Zombie Twister
“Jeremy, we found a video camera in the back of the Garland,” the sheriff said.
“Good, maybe we’ll get a clue to what happened out here,” Detective Jeremey Riggs said.
Jeremy looked at the modified truck called the Garland with intrigue. The four door truck had been modified to look like a tank and was supposed to withstand the force of at least an EF4 tornado. The crew from the Garland was missing just like the inhabitants of the small town of Gleeson, five miles down the road. An EF5 tornado had recently havocked the city of Wichita, Kansas, a few hours prior, leaving massive devastation in its path. Whole towns were obliterated by the storm. Gleeson was the exception. The town was still standing but the inhabitants were gone. Something else was responsible besides the tornado. He was hoping whatever the crew recorded from the Garland, would give them some sort of clue. Maybe they caught something on tape.
“Jeremy, we found a body. You have to see this to believe it,” Sheriff Charles Santino said, almost out of breath.
He followed Charles out into the corn field where a couple of deputies were hunched over a body. He looked at the body with disgust. Something had ripped the body to shreds. It looked like the work of a large hungry animal.
“Get the coroner here right away,” Jeremy ordered.
“Might take a while. Phone lines are down. The tornado did major damage to the cell tower,” Sheriff Santino said.
“Be on guard. Whatever did this to him may still be nearby,” Jeremy said.
“A coyote?” Charles Santino asked
“Perhaps,” Jeremy said, looking at the body closely. “I don’t see animal bites. These bite marks look human.”
“A human did this?” Charles asked in shock.
“Won’t know for sure until an autopsy is performed.” Jeremy said. “Keep the deputies here until we can get the coroner here. I want to go back to the station to watch the footage from the video camera. Maybe they caught whatever killed this man on tape.”
Jeremy walked into the police station carrying the video camera.
“Detective,” Janice, the lady at the front desk, said as he passed her.
He made his way to his office and walked over to his desk. He hooked the video camera’s USB cord into his computer and uploaded the camera’s files. He had a thirty inch computer monitor, bigger than the TV he had at home. Once the files were uploaded, he clicked on the first one.
“Is it rolling?” Trevor Cline asked.
“Start.”
Trevor adjusted his red ball cap and walked over to his newly modified truck. “This is my latest invention, the Garland. Named after my favorite actress, the Garland is reinforced with thick steel plating designed to withstand the force of at least an EF4 tornado. The latest technology within the Garland will make tornado chasing a lot safer and we can, in theory, get real close to a tornado.”
“Cost a lot of grant money as well,” Jake Tyler said, pointing the video camera at Trevor.
“Well worth the money. The amount of information we will be able to learn from a tornado now that we can get real close is invaluable.”
“Not to mention the money we will make selling the footage to the weather channels,” Jake joked.
“You’re videotaping; I’m talking.”
“Sorry.”
“As I was saying, the Garland can hold up to four people and this,” Trevor said, pointing to a square metal device mounted on the roof of Garland, “which can measure the wind speeds of a tornado without being destroyed in the process.”
“Trevor, I brought food for our journey,” Josh Kellian, the driver of Garland, said as he entered the garage. He was very tall and really thin. His face was covered in acne scars. “Checked the radar, we are a go for today. Weather looks in our favor.”
“Yes!” Trevor said excitedly.
“An excellent day for tornadoes?” Jake asked.
“Looks like a line of severe storms back to back,” Josh said.
“Or as one would say, an orgy for storm chasers,” Trevor said, excitedly.
“We’ve been on the road for over an hour now. As you can see out the window, the skies are getting pitch black. We are heading to Wichita since weather conditions are ideal for tornadoes,” Trevor said, pointing toward the darkened skies outside the truck. “You see the dark green in the sky. When the sky looks green, it’s light reflecting off moisture and hail stones that are up in the clouds. Doesn’t mean that there will be a tornado. It does signify a strong updraft that could lead to the formation of a tornado. Really cool.”
“Trevor, Jasmink is out,” Josh said, pointing toward a blue van parked on the side of the road. He was pointing a video camera toward the sky.
“During the tornado season, every storm chaser is out here hoping to encounter a tornado up close. I’ve had a few colleagues over the years that have been killed for being reckless. One of the reasons why I designed the Garland,” Trevor said.
“That and you want to get a television deal. All about the fame, not the science,” Jake said.
“All about the science,” Trevor replied sarcastically.
“Speaking of science. We are getting close to Gleeson. That town gives me the creeps. It’s rumored that a guy that used to work for the government creating chemical weapons lives there. Imagine having him as a neighbor. You can’t even imagine what he’s doing in his garage. Not working on cars, I tell you,” Josh said.
“You believe everything you hear. There’s no mad scientist living in Gleeson,” Jake said.
“It could be true,” Josh said.
“Yep, he’s in his garage making a monster. A monster, I tell you,” Trevor said jokedly.
The song on the radio was interrupted by the Emergency Broadcast System alerting them to a tornado warning in their area.
“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” Trevor said, while confirming the tornado on the radar on his laptop. “We have touchdown. Keep heading this way and make a left on the next major intersection.”
Rain started pouring down hard, making it hard to see outside the truck’s windows. The rain quickly turned to hail. Garland was pelted by quarter sized hail.
“This is awesome!” Trevor said.
They were so focused on the hail that they didn’t notice the explosion in the distance in the direction of the town of Gleeson. Jeremy saw it and paused the video file and replayed the last frame slowly. In the background behind the hail, he could see the explosion. The video captured it for only a few seconds. They hadn’t found any evidence of an explosion when they investigated the vacant town. It must have been in the mountains behind the town farther back. After he finished watching the video, he planned to drive up to Gleeson and check the area by the mountains. He would also find out if there was in fact a former government employee living there that once was involved in creating chemical weapons.
He resumed playback of the video file.
The Garland was being pelted by golf ball sized hail. Trevor wasn’t worried since he had installed a bullet resistant windshield made from thick plexiglass. In the distance they could see the tornado. It was over the field to the right of them. It was a thing of beauty. Unfortunately, it was dissipating. It disappeared from sight, dropping what appeared to be a large semi-truck, which exploded on impact.
“Please tell me you recorded that.”
“Yes, I did, Trevor,” Jake said.
“Radar is still showing ideal conditions. This is going to be an awesome day,” Trevor said.
“I think it would be a good idea to fill the gas tank up when we get to the next town. Plus some cold energy drinks would be nice,” Josh said.
“You’re the driver,” Trevor said, still looking out toward the field.
The Garland was parked in front of the local diner outside the gas station. Trevor was stuffing his face with a hamburger.
“So the pl
an is to stay in this area today. We only have a few hours of daylight left, so whatever footage we get will have to be here. Since we have multiple storms heading this way, we may get lucky,” Trevor said.
“Guys, look over there. Is that woman puking?” Jake asked.
A lady was hunched over the side of her car puking. Once she was done, she collapsed. Trevor and Josh got out of the truck and ran over to her. Jake followed behind taping the ordeal.
“She’s barely breathing,” Trevor said. “Josh, go inside the diner and get some help.”
“Trevor, her skin looks grayish. That ain’t normal,” Jake said.
“This is weird. She feels cold to the touch,” Trevor said, as he put his hand on her forehead.
The lady started to vomit again. This time she vomited blood. Her breathing was becoming sporadic.
“Definitely can rule out food poisoning,” Trevor said.
Josh ran over to them with the manager of the diner. “An ambulance is on the way.”
“Better get here fast. I think she may be dying,” Trevor said. “Lady, can you hear me?”
The lady looked up at him with dead eyes. She started to get up and fell back on the ground. Trevor checked her pulse. She was dead.
“As you can see, the paramedics have pronounced her dead. Tragic,” Trevor said, as one of the paramedics closed the door to the ambulance. “We came out here to capture footage of a tornado, not of someone dying.”
“Look at the sky. It looks ominous,” Josh pointed out.
“Ominous, that would sum up today so far,” Trevor said.
Hail