it starts with an unholy shriek not ten feet from the tent , the sound of somethin ' bein ' ripped open and torn and eaten-or maybe it was the sound of the thing eatin ' the other thing , i do n't know-and then the rest of the fiends joins in with such a chorus of grunts and groans and chitterings and howls and screams that i spend the whole night with my eyes open and on the open end of the tent , my hand clutched around my shiv , and wondering what the snakes do after a rain .