A Strange Dream

It was a dream, a rather…strange dream. Perhaps one of the weirdest dream that I had in years. It was sometime during the COVID-19 pandemic, so that might’ve served as some form of contribution.

I was on a city bus, sitting by myself in one of the backseats. I looked out the window, seeing a sunbathed grass field. There were no buildings or people to be seen. I sat back and adjusted my position in my seat. A yawn forced my mouth open, and I rested my head. As I did, rapid clacking echoed from nowhere in the distance.

My head shot up, and the clacking sound continued, sounding of gunfire. Stepping up from my seat, I opened the window next to me and looked outside. Men armed around in green combat uniforms swarmed the field at the side of the bus from out of sight. They armed themselves with combat rifles and fired in the same direction, shouting, “Go! Go! Go!”

“The army?” I said. “What are they doing here? And what are they firing at?”

A faint boom erupted, echoing from the side. I turned my head to the window, seeing a large tank charging from behind, passing the soldiers. Brow slanted, I looked on at the bizarre scene. The soldiers came by the tens like they were going to war. But against what?

Looking ahead in their direction, my eyes in resistance to the draft only allowed them to snap wide open at sight ahead of me. The creature stood large, gigantic, roaring with spit flying from its horrid serrated maw. An ape, a giant ape in a manner like Merian Cooper’s King Kong, stomped its great shaggy feet, pounding its chest at the men in a show of power.

The men charged and fired their rifles, but the bullets bounced off the ape’s body, leaving its skin unharmed. The ape roared down at the soldiers as the tank approached near its feet. It swung down its massive fist and smashed it onto the tank, crushing it in a fiery black of twisted metal. Shrapnel scattered, striking the men at points of their bodies.

The men fell. Blood sprayed from their grievous wounds, pooling onto the charred grass and smoke laced dirt. Amid corpses, one man stood tall. Face riddled with ash, his eyes flared. He roared with the great ape and charged at its feet. The soldier aimed with his rifle at the creature’s face. He pulled the trigger and fired. Bang! Bang! Bang! The bullets hit the creature’s legs, only to bounce off.

The ape snarled through its jagged, slimed, glossed teeth. Its reds eyes bugged, the beast grabbed the soldier in its hand. With a loud, earth-quaking roar, the ape pulled back its arm and cast the soldier. He hurled like a stone through the air. I could only watch as he flew and smacked into the wires of an overhead powerline as the bus passed. Screams shrieked from the soldier. He convulsed and with volts of electricity running through his body.

He gargled foam out of his mouth as his body smoked. His eyes went bloodshot and rolled up, and the electricity stopped with a violent crackle before his body hung limp on the fried wires,

I blinked, unable to for the moment. The bizarre carnage was on full display in front of me, and there was nothing I could to stop it. I blinked again, and the sounds of gunshots and waring apes retreated and faded into the distance.

The environment…I wasn’t in the field anymore, but I found myself deep in the city, perhaps in Washington D.C. I couldn’t tell. All I knew was that the bus was in the middle of the street, and there were tall buildings on both sides. I looked around and felt a shift under my legs that moved my body.

With a sound ‘kssh,’ the bus slowed to a halt…in the middle of the road.

“Huh?” I looked around. “Hey. Hey! Why did we stop?” I asked.  I looked to the front of the bus. No answer. “Hey!” I said again, louder. No answer.

 I walked out from my seat and down the seating aisle to the driver’s seat and turned to face the driver. I jumped at the sight. The chair was empty. “What?” I said. “No one was driving the bus? Then how did I…”

A loud screech pierced the silence. I jumped at the sound and rushed to the nearest window. Sticking my head out, I looked to the back for the source of the noise. More screeches sounded in the distance behind the bus, followed by the sound of a stampede of feet. Down the street rushed a gathering of snarling velociraptors.

“What the–?”

The dinosaurs all raised their heads, ringing with more screeching roars in their charge. Fury flared in their striking red eyes, and the sun gave light to their pale scales.

“Vampire…velociraptors?” I said to myself.

The day waking dinosaurs charged the bus, closer and closer. I stepped back in the aisle, almost trembling with the creature drawing near. My teeth gnashed together, and I ran. I forced the door of the bus open and sprinted as fast as my legs would at me to run.

The cries of the velociraptors grew louder from behind me. My heart pounded in my chest, thumping in my ears. The velociraptors picked up speed and followed closely behind me. I could hear their vicious snarls and the snapping of their jaws that hungered for blood any vampire would. I turned a corner and ran down a slanted street.

Hot breaths left me one after another when I ran downhill. My feet stomped fast to carry me, but my momentum caught up. The legs scrambled and twisted. They clashed with each other, and my body flung into the air. I landed on the road hard and tumbled down, rolling, and my body flipped around onto the side of my front back. I careened into the air and slapped onto my side on the ground.

The side of my face rested on the road. I pressed my hands on the ground and pushed myself, bringing my upper body from the asphalt. The snarls erupted again, and I turned my head to attention. The velociraptors stormed towards me. Their eyes bugged at me. Like predators to prey, they snapped their jaws, ready to take my life.

Closing my eyes, clicking my teeth together, I braced my arms around my head and curled on the ground. A loud screech forced my arm tighter. As I hugged my head, all went silent, and my eyes snapped open.

I flipped my arms about, swinging the covers from my head, and shot up. I looked around and found myself in my bed: no giant apes, no vampire velociraptors. With a sigh, I placed a hand on my chest, feeling my heart settle as I took a breath and exhaled.

“A dream,” I said. “A strange dream.”