Natures Fury

by Michael Lodico

  The threesome moved on to other areas. They figured they’ve done enough here without hurting or killing any civilians.They decided to go near Interstate 95 and see in the open areas if there were any animals. The knew there would probably be some, but how many was an enigma. Within ten minutes they were descending close to the interstate. There were numerous cars piled up along the interstate. They saw no people but many kinds of animals. They weren’t sure if people were hiding in their cars, or if they were already dead. It was a chance they had to take. Usually if people heard planes they would get out and signal. It was kind of hard to do that with animals cluttering the interstate. There were targets of vermin,deer,and coyotes everywhere. The birds around this area were swarming just like before in other areas. They aimed at their targets next to the interstate. Pete decide to fire his guns first to see if anyone was hiding in their cars. He fired at some of the animals along the road. He killed some raccoons and deer, but no people came out. He radioed the other pilots with this new information. They decided to descend on their targets. As Pete was starting to descend he heard hissing noises in the back of the cockpit. He ignored it but thought it peculiar. When he was getting ready to fire another missile a rattlesnake wrapped itself around his neck. He jolted and it sent him out of formation. Jef radioed him all he heard was,”snake!” More snakes came out of the back of the cockpit. The one around his neck he got rid of. It just went down by his legs. It bit him a few times. Pete was startled and shaken. He was flying all over the place, He was close to the ground. He was twenty feet from the ground, because he was shaken so much. The rattlesnakes kept biting his legs and side areas. He kept flying the plane. He was still about fifteen feet from the surface. The venom of the snakes was now affecting him and his judgement. He tried to ascend, but it was too late. There were too many cars piled up on the interstate. He could barely see from the commotion in the cockpit, but he saw a large object in front of him about 100 yards away. Then it was too late.He crashed. Jef and Ariel saw him hit a semi truck from up above. They fired their missiles into the crowd of animals. It exploded along with Pete’s plane and animals within 200 yards were killed. All the cars occupied or not all were exploding and disintegrating. The twosome went up and down the interstate firing their guns at groups of animals. They each had two missiles left in their arsenal. They moved on. They decided to move more west.As they moved towards route 123 they noticed a huge black cloud towards the West. The sun was shining outside though. This cloud was peculiar. It reached for miles. They moved towards it with hands on their missiles and guns. The closer they got the bigger it got. Then they realized what it was,blackbirds,millions of them. They pressed on their missiles and guns. It made a little dent in the cloud of blackbirds. The blackbirds converged on them flying into their engines clogging them. Both Ariel and Jef knew they were in trouble. They kept trying to fly. Having the engines clogged made it hard to ascend. They started to descend towards route 123. Both the pilots had their engines on fire because of being clogged with birds! They knew they were going to crash so they both ejected. They ejected into the swarm of birds. They killed a few birds in the ejection process while the planes crashed onto the ground. The fire from the planes and the fuel was enormous, but there were no animals around except the birds in the air. They were totally unaffected. As the pilots were descending towards the ground the birds were pecking at them and their chutes. They started to descend faster. The millions of birds started to swarm upon them. Within seconds they were suffocated by the birds and they finally hit the ground at tremendous speeds. They were killed when they hit the ground along with being pecked to death. The president’s signal from all this went dead in the Pentagon.He frowned in disappointment. He wondered if this incident was similar in other countries amongst high officials. He ordered everyone to stay in their homes for New Years. Many people ignored his request and paid for it with their lives.

  January 1, 2013, Crystal Lake Illinois 2;00P.M.

  After the strange flash of light the foursome was still watching out the window of Mike’s condo in case they had to take any action. They still saw many people out in the streets with guns and other weapons trying to fight the animals. People were still crashing their cars into animal herds also. It was a different kind of war zone out there. It was horrible Mike though to himself. There were too many animals of all kinds for the people to get any leverage in this situation. “We are still doomed,”Denny repeated. “I know,” Mike replied. “Work and other things are at a standstill until this gets resolved,” Mike continued. “ I don’t even want to know what everyone else is going through.””I’m scared enough.””Me too,” Stephen added.

  January 1,2013, North Base Camp El-Gorah Military Base Cairo Egypt 4:00 P.M.

  Captain Retlub was looking out the first floor window in building one of the base. The airfield was swarming with animals of all kinds. Some of the main species were all kinds of insects,birds,and small mammals. People were trying to scramble to their planes,but were overrun by either of the three types of animals. “What a way to die,” he murmured to himself. There were tanks scattered throughout the base. The planes were obviously a waste of time. He thought if he could get to a tank he could do some damage. He thought to himself, too many animals. Pilots Anna Challay, and Ken Redir, were right by his side. They were looking for an opportunity to dash out to their planes. The planes were unharmed, but the voyage to get there was fatal. Anna was a built blond female about 6 feet tall in her mid 30’s. Ken was the same age and 6 feet also wit brown hair. He was in decent shape also. There was a hanger about 75 yards from them and it was called building two. The captain knew there were tanks in that building. He was very knowledgable about the buildings on the base. If he could just get there. They had strict orders to get into their respective vehicles and kill the animals. “ If I can get to a tank I can clear these animals for you pilots and get you off the ground,” the captain uttered. “ It sounds like a plan,” Anna said. They were the only base in northeast Africa for miles. They were a glimmer of hope in that part of the continent to fight back.

  A few daring people ran out of building three with many guns.Building three was 150 yards away from building one. They started shooting many animals. They downed some birds and killed very few mice. Now was their chance the captain sprinted for building two. The pilots followed him for cover. They had pistols just in case. The other soldiers were starting to be covered by locusts and mice. They were eventually subdued in minutes. They went down shooting, but the were overrun. This was just enough time for the trio to get into building two. Captain Retlub was gasping a little. “I think that’s the fastest I’ve ever ran.” “Me too,”exclaimed Ken. “We made it now let’s get down to business,” the captain commanded. Staring them in the face 20 feet away was a huge tank. They checked it out.It was clean and in good condition. He checked for bugs with Raid in his hands. He found nothing which was good news. He got in and started it. It sounded like a purring kitten to him. He reached out of the top and put his thumbs up signaling to the pilots they were good to go! He busted out of the building and started shooting any animal that was in his way.The animals were helpless. The were killed by the second. The captain was clearing a path for the pilots to get to their planes. He was killing more animals by the second and they were either dying or running scared. The pilots loaded up on guns just in case any animals were lingering and then they dashed for their planes. The captain was still shooting, it seemed the animals were everywhere within a radius of two miles of the airfield. He just kept shooting! The pilots made it to their planes without incident. They started the engines. They too were purring and in good condition. Birds were circling higher escaping from the tank firing. The fighter planes which were a breed of an American f-15 took off. They were flying beautifully. The captain decided to continue killing any animals within his sites. He continued around the airfield before he went further. The planes were off and they went north towards urban areas around Cairo. They figured
there were animals around the clear open areas around the parks or suburbs of Cairo.

  The captain got to the edge of the forest area. He stopped and looked around.There was nothing. He continued into the forest. He was crazed. He decided that there were probably insects and birds in the trees. So, he started shooting the trees. He was right birds started flying out of the forest along with hundreds of flying insects. He just kept blasting and shooting. He started moving more towards the heart of the forest, then he stopped. He heard a rumbling. He decided to go up top and take a look. He saw some dust in the distance about one mile away. He decided to get back in and head towards it. There were a few clearings on the forest, That’s how he could see a mile away. He investigated He was moving at top speed. The rumbling drowned out his own rumbling of the tank. He knew why, hundreds of elephants and rhinos. They were coming straight for him and the airfield. He started blasting. He took out a few before they were upon him. There were too many for one tank. They completely overturned him. He kept blasting even upside down, but things started falling on him within the tank. Eventually the inside of the tank crushed him The elephants started walking on top of the tank crushing him. He died instantly. The elephants and rhinos kept the herd going towards the airfield.

  By this time the planes were over the El-Moqattan Mountain. There were many open meadow areas near there. This area was on the Southeast side of the city of Cairo. They thought they would find many animals there. They were right. The could see herds of water buffalo zebras, and lion prides. They released their missiles. The animals scattered and got killed. All up and down the mountain the pilots ran off their guns. Animals were falling down dead everywhere. The pilots were smiling as if they were playing a game. Maybe it’s because they lost so many people to attacks or disease. They kept pouring it on. They tried to empty all their arsenal. Anna saw a big black cloud in the distance. It was a mile away and closing fast. They kept pouring it on and killing more big animals in the area. Then the cloud descended on them in seconds. It was locusts millions of them. They couldn’t see and they were clogging their engines. The engines of the planed went out and both planes crashed to the ground. Both pilots died.

  The base heard the whole thing on radio. The Egyptian president relayed this information of failure to all other leaders.

  January 2,2013 Washington D.C 4 P.M.

  The president of the United States received this message right after the failure around Washington D.C.It seemed to be happening all over the world. The president wasn’t giving up, even if he had to go out and fight with knives or his bare hands himself. He broadcasted another message across the world that relayed the failures around the isolated areas of the world. He told everyone that was listening to keep trying.

  January 2,2013 Crystal Lake Illinois 6 P.M.

  The gang was still on the ready for any invasion, but no incidents inside the condo. Mike went down the stairs and looked out the North door entrance of his eight unit complex.He could hear murmurs from his neighbors but nothing seemed to serious. He was curious to see if this view was any different from the views upstairs in his place. People and animals were scattered doing the same things. Fighting each other to the death. Even with buildings obscuring his view, he could still see animals overcoming the people. There were just too many off them. He went back upstairs. He felt safe inside. When he looked out his window, he saw many stray animals and escaped shelter animals joining the fight. There were people from other complexes fighting in their area also. Some of the animals looked familiar to him.” There he is,”Mike pointed a cat out to Stephen. “It’s Carbon!” Stephen and Jim had met Carbon earlier in their lives within the last two to three years. Jim had seen him often, but wouldn’t recognize him. He was not good with animals.”Yep that’s him,” Stephen replied.Mike and Stephen had a knack for recognizing animals and their characteristics.It was Stephen’s job to be able to do that. It broke Mike’s heart to see his favorite cat fighting and gnawing on the leg of some old woman fighting off animals. She was swinging a cane and a knife. Sparrows and geese were descending on her from above.There were hundreds of birds. Foxes,coyotes,dogs,cats,and raccoons were biting and ripping off flesh from all around her.It was horrible. Mike couldn’t watch. He just sat there in his bedroom crying for this crisis to be over.The animals eventually killed the woman. They bit her multiple times and she bled to death. There were many people that littered the sidewalk in front of Mike’s condo dead. All four men were in the bedroom trying to console each other. They kept trying to keep themselves occupied with anything to avoid thinking about the crisis.They were lucky the electricity was still working. It was hard but they were still surviving. “When is it going to end?” Mike looked up at the ceiling and asked. Denny was curious and looked out the bedroom window. He saw another flash of light go across the sky and then vanish. He thought to himself that there were other forces here at play. He knew he would either die or find out soon what was going on. He could only wonder...

  January 3,2013 Kadena Military Base Okinawa Japan 10:00 A.M.

  Captain Shelby was on the look out for more animals around the base. He knew that a combination of both races American and Japanese were constantly getting killed by any animal outbreaks around the base.This was after all an American-Japanese base of operations. Their numbers were low compared to the animal numbers. They had to follow orders regardless of their surroundings. The biggest problem with the animals in this part of the world were monkeys and insects. They were all over the base at this time. This base had a number of buildings. There were six total buildings. Some were bigger than others. The captain was in building one next to the aircraft on the airfield. The pilots were scattered over the other six buildings. The president of Japan was in Tokyo at this time issuing the orders from a bunker under the city. It was familiar to the American president and his situation. The orders were clear kill all animals. The captain ordered all pilots to board their planes. He also ordered any personnel to cover them with gunfire so they could make it to their planes. This base had tanks, but they were all infested with mice and bugs, so their planes were their only hope in defense in this area. Japan was a heavy populated area for people. Just like the rest of the world half it’s population was wiped out with disease or infestation and that is still continuing. Captain Shelby thought to himself that if Japan wasn’t so populated in many areas they would try to bomb high populations of animals like some African countries were trying to do. It wouldn’t work here there are too many people around. Captain Shelby was ready for his pilots to take on the plunge of entering their planes.

  Pilots from all over the base were dashing to their planes. The two pilots that were standing next to Captain Shelby waited for a few minutes. It was pilot Marcus Eleets and Pat McNaps. They were smart. They were going to see how the rest did before they attempt to go to their planes. There were twenty m-15 fighter jets on the base. They were all close within 100 yards of all buildings. Many pilots were getting mauled by monkeys. There were too many animals, even with cover fire. People from the buildings were firing outright on any animals. Some animals were getting killed, but not many. Three other pilots made it to their planes. These were pilots Angie Werop, Tracey Selits, and Tom Deams. So, seeing this Marcus and Pat made a dash for it. They were lucky that a few more animals were killed off. They had little trouble. The animals were swarming around the buildings more.They drew their attention towards more people in the buildings. They started infiltrating the buildings now knowing that they were filled with people. The pilots started their engines. Tom and Tracey’s planes exploded instantly. There were too many bugs clogging the engines. Fire caught on to buildings five and six. More explosions happened to those buildings. Pat started to take off and his plane had one engine that exploded also. He went down as easy as he took off. He crashed into building four. Building four was filled with fuel for the planes. The buildings were so close that this explosion ignited all buildings except for building one. The fire and explosions se
t people and animals alike sprawling onto the pavement screaming and then dying from severe burns all over their body. Only Angie and Marcus were left. They were far enough away where the explosions didn’t affect them. They both started to lift off. They got off the ground fine. They both reached formation and started flying, turning towards the airfield. They both thought they would clear the rest of the airfield for any remaining animals. All of sudden Marcus had a short in his fuel line. Cockroaches and beetles started crawling into the cockpit. He was squirming and losing control. He hit Angie’s plane. They both exploded in the air over the airfield. All the buildings were know drenched in flames. Two miles away more animals were looking at the destruction, from the nearby roads. No one survived on the base, human or animal. The animals on the side of the road just looked on and moved to the small towns close by. The Japanese president was in disappointment and radioed the failure across the world.

  January 3,2013 Washington D.C. Pentagon bunker.2:00 P.M.