Killer Concordes: (1)

This is from a young male killer concorde’s perspective by the name of Ryir.

“Looking through my windscreen at you now I wonder how long it took for our species to virtually come to an end. Four days; four excruciatingly bloody days for our kind. When what is called the United Nations passed a resolution: Resolution O.K.C.E. When that resolution was announced to be finalized, we could sense it. Yet we had no idea what it would lead to next.
Our kind is based off of the now decommissioned Concorde, a supersonic airliner that once flew between America and Europe. Our kind was created in a way that I along with my brethren have no idea how to understand. We are living, yet machine at the same time. We were not born like animals or humans, nor grown like plants or crops, or even built like machines and vehicles. As far as I can tell, our kind is a combination of all three types of creation. The first three members, what we regard highly as our two founding fathers and founding mother, were brought to life in this very lab where I stand now, in Florida. The American scientists wished to create a weapon that was mechanical and living at the same time. But our founders would lash out indiscriminately and kill everything that came their way. During a monumental storm, our three founders along with one thousand other members of our kind took the opportunity of the loss of power and escaped. Killing all that impeded them, our founders cleared the way for the others and made it outside and to freedom.
Our founding fathers and founding mother went their separate ways, to rule one specific corner of the world. Spreading across the world in a matter of hours, our brethren began feasting upon humans. For a time, it was good; our species bred easily and quickly since food was aplenty in those times. But during our specie’s time of good fortune, the human toll was mounting. Every day over one million people would be killed, all so that our species could grow and reproduce, to carry on with our existence. We were dubbed by humans as ‘killer concordes’.
After just over a year, our kind had grown to one million individuals, while at the same time, the human toll had reached two billion. In desperation people tried to fight us, but we were smart enough to figure out how to avoid being harmed so easily. I myself was laid as an egg by the time our species had roamed for one year. My parents taught me how to fly, how to fight, and most importantly how to hunt. Right away our parents knew I along with my older brother were different. When we were presented with live humans, we acted mercifully and put our prey out of their misery, and above all we would not kill for sport. My parents saw this as odd, even though they still trusted and as far as we could tell loved us.
Our family, in turn our pack including myself, my parents, brother and two other families of four was ruled by one alpha, as we called him. He was one of the original escapees from the lab; he watched over us, protected us, and we returned the favor with loyalty and gratitude. Under our alpha’s rule we killed to survive, and we did not prefer to act as though we were nothing more than animals. We were only doing what any other animal would do.
But then came Resolution O.K.C.E.; the infamous Operation Killer Concorde Extermination was put into action by the United Nations. In the following days, the majority of our kind was exterminated. Most were baited to the ground and into the open and shot by military guns, while many were driven and held out over the oceans by military fighters that prevented us from feeding; starved of fuel our unfortunate brethren had to ditch into the ocean and would die on impact.
Throughout those four days, our minds were filled with the ultrasonic screams of dying concordes, cut down mercilessly by humans. After those four days, only about one hundred of our kind remains free from humans. At that point we all felt fear; I told my father I was scared. He told me ‘Son, I’m scared too.’ I had never once heard an adult Concorde admit that they were afraid. We still killed to survive, and our alpha continued to protect us; our pack numbered 13 and we each needed the equivalent of one hundred humans per day to remain healthy and airworthy.
Humans demonized us, cursed and fouled the living concorde’s name. They called us ‘the creatures of genocide’. I along with my brother approached humans that came our way when we still resided in Venezuela, but those we saw fled for their lives, thinking we intended to do harm. When our pack moved to central Brazil, we cleared out an entire human mine shantytown and called it home. We kept to ourselves and remained hidden from the bloodthirsty eyes of man. Our pack thought that we could never trust a human, but then I met one who didn’t flee from me.”


Central Brazil, early 2015

“Back in those days life was good; food was plentiful for us, not to mention our pack had a vast swath of territory that consisted of most of Brazil; from Sao Paulo to the Bolivian border, from the Mouths of the Amazon all the way to Columbia. That was our home; our one pack consisted of over 5,000 concords, all ruled by one of our founding fathers who also ruled the rest of the Americas; Dentalis. He was the second living Concorde to be created at the Florida lab, and helped clear the way for our imprisoned brethren to escape. People in the cities around Brazil made fine targets for us, as did the illegal loggers and miners throughout the jungle. With the illegally working humans dispatched, our pack’s central ‘nest’ as you could call it was a mine shantytown that was once home to over 2,000 or so illegal miners. Our alpha, Alpha Corro, was one of the original escapees from the lab. He helped clear out the shantytown of people and after he had his fill, allowed my family and small group of 9 other concords a chance to feed ourselves while he mopped up the stragglers. We quickly found that shantytown was a safe haven, and from the looks of its dilapidated structures, we named it ‘The Ghetto’. There in seclusion and isolation our group and alpha were hidden from man. Alpha Corro’s move to claim The Ghetto as our own most likely saved our lives.”

“Another day in paradise…” I thought as I got to my feet. The mineshaft was indeed vast, since it had to have been dug in a natural cave. The entrance was so large that even Alpha Corro could easily fit his monumental wings inside without clipping the walls. During the night our group of 13 total concords slept inside the empty mine. It was surprisingly roomy despite the high number of us inside, the mine provided shelter from the harsh storms of the rainforest and finding fresh water for ourselves was not a problem.
Walking along the stony floor of the mine and into the morning sun, I revved my engines in preparation for another day of life. My father, Elias, was going on a hunt toward the Bolivian border, closer to towns we hadn’t exploited yet. Seizing the opportunity, I chose to accompany my father; I wanted to prove to him that I could be every bit as much of the proud Concorde he was.
Feeling the sun warm my white fuselage, I walked along the dirt path beaten down by our massive feet and talons, previously humans took this very path to enter the mine. As I walked, the sounds of life, other animals through the surrounding jungle sounding their calls and vocalizations; I did not make all that many sounds in terms of speaking, since we usually communicated ultrasonically, the only sounds we concords made were screeches, roars and hisses ranging from aggression and rage to sorrow and love.
As I reached the dilapidated structures of The Ghetto, something seemed off. Normally the air is filled with ultrasonic conversations and expressions, but strangely, the atmosphere was silent. No one was speaking, nor making a sound. Seeing my father and older brother Tritin I spoke.
“What’s happening, father? Why is everyone so quiet?” I asked ultrasonically.
In response, my father turned his head toward me and made a near silent hiss, meaning I should remain quiet for some important reason.
“Something’s happened, son. Something bad and Alpha Corro is off to find out.” He replied after a few seconds of silence.
“Alpha Corro is going somewhere on his own?!” I thought in astonishment. Never once had I heard of Corro doing this. That meant that my father was right, something had to have happened.
From afar came the familiar roar of engines that belonged to Corro. I could see him flying past The Ghetto at cruising speed and I could hear him speak to me ultrasonically to me.
“Ryir?” he asked.
“Yes, Alpha?” I replied.
“I need you to come with me.” he said and judging by his tone, he needed me for some important reason.
Not asking questions, I fired my engines up to full power and took to the sky. Retracting my talons after gaining altitude to fly along side Corro, I was once again reminded that I was only 50 feet long while he was nearly 200 feet in length.
“You requested me, Alpha?” I asked almost nervously.
“Yes, there has been a massive disturbance, something of epic proportions is happening to our brethren. I wanted to investigate, but I requested you because I trust your judgment and ability to interpret humans.” Corro replied, keeping his nose pointing forward at all times. “I’ve been hearing things within my mind, things from other concords around the world. Unrest, human movements are abnormal.”
Alpha Corro certainly was one for wisdom, being the oldest of our kind in Brazil and all.
“The humans are restless, as though they’re planning something. I wanted to tell you to stay on your guard. I fear that our brethren are being killed.”
With this said, the situation had changed entirely. Looking toward Corro, I asked him what I should do.
“I want you to tell the others from me to keep up their guard. Be on the lookout for humans. Now go back to The Ghetto and hurry. I must speak with Dentalis; your father is in charge in my absense.”
With a nod, I did not ask questions. Banking right and turning 180 degrees, I headed back towards the mine. A flurry of questions floated through my mind; there were far too many questions than answers. But answers would have to wait, I needed to return home.

Touching down back at The Ghetto, my father approached me first. He asked me what Alpha Corro had said. I told my father that there is unrest in terms of human actions and that there might be living concords dying, and that Alpha Corro had gone to speak with Dentalis; and that he was in charge of our pack for the time being. Understanding the seriousness of this, my father spread the word. For the rest of the morning we remained on high alert, constantly listening out for anything human or checking the air to see if anything smelled human.
When noon came around, the sun had risen high into the sky and the clouds had cleared out all the way to the horizon line above the towering trees. I stood beside my brother Tritin who listened out for anything abnormal. I stared intently at the treetops, watching them sway in the breeze. Without warning, an ultrasonic cry echoed violently through our minds; Tritin and I knew what it was, it symbolized the dying scream of a living Concorde. Before I could speak, another followed, as did another, and another, and another. The rapid succession meant that there had to have been a mass of 5 of our kind had died at roughly the same time, which could only mean that the humans and their weapons were in play.
Rushing to us, my mother, Caria nearly flew to us in her rush to see if anything had happened to us. Nuzzling our heads with her long nose, she was glad to know that we were fine. Just as she did so, more ultrasonic cries rang out. Though distant, they were unmistakable.
“Hurry, to the mine!” my mother called as she led Tritin and I to the safety of the mine. Even inside the rocky mine, the cries of dying concords could still be heard. With my family along with the two other concord families, we lowered ourselves to the ground and powered down to conserve valuable fuel and energy. Thinking that the cries of death would dissipate, we laid low for the entire day even as it began to rain incessantly outside. We wound up remaining sessile for 4 entire days.

By the time the fifth day came, myself along with the rest of our group was in a state of stupefied horror; the dying cries of almost one million living concords resonated through our minds. We all cried excessively, not for ourselves, but for all of the other innocent packs and families like ours that had to be dying out in the world. For the entire time we were sessile, no one said a word or moved and inch.
I was the first one to rise up and power on their engines to look outside while my father looked after the remainder of our pack in the mine. Taking a deep breath, I walked down the path and to The Ghetto. The Ghetto itself had not changed at all in our 4 days of absence, but I felt profoundly different. The world seemed as if it had become a little less bright, that the nights had become a bit longer and the rains a bit harsher. Keeping my nose and ears open to anything human, I could not detect anything human, nor living Concorde for that matter. That was saying something; the ears of a living concorde could detect human voices from over three miles away while the nose of one could pick up a scent from over ten miles away.
Looking down toward the ground, I felt that all was lost since it seemed that we were all that remained. My brother Tritin walked alongside me and looked me in the windscreen.
“We will survive, Ryir; As long as we stick together we shall overcome.”
Tritin’s words at that exact moment were by far the wisest ones I had ever heard.
“Thanks, big brother.” I said, having needed someone to tell me remain positive.
As he turned and began to walk back toward the mine, I could sense something abnormal in the air. Inhaling deeply, I could make out a scent in the wind; human. I could only determine one unique scent so that probably meant that it was only one human, but one could return and bring others, and it had to be less than 10 miles away. Turning to Tritin, I hissed to indicate that there was danger. He understood immediately and darted back toward the mine. As I followed him, I had but one instruction.
“Get everyone to keep absolutely silent, Tritin. We’re not alone.”