and the earth opened up

8/9/2019 And the Earth Opened Up...

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And the Earth Opened Up

Dr. Stanley Crispin jumped up off his couch with outstretched eyes. Livingin Irondale, Alabama all his life, he knew what those rumblings were.Surface waves.

Surface waves are responsible for most of the damage associated withearthquakes, because they cause the most intense vibrations.

Dr. Crispin got his degree in seismology -- the study of earthquakes, 15

years ago from the University of Alabama. He loved residing in JeffersonCounty. He knew about all the major quakes that hit there, including the

biggest earthquake ever to occur in Irondale that took place in 1916. It hada Richter scale reading of 5.10. If you are in a car, it may rock. Glasses anddishes may rattle. Windows may break. The quake of 1916 was not sevenor above, but some mild damage was done.

As Dr. Crispin arose from his couch, he felt the ground shake again. Hecould hear the earth splitting outside. It let out a loud, peeling moan.Maintaining his balance, he ran into his bedroom and got under his bed untilthe rumblings subsided. When it was over, he went outside to see thingsfirsthand. People were beginning to stand outside of their doors in thesuburban middle class community. The road split at least one hundred yardsand counting. It was if the rows of houses apart from each other were takingsides. The split was about four feet across. Dr. Crispin and some of hisneighbors walked towards that crack in the earth. Old man Simmons walked

beside him and he knew what Crispin did for a living. He asked the doctor

what he thought about this. Some of them turned their attention towards Dr.Crispin to hear his response. Others were checking their homes and cars for any signs of damage. Some of the windows were cracked or shattered inmost homes and quite a few cars. He saw that the house beside Simmonssuffered severe damaged. The owner, Ted Stockford was holding his headin disbelief. His wife and two children stood with him, also looking at the

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damage. Stockford lived across the street from old man Simmons.Simmons lived to the right of Dr. Crispin.

"Well, Dr. Crispin began; I am a seismologist and the basic theory is that the

surface layer of the earth -- the lithosphere -- is comprised of many platesthat slide over the lubricating athenosphere layer."

Everyone listening looked at him with confused expressions.

"At the boundaries between these huge plates of soil and rock, plates canmove apart - If two plates are moving apart from each other, hot, moltenrock flows up from the layers of mantle below the lithosphere. The magma

that comes out on the surface is called lava.

"Are you saying, lava is going to start trickling out of there boy? Old manSimmons asked. Simmons wife nudged him.

"From what I can tell, it seems highly unlikely. Where these plates meet,you will find faults -- breaks in the earth's crust where the blocks of rock oneach side are moving in different directions. Earthquakes are much morecommon along fault lines than they are anywhere else on the planet."

"Major earthquakes generally register at seven or above. The Richter scale isused to rate the magnitude of an earthquake -- the amount of energy itreleased. This felt like a six to a six point five. So far what we haveexperienced does not seem to be life threatening.

Everyone, Dr. Crispin asked cautiously; please go back into your homesuntil I can give you some definite answers. Inspect your damage and make

sure none of our neighbors is in need of medical assistance. I haveequipment in my home that allows me to call an earthquake center. I needtime to talk with a few colleagues then I will get back with you.

He started walking home. He wanted as little alarm as necessary. The people were already nervous. He walked through his house until he reachedhis bedroom. Dr. Crispins system tracks earthquake data in remote

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locations along fault zones. A private company located in Lamar Countycreated the equipment and enlisted the university to help them conduct

pioneering research in the area of earthquake forecasting. Lamar was east of Jefferson County. The company has a network of ground sensors, which

measure Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) magnetic fluctuations observed prior to earthquakes, and uses satellite Internet service to transmit thesemeasurements back to its data center. The goal is to save lives byresearching global forecasts of seismic activity in order to providecommunities with early warnings of potentially destructive earthquakes.

Dr. Crispin transmitted the measurements. He paused a few minutes then phoned the data center. The Director of Operations Mr. Wahl answered. He

informed Dr. Crispin that the data had a Richter scale reading of 7.0 andasked what damage had occurred.

Well, began Crispin, the road has cracked northward and from what I cansee it I would guess about 100 yards or more. The crack itself seems to havesplit about 4 feet deep looking into the earth. There is mild damage to a fewhomes and cars. I-he stopped. The ground began to tremble again, thistime with more force. The house took a backwards descent into the earth.His bed slid up against the wall and the foot of it began to tilt upward. Dr.

Crispin held onto it trying to maintain the fear building up inside of him.

My God! Wahl yelled in the phone. Whats happening?

I dont know, Said the doctor. His face looked dry. The rumblings scaredthe hell out of him. The noise coming from the ground increased, and Dr.Crispin felt his house moving again. He knew there was people still outside.

Send me the measurements doc! Wahl screamed in the phone. Send themnow! Dr. Crispin transmitted the readings. The earth wailed and outside hestarted to hear screams. Wahl returned to the phone with a shriek in hisvoice. The Richter scale reading is a 9.0.! The potential for completedestruction and large-scale loss of life is imminent! This is terrible, get outof there! Evacuate! Tell as many people as you can and you get the hell outof there! Dr. Crispin, do you hear me?

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Then old man Simmons body came crashing through Dr. Crispins bedroomwindow. Simmons body leaned over the broken window and shards of glass. He looked like a giant earthworm, but instead of covered with dirt, hewas soaked with blood. His eyes pleaded with Crispin to help him as he was

violently pulled back through the window with a strength and force that was beyond human. Pieces of his flesh slid down on what remained of it. Nervous feet guided Crispin to the window and he looked out.

The earth had opened up. The street split itself wide more than 75 feetacross. What he saw dragging old man Simmons body down into it causedhis body to shake uncontrollably. Spittle flew from his open mouth. Crispinlet out a high pitched shrieked as the creature pulled Simmons into the

ground with him. Dr. Crispin ran for the front door as fast as he could. Hefaintly heard Wahl calling his name..Crispin! Crispin! Dr. Crispin!

The ground shifted and the house tilted forward, hurling Crispin through theopen door. As he stumbled and slid across his porch, he dropped the cell

phone. His head met the ground with a sudden thud. Raising his head off the ground, he watched as Mrs. Simmons tried to fight one of the creatures

off her. Her frail arms were useless against the strength of the abominationas she lay on her back, her voice hoarse with panic. Dr. Crispin turned hishead away as the creature ripped her open, tearing away her insides.

Sharp claws climbed out of that split, creatures searching for prey.Abominationsone behind another. There were thousands of them standingsix feet tall or more, moving around on all fours. Their muscular bodiesvibrated and pulsed. Reaching the edge of the opening, a few of them pulled

themselves to the surface and sprung into the air landing on horrifiedvictims.

The creatures were void of eyes. The area where the eyes should have beenwas smooth and flat. Two downward slits served as their noses. They reliedon their sense of smell, tracking and dragging the people of Irondale downinto the dark earth.

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One opened its mouth and cawed, and Dr. Crispin counted four rows of sharp razor teeth. Saliva ran off the tip of those teeth as it ripped out thethroat of Stockfords youngest son, Gage. It leaped on him as the family ranfor their home. Then it picked him up and held the ten-year-old over its head

as blood dripped from his lifeless body into its mouth. Satisfied, it cawedagain and began to descend back into the earth with the dead corpse.

Some of the creatures took their prey down with them alive, their screamsechoing through the still air. Stockford and the rest of his family wereamongst them.

Dr. Crispin could hear sirens in the distance. As he looked in that direction

one of the creatures crawled towards him. Their sense of smell wasextraordinary. It had picked up Crispins.

He could still hear Wahl calling his name.

Crispin saw the phone on the ground and reached for it, picking it upslowly.

The creature stood revealing its true height. He was the tallest of them all,

standing about eight feet tall. He let out a shrilling caw that stopped theothers instantly. They returned his cawed in unison.

Dr. Crispin realized that he was the only one standing on the street leftuntouched. They were waiting for the creature to capture its prey. He talkedin the phone quick and with urgency.

Wahl, it is an invasion of some sorts. We mistook it for an earthquake.

They came out of the ground, returning to it with all the people here. Theworld as we know it is about to change. The residents of Jefferson Countyare just the beginning".

The creature goes back down on all fours making its way to Crispin. Hehears screams descending down in the earth. Crispin's voice goescompletely hysterical. He speaks even faster.

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"Everyone here will die. Call the National Guard. Alert everyone that youcan. One is coming for me. Oh God no, Oh God NOOOOO!!!!!!

The phone gives one last static filled hum before the connection goes dead.

Wahl continues to call his name. Crispin does not respond.

The terror caused Wahl to drop to the floor. He still held the phone to hisear, staring wildly at them.

Crispin had said the residents of Jefferson County were just the beginning

Wahl looks at his coworkers, six in all here tonight. They attack him withquestions; what did Dr. Crispin say? What were those sounds?

An invasion, Wahl half whispers. Crispin said we are all going todie..

They stare at Wahl bewildered as the ground starts to give off a slowvibration and tremble under them, letting out a loud, glut tonal moan.

Looking around the headquarters seeing panic in the eyes of his co-workers,Wahl stumbles to the windows, looking outside. His coworkers follow himholding on to one another. The ground shifted and the building tiltedforward. Pushed up against the window with an unexpected force, Wahl andthe others look out of it with a rising fear. The earth was splitting itself,opening up. It shook the building violently and people outside startedrunning for cover as best as they could. Some were falling down and not

able to get up. Hands with sharp claws were emerging from the broken earth by the thousands.

The first of what will become many screams escaped Wahls throat.

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and the earth opened up

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