3 Chapter 3

Their flat was built before 1996 and had no bomb shelter, Ben and his mom could only hide in fear in the master bedroom and hope for the best, however their hopes were cruelly destroyed by another heavy thump at their front gate. Ben's eyes turned red in extreme fear and he came up with a crazy idea, he would throw another pork at the corridor parapets to lure the centipede there and then both of them will try to lift up the centipede and let it fall to its death!.

Ben thought it was a good idea but his mom refused to take part and tried her best to stop him. Ben gave up and look out the bedroom window, thinking of trying to escape from there. However what he saw gave him a deep sense of hopelessness, the carpark below was filled with numerous centipedes and he can see centipedes slowly crawling on the walls too. Although the centipedes were having difficulty and struggling to crawl up the walls, they were already swarming the low levels. A centipede finally reached a 4th floor window and started attacking the window to force its way inside the house. They were all doomed!!!

Ben turn back to find his mom missing! Mom where are you!? Just then the bedroom door opened and his mom came back.

Ben: Where did you go!

Mom: I went to turn off the fire.... i also took back the chopper!.

Ben took out the hammer from his pocket... 1 chopper 1 hammer, will this be their last stand ? He looked around the room again, trying to think of a way to survive.

Mom, later when the centipede comes in, we can tip over the wardrobe to trap it, then we try to run ok.

Ben and his mom hurried to push and position the heavy wardrobe next to the door, it was a long nervous wait as they listened to the centipede slowly destroying both their doors and skittering all over their house looking for them. Bloody centipede Ben cursed under his breath. As expected, the centipede was soon hammering the wooden bedroom door, the weak door caved in on the 1st hit and exploded inwards with a burst of wooden chips on the 2nd. The giant alien centipede cautiously enteref the room, its 2 antennas moving about in the air.

Ben looked at his mom and together they strained with all their might to tip over the wardrobe. The centipede seem to have sensed something as it hurried to get in, the wardrobe smashed down at its bottom half, trapping the giant alien centipede underneath. It struggled immediately, its tail making striking motions at the now revealed Ben and his mom. Ben fell on his butt in fright and scrambled backwards, fortunately the tail was blocked by the wardrobe but the centipede was already heaving the wardrobe off its back !. Was it all hopeless???

Ben didn't give up, he charged straight at the centipede and smashed the hammer on its antenna. The centipede gave a pained cry and struggled vigorously to get free. Ben knew the wardrobe wouldn't trap it for long, he madly used the hammer to smash the centipedes head again and again with all his desperate strength. The hammer bounced against the centipedes chitin like a toy, it was totally useless. The centipede heaved and the wardrobe started to topple away, slightly freeing up its body. Ben was caught by the sudden movement and was terrified to be trapped underneath its head..... Is this the end??? Ben thought in despair.

Just then, his mom striked the centipedes antenna with the chopper, the centipede gave another pained cry and flung up its head, causing his mom to fall backwards. Ben took this opportunity to roll sideways very fast. While the centipede was distracted on the other side by his mom, Ben used all his strength to smash its antenna again. This time the centipede swung its head even more violently, almost slamming Ben against the wall.

Fuck this shit.....

Ben got up shakily, his body protesting. The hammer was like a baby toy against this creature. His mom was screaming for help and trying desperately to fend off the centipede with her chopper. The centipede seems to be trying to protect its antenna and was moving cautiously with both its antennas flattened against its head.

Ben made a short running jump and landed on its head with a overhead smash from the hammer, the most powerful blow he made so far. The centipede flicked its head and Ben flew to the ceiling before falling down again, landing back on the centipedes head which he groggily held on to both its antennas for support. The centipede began swinging its head aggressively left to right and Ben held on for dear life, he was starting to get disorientated from all the swinging, THINK BEN THINK!

At that short moment inbetween swings, Ben quickly tied both its antennas together into a sloppy knot before getting thrown off its head. He hit the wall with a bang and sat there stupidly with the world spinning around. The centipede entered some sort of panic mode with its antennas tied together, it quickly retreated away from the bedroom and left the house. Ben was supported by his mom as they surveyed their devastated house, furniture and items were strewn all over the floor and their door and gate were busted apart.

From their living room they could hear screams and thumps coming from all around them, Ben could recognise some of the voices of their neighbours as they scream and shouted. Another wave of fear washed over him, this wasn't over yet. They hurriedly limped back into the master bedroom and hid in the toilet, only a flimsy sliding plastic door protecting them. They stayed silent and still, shivering in fear.

Suddenly the distinct roar of Singapore's F16 fighter jets could be heard over the still blaring sirens, distant but coming nearer very fast, followed by several waves of explosions in the direction where the meteor landed. A wave of angry insect screeches filled the air, coming from all directions and repeated by many, the alien centipedes started rushing back to their nest.

Ben held hands tightly with his mom, hoping for the worst to be over. They stayed hidden until there was no more alien sounds outside before stealthily leaving the house to check the situation outside. The common corridor was a mess of toppled potted plants, footwear strewn all over the place and messy bloodstains with the imprint of centipede legs. Most of their neighbours gates were also bashed in, leaving ugly gaping holes, some with obvious blood stains.

The alien centipedes were no where to be seen, a quick peep at the ground floor revealed afew alien centipedes still urgently running back to where the meteorite landed, which Ben assumes to be their nest. His mom wanted to return home but Ben wanted to explore more so after a short silent argument his mom ended up following him.

They cautiously entered the flat of Mrs.Lim, Ben was just talking to her at the common corridor before they were attacked by the alien centipedes. Her flat was messy just like theirs with household items all over the place, the master bedroom door was smashed open and there was abit of blood on the floor. Ben gulped and steeled his resolve as he slowly crept forward, maybe Mrs Lim was just injured and needed help..... The master bedroom was empty, inside the toilet there was a big pool of blood... and afew chunks of flesh....

Urghhhhhh.... Ben felt like throwing up.... Omg.... His mom threw up a little at the side, and they ran back to their home. Back home she kept scolding Ben about his stupid idea to explore, and then she started complaining about how guilty she feels for vomiting in Mrs Lims bedroom. Wtf mom.... Thats why i told you to stay at home....Ben got fustrated with her nagging and said he was going back to clean the vomit. His mom immediately told him to stay at home and forget about the vomit but Ben was actually thinking of something more important, that is to secure food and money since the world was obviously going to hell.

Once again they had an argument but this time Ben hurried out alone, he had his own goals!. Back in Mrs Lims home he said a silent chant for her and cleaned up the vomit as he promised. Then he went to search her kitchen and stashed away all the canned food and dried food he could find. He also took away her kitchen knives for protection.

Searching his neighbours home 1 by 1, he failed to find any survivors, only their bloodstains and bodily leftovers. At each house he would offer a silent chant for the dead, by the time he finished checking all the neighbours he knew, he had accumulated a nice amount of food, a ton of scoldings from his mom, a somewhat guilty conscious and a sense of dread...nobody else survived the centipede attacks. There was still afew houses he haven't searched on the 10 floor, those belonged to people he didn't know. Their doors were also busted open, inviting him to take their loot. Ben didn't touch the money or valuables of the neighbours he knew, he felt that it was crossing the line. However for total strangers it was different, Ben felt it was acceptable to search their homes and take whatever is valuable.