The Cyclones

It all started in a small town. I lived on the edge of town with my grandparents. My house was a lovely two story house, with a badge siding. The shutters around the windows were a rusted red color. The house was rectangular in shape and wider horizontally than vertically. The bottom porch was a finished red wood which was painted the rusted red color to match the shutters and wrapped around the bottom part of the house. The living room had clear, double glass doors that led out to the porch. Additionally, the porch was screened in with a glass storm door that was outside of the front door.

In my narrow kitchen, I was sitting down to eat with my grandparents, my friend Paul, my friend David, and David's pug. My sister joined us along with my brother. My youngest sister was at work. I was arguing with my brother about a Futurama themed Adventure Time when we looked to the left of the wall. The wall used some kind of video game logic. when there was a threat of some sort, the wall would become see through, so that we could prepare for the threat. I looked up and the wall was gone, revealing a very wide and scary tornado.

The tornado was about five miles in width, darkish brown in color, and very, very terrifying. What was even more terrifying was the realization that we did not have a basement. My grandfather rushed outside to the porch, where the tornado's wind was already picking up and secured the storm door that was opening and closing with the wind. He inserted a key to the door which brought up a computer program, using the door and a screen. He input some numbers and his code. A voice thanked him and he ran back inside, securing the second door. He yelled at all of us to get down under the table and to hold on.

I grabbed David's pug with one arm and grabbed the table leg with the other. Then, the tornado hit and everything seemed to slow down and happen in slow motion. All of us were anchored down by grabbing onto the table but there was still enough force to lift all of our bodies off of the ground. My grandfather shouted at us not to let go for anything. The fact that my body was suspended in the air while holding a pug was quite difficult.

David glanced over at me holding the small, scared dog. The computer program was working as designed though, the house was still in tact. Finally, we were being lowered back down and the tornado made its way back into the clouds. My grandfather asked if everyone was all right. I nodded and told him that I was going to take a walk to check on our neighbors. He agreed with me and proceeded to help my grandmother back into her chair. I entered a code on the storm door and it released, leaving me free and out of the house.

I walked about a quarter of a mile, looking at all of the damage done to the houses whose families did not pay extra to the federation for the storm door. When you were living on a planet like this one, the storm door was well worth the investment. I had almost made it to the railroad bridge before I saw them. As I turned around and looked, there were three water cyclones that had formed in the lake a little further down the street from me but they were heading my way and quickly. There wasn't enough time to get to the bridge for cover. The cyclones were getting closer, passing over cars in the road, sucking up up, and spitting them out like candies.

Three cyclones, I thought, I'm not going to get to say goodbye to my family because of three cyclones. Then, it's as if they passed through me. The cyclones left everything in black and white that they destroyed. I died. It was quick.

As I lay there dead, my body started flashing red, in contrast to the black and white environment. The next thing I know, I'm sitting at the long dinner table with my family, playing cards. I see that both of my wrists have these weird black metallic cuffs that have wires hooked up to some sort of battery. My brother noticed the light (or life)in my eyes and explained that the three cyclones had killed me and most of the town. He was able to bring me back but told me that my life came with a price. I had such severe brain trauma and damage from the cyclones since I faced them head on and without any kind of shelter or shield, that I would never again be able to make my own decisions again.

He demonstrated this by pressing one of the many buttons on the battery and I played a card. He told me that the fashion cuffs were the receivers for the commands. Finally, he looked me in the eyes and apologized for doing this to me but he just couldn't let me go. I pressed a button on the battery that let me hug him and I said, "let's play some cards."

The Spider Apocalypse

There were spiders everywhere! All throughout the town! These weren't your average, oh look it's a cute jumping spider, no. These spiders ranged from garden spider sized to tarantula, and they were going to take over the town.

Now, I realize how ridiculous that sounds, but it's true.

They had already taken over the bodies of Ms. Myers and Ms. Phyllis down the street. They hit the nursing home and doctor's offices first, picking off the older and the weak. The more brightly colored a spider is, the more dangerous it is. These spiders ranged from a cream color (which wasn't so dangerous) to bright neon colors (that could kill you with one bite). Once these spiders killed you, they reanimated your body and a spider controlled it. People would just walk around and the spiders would trick you this way and attack you because you couldn't tell the difference between the dead and alive at night.

There were webs everywhere. You couldn't walk without getting stuck in a damn web. And, I hate that.

I watched a group of a teenagers get into a car to leave town. Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. I watched as a clearly infected friend, which the others didn't realize because they didn't know what to look for at night, locked the doors and infected the entire car.

Morons.

I hid in quiet cover behind some bushes near the Swanson's old house. They were one of the first families converted, so the spiders left this place alone a long time ago.

I was trying to figure out how to escape without being noticed. I heard talk over the radio about the town basically being blown up in the morning. If I left by car, it would be too obvious. The spiders would know. If I walked, the spiders could tell I wasn't infected yet. If I rode a bike, the same. The spiders hadn't gotten beyond the town yet because there was still food here.

I laid on my stomach and wiggled through the backyard. I got to the hole in the fence and cut across to the next house. It was still dark. I made my way to the first doctor's office that was hit by these spiders. No one knows where they came from or how they got here. I was on my own with no other survivors. It was better that way. No one to slow you down or get you caught by these things.

I saw a creme colored garden shaped spider guarding the office. I was going to need medical supplies to add to my book bag if I was going to attempt this trip. I silently smashed the spider with my shoe, hoping that I killed it before it could signal to the others.

The spiders had a telepathic way of communicating. If one spider saw people still alive at the house, it would signal to the nest (which I still haven't found, thankfully) and the nest would descend upon that house before you could even scream. I had seen it done lots of times. How did I escape, you ask. I climbed out of a back window and watched my family be eaten. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to witness, even harder still because their bodies are still walking around being controlled by spiders.

I got into the office successfully, looked around for spiders, and continued my search. I grabbed a bunch of medications, gauze, and anything else that looked useful. Then, I left out of the back window and hid below in the brush. The spiders hadn't seen me. I passed by the pet store on the way to the verge of the town.

I had found the nest. It was in the pet store.

I crept by silently. I hope that none would see me.

Finally, I was at the verge of town. It was guarded by massive spiders with massive webs. They didn't want anyone to escape through here. It was dawn. If I didn't leave now, I would never be able to leave again. I heard a noise behind me and hit the ground. Three drones were overhead and they blasted the spiders and the webs with missiles. The spiders died and the webs caught fire.

I was almost knocked out by the blast.

The drones continued their attacks through town. I had better run before the real explosions happen. I think the army just wanted to see what they were dealing with and if it had spread to anywhere else.

I ran as fast as I've ever run in my life. I found an abandoned car and checked it thoroughly for spiders. It was clean so I got in and drove. I put the pedal down and didn't stop. I looked behind me in my rear view mirror and saw the mushroom cloud.

Bye Bye, spiders.