Maw

Fire and brimstone, rising demons, alien invasion. Heck, even zombies would have been viable to see. But not this, this hungry force. A locust plague, from some far off African nation was the first thought. Then the animals bolted into cities, away from everything. Satellites looking down on the area, and what they saw were trees vanishing. Leaves, bark, branches, everything disappearing at an alarming rate. That's when the first team was sent in. Jacob, a local in the area and expert on wildlife, went to see if maybe an elephant heard was doing something. It didn't make sense but no other explanation existed at the time. They were carrying a camera with a direct feed, but all we saw was a black cloud approach them at speed. They ran, whatever they saw made them turn tail instantly. Their screams were downed out quickly. I tell you now, that sound was chittering squeaks in mass. Thunder could not deafen you to it. That's when the military got involved.

United nation troops, brought in from the world over, arrived in days. Tanks, helicopters, troops a plenty were brought forth. That told me the hire ups knew something. They approached the same area, and when that cloud appeared they opened fire. It wasn't an enemy force they could out maneuver, hiding behind cover or taking sniping positions. So they unleashed all their fire power. The cloud coiled around, falling back and forth when hit with something powerful like a tank shell. But in only a few minutes the gun fire stopped. Screams sounded, many more but not silenced by the insane chittering. And thats when we saw them, caught in a freeze frame attacking a cameraman.

Flys, or close enough, but with large heads. Instead of proboscis there was a mouth, a gapping maw lined with teeth. They had fat bodies, almost as if they were all stomach, for their legs were not useful. These little things swarmed over the entire military force there, and ate them whole sale. They ate everything, every leaf and branch, every shrub, every animal that couldn't get away, and yes every person. The military that remained, whoever was sent it, quickly learned they were not going to deal with this.

I think back on that now, sitting in a little tower overlooking the barren landscape around me. Three years ago, that's when the swarm appeared. In that time they removed everything, anything alive was eaten. Countries didn't exist anymore, small pockets of people in bunkers built ages ago, domes built to cultivate what food we could. Right now I watch, looking around the dead landscape, holding a picture of people I don't even know.

"You looking at the picture again?" My partner askes me. Miles is a tall man, built powerfully. His heavy accent hails from Africa but he wont tell me which country. Probably doesn't want to remember. Not like its there, even it the ground is nothing is alive. "Randy, you going to make yourself crazy wondering about them."

"That or being stuck here with you, either way." I joke. Miles has a good laugh with me. "Wish we could have been in the mountains or something. up north. Damn maws love this warm climate."

"Food wont grow in the ice my friend, you know that. That's why they need us here. Besides, they don't much like metal, and these will keep them at bay." he assures me, patting the mounted flamethrower he's sitting behind. That was the only weapon we have that seems to work on the little maws. Burns them crispy quickly. But you cant burn the whole swarm at once, so on floor you're basically dead. That's why they built these towers for us and any other guards. Solid metal, the maws wont eat that, and little slots we can shoot from. The fire mostly keeps them from entering those. Its not fool proof, and we run out of fuel quick enough. Sometimes we just have to let the swarm pass. Runs to find fuel are near suicide, and if there is a oil refinery anywhere maned, well we don't know about.

"Call ahead will you, see if the have word from the other domes. Haven't heard anything from them since that big swarm went east." I ask. Miles nodded to me and went to phone. Basic but stable. That's one good thing, the maws don't eat technology. All the computers, phone lines, cars, generators, all those things were safe. Just not as many people to use the stuff. What passes for government are scientist and professors, or military staff in the bunkers. Any politician quickly learned that they couldn't lie to the people anymore, they had to work for their food now. So some good came from the little bastards.

"Everything's fine, basic check in. The swarm accidently hit an antenna, they just needed to be safe for someone to go fix it." Miles tells me. I nod but then god taunt as his eyes open wide. At once we grab the triggers of out flamethrowers and stand tall. We can see it, far off but massive. Like a moving cloud, but ravenous and relentless. The chittering was worse in these towers, were it could echo. First instinct is always fire, burn them as soon as they are close enough. But we have to keep calm, fuel is not easy to get and they could just pass by. If they take notice, they could decide to try and break into the dome. To much was sacrificed so they could be built in the first place, not to mention what they mean to us now.

We stood there, watching as the cloud approached, tense as possible. But, in what is ironic I think, we began to calm. Another mass of chittering, from a different direction, sounded to us. Normally this would be a worry, two invading armies as once. But maws were not people.

"That's a relief. They can handle each other. Only wish we had some beers." I said. Miles laughed, nodding and pulling out his thermos. He offered it to me, I declined pulling my own. Water was as good as anything when watching a show. The maws were gluttons, even after eating a forest of plant and animal life, down to the rot, they were hungry. With so little left, they only had one reliable source of food, themselves. So when two swarms meet, they storm at each other and the feast begins. Its a terrifying thing to witness, but gratifying nonetheless. Whenever this happened we would send a small team in tanks with flamethrowers to finish off the survivors. They eat so much then that they cant fly, easy pickings. Some of the science team say they are starving so they gorge, unlike before when food was plentiful.

"You think they can finish themselves off like this? If we keep hunkered down they will only have themselves to eat. Eventually there will be a final two." Miles asks me. I shake my head.

"Well, the theory is that they did this before. They showed up out of nowhere, means hibernation." I tell him. He knows that part, but Miles never seemed the type to pay attention in the briefings. "So if they run out of food completely, they will most likely just go to sleep for however long. Give it enough time, this happens again." I explain. Granted, no one could do any real research on them now. Theories are all that was possible. Miles nodded at me, then we continued to watch the swarms eat themselves. That was until a small shift, a wave of darkness toward us. I looked down, something was running. A deer, a cat, I don't know. I could only make out it was there. The maws were gluttons, but they didn't like their own taste. Even a feeding frenzy on each other was cast aside if something caught their attention. Miles grabbed the phone at once.

"We need a sniper, small animal, attracting swarm!" he shouted, but it was to late. Assuming we had a sniper, and I don't think we did, they would need to climb the tower, aim, and hit accurately so the swarm would cover the corpse then fall back on itself. We didn't have time, as whatever the animal was reached us and dashed past. We held still, praying the mass would just circle around us. The chittering echoed inside the walls, the slamming of their tiny bodies into the side shaking us. It was almost like a wave rising higher and higher, and then something shot past me. Miles and I both turned; there on the ground rolling about to get its bearings was a single maw. It saw us, and screeched. Miles smashed it, a single maw was nothing. But the screech was loud, and the swarm heard it. I spun back around and pulled the trigger. A fire as hot as the sun rushed out into the swarm, their chittering changing to painful clicking. The smoke filled the air as the mass turned and weaved to get away from the inferno I unleashed on them. Miles rushed to his post and unleashed his fury as well. Like a two headed dragon defending its horde we bathed the air in flame. But already we could hear parts of the swarm brake off and slam into the walls away from the fire. We couldn't burn everywhere at once, and even as small amount of them could reduce us to bone. But we dared not stop pulling the triggers. Looking out I could see more towers, more jets of flame. The swarm figured us out, but this could work for us, for it the swarm splits we can whittle it down.

But that was a hope at best. Already I can hear the the metal straining under so much pressure and so many impacts. I can hear the pressure seals in the underground room activating, help incase a few get in so we don't have to let go of the flamethrowers. They also are ready to snap shut if we fail. All entrances must be sealed. I wish I had more time to say something to Miles, right now could be the last moment. But we didn't need more words. It was us, raging against the swarm. Our flames burning any of them that came near to ash, them trying desperately to get in. We would not break easily. We could make them work for their meal.

"You want us! Fight for you it you bastards!" I yelled, Miles shouting alongside me. We might not wake up, we might end the swarm entirely. I don't know. But right now, a thousand mouths needed to burn.