skin, doing nothing. One tentacle snapped forward, sending the soldiers flying like dolls.
The shots stopped.
Everyone around Lila froze for half a second.
Then panic exploded again.
"Move!" Marco yelled.
They reached a small grocery store halfway up the hill. The doors were open, glass shattered. Inside, about ten people hid, shaking, crying, praying.
"Get in!" someone shouted.
They rushed inside. Marco slammed the door and pushed a shelf against it.
Outside, the sounds grew louder.
Something slammed against the building. Dust fell from the ceiling.
A man near the corner whispered, "We're going to die."
"No," Lila said, surprising herself with how firm her voice sounded. "We're not."
She looked around. Everyone's eyes were on her.
"I don't know how to stop this," she continued. "But we survive first. Panic will kill us faster than anything out there."
Another crash shook the store.
The lights flickered and died.
Darkness.
Leo started crying now.
Lila's phone buzzed in her pocket. No signal but a notification somehow came through. A news alert.
She read it out loud, her voice shaking:
"Multiple coastal cities under attack. Massive sea creatures emerging worldwide. Governments declare global emergency."
A woman gasped. "Worldwide?"
"Yes," Lila said quietly. "It's not just us."
Outside, something scraped against the walls. A deep, wet sound. Suction.
"Is that…?" Marco whispered.
Tentacles slid past the broken window.
People screamed.
One tentacle wrapped around a parked car outside and lifted it easily. Another pressed against the glass. The glass cracked but didn't break.
For a moment, the creature paused.
It felt like it was listening.
Then sirens.
Military helicopters roared overhead. Missiles fired toward the shoreline. Explosions shook the sky. Everyone cheered for a second.
Then the cheering stopped.
A giant shark leapt into the air far too high slamming into one helicopter. It exploded. Burning pieces fell into the streets.
Another helicopter crashed into the sea.
Silence followed.
Marco whispered, "They're not scared of us."
Lila's mind raced. Why now? Why all at once? This wasn't random. This was coordinated.
Her phone buzzed again.
This time, a message from a colleague:
"Lila… deep-sea readings are off the charts. Pressure, radiation, unknown energy. Something woke up down there. Something old."
The building shook violently.
Cracks formed in the walls.
"Everyone," Lila said loudly, "we can't stay here. We need higher ground. Mountains. Anywhere away from water."
"But how?" Anna cried. "Look outside!"
Lila looked too.
The octopus had moved on, but something worse had replaced it.
A shadow fell over the street.
Slow. Massive.
A second whale dragged itself forward, even bigger than the first. Its body crushed entire blocks. Its eye rolled, locking onto the hill.
Onto them.
The whale opened its mouth.
A deep, low sound came out not a cry.
A signal.
Every creature stopped moving.
Then, as one, they turned toward the land.
Toward the hills.
Toward the people.
Lila felt her blood turn cold.
"They're coming inland," she whispered.
And this time…
They weren't stopping.