Natures Fury

by Michael Lodico

  The circus monkeys got to the big cat cages and let out the cats. They got into the arena at center ring .They went after Dave and Marko. By this time the fans were headed towards the exits. John and Cathy had seen enough. The only problem is that the exits were close to all three rings, and the curtains where all the animals had been entering the arena! Most of the animals were close to all rings away from the exits. Elephants, horses, and zebras were stomping and kicking anyone they could. They killed or maimed anyone in their way. Bears and any monkeys were clawing and killing anyone they could. Dave and Marko were helpless. All they could do was run!! They tried, but the cats caught up to them. Even with their whips, they didn’t stand a chance. It was a matter of seconds before two tigers and a lion had their teeth sunk into their throats. They were suffocated within five-seconds. It was somewhat painless. The cats didn’t eat, just killed them.

  By this time John and Cathy had managed to dodge most of the animals. There were people making it to the exits and outside. They were just beyond the curtain area. In the rings people were getting killed in one way or another by the animals. It was horrible and John and Cathy were trying to survive by getting out. At the curtains were two giraffes. John though what can giraffes do. “They are slow honey,” John hurried, “ lets go!” There were two teens ahead of them. The giraffes were close enough to kick the teens, they did. The teens went flying into the wall. The impact was so intense there was some indentation from them along with blood and bodies. They were dead. John and Cathy managed to slip by them while they were kicking the teens, and they made it to the doors of the arena. When they looked outside to get to their car, their jaws dropped in amazement and horror.The whole downtown area was swarming with birds of all types. They were pecking and eating the flesh right off people outside. There were millions of them. You couldn’t even see the people. The birds were in masses so, that the people were just blurs. “ We have to try,” Cathy said. John gave her a long kiss and said,” I love you.” They made it 15 feet before they were consumed in black birds of all kinds. They disappeared in the black masses of the birds and feathers. Nobody made it out of the circus alive. The town of London was under siege from circus animals and birds. People ended up staying in their homes for safety. It was an epidemic and officials were scared. There was no defense except to shoot what could be killed. There were too many. The people that were so called brave perished in a matter of seconds.

  Crystal Lake, Illinois same day

  There were starting to be more incidents around the globe now dealing with animals. Mike starting seeing more incidents on the television when watching the news. Good thing he was on break and safely in his home. Was he truly safe?

  December 23, 2012, Glacier National Park Browning, Montana 5:30 A.M.

  Derek and Joey Loding were going on a hunt today. They were brothers. They were both men in their 30’s. They were big, strapping, lads full of energy and pride. They were avid hunters, killing deer for food or sport, they didn’t care.They wanted to hunt some deer today for their storage of deer meat for whatever they wanted, but they would except a trophy or two while they were out. The rest of the family was at home in Browning, fixing food for later. It was the time when they celebrate their Christmas. It was bitter cold. It was 6:00 A.M. and still kind of dark. They had heard of reports of animal happenings around the country, but decided to go out anyway. They had too much pride and ego. They took other family members with them. Their cousins, Josh, Kent, and Kurt were with them among ten friends. They all drove separate vehicles. So it was 15 MEN all together hunting some deer. They all met at the border of Glacier Park. They checked to see if they had all their gear. They did, and they were ready for this adventure.

  They parked their vehicles at the edge of the park. They weren’t going into the park to do their hunting. It was closed this time of year, too much snow.There was barely any snow on the ground for this time of year. There was about four inches today skirting the landscape. Joey had a designated area just outside the park. He’s seen a ton of deer in this area at this time of year. Derek had seen them too. “ We should be able to nail some deer here,”Joey excitedly exclaimed. Derek agreed. They started trudging off into the woods. It was starting to get lighter, but it was still quite dark. Kent looked up in the sky, full moon.He thought to himself, it would be cool to see some wolves while they were out here.” Will we some wolves?” he asked Derek. Derek nodded, “Probably not.” “They are very elusive and don’t like human contact.”” Well, I can dream,” Kent replied. Kent gazed up at the moon again. There was something shining on it. Josh saw it too. “ I wonder what that is?” Josh asked.” Don’t know.” Joey added,” but it’s cool whatever it is.” “Probably some satellite,” Derek and Kent said together in unison. “ Let’s move on,” Joey hurriedly yelled. Kent was still staring at it, he had seen satellites before. This was not a satellite. They were about a mile into the woods now. The other friends were behind Joey and their cousins.

  In the distance they could hear wolves howling. Kent got excited. Derek calmed him down. “ They are miles away,” Derek explained. The cold was starting to be a factor in their movement. They were moving really fast. Their friends were rummaging furiously trying to keep warm. They were being loud. “Knock that crap off,” Joey whispered,”You will scare off all the deer.” They were coming together better. They were canvassing the wooded area by fifteen feet each. They had a very thin line. This is what Joey and Derek instructed them to do for the best success. Josh heard some noise behind them about 45 feet or so. Josh had great hearing.He had been struck by lightning earlier in his life and it miraculously increased his sense of hearing. “ I swore I heard something behind us,” Josh uttered. “ It’s your damn nerves,”Joey snapped. “ Let’s concentrate, I smell the deers scent, “Derek whispered. Derek had been out enough, he could smell them when they are near. He was used to their scent being out so much. They had that musky dull, smell. They were a few feet from a clearing and then they saw them. There was a whole herd of them. There had to be a hundred or so. Deer usually travel in herds of up to eight at the most. “This IS unusual,” Joey said. “We hit the jackpot!”Josh exclaimed. All the men had their shotguns ready. “I’ll knock off the closest one,” Joey said. “The rest of you can chose any of the others he continued.

  The men were ready to shoot. Little did they know that they were the hunted, not the hunters. Before anyone could shoot, Josh heard a gasp and bushes rustling.The herd of deer raised their heads from grazing.Joeys friend Zack was gone! All of a sudden wolves poured into the area. The men were surrounded. The wolves were big 120 pounds or so. Josh heard some growling behind him. A 1200 pound grizzly bear was up on its hind legs standing 12 feet tall. He tried to shoot it, he hesitated too long. It was only for a second, but that was too long. One swipe and Josh was dead. The swipe broke his neck. The bear started coming after the rest of the men. The wolves started jumping on the men. There was gunfire and blood.There were more bears in the distance grizzly and black bears. The men didn’t stand a chance against this onslaught. There were 100 wolves near. Most bears and wolves would run at the sound of gunshot. These didn’t run. They were incredibly fast and the men were missing shots to these animals. They were overtaken too fast.Joey tried to shoot everything and anything, but the wolves were too fast and powerful. The other bears were breaking the necks of all Joey’s friends. They just killed them, no eating. Ten minutes had gone by and there were four men left. Joey,Derek,Kent,and Kurt were left. They were in an area with their backs to group of trees. The wolves were closing in on them from the front. Their guns were out of ammunition. They had used it all in the frenzied attack. It was totally unorganized the way they tried to defend themselves. They didn’t expect anything like this in their hunt. The guns were clubs now. That’s the only good use for them. Behind the trees they had their backs to, there were coyotes, bears, and deer. They thought this was odd. The animals were just looking at them and not bothering each other. Nor
mally they would be at each others throats not this day. Kurt never said much.”It’s us or them,”he rallied. It was a pointless shout of bravery. The wolves were on them in seconds. The bears were on them within seconds also. The wolves ripped them up, while the bears swiped them and crushed their bodies with their massive paws. They were all dead. In his last glance, Joey looked up at the moon. The silver reflection on the moon was bright and them it was gone in a couple of seconds. That’s the last thing Joey saw before he died. The animals went on their separate ways into the woods.

  A flash of light circled around the moon, then it was gone. The families in Browning were worried, it was nighttime now. No men. They called the police. The police replied by saying they would try in the morning to locate them They can’t do any searches until people are gone for 24 hours. Dawn Derek’s spouse, just hung up the phone in anger and disgust. The family heard loud sounds outside the house. Dawn looked out the window. The streets were full of deer,coyotes,bears,hawks,and wolves. The animals descended on people within seconds and killed the people of Browning Montana.Their population was 1,500 people.

  December 24,2012, Tempe Arizona Sun Bowl 1:00 P.M.

  This years Sun bowl pitted Boise State against Stanford. Both teams were in the top ten college football ratings. Denny Loding couldn’t wait until the game started. He drove all the way from Boise to see his Broncos play. He’s been to Sun Devil stadium in Tempe Arizona before. It was a beautiful stadium to see a football game. He’d heard stories about animals and attacks around the country, but he wanted to take a chance. He wished he could enjoy it more with family members, but he was almost there. He didn’t care, he enjoyed football too much. On the way down to the stadium from Boise he’d come across deer crossings and buffalo crossings, but no damage. Maybe, he thought, he was too far away to do any damage. ‘Well,’ he said to himself,” I’m here now, let’s rock!”

  He got to the parking lot and noticed a few mayflies on peoples cars. He didn’t think anything of it at first. It was an hour from game time, and he was excited. He got out of his car and hurried to the gate. From where he was parked it took him about ten minutes to reach the gate. He didn’t mind, he hadn’t been to a bowl game in a while. Denny was in his mid to late 60’s and he’d been running out of pleasures to do in Boise. Football was a joy he liked better live. It was an adventure that he would like. Little did he know it would be more of an adventure than he would ever dream of. He finally got to the gate. He noticed many flies around the stadium. It didn’t phase him, he was on his way in to the Sun Bowl!

  It was 45 minutes to game time. The game started at 2:30 P.M. He got to the area where his seat was located. He figured it was a good time to eat. He usually didn’t eat at these events, because they were too damn expensive, but this was a special occasion. He uttered to himself,”You only live once.” He got a beef hot dog with everything on it some fries, and a large iced tea. It was twelve bucks for everything. He thought that it wasn’t too bad. He wished his nephew Mike and brother Don and Jim were with him. It would have made his experience complete. He heard about Don’s death a few days ago and knew his nephew Josh was with his cousins in Montana. He figured it was for the best. Still, it would be grand to have some company at this event. “ Oh well,’ he sighed, “ I’ll still have fun.” Now it was 30minutes before the kickoff. The teams were warming up and getting ready to be introduced. There were plenty of media on the sidelines and it was getting crowded. The stadium holds 75,000 people and he knew it would be packed today. He went to got the bathroom. He had to travel up two flights of stairs to get there. He was tired, but glad he made it before he pissed his pants. It was a gorgeous day with highs in the mid eighties with low humidity. “Perfect for a game,” Denny mumbled to himself. There were tons of flies in the bathroom. More thickness of flies than in a normal bathroom. It was very bothersome to Denny. He didn’t want the game ruined because of a plethora flies. When he got back to his seat it was 20 minutes until game time. He started to talk casually to the people around him. They were more irritated from more of the flies. This was starting to get ridiculous Denny thought. He went to talk to one of the security guards at the top of stairs in his section.The security guard was a big guy and his name was Mark. Mark said there were reports of flies and mayflies bothering people all over the stadium. Something struck Denny. He’d seen this before and it didn’t turn out well. He remembered he went to a baseball game years ago around the Mississippi River. There were mayflies so thick they started flying into peoples mouths and suffocating them. The baseball game was cancelled and people had to scramble out to their cars for shelter until the mayflies had passed. With all the animal reports in the past few days, Denny started walking fast to the gates and to his car. He looked back and the stadium was starting to fill in thick with flies and mayflies. He knew it and starting going fast to his car. When he got to the gate he noticed bats near the edge of the stadium. He exclaimed,”Good,maybe those bats will eat these damn pests!” Then he realized something strange, the bats were circling and flying into people!

  “This is too strange,” Denny screamed.”I have to get out of here” He scrambled out to HIS car. He made it without incident. People were running now to get to shelter. He started his car. The mayflies weren’t thick yet. He drove quickly out of there. His vision was starting to get blurred from mayflies, and flies. He could hear on the intercom that the game was postponed because of insects. Denny was on his way to Illinois to see his nephew and brother. He knew something was wrong and he wanted to be close to family in this time of crisis. There were still many cars in the parking lot.

  The stadium was full of swarms of flies and mayflies. They were swarming everywhere. They were doing the same thing as years before. They started to swarm intensely now.There were billions of them.Nobody could see in front of themselves and they were getting choked to death.Nobody was safe even the players were getting choked in the locker rooms and around the field. Denny was five miles from the stadium. Only the sports people in the booths were safe from the onslaught of flies and mayflies. They were broadcasting from the booth. They were saying that people were suffocating from the swarms of the flies and mayflies. It was a horrid sight. Denny got lucky, most of the people were getting choked to death. The broadcaster said on the radio that people in the parking lot were getting attacked by millions of bats also. It was a nightmare. Denny had a funny feeling that the attacks of animals would catch up with him. He was 15 miles from the stadium and the swarms were clearing to were he could see clearly. He was relieved. He was glad he was on his way up north to see his family.”Holy Shit!”,what a day”,he gasped. He was retired, he had all the time in the world.He hoped the trip would be without incident. He called his nephew, Mike.

  December 24,2012 Crystal Lake, Illinois 5:45 P.M.

  The phone rang and Mike was watching the news on the television. He answered the phone. It was his uncle Denny.” What’s up,” Mike asked. “Total chaos,”Denny replied. “I’m on my way up toward your neck of the woods,”Denny explained. ‘ I just dodged a bullet with animal attacks!”He explained the whole story to Mike and asked if it was all right if he could stay with Mike for awhile.Denny knew like Mike that something big was happening all around. Mike said it was fine to stay with him for a while. He was looking forward to it. He hadn’t seen him for a while. Mike was on Christmas vacation for another week or so. He wasn’t sure with all the animal activity that there was that he would go back to work. Mike was hopeful that Denny wouldn’t have any trouble getting there, especially after what happened in Tempe. At the time, Denny wasn’t running into any trouble outside Tempe 50 miles. Denny pressed on. Mike talked to him of all the animal incidents that had been happening all over the world that was on the news.Mike told Denny about his cousins in Montana.Denny wasn’t surprised. He listed the following to his uncle: malaria in southeast Asia killing millions locusts in Africa, blackbirds and circus animals loose in London all the local incidents around where Mike lived wi
lderness attacks all over, and many more. Denny knew of some of them, but took a chance at getting out.They talked for about another hour and then Mike said that he had to go. Mike continued to watch all the other reports of animals on the news. There were reports of insects out in Los Angeles, wolves in Montana pets escaping from shelters, reptiles in the Amazon basin, tsetse fly outbreaks in southern Africa, and rats in Europe. It just seemed to never end. He looked out his porch window and saw coyotes and deer just looking at him. There were crows looking in other peoples windows from all over. Then the animals just left.Just like before, Mike looked out the window again, wondering what the Hell was going on.

  December 24 2012Washington D.C. U.S.A. 7:45 P.M.

  The president got a phone call on the hot line. It was an urgent phone call from France. The president knew what it was about. It was time to call in the authorities and come up with a plan of action. Phone calls from all countries were starting to come in. There were reports of animals going wild from all over the world. The president was scared.

  Chapter 2

  Water Incidents

  December 25, 2012 Christmas Day Gulf Coast near western Florida 10:00 A.M.

  The Enterprise battleship was anchored just offshore Tampa in Florida. The boat was 30 miles from shore on shore leave around the Tampa area. The officers were on deck and were ready to go on shore from the boat. They were offshore that much for safety purposes and they didn’t want to alarm the locals. Jack was a private and dearly wanted some down time. He was looking forward to some shore leave time in sunny Tampa. There were four of them that took a small boat ashore. It was a 30 footer. It was Jack Skylice,Joe Jermine,Zack Maner, and Fred Flitone. They went late morning this Christmas Day. They knew almost everything would be closed, but they just wanted to be on the beach. It was a pleasant day.