I hauled myself up, swatting pinching creatures off me, squinting in the moonlight. Crabs. Everywhere. A body lay near my feet. Sobbing, I struggled to heave Margot off the sand. I could just make out the dark shapes of others who'd washed ashore, coughing, sputtering, kicking at the skittering crustaceans. A low, booming rumble from the clifftops above shook the beach. Then another. "Margot... What was that?" Margot stood limply, slack-jawed. BOOM! Darkness enveloped the beach, an impossibly vast silhouette blotting out the night sky. A great shadow lanced down from the clifftop like black lightning. Screams echoed off the rock walls ahead. "We're going to die. Margot. Margot!" Just then, a strange, round shape shuffled by, ambling TOWARD the cliff. Its green-tufted head turned, looked back at me and Margot, and then seemed to disappear into the rock wall. I slapped Margot full in the face, jolting her awake. "RUN!" BOOM! More screaming. Shadows arced skyward. Something bounced off my shoulder with a wet thud—a severed arm? A foot? I sprinted toward the rock wall, dragging Margot—or was she dragging me now?—legs burning, blood rushing. We reached the wall, tumbling forward into complete darkness. I could go no further. We lay in silence, lungs on fire. The booming stopped. My eyes slid closed.