And the earth shook

For the last hour the ground beneath Kalaram had been uneasy. Soft tremors caused the boards to rattle, the odd book fell from a shelf. It was nothing serious, most people ignored it. Within the house, at first, it could have just been mistaken for a Behemoth walking past. But as the hours ticked slowly onwards so did the tremors, and they were growing fiercer. Usually they were soft and gentle, just a rumbling passing by, but now and then a large quake would hit, knocking the unsuspecting off their feet.

And it was spreading. The larger quakes in Kalaram could be felt along the eastern edges of the forest, the trees, twisted dark things that they are, could feel them, leaves rustling and falling, dead twigs snapping from the tremors.

The city of Kalaram was getting worse. In the docks the situation was near dire. The earth quakes were loosening the stone, the water, roiling from the strange motions, lapped against the cobble at the edge of the land, pulling it down. The apartments were collapsing in on themselves, the foundations eroding from shaking and water. The great ship floated, out of reach now, the wooden dock caved in and broken.

But the massive quake stopped. Only tremors remained once more. The docks district half ruined and flooding, buildings broken in places.

-------
The Lucan tower trembled right down to it's core. Stone fell loose as the ground beneath it shook violently. Before long the door in was blocked by the stones, the tower once more closed off to the world.

The ground continued to shake, within the houses and inns and temples things fell: small stones, glasses, paintings. But then, here too, the quake stopped. Still random tremors occurred.

-------
The tremors had no pattern in either place. Just random small tremors the shook the ground, not strong enough to knock even the zombies to the ground, but enough to be felt.

Ludor was next to feel a tremor. It was just a little thing but the few survivors within the city looked at each other in fear. What new devilry was this? Something large to come eat them? But the tremor went away and they passed it off. There were worse things to think about then the ground shaking. Food had to be gathered. Supplies to fortify the house. With her husband dead it was left to Martha to look after the grandbabies alone. The old woman crept out at high noon, hoping the sun would at least slow the zombies down. She moved quietly the short distance to the old market stands and started to search. But the ground gave a violent rumble and began to shake. The stall she was scavenging collapsed, trapping the frail older woman beneath it. She dared not cry out. She scrabbled, trying to get out from under the wood, but something heard the movements, was drawn to the breathing.

The first casualty had hit.

Deep in the old house Jenna sat holding her baby brother close. Her large brown eyes stared at the door Gamma had gone out. The ground kept shaking and it scared the little girl. But Gamma had said to stay in the house, keep the door locked unless it was her saying the passphrase. Gamma would come back.