by Ailes, Derek
After Benton drove, Lucille walked over to the lake and looked for any clues to what had attacked the man. The marks were huge. They looked more like claw marks. People were swimming, and she didn’t see signs of a shark anywhere. She thought about her favorite movie, Jaws. The last thing the beach needed was a great white shark attack. She quickly dismissed that thought as she watched a small sailboat pass by in the distance. She hoped that the guy snagged his leg on a jagged rock. The waves were picking up. Satisfied there wasn’t anything dangerous swimming in the water, she headed back to the guard post.
Later after Benton returned from the hospital, she walked over to the beach front café and ate a hamburger. She watch the construction crew work on the new café. In the distance she could see the protestors holding up their signs. She laughed at the guy wearing the rat costume. He had to be sweating up a storm.
“I hate those protesters,” Simon, the café’s owner, said. “So what if the company isn’t union. They were the only company that could do the job within my budget. At least, I know the job will be done in a timely fashion. Union workers take unnecessary coffee breaks and work whatever pace they want. It could take several more months to build it with a union company. I made the right choice.”
“I’m sure that’s not how union companies work,” Lucille said.
“Believe what you want. In a couple of months you’ll be over at the new café enjoying the fruits of their cheap labor. Let me get you a refill on the lemonade.”
“Thanks, Simon.”
Lucille stared at his smart phone. It reminded her that she had left a happy birthday message on her father’s Facebook page. There was a like from him on all the birthday wishes but her’s. They weren’t currently on good speaking terms. He was still mad that she had backed out on the wedding to her ex fiancé, Brad. She never told her father how Brad would abuse her when he was drunk. She didn’t have the courage to tell him the truth and instead told her father she backed out of the wedding because she wasn’t ready to settle down.
She looked back toward the construction site and began laughing out loud when she saw the guy in the rat suit trip over his own tail.
Chapter Four
The night air was refreshing as Austin and Mindy watched the full moon on the deserted beach. The beach had closed hours earlier, and they were eager to have a romantic night under the stars alone. They had placed a blanket on one of the sand dunes on the part of the beach that normally wasn’t used during the daytime, since it was too far from the lake. Austin grabbed another beer from his cooler.
“Don’t get too drunk. The night is still young,” Mindy giggled.
“It sounds to me like you’re the drunk one.”
“If I’m drunk, I might as well drink another one.”
“Slow down. I don’t want you passing out.”
“Don’t worry, Austin. I’m going to stay awake all night,” she said as she put her finger on his nose. “You have a funny looking nose. How did you get such a funny nose?”
“I think you’ve had enough,” he said and grabbed the can away from her.
“Fine. Less drinking, more making out.”
“No sense arguing with that.” Austin kissed her cheek and then her neck. Austin felt heavy breathing from behind him. He could smell a foul odor. He turned around and a huge black cat was staring down at them.
“I must be really drunk. That’s one big kitty,” Mindy giggled.
The cat opened its mouth exposing all of its large, sharp teeth. It hissed loudly. Austin dropped his beer.
“Mindy, run!”
Mindy ran as fast as she could in her drunken state. The cat ran after her, trampling over Austin, crushing his skull into the sand. It ran past her and spun around. It pounced on her and bit her head off. Her body fell to the ground. It grabbed her body up with its mouth and swallowed the rest of her. Once it was done with her, it casually walked over to Austin’s corpse and devoured him.
Chapter Five
Benton inspected the beach, cleaning up beer bottles and food wrappers before the beach officially opened that morning. He was following a set of large animal tracks that led from the lake all the way back to the sand dunes. They led him all the way to a large blanket lying on one of the dunes. The tracks were huge. The only big wildlife in the area were deer, but each paw print was the size of a tree trunk. On the blanket was a cooler with several full cans of beer in it. He followed the tracks. Several feet away from the blanket he discovered a pool of blood with what appeared to be bloody animal tracks leading away from the scene. He pulled out his cellphone and called the guard post.
“Lucille, you’re not going to believe what I discovered,” he said and told her about his discovery.
“Call the police.”
“I will. Should we close down the beach?”
“People are already arriving. I’ll keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Call me when the police are done with their investigation.” She hung up the phone and walked out of the guard post. She climbed down the stairs and walked along the beach. She didn’t see any large animal tracks. Whatever made those tracks was staying away from this part of the beach.
“Hey beautiful lady,” an elderly man said as he was placing a beach towel on the sand.
“Hello, Jeff. Another beautiful day.”
“Yes it is, Lucille.”
People were already swimming. With the warm weather predicted for that day, the beach was going to be packed. People were walking from the parking lot carrying towels, inflatable rafts, and coolers. A small toddler was carrying a plastic bucket ready to make sand castles. She waved at him. He waved back.
Over at the café construction site, Martin put the rat suit on for another day of protesting.
“I smell a dirty rat,” Hugh laughed.
“Very funny. Next time you be the rat.”
“You looked so cute. Smile,” Hugh said and took a picture of him with his camera phone. “This is going on my Facebook page.”
“You’re an ass.”
“Thank you for the compliment,” he said and snapped another picture. “Now let’s get another one with you holding up your sign.”
“Take a picture of this,” he said and gave him the finger.
Hugh dropped his phone in fear. He tried to speak, but no words would come out.
“What, cat got your tongue?” Marvin asked. He felt heavy breathing on his neck. He turned around. The large, black cat was staring at him, licking its lips with its tongue.
Marvin ran. The cat watched him for a few seconds and ran after him. Marvin ran for his car and tripped over the rat costume’s tail. The cat jumped in front of him and hissed sinisterly.
“I’m not a real rat!” Marvin yelled.
The cat lifted its left paw and slammed it down hard on Martin, crushing him like an accordion. Several cars drove away from the construction site to safety. It chased after one of the red pickup trucks. It followed it out onto the highway heading toward Chesterton. Cars swerved out of the way to avoid being crushed. It ran ahead of the red truck and turned around, swatting it off the road with its left paw. The truck crashed into a ditch. It walked over to the truck and crushed it with its paw. From the distance, one of the semi truck drivers filmed the incident on his smart phone.
Lucille watched closely as people swam in the water. Benton climbed up to the guard post and stood next to her.
“You are not going to believe this. The sheriff received a call about an overgrown cat attacking vehicles on the highway. When I say overgrown, I mean overgrown.”
“A mountain lion?” Lucille asked.
“Think much bigger,” Benton said and handed his smart phone to her. “This was just on the news.”
She played the video clip of the cat attacking the vehicles on the highway. “It can’t be.”
“It would explain all the animal tracks on the beach back there. I would suggest evacuating the beach.”
“Too late,” Lucille said and pointed toward the water.
They could see the cat’s large head in the water.
They quickly ran down the guard post steps toward the water.
“Cat! Cat!” Lucille screamed.
The people on the beach gave her a funny look as she ran by.
The cat climbed out of the water. People screamed as they ran to safety. The small toddler she waved to earlier sat building a sand castle, oblivious to what was going on around him. The cat slowly walked over to the toddler with its mouth wide open. The toddler turned around and waved at it excitedly. Lucille grabbed the end of the cat’s tail and yank it as hard as she could. It hissed loudly, turned around and stared at her. While the cat had its attention on her, the toddler’s parents grabbed him and ran. The cat lifted its tail and swung her aside. It slowly walked up to her ready to attack. Before it could pounce on her, Benton rammed its front leg with his jeep. It hissed at the jeep, turned around and ran away.
“Are you all right?” Benton asked as he got out of the jeep.
“That was close. Way too close.”
“Was that cat about twenty feet tall?” Benton asked.
“It was huge,” she said, trying to catch her breath.
“I guess calling animal control would be a waste of time.”
“I can see it in the distance. It’s heading for the steel mill.”
“Doesn’t your dad work at the steel mill?” Benton asked.
She ran back up the steps leading to the guard post and grabbed her smart phone. She tried calling her father’s phone, but there was no answer.
“Pick up. Pick up,” she said nervously.
“No answer?” Benton asked.
“He won’t take my calls anymore.” She put her phone back on her desk. She was trying not to cry. She regained her composure. “People’s safety first; my personal life second. Let’s make sure everybody’s safely evacuated.”
After making sure everybody was evacuated from the beach, Lucille sat at the café drinking a lemonade. Simon kept staring at what once was the new café construction site.
“That darn cat destroyed my café. Crashed right through it. Where did it come from? A cat that size just doesn’t appear out of nowhere.”
“No clue, but it has made this beach its home,” Lucille said.
Benton walked over to the café and sat down next to Lucille. “I just got off the phone with the sheriff. The La Porte National Armory is sending troops and tanks. He also mentioned that they’re trying to get the president to sanction use of a drone.”
“Great, all we need is drones hovering above us firing at will,” Simon said.
“That may be the only option. I doubt any conventional weapons could hurt that thing being how large it is,” Lucille said.
“Simon, I would suggest heading home,” Benton said.
“In what? My car is as flat as a pancake.” He pointed at a flattened pile of metal that once was a smart car.
“Here’s the keys to the beach’s jeep.”
“I would suggest you two get out of here as well,” Simon said, grabbing the keys.
“As long as the press is here reporting Catzilla, I have to stay and make sure they’re safe. Benton, you can head home.”
“Lucille, if you’re staying, I’m staying.”
“Not me. I’m gone.” Simon walked away.
“Benton, the cavalry has arrived,” she said, pointing at several military vehicles pulling into the beach’s parking lot. Overhead, a large helicopter circled the beach. Soldiers climbed out of a troop transport.
“It isn’t a cavalry. They sent a large army,” Benton said.
One of the soldiers ran over to them. “My name is Sergeant Alvarez.”
“Lucille. This is Benton.”
“I suggest finding someplace safe. It’s not safe here.”
“We know. We already encountered it,” Benton said.
“I suggest you move back to a safe distance. We are escorting the reporters off the beach.”
“We will. Be careful, that cat is huge,” Lucille said.
“Noted,” the sergeant said and signaled to the rest of the squad that the area was secure.
“Sergeant Alvarez, we have a visual on the target. It’s heading straight for your location,” the pilot of the helicopter reported.
“Move the tanks into position! Let’s give it everything!” The sergeant ordered.
A row of four large tanks lined up with their long guns pointing upward, waiting for the cat to appear on the beach. The soldiers lined up adjacent to the tanks with their machine guns ready for the assault. When the cat appeared from behind the sand dunes, the sergeant gave the order to fire. The tanks fired their shells toward it. The shells hit its torso, but the impact barely penetrated it. It angrily ran toward the tanks and rammed them, pushing them backward through the sand. The soldiers fired their machine guns, but with little effect. It turned around and flicked them away. The tanks fired at close range. The shells hit it sending it backward. Blood trickled down its fur as the shells penetrated it. It pounced on one of the tanks crushing it. One of the soldiers climbed up its tail and ran up its body toward the back of its head. Once he reached the back of its head, he fired his machine gun shooting into the back of its skull. It hissed loudly and ran forward toward the lake. It jumped into the water causing the soldier to fall off its back. It continued to swim away from the beach.
“I think it’s wounded!” Sergeant Alvarez shouted.
“Where do you think it’s heading?” one of the soldiers asked.
“Chopper One, I need a visual.”
“We’ve lost visual.”
“Keep looking.” Sergeant Alvarez walked over to one of the jeeps and picked up his phone. “Get me Washington. I need access to one of the global satellites.”
“Lucille, it’s escaping,” Benton said.
They watched the battle from the back of the parking lot. The reporters broadcasted the whole battle live on television.
“No, I see it. It’s heading back toward the steel mill,” Lucille said and ran for Benton’s jeep.
“Where are you going?”
“I have to make sure my father’s safe.”
“Let the military deal with it,” Benton pleaded as he ran after her.
“Tell Sergeant Alvarez where it’s heading.” She drove away toward the steel mill.
Sergeant Alvarez was on the phone talking to Washington when Benton ran up to him. “The drone will be there in five minutes? Thank you Mr. President.”
“It’s heading for the steel mill,” Benton said.
“We know. They are evacuating it as we speak. We are going to blast it with a missile strike using one of our drones.”
“Lucille is heading there now. Her father works there.”
“If she’s there when the missile strikes…”
“Game over,” Benton finished.
Lucille could see the cat approaching the steel mill. She drove as fast as she could. She kept calling her father’s cellphone, but still no response. She turned onto the road leading into the steel mill. She slammed on her brakes to avoid hitting a semi that was speeding away from the mill. Several cars followed it. The cat had stopped in front of the building that contained the hot-dip coating line. She parked the jeep and ran toward it on foot. Her father’s cranberry red Colorado truck was still parked on the side of the building. She ran past it and into the building. Her father was standing with a couple of his coworkers watching in terror as the cat’s paw was trying to claw at them through the bottom opening of the big steel door.
“Dad!” Lucille screamed.
“Lucille!” her father shouted.
“We have to get out of here. That thing is on a rampage killing everybody in sight,” Lucille said.
The cat made a loud screeching noise. It started to raise the steel door with its paw. Once the door was raised high enough, it stuck its head through and hissed at them.
“You are not eating my father!” Lucille yelled. She ran over toward it and ran for
the panel adjacent to the door. It tried to grab her with its claw, but she ran around it. She hit the button that operated the steel door. It tried to grab her with its claw as the big steel door pinned its head into the ground. It struggled to free itself. She walked right up to it. “Not so scary looking now.”
Blood trickled down the side of its neck from the wounds it sustained from being shot at close range from the soldier’s machine gun. It looked at her and hissed one last time. It stopped struggling and closed its eyes.
“Is it dead?” her father asked.
“I think so.”
“You risked your life to save me,” her father said. “I’m so sorry.”
“For what?”
“Ignoring you. If you weren’t ready to get married, then you weren’t ready. I should have respected your decision.”
“Happy birthday Dad,” she said.
The ground shook violently.
“What the…” her father began to say, but was grabbed by his daughter and pull backward. The overhead crane crashed to the ground as the shaking continued.
“We better get out of here!” one of the other guys shouted.
They ran out of the building. They heard a loud growling sound coming from behind them. An orange calico cat twice the size of the one that was terrorizing the beach stood over the other cat carcass. It was the mother and the dead one was one of its kittens. It turned its attention on them and slowly walked toward them. They stood terrorized in fear as it slowly approached. It hissed at them loudly. They ran toward the road leading out of the mill. It chased after them. The ground shook each step that it took. Lucille lost her balance and fell to the ground. As it was upon her, a rocket hit its left leg, causing it to trip. It rolled to the left just barely missing Lucille.
“Lucille, are you all right?” Benton asked. He was standing in one of the military jeeps holding a portable rocket launcher.
The cat made an angry hissing sound as it slowly tried to stand back up. Lucille spotted the drone heading in their direction.
“We better get out of here fast!” Benton warned.
They climbed into the jeep and then sped away. The large cat stared at them as the jeep drove farther away. As it stood up, it spotted an object heading straight for it. It ran from the object as it was closing in. The missile hit it in the back and exploded, sending pieces into every direction.
