♈️ Aries: Aries, your fiery charisma is set to draw in someone captivating today. If sparks fly but don't ignite into a full flame, don't let it dampen your confidence. It's time to take the bull by the horns and explore avenues for growth professionally. Health-wise, fortify your defenses against any bugs going around. An adventure with your ride-or-die pal is also in the cards, so plan well ahead to sidestep any travel faux pas. Keep a close eye on your wallet and avoid real estate or stock market investments for now. Lastly, remember to be mindful of your straightforwardness as it can make your friends a bit apprehensive.
♉️ Taurus: Today is a day of deepening bonds for those in relationships, Taurus. Singles should keep an eye out for intuitive Cancer signs, as love is in the air. Financially, you may face a small hiccup, but use this as a lesson in budgeting and future planning. Health-wise, your bladder might be more active today, so plan for extra pit stops. Travel is the key to life's experiences, so take the time to explore the world around you. Luck may not be on your side when it comes to money matters, but your charisma is set to skyrocket, making every social interaction a positive one. Emotionally, you are mostly content with your life's course, but there may be an aspect that needs a boost. Reflect on what that might be and seek out ways to improve it.
♊️ Gemini: Gemini, with Venus bestowing its blessings on your relationships, you can expect a smooth sailing day in the sea of love. Singles, don’t worry if your flirty charm hits a speed bump with Libra, your day will come! Financially, you are in for a windfall, so seize this opportunity to boost your bank balance. Health wise, it’s time to fill your plate with a rainbow of fruits and veggies to get the essential vitamins your body craves. And why not add an intense workout to supercharge your health quest today? Travel may have slipped off your radar today, but it’s okay to take a breather and focus on other things. Keep your eyes peeled for the numbers 10 and 31 as they are set to bring a dash of luck into your day. Finally, channel any negative vibes into a productive pursuit today and use your unstoppable spirit to keep the blues at bay.
♋️ Cancer: Cancer, your sensitivity is a secret strength and your partner appreciates it. If you're single, take the time to reflect on past relationships and use them as learning experiences for the future. An unexpected email may bring financial news that reveals a forgotten windfall. You are radiating health and confidence, and your aura is as bright as a summer's day. An upcoming journey with someone special has you counting down the days. The numbers 7 and 43 are your lucky stars today, so keep them in mind. Your emotional landscape is blossoming with positivity, and self-improvement is a bumpy road but the rewards make it worth it. Keep going, the journey is as beautiful as the destination.
♌️ Leo: Today might not be the best day for romance, but singles should keep their eyes open for a special Pisces. Professionally, you're on the right track and your ambition is paying off - you could even be in for a pay bump! Health-wise, it's important to check in with your optometrist if you wear prescription glasses. Travel could bring a new perspective and 37 and 8 could be your lucky numbers. Emotionally, you may be feeling a bit overwhelmed - take some time to relax and enjoy the peace and quiet.
♍️ Virgo: Today is a day of love and luck for Virgo. Venus is showering you with affectionate energy, so if you're in a relationship, expect to bask in a warm glow of love. Singles, look out for a Capricorn with a smile that lights up the room - some delightful flirtation may be in the cards. At work, you may face some challenging dynamics, but counter any negativity with a radiant smile. Financially, you're on an upswing, so keep up the momentum. Health-wise, you're in great shape, so stay on track with a balanced lifestyle to keep the good health vibes flowing. If you're feeling adventurous, consider couch surfing as a budget-friendly accommodation alternative. Lady Luck might not be knocking on your door today, but it's a neutral day on the luck front, so you've got the reins. Finally, thanks to the good vibes from your ruling planet, you'll feel a wave of positivity and happiness today. Soak up the sunny energy and shine on!
♎️ Libra: Today is a day of love and learning for Libras. Single Libras may find themselves drawn to someone who is already taken, while those in relationships should take the time to appreciate the loving gestures from their partner. At work, break up the monotony with a chat over lunch with a colleague. Unemployed Libras should keep an eye out for a potential job lead. Health-wise, those with a history of blood pressure issues may experience a mild fluctuation, but overall health should remain steady. For those with long commutes, use the time to read or listen to an audiobook and turn the journey into a learning experience. Lady Luck favours the colour red and the number 15 today, so if possible, add a touch of green to your outfit for an extra sprinkle of good fortune. Finally, take some time to disconnect from your devices and give yourself the tranquillity you deserve.
♏️ Scorpio: Single Scorpios should be prepared for a day of flirtatious vibes, as a charismatic Gemini is sure to capture your attention. For those who are married, a small tiff may arise around money matters and kids, but it's important to remember that these small battles can help strengthen your bond. In the workplace, your boss may have some concerns, so be sure to acknowledge them and strive to improve. Financially, you may experience highs and lows, but have faith in your ability to balance it all. Health-wise, it's time to commit to healthier choices, such as quitting smoking if you're a smoker. When it comes to travel, make sure to familiarize yourself with the local customs and traditions, as respect for others' cultures is the key to meaningful experiences. Your ruling planet has your back today, especially when it comes to financial affairs, so consider playing the stock market if you're feeling lucky. Lastly, be gentle with your own heart today, as a figure from your past may resurface in your thoughts. Allow yourself to remember, grieve, and heal.
♐️ Sagittarius: Today is a day of change and progress for you, Sagittarius. If you're in a relationship, it may be time to seek advice from trusted friends if you're feeling uncertain. For those who are single, the presence of an Aquarius may bring a sense of comfort. At work, a colleague is set to drop some significant news, so be prepared for change. Financially, you may receive a boost, and job seekers should stay alert as your phone may hold the key to a promising opportunity. Health-wise, it's time to book an appointment with a healthcare professional and get a comprehensive check-up. When travelling, remember to squirrel away some 'just-in-case' funds for peace of mind. Lady Luck is whispering your numbers today: 39 and 1, so expect some positive magic to come your way. An understanding Leo is also set to step into your emotional realm today, guiding you towards emotional clarity.
♑️ Capricorn: Single Capricorns should take advantage of the day and show off their vibrant party spirit. Those in relationships should be prepared for secrets to come out into the open. Jupiter's aura makes this a potentially lucrative day, so bring your best to the workplace and show your dedication. Health-wise, consider joining a gym or sports team and try to balance your diet. If you're travelling, immerse yourself in the local culture and try out the local delicacies. Your lucky numbers for the day are 4 and 10. Lastly, it's time to work on managing your emotions more effectively and cultivating a steadier emotional climate.
♒️ Aquarius: Today is a day of mixed emotions for Aquarius. On the one hand, those in relationships can expect an extra sparkle in their bond, while single Aquarians should brace themselves for potential heartache. Professionally, it's important to open up and invite collaboration, as cooperation is key for success. Health-wise, you're set to enjoy a day of physical vigor and mental calm, so don't forget to stay hydrated. Travelers should take the time to learn about their destination before embarking. Luck will be on your side in social scenarios, but it might not be the best day to make real estate investments. Emotionally, you're holding up well and your strength will help you weather any storm that comes your way.
♓️ Pisces: Today is a day of kindness and patience for Pisces. If you are in a relationship, be understanding and empathetic towards your partner. For those who are single, an unexpected ping from a past flame may be on the horizon. Professionally, there is a golden opportunity coming your way that could lead to a promotion and a financial boost. Health-wise, consistency is key when it comes to fitness, so make sure to pair your workout regime with a healthy diet and consider bringing a personal trainer onboard. If you are travelling today, don't forget to pack your travel insurance. Jupiter, your cosmic benefactor of luck and prosperity, is sending positive energy your way, so embrace it and let it guide your day. Emotionally, you are feeling grounded and balanced, but if you live with family, some pressure or nerves may creep in - but you've got this, Pisces!

Check out today's Hora

With the upcoming 10-year anniversary of El Reno May 31, 2013 here are some links to videos and articles about or related to this event, with a focus more on the science, as well as footage links so they can all be in one place for anyone looking. This is by no means remotely exhaustive, and will not include the numerous documentaries or news articles about this event. Rest in peace to the eight people killed by the tornado and the many others who died due to storm related flooding. Five of the eight killed by the tornado were storm chasers. Three were veteran chasers Paul Samaras, Tim Samaras and Carl Young and the others were amateur chaser Richard Henderson and another unnamed chaser who was only discovered later to have been chasing that day through the work of the El Reno Survey project. You can read a post about that by Skip Talbot here.
Overview NWS page on the tornadoes and flooding event of May 31st-June 1st, 2013 Wikipedia page
Some Papers/Posts Crowdsourcing the El Reno 2013 Tornado: A New Approach for Collation and Display of Storm Chaser Imagery for Scientific Applications: This is a paper about the amazing El Reno Survey project and it has many other linked papers in it. Multiscale overview of the El Reno Tornadic Supercell The Role of Multiple-Vortex Tornado Structure in Causing Storm Researcher Fatalities Tornadogenesis and Early Tornado Evolution in the El Reno, Oklahoma, Supercell on 31 May 2013: Details how the main circulation started on/close to the ground. Other papers have been written since on the non-descending nature of tornadoes. Houser, Tornadogenesis (part 1) and Tornadogenesis (part 2) are a few. Anticipating Deviant Tornado Motion Doppler Radar Observations of Anticyclonic tornadoes in Cyclonically Rotating, Right-Moving Supercells- Has more information and analysis of the multi-vortex anti-cyclonic tornado that occurred in the rear flank gust front of the parent supercell towards the end of the El Reno track.
Damage survey results and related considerations Aerial Damage Survey Combined with Mobile Radar Data Ground-based Damage Survey and Radar Analysis Some Considerations for the Use of High-Resolution Mobile Radar Data in Tornado Intensity Determination
A couple writings/discussions about the final rating Chuck Doswell's EF Scale Rating's Brouhaha and More on the EF-Scale Controversy Old Stormtrack thread that Jeff Snyder participated in. Both this thread and Doswell's writings above were from 2013 so other things have since been gleaned from this event, but both contain most if not all of the more informed reasons for the argument around the rating. Snyder wrote the paper linked above about considerations for using mobile radar in determining tornado intensity the following year. Adding the Current Proposed Revision to the EF Scale since a lot of those more organized discussions seemed to have stemmed from this event.
(note: I enjoy the science involved in aspects of the rating, but personally find the ratings themselves boring and uninformative as they merely simplify something very complex into a metric (that then is reduced even further into wind speeds) that a lot of times just seem to operate as a function of competition and/or morbid destruction allure. In general reducing everything involved in a tornado to a static thing with defined borders and simplified properties isn't helpful in understanding all the forces themselves or in understanding the complex way those forces interact with everything around them. I recommend reading the damage survey and discussion links above to help understand the reasoning given for this particular rating and the science of the considerations around radar indicated speeds and tornadic intensity along with some more well thought out arguments against the rating this event was given. If for no other reason than to move away from more common subjective-bias based arguments ("i know a huge EF5 when i see one" "obviously from the footage it was a massive wedge EF5 world destroyer") and in to more informed discussions if they must happen.)
VIDEO
Synced: El Reno Sync and El Reno Sync. Neither of course contain all the footage but are especially good to watch just so you can see how radically different it looked at different times depending on where the person was. The second one has a minor sync error that is noted in the pinned comment. Definite major acknowledgement for these syncs goes to the El Reno Survey Project and their Tornado Environmental Display (which sadly seems to no longer function).
Footage: A lot of people's footage can be found on the El Reno Survey Participants page by clicking on the links under the video column, so i won't link those here. Some participants aren't listed or their footage isn't linked and others may not have participated or have posted additional footage so I'll link other unlisted footage I am aware of below. Also note that Pecos Hank's footage is listed under his name (Hank Schyma) in the above link. Jim Bishop, Reed Timmer (Other footage from him can be seen by looking up Tornado Chasers S02E11-12), Dan Robinson, Allan Gwyn, Brendon Lindsey, Skip Talbot, Melanie Metz and Peggy Willenberg, George Kourounis, Stephen Barabas and Justin Hoyt, Mark Imes, Jason Weingart, Justin Drake and Simon Brewer, Jared Stevenson, Brad Hannon, Derek Watson, Greg McLaughlin and others, Bobby Hines, David Demko and Heidi Farrar, Robin Tanamachi, Daniel Dawson, Greg Johnson and Ricky Forbes and Peter Slack (behind-the-scenes), various Mike Bettes and TWC footage can be found on youtube as well as various documentaries on Tim Samaras, Paul Samaras and Carl Young.
Analysis
NWS Norman's Lessons from the most dangerous tornado in storm observing history Skip Talbot's essential Safety Lessons from El Reno Convective Chronicle's El Reno, OK May 31, 2103: A Case Study (haven't watched this yet but everything else they do is brilliant so I'm sure this is too. They use a lot of the papers I've linked above in the PapePosts section as primary resource, so recommended for folks who prefer watching/listening to reading)
Presentations Jana Houser presentation: Novel Observations of the 2013 El Reno Tornado: Confirming Ground-Up Tornadogenesis through Coupled Rapid-Scan Radar Data and Crowd-Sourced Storm Chaser Videography John T. Allen presentation: Crowd-Sourcing the Storm: A New Approach for Obtaining and Collating Scientific Tornado Observations
Additional: NWS roundtable put out today discussing the tornadoes on May 19, 20 and 31st of 2013
Again, this is by no means exhaustive and if you have suggestions to add to the list I'm happy to. I'll try and update this post with other things that may come out in the next couple days that might be of particular interest, like the upcoming NWS Norman StoryMap. If there are any issues with any link let me know.

I visited PA in April where I experienced several days with very misty rain. It accumulated quickly, so a lot of rain was coming down but it was more of a mist than large drops that are more typical where I’m from. We loved the weather in PA, so invigorating!
Is the rain usually like this in PA? Just more of a mist? Does it ever get uncomfortably windy?
My gf and I also understand the winters can often have little sunlight. We plan to counteract this by having a lot of soft and natural style lighting in the house as well as house plants inside with lamps for them. How do you think one will fair their first winter in PA?
We loved the people, the nature, the air, etc. Thanks for being so welcoming. We are planning to join the PA community within the next 1-2 years. Any advice appreciated!

hi guys! i’m in western pa if it makes a difference and we’re just hitting upper 80s weather this week. i was hired in october so no one ever really went over the dress code for warmer weather or the dress code in general beyond no ripped jeans lol.

1. are shorts allowed, and do they have to be a certain length?
   
2. are tank tops allowed? if not, would i get into trouble for wearing one with a lightweight jacket over top to cover my shoulders?
   

it’s chilly by the registers so i probably will refrain from tank tops, but doing things like closing tasks do cause me to get hot very quickly (i have POTS syndrome and positional changes are rough on me). i was just wondering what i can do/wear to keep myself cool during this time considering my syndrome and symptoms are worsened by heat lol.
thank you so much and every response is appreciated! :)

Hello! I have recently been interested in learning about weather, but it seems so complex and diverse that I don't know where to start! I know some basic stuff, such as how some storms are formed and cloud types and such, but I would like to learn some more technicalities of the subject.
I have been to an event where a local meteorologist spoke about la nina and el nino and all that (fascinating! That really sparked my interest) and have an app (Wx) on my phone which aggregates all sorts of local charts, radars, announcements and weather patterns, but I don't know how to read and understand much of it.
I don't even know where to begin, but I figured that this community would!
What are some books/textbooks, websites, courses or videos y'all recommend for a beginner?
Blessings!

Update 4.2.5 is now live on Steam, Paradoxplaza and ModDB.

Major Features

- Restored Lone Star’s Hand Warband path’s previously incomplete Legion events and decisions. The additions from this include access to a small number of wargoals, a modest branching chain of new events and decisions for marching to Castra Sol Rubrum, the alternate ability to join Lanius’s Horde should Lanius form the Eastern Legion and the choice to serve as a subject rather than being annexed into Lanius or the Legion proper should Lanius be alive and loyal to Caesar.
- Made a round of touch ups to tech balance. More significant changes include melee equipment buffs, Knight and Scribe changes, small adjustments to many industry techs. The full details can be found here: https://pastebin.com/aUdD7DPU
​

Added

- Added several new character bios to Baudelio Ranchers, Guardians, Iron Alliance and Slags
- Added unique pictures to some downfall events
- Added 2 achievements “Judgement Day” and “Through the Fire and Flames”
- Added Mojave Territories back to the West Coast bookmark
- Added a leader description to Jack Vickers in Baudelio Ranchers
- Added 2 additional crossings between Rapids and Tohono Nation
- Added starting coastal forts, outposts and bunkers to parts of southern NCR and western Legion states
- Added a line of forts to NCR’s focus “The Crimson Caravan Routes” and two different lines to “Protecting the Boneyard”
- Added a line of forts to the Legion’s focus “Uniting the Wastes”
- Added a starting debuff to Washington BoS and The Cause lost when one annexes the other
- Added an army buff spirit to Hand Warband’s “The Masters of Texas” focus
- Added a spirit to the Legion’s “Legionary Training”
- Added a tech reducing Infantry Combat Width to the Legion’s “The Tip of the Spear”
- Added a starting timed debuff for Vault City tied to the 2275 Selection
- Added 10% starting stability to Vault City to partially offset the above
- Added a starting idea debuff for Shi which is gradually lessened by and related to the debates
- Added a temporary idea given to Shi by their early Navarro news event
- Added war support to the options for Shi’s Navarro Intervention event
- Added starting -10% Construction Speed to the NCR Economy modifier in exchange for -1% Consumer Goods
- Added 5% starting war support to TV Town
- Added 5% starting stability to Nuevo Aztlán
- Added 5% starting stability and war support to Tlaloc
- Added 5% starting stability in exchange for 10% war support to Shi
- Added 15% starting war support in exchange for 5% stability to Petro Chico
- Added starting Tool Procurement, Resource Production and 5% war support to Stormmongers
- Added more building slots and resources to a handful of Legion states
- Added a starting radar station to Weather Monitoring Station
- Added starting ports to: Ocotillo in Rapids; Needles in Mojave Territories; Dry Wells, Kingsman and Poston in the Legion; Tacna in Tohono Nation; and Santa Rosa plus both islands in Valle Bandits
- Added Reservation to the Legion research group at gamestart
- Added 1 military and civilian factory; 5% war support; and slightly more resources, infrastructure and building slots to Baudelio Ranchers at gamestart
- Added 1 starting civilian factory and slightly more resources, infrastructure and building slots to Cowboy Country and Tohono Nation
- Added 1 starting dockyard to Cowboy Country
- Added 1 starting anti-air and radar station to Rusty Hooks
- Added 1 more level of Air Base to Flagstaff, North/South Phoenix and San Antonio
- Added 1 starting outpost to New Canaan and New Jerusalem
- Added 1 starting outpost to Arroyo’s victory points
- Added more starting forts to Monterrey
- Added starting Scout Kit and Anti-Tank Rifle tech, 5% war support, +10% trade opinion,
Wasteland Militias law and 250 manpower to Arroyo
- Added additional influence and coercion for Arroyo as AI
- Added starting Anti-Tank Rifle tech and 3 more Naval Module techs to Gente Del Sol
- Added Asymmetric Warfare tech, Assault Canoes and a Spec Ops template to Navajo at gamestart
- Added Industry Planning, Construction Basics, Crowd Gear, the Wasteland Survival Training law, slightly more building slots and 10% stability to Iron Alliance at gamestart
- Added Mobile Maintenance Crews and more fuel to Two Sun at gamestart
- Added starting Power Armour Frame Hardening tech to Heaven’s Gate
- Added starting Lightweight Metals tech and more energy to Eagle Rock
- Added starting Caravan tech to Standing Rock
- Added 1 military factory, 10% war support and 450 manpower in exchange for 8% stability to Mad Trains at gamestart
- Added 1 starting military factory to Two Sun and Withered Dogs
- Added 1 division, full division equipment and the Funding the Army law to Scorpion’s Bite at gamestart
- Added starting Slashing Melee to Cypher’s Warband
- Added a scientific tech research bonus to NCR Hayes’s first expansion focus
- Added starting production to Californian Way and Baudelio Ranchers
- Added descriptions to Ejército Mexicano’s Cartel and Militia Blues spirits
- Added positive AI strategies for Arroyo and the choice in their 3rd event
- Added AI scripting for Mojave Territories to prepare for the First Dam Battle better
- Added localization for “Anti Air Weaponry Research Speed”
​

Changed

- Changed the icons for vehicle techs Mobile Assault Weaponry and Improved Turrets
- Changed the localisation and icon for Wasteland APC’s to Great War APC’s
- Changed the localisation and icon for Wasteland Bus to Wasteland APC’s
- Changed maximum and minimum opinion from +/-100 to +/-200
- Changed high stability factory and dockyard output from up to +12% to up to +15% and mobilization speed from up to -20% to up to -15%
- Changed high war support mobilization speed from up to +100% to up to +50% and Core Attack and Defense from up to +8% to up to +10%
- Changed base monthly population gain from 0.016 to 0.015
- Changed base suppression needed per 1% resistance from 0.38 to 0.35
- Changed the wartime building destruction cooldown from 25 to 20 days
- Changed the scale of land unit experience gain from 0.07 to 0.06
- Changed the maximum shore bombardment bonus from 0.25 to 0.3
- Changed base damage output in Air Combat to be 25% higher
- Changed maximum planes in air combat simulation from 500 to 750, making the peak lethality of air combat higher
- Changed enemy bombing war support penalties to have a lower cap (60% to 50%), but scale 33% faster
- Changed the base enemy air superiority penalty from -18% to -20%
- Changed outpost and coastal fort construction cost from 700 to 800
- Changed Naval Base construction cost from 3000 to 2500 and added a per-level cost of 500
- Changed the modifiers on some industry techs slightly
- Changed the base coring cost from 25 to 30
- Changed “Large Territorial Administration” factory output from +10% to +5%
- Changed Trade Law levels to give +5% less Trade Tariffs
- Changed decision State Funded Radio Programming’s effect slightly
- Changed the start caps for established organizations from 50k to 25k
- Changed the AI to produce more aircraft under some conditions
- Changed the Scorched Earth operation to be cheaper
- Changed Reno and Vegas tourists to add 1k more caps and 2k more bonus
- Changed traits Fortification Expert and Fortification Engineer to be weaker
- Changed trait Armaments Organizer to be stronger
- Changed effects of some Settler and Raider start events to be weaker
- Changed NCR, Shi, Valle Bandits, Three Rivers, Vault City and Washington BoS starting resources to be slightly lower
- Changed some Arroyo crisis events to occur slightly sooner
- Changed Tlaloc and Diana’s “God from the Machine” to be slightly weaker
- Changed Lost Hills’s Knight and Scribe intros to grant a stronger final modifier and be auto completed soon after “The Paladins” rather than requiring manual completion
- Changed Lost Hills Training Facilities to now affect all units
- Changed some Lost Hills decisions to last longer
- Changed Lost Hills’s “Council Reforms” and “Preparing for the Ceasefires End” to add 1 more Administration Center capacity
- Changed Lost Hills’s “Our Right” branch to have more flexible prereqs
- Changed Lost Hills’s NCR cooperation decision to cost 100 less
- Changed Lost Hills’s Paladin Sway idea to add +5% more political power
- Changed some Lost Hills foci in the NCR War, WMD and Scavenging branches to be stronger
- Changed Lost Hills’s starting resources to be higher
- Changed two Lone Star advisors and some Hand Warband foci to be slightly stronger
- Changed the shared Attis Army capstones to be slightly stronger
- Changed Cerberus’s resistance and compliance bonuses to be in their modifier--rather than traits--alongside added -50% trade opinion
- Changed Cerberus’s Attis and Shale Traits to grant supply consumption -15% and production efficiency base +15%
- Changed Ironmongers’s Mastersmiths law to grant 1% less conscription and its starting debuffs to be slightly higher
- Changed The Cause’s ATA focus to also upgrade Glorious Purpose and changed other foci very slightly for balance
- Changed Washington BoS starting -20% compliance and +10% war support modifiers to -5% political power and +10% war stability
- Changed some Washington BoS foci to be weaker
- Changed a Washington BoS unit to start on Capitol Hill
- Changed Ejército Mexicano’s Cartel and Militia Blues ideas to be added at gamestart and changed the events that start their branches to add 5% stability or war support
- Changed Ejército Mexicano’s Zapata Alamo Chapter event to be 40 days later
- Changed Ejército Mexicano’s “Superior Mechanization” and “The Liberation of Texas” foci to be weaker
- Changed Ejército Mexicano’s Ironmongers wargoal to be locked till Tlaloc’s death
- Changed some Standing Rock foci to be stronger and added intermediate electronics and construction tech to the tree
- Changed Shi’s starting production and templates to be slightly better
- Changed some Shi foci slightly for balance - Changed Shi’s “Big Trouble in Little California” to need 2 prereqs instead of 1
- Changed Two Sun’s vehicle bonuses to be stronger
- Changed Legion AI to be far more likely to avoid the civil war for a leader with max glory rather than choosing randomly
- Changed the Legion’s “Raider Rumble” to only raise resistance temporarily
- Changed the Legion’s Dam Loss branch to be much stronger and have some added effects
- Changed the Legion’s Legion Training spirit to no longer buff speed in exchange for buffing all special forces rather than only spec ops
- Changed the Legion’s autonomy laws to reduce license cost more
- Changed the Legion’s “Commercial Dock Development” to reduce invasion penalty more
- Changed the March West event to make any subject of Lanius’s be Caesar’s rather than being freed and removed from the faction
- Changed the Lanius Caesar’s Warden trait to be weaker
- Changed Lanius and Vault City to get the “Prioritize Consumer Technology” decision instead of “Basic Hygiene Education”
- Changed some Vault City pre-election and Lynette foci to be slightly weaker
- Changed some New Mexico states to have slightly less water
- Changed Lynette’s “The Patrolmen” recovery rate buff to infantry defense
- Changed TV Town’s starting infantry and militia templates to have 2 more battalions
- Changed TV Town’s “Stopping the Sandman” to take 15 less days
- Changed TV Town’s starting spirit to add -15% lack of resources penalty and no longer add -15% division experience
- Changed New Vegas’s Jewel of the Mojave spirit modifiers slightly and changed its percentual conscription malus to be flat
- Changed New Vegas’s Robotics Genius to grant 10% less fuel capacity in exchange for -2.5% securitron cost
- Changed New Vegas’s starting securitron template to be better
- Changed New Vegas’s starting event factories to be slightly less
- Changed NCR AI to pick Kimball 5% more (now 40%) and Hayes 5% less (now 20%)
- Changed NCR Dollars to give +5% less Trade Tariffs
- Changed NCR’s Self-Sacrifice Myth to be weaker
- Changed NCR’s Military Complex debuff event option somewhat
- Changed the NCR’s Hub crisis debuff to be slightly higher
- Changed NCR’s “The Sentries of Shady Sands” to grant a stronger, more specific fort line
- Changed some NCR government laws; some Moore spirits, traits and expansion branch foci; and some Hayes expansion branch foci to be slightly weaker
- Changed NCR’s Dornan general and advisor, Oscar Stone advisor and Admiral Doherty advisor to be slightly weaker
- Changed some NCR Hayes main branch foci to be stronger or shorter
- Changed NCR’s “Roaring Economy” to take 60 days and add 5% less war support
- Changed NCR’s “Retool the Ranger Corps”, “Denounce Kimball’s Rhetoric” and some post-election Kimball and Allgood foci to be slightly weaker
- Changed NCR Moore’s BoS decisions to cost more
- Changed the NCR Civil War “Ranger Divide” idea to grant more debuffs and be removed in Calhoun’s main tree instead of the expansion tree
- Changed Californian State and Californian Way to get -10% stability at the Civil War’s start
- Changed Californian Way to get slightly more of the NCR’s units and stockpile in the civil war
- Changed Mojave Territories’s starting spirit to add 5% less war support
- Changed some Mojave Territories’s civil war branches to be slightly weaker
- Changed some NCR puppet tree shared and country unique foci to be weaker
- Changed MacArthur’s upgraded Salvatore advisor to be slightly stronger
- Changed MacArthur’s Chicago foci to bypass if a people nation
- Changed some MacArthur advisors and lower foci to be weaker
- Changed MacArthur’s APA/Vertibird stockpile from 50 and 20 to 30 and 15 respectively
- Changed some MacArthur focus prereqs slightly
- Changed MacArthur’s APA purchases to cost 2 more energy
- Changed MacArthur’s starting Outsider Law to add +1% more resistance target
- Changed some The Last Patrol foci to be slightly stronger
- Changed the TAA’s Rio rebellion branch to add 5% less net war support
- Changed some early Texan BoS ideas slightly for balance
- Changed Alamo Chapter’s Emergency Production spirit to be slightly stronger
- Changed Alamo Chapter’s Alamo Defenders to have less battalions but more support companies
- Changed Alamo Chapter to have 300 less extra guns
- Changed Alamo’s “United Texan Front” focus to require all 4 of its prereqs rather than only 1
- Changed some Reservation Willem main path foci to be slightly stronger
- Changed New Canaan’s Defender Priest advisor to be stronger
- Changed some later White Legs foci to be slightly weaker
- Changed Mojave Chapter’s starting research speed bonus from 5% to 2.5%
- Changed Mojave Chapter’s “Raw Poseidon Energy” and “Walking Artillery” to give 1 less factory
- Changed Mojave Chapter’s Aggressive Policy buff to be for Hardin rather than Veronica
- Changed Mojave Chapter’s manpower from Veronica’s path to be lower
- Changed Mojave Chapter’s “Victory at Sunburst” focus to add 5% less stability and war support
- Changed some of Mojave Chapter’s weaker post-sunburst foci to be shorter or stronger
- Changed Mojave Chapter’s “Enlist the Families” to add 3 less civilian factories
- Changed Mojave Chapter’s Securitron Vault decision to have higher cost and duration
- Changed a small number of Mojave Chapter’s strongest Big MT and Sierra Madre foci to be slightly weaker
- Changed Montana Chapter’s post Fort Verity foci to take 5 more days
- Changed Montana Chapter’s “No Problem is Too Great” to add less infrastructure
- Changed some Montana Chapter foci to have slightly more prereqs
- Changed a few Eagle Rock industry and blimp bonuses to be slightly weaker
- Changed Eagle Rock’s starting blimp stockpile from 24 to 15
- Changed a few Shale’s Army foci to be slightly stronger
- Changed Three Rivers’s “Buy The Latest Model” to add sophisticated power armor tech and APA schematics rather than free APA
- Changed two Three Rivers doctrine buffs to be smaller
- Changed Hangdogs’s “Open The Box” to take 40 less days
- Changed Hangdogs’s “Big Wrenches” and “The Army of Denver” to be slightly weaker
- Changed many Desert Rangers NCR foci and Snake Vargas’s leader trait to be weaker
- Changed Desert Rangers’s capstone to take 30 more days
- Changed some Maxson Chapter advisors and foci to be weaker
- Changed Maxson Chapter’s Vault 0 capstone effect to be smaller
- Changed some Gente Del Sol advisors and early ideas slightly for balance
- Changed Gente’s 3rd event to add 1 less arms factory in one option
- Changed two Gente research bonus foci to be weaker and two weapons foci to be stronger
- Changed the strength and order of Eighties’s “Life is a Highway” branch foci slightly
- Changed “The Devils of Utah” for Eighties and “The Eternal Quest of the Pure” for Rotpurgers to grant -5% more Trade Opinion
- Changed start spirits for Baron’s Eyrie, Bismarck, Coal Consortium, Metal Mouths, Niitsitapi and The Pursuant to be weaker
- Changed Max Sec’s tiered NCR spirit to be weaker
- Changed Overwatch Tock’s description to be shorter
- Changed the NCR Baggers unique puppet branch to be disabled
- Changed the Snowmads and Mad Trains formables to have slightly weaker effects
- Changed the New Mariposa formable to add compliance and reduced resistance rather than coring every respective state
- Changed the Legion’s Phoenix branch tithe foci to add more caps - Changed some top-half Navajo foci to be slightly stronger
- Changed Snowmads’s leader trait to be weaker
- Changed Iron Alliance’s formables to grant stronger, slightly altered effects
- Changed Lanius’s focus “A False Goddess” giving wargoals on Twin Mothers even after they’ve fled to Paradise
​

Fixed

- Fixed the assign medal unitview GUI quick button not being visible
- Fixed the retain cores popupwindow GUI checkbox for releasing countries not being visible
- Fixed sphere state ownership checks for subject countries not accounting for the state being owned by another subject with their same overlord
- Fixed an error leading certain coring related modifiers to have been dramatically increase
- Fixed the Steal Army Supplies operation not rewarding equipment properly
- Fixed the NCR getting locked into the Bull’s Demesne if the Legion Civil War occurs and they are unable to capture all of Caesar’s core territory
- Fixed Culto Al Sol having no advisors and no caps income
- Fixed some Reno/Vegas tourism localisation
- Fixed Mojave Chapter’s Legion targeted defense modifier not applying due to a coding error
- Fixed some Mojave Chapter foci having lower durations than intended
- Fixed Gente Del Sol’s 3rd event having an option with no effect
- Fixed an exploit where Troll Warren could take its Bone Dancers and Chemult Station wargoals despite taking the non-aggression pact
- Fixed the Lone Star and Hand Warband theorists having swapped bonuses
- Fixed various NCR, Caesar’s Legion, Standing Rock, Stormmongers and Montana Chapter foci and decisions which lacked wargoal alerts/triggers or proper state control triggers
- Fixed some compliance or resistance effects which mistakenly used decimal values
- Fixed Honduras’s AI Defense Focus being erroneously high
- Fixed an oversight which made AI weights for certain sets of manpower laws too high or low
- Fixed a bug that led certain nation AI scripts for diplomacy or armies to malfunction
- Fixed the Hand Warband focus “A Slave To Be Admired” not giving a commander
- Fixed the NCR being able to try and push investments on the Mojave Territories
- Fixed Troll Warren being unable to progress in their tree if the Marrow Drinkers annex the Carcass Walkers before they do
- Fixed Eclipse Uprising receiving generic advisors
​

Removed

- Removed 5% starting stability, 2 military factories and 1 civilian factory from MacArthur
- Removed starting Automation tech and 1 infrastructure from Vault City
- Removed starting Ohm’s Law from Ejército Mexicano
- Removed 1 starting infrastructure in 10-Signs for the Legion and Fort Lyon for Maxson Chapter
- Removed 1 starting infrastructure and 1 of each factory from a Manitoba state
- Removed 2 starting infrastructure from Los
- Removed 1 starting infrastructure and military factory from Bitter Springs in Mojave Territories
- Removed 1 starting infrastructure from: Eden, Ashton, Hopeville, Arroyo and some states for Shi and Sky Reavers
- Removed 1 of each starting factory from Timberline
- Removed 1 starting civilian factory from Navarro Territories, Sky Reavers, TAA, Stormmongers, Rupertsland Trading Co. and Old Believers
- Removed 2 starting civilian factories from Batford Brigade
- Removed 1 starting military factory from Hangdogs, The Pursuant, Baron’s Eyrie, Three Rivers and Whitecourt
- Removed 5% starting stability from Vault City and Whitecourt
- Removed 5% starting war support from Mojave Chapter and New Vegas
- Removed 3% starting war support from Lanius
​

Technical Changes

- Added more AI event choice scripting for NCR, MacArthur and Texan BoS
- Added a debug decision to spawn Alamo Chapter for Texan BoS
- Changed Alamo’s AI focus plan to be more optimal
- Changed minor parts of some nation starting production for quality of life
- Changed minor parts of AI army composition and research behaviors to be more optimal
- Fixed misc. localisation errors for many nations
- Fixed missing bypasses for select wargoal foci
- Fixed some unused and inaccessible NCR focuses still being enabled in the code
- Fixed missing localisation for certain modifiers

What is +EV betting. tldr, one of the only ways to be profitable in the long term betting on home runs since home run lines are usually juiced to the tits. You basically are trying to find sportsbooks and markets that have mispriced odds in the bettors favor. You aren't looking into stats, pitching matchups, weather, or ballpark rankings. As ActionNetwork puts it

EV betting is not about what you think will happen, but about an advantage you have over the implied probabilities of bets by using lines and information sportsbooks are already giving you

I use a devigger to remove the sportsbooks vig and to calculate +EV against a sharp book like bet365. I choose bet365 because it has one of the lowest vigs on home runs out of all sportsbooks and is widely popular. This is what the smartest people look for in the dinger tuesday threads to ensure profitability over the long-term.
These aren't guarantees, these guys are NOT likely to home run on a given day, but if you take enough +EV plays over a long period of time, you should end up profitable. My record since starting posting: 13W-49L (+17.40u)
My Picks (I take all +EV plays for $5. I'm posting the odds I got them at...make sure to check odds because lines move fast on fanduel HRs)
13.7% EV: KC Mj Melendez +520 FD vs bet365 +360/-500. Implied = 18.3% 7.0% EV: COL Nolan Jones +800 FD vs bet365 +550/-850. Implied = 11.9% 7.0% EV: OAK Jj Bleday +800 FD vs bet365 +550/-850. Implied = 11.9% 3.7% EV: LAA Mickey Moniak +600 FD vs bet365 +450/-650. Implied = 14.8% 1.5% EV: NYY Aaron Judge +230 FD vs bet365 +200/-245. Implied = 30.7% 1.3% EV: LAA Mike Trout +320 FD vs bet365 +265/-350. Implied = 24.1% 6.5% EV: SEA Cal Raleigh +350 FD vs bet365 +270/-360. Implied = 23.7%
All updated EVs combined with negative EV plays close to 0 (I don't bet if negative EV but they have the chance of becoming +EV with a slight odds change, so keep on radar)
updated: 11:00AM EST
7.0% EV: OAK Jj Bleday +800 FD vs bet365 +550/-850. Implied = 11.9% 1.5% EV: NYY Aaron Judge +230 FD vs bet365 +200/-245. Implied = 30.7% 1.3% EV: LAA Mike Trout +320 FD vs bet365 +265/-350. Implied = 24.1% 1.0% EV: OAK Seth Brown +540 FD vs bet365 +425/-600. Implied = 15.8% -2.3% EV: LAA Mickey Moniak +600 FD vs bet365 +475/-700. Implied = 14.0% -3.7% EV: OAK Shea Langeliers +750 FD vs bet365 +575/-900. Implied = 11.3% -3.7% EV: NYY Harrison Bader +750 FD vs bet365 +575/-900. Implied = 11.3% -5.2% EV: ATL Matt Olson +330 FD vs bet365 +300/-390. Implied = 22.0% -7.9% EV: LAA Brandon Drury +560 FD vs bet365 +475/-700. Implied = 14.0% -8.1% EV: LAA Matt Thaiss +750 FD vs bet365 +600/-950. Implied = 10.8% -8.3% EV: LAA Hunter Renfroe +400 FD vs bet365 +360/-500. Implied = 18.3% -8.4% EV: SEA Cal Raleigh +360 FD vs bet365 +330/-450. Implied = 19.9% -13.2% EV: OAK Ryan Noda +630 FD vs bet365 +550/-850. Implied = 11.9% -14.8% EV: ATL Marcell Ozuna +440 FD vs bet365 +425/-600. Implied = 15.8% -15.7% EV: WSH Joey Meneses +680 FD vs bet365 +600/-950. Implied = 10.8% -16.3% EV: NYY Gleyber Torres +500 FD vs bet365 +475/-700. Implied = 14.0% -20.7% EV: SEA Jp Crawford +800 FD vs bet365 +725/-1200. Implied = 8.8% -20.7% EV: LAD Jason Heyward +600 DK vs bet365 +575/-900. Implied = 11.3% -21.5% EV: NYY Willie Calhoun +560 FD vs bet365 +550/-850. Implied = 11.9% -23.4% EV: WSH Alex Call +900 FD vs bet365 +825/-1400. Implied = 7.7% -25.2% EV: LAA Zach Neto +750 FD vs bet365 +725/-1200. Implied = 8.8% -25.8% EV: LAD Miguel Vargas +680 FD vs bet365 +675/-1100. Implied = 9.5% -25.8% EV: WSH Lane Thomas +680 FD vs bet365 +675/-1100. Implied = 9.5%
These are not meant to be parlayed

About the racemeeting that will run between May 29th and June 10th
Official websites

• iomttraces.com
• ttplus.iomttraces.com
• Time Schedule
• Full Schedule IOM TT 2023
• Official Isle of Man TT - Youtube
• Official Isle of Man TT - Twitter
• Official Isle of Man TT - Instagram
• Official Isle of Man TT - Facebook

Ways to follow the race

• Watch Live with the TT+ Pass
  • TT+ - Android App
• Manx Radio
  • Manx Radio - Android App
  • Manx Radio - Apple App
• Live Timing!
  • Note: Live Timing will also include Radio TT (Free to listen online)
    • On the Island Radio TT is available at 87.9FM and/or AM1368!
• Where to watch TV Highlights

Isle of Man - Weather Forecasts

• BBC (Isle Of Man Airport)
• BBC (Isle of Man Ramsey)
• The Weather Channel (Douglas)
• The Weather Channel //Radar
• Time&Date Weather (Douglas)
• metoffice.gov.uk (Douglas)
• Accuweather.com (Douglas)
• Accuweather.com //Radar
• MeteoBlue.com

Facebook & Twitter from teams

• Twitter: Hawk Racing
• Facebook: Hawk Racing
• Twitter: OMG Racing
• Facebook: OMG Racing
• Twitter: Monster Energy by FHO Racing BMW
• Facebook: Monster Energy by FHO Racing BMW
• Twitter: DAO Racing
• Facebook: DAO Racing
• Twitter: Honda Racing UK
• Facebook: Honda Racing UK
• Twitter: Burrows Engineering / RK Racing
• Facebook: Burrows Engineering / RK Racing
• Facebook: Jackson Racing
• Facebook: KTS Racing
• Twitter: KTS Racing
• Twitter: Bathams Racing
• Instagram: Bathams Racing
• Twitter: Dafabet Racing
• Facebook: Dafabet Racing
• Twitter: Wilson Craig Racing
• Facebook: Wilson Craig Racing
• Facebook: Cowton Racing
• Twitter: Team ILR
• Facebook: Team ILR
• Facebook: PHR Performance

Facebook & Twitter from riders

• Facebook: John McGuinness
• Twitter: John McGuinness
• Facebook: Peter Hickman
• Twitter: Peter Hickman
• Facebook: Michael Dunlop
• Twitter: Michael Dunlop
• Facebook: Dean Harrison
• Twitter: Dean Harrison
• Facebook: Michael Rutter
• Twitter: Michael Rutter
• Twitter: Conor Cummins
• Facebook: James Hillier
• Twitter: James Hillier
• Facebook: Davey Todd
• Twitter: Davey Todd
• Facebook: Jamie Coward
• Twitter: Jamie Coward
• Facebook: David "Davo" Johnson
• Twitter: David "Davo" Johnson
• Facebook: Paul Jordan
• Twitter: Paul Jordan
• Facebook: Craig Neve
• Twitter: Craig Neve
• Facebook: Dom Herbertson
• Twitter: Dom Herbertson
• Facebook: Rob Hodson
• Twitter: Rob Hodson
• Facebook: Adam Mclean
• Twitter: Adam Mclean
• Facebook: Joey Thompson
• Twitter: Joey Thompson
• Facebook: Raül Torras (Martinez)
• Twitter: Raül Torras (Martinez)
• Facebook: Pierre Yves Bian
• Facebook: Erno Kostamo
• Facebook: David Datzer
• Twitter: Brian McCormack
• Facebook: Josh Brookes
• Twitter: Josh Brookes
• Facebook: Matthieu Lagrive
• Facebook: Matt Stevenson
• Facebook: Tom Weeden

Other interesting links

• Roadracingnews.co.uk
• Twitter: Road Racing News
• Facebook: Road racing news day by day
• Twitter: Steven Rial
• Twitter: @IOMTTPHOTOS
• newsletter.co.uk
• BBC Northern Ireland
• Isle of Man Today (Newspaper)

The whirring blades of my MD-902 throbbed against the warm evening air, and I smiled.
From 5,000 feet, the ground flew by in a carpet of dark forests and kelly-green fields. The sun hung low on the horizon in a picturesque array of dazzling orange and gold, and I could make out the narrow strip of the Ohio River to my left, glistening in the fading daylight. This time of year, the trees would be full of the sweet aroma of fresh blossoms, and the frequent rains kept small pockets of fluffy white mist hanging in the treetops. It was a beautiful view, one that reminded me of why being a helicopter pilot trumped flying in a jumbo jet far above the clouds every day of the week.
Fourteen more days, and I’m debt free.
That made me grin even more. I’d been working as a charter pilot ever since I obtained my license at age 19, and after years of keeping my nose to the grindstone, I was closing on the final payment for real-estate in western Pennsylvania. With no debt, a fixer-upper house on 30 rural acres all to myself, and a respectable wage for a 26-year-old pilot, I looked forward to the financial freedom I could now enjoy. Maybe I’d take a vacation, somewhere exotic like Venice Italy, or the Dominican Republic. Or perhaps I’d sock the money back for the day I started a family.
“Remember kleineun, a real man looks after his own.”
My elderly ouma’s voice came back from the depths of my memories, her proud, sun-tanned face rising from the darkness. She and my Rhodesian grandfather had emigrated to the US when they were newlyweds, as the violence against white Boer descendants in South Africa spiraled out of control. My mother and father both died in a car crash when I was six, and it had been my grandparents who raised me. Due to this, I’d grown up with a slight accent that many of my classmates found amusing, and I could speak both English, and Afrikaans, the Boer tongue of our former home.
I shifted in my seat, stretched my back muscles, and glanced at the picture taped to my console. Both my parents flanked a grinning, gap-toothed six-year-old me, at the last Christmas we’d spent together. My mother beamed, her dark hair and Italian features a sharp contrast to my father’s sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. Sometimes, I liked to imagine they were smiling at me with pride at how well I flew the old silver-colored bird my company had assigned to me, and that made the long, lonely flights easier to bear.
A flicker caught my eye, and I broke my gaze away from the photograph.
Perched in its small cradle above the controls, my little black Garmin fuzzed over for a few seconds, its screen shifting from brightly colored maps to a barrage of grey static.
Did the power chord come loose?
I checked, ensuring the power-cable for the unit’s battery was plugged into the port on the control panel. It was a brand-new GPS unit, and I’d used it a few times already, so I knew it wasn’t defective. Granted, I could fly and navigate without it, but the Garmin made my time as a pilot so much easier that the thought of going blind was dreadful.
My fuel gauge danced, clicked to empty, then to full, in a bizarre jolt.
More of the gauges began to stutter, the entire panel seeming to develop terrets all at once, and my pulse began to race. Something was wrong, very wrong, and the sludge inside my bowels churned with sour fear.
“Come on, come on.” I flicked switches, turned dials, punched buttons, but nothing seemed to fix the spasming electronics. Every gauge failed, and without warning, I found myself plunged into inky darkness.
Outside, the sun surrendered to the pull of night, the sky darker than usual. A distant rumble of thunder reverberated above the roar of my helicopter’s engine, and I thought I glimpsed a streak of yellowish lightning on the far horizon to my left.
Calm down Chris. We’re still flying, so it must just be a blown fuse. Stay in control and find a place to set her down.
My sweaty palm slid on the cyclic stick, and both feet weighed heavy on the yaw pedals. The collective stuck to my other hand with a nervous vibration, and I squinted against the abyss outside.
Beep.
I jumped despite myself, as the little Garmin on my panel flared back to life, the static pulling aside to reveal a twitching display. Each time the screen glitched, it showed the colorful map detailing my flight path over the ground below, but I noticed that some of the lines changed, the names shifting, as if the device couldn’t decide between two different versions of the world.
One name jutted out at me, slate gray like most of the major county names, appearing with ghostly flickers from between two neighboring ones.
Barron County.
I stared, confused. I’d flown over this section of southeastern Ohio plenty of times, and I knew the counties by heart. At this point, I should have been over the southern end of Noble County, and maybe dipping lower into Washington. There was no Barron County in Ohio. I was sure of it.
And yet it shown back at me from the digital landscape, a strange, almost cigar-shaped chunk of terrain carved from the surrounding counties like a tumor, sometimes there, sometimes not, as my little Garmin struggled to find the correct map. Rain began to patter against my cockpit window, and the entire aircraft rattled from a strong gust of wind. Thick clouds closed over my field of vision like a sea of gray cotton.
The blood in my veins turned to ice, and I sucked in a nervous breath.
Land. I had to land. There was nothing else to do, my flight controls weren’t responding, and only my Garmin had managed to come back to life. Perhaps I’d been hit by lightning, and the electronics had been fried? Either way, it was too dark to tell, but a storm seemed to be brewing, and if I didn’t get my feet on the ground soon, I could be in real trouble.
“Better safe than sorry.” I pushed down on the collective to start my slow descent and clicked the talking button for my headset. “Any station, this is Douglass Three-One-Four-Foxtrot, over.”
Nothing.
“Any station, this is Douglass Three-One-Four-Foxtrot, requesting emergency assistance, over.”
Still nothing.
If the radio’s dead, I’m really up a creek.
With my hand shaking, I clicked on the mic one more time. “Any station, this is—”
Like a curtain pulling back, the fog cleared from around my window, and the words stuck in my throat.
Without my gauges, I couldn’t tell just how far I’d descended, but I was definitely very low. Thick trees poked up from the ground, and the hills rolled into high ridges with flat valley floors, fields and pastures pockmarking them. Rain fell all around in cold, silvery sheets, a normal feature for the mid spring in this part of Ohio.
What wasn’t normal, were the fires.
At first, I thought they were forest fires for the amount of smoke and flames that bellowed from each spot, but as I swooped lower, my eyes widened in horror.
They were houses.
Farms, cottages, little clusters that barely constituted villages, all of them belched orange flames and black pillars of sooty smoke. I couldn’t hear above the helicopter blades, but I could see the flashes on the ground, along the road, in between the trees, and even coming from the burning buildings, little jets of golden light that spat into the darkness with anger.
Gunfire. That’s rifle fire, a whole lot of it.
Tiny black figures darted through the shadows, barely discernable from where I sat, several hundred feet up. I couldn’t see much, but some were definitely running away, the streaks of yellow gunfire chasing them. A few dark gray vehicles rumbled down one of the gravel roads, and sprayed fire into the houses as it went. They were fighting, I realized, the people in the trucks and the locals. It was horrific, like something out of war-torn Afghanistan, but worse.
Then, I caught a glimpse of the others.
They didn’t move like the rest, who either fled from the dark vehicles, or fired back from behind cover. These skinny figures loped along with haphazard gaits, many running on all fours like animals, swarming from the trees by the dozens. They threw themselves into the gales of bullets without flinching, attacking anyone within range, and something about the way they moved, so fluid, so fearless, made my heart skip a beat.
What is that?
“Echo Four Actual to unknown caller, please respond, over.”
Choking back a cry of shock, I fumbled at the control panel with clumsy fingers, the man’s voice sharp and stern. I hadn’t realized that I’d let go of the talking button and clicked it down again. “Hello? Hello, this is Douglass Three-One-Four-Foxtrot out of Pittsburgh, over.”
An excruciating moment passed, and I continued to zoom over the trees, the fires falling away behind me as more silent forest took over.
“Roger that Douglass Three-One-Four-Foxtrot, we read you loud and clear. Please identify yourself and any passengers or cargo you might be carrying, over.”
Swallowing hard, I eyed the treetops, which looked much closer than they should have been. How far had I descended? “Echo Four Actual, my name is Christopher Dekker, and I am alone. I’m a charter flight from PA, carrying medical equipment for OSU in Columbus. My controls have been damaged, and I am unable to safely carry on due to the storm. Requesting permission to land, over.”
I watched the landscape slide by underneath me, once catching sight of what looked like a little white church surrounded by smaller huts, dozens of figures in the yard staring up at me as I flew over a nearby ridgeline.
“Solid copy on that Douglass Three-One-Four-Foxtrot. Be advised, your transponder shows you to be inside a restricted zone. Please cease all radio traffic, reduce your speed, climb to 3,000 feet and proceed north. We’ll talk you in from there. How copy, over?”
My heart jumped, and I let out a sigh of relief. “Roger that Echo Four Actual, my altimeter is down, but I’ll do my best to eyeball the altitude, over.”
With that, I pulled the collective upward, and tried my best to gauge how far I was by eyesight in the gathering night, rain still coming down all around me. This had to be some kind of disaster or riot, I decided. After all, the voice over the radio sounded like military, and those vehicles seemed to have heavy weapons. Maybe there was some kind of unrest going on here that I hadn’t heard about yet?
Kind of weird for it to happen in rural areas though. Spoiled college kids I get, but never saw farmers get so worked up before. They usually love the military.
Something moved in the corner of my eye, and I turned out of reflex.
My mouth fell open, and I froze, unable to scream.
In the sky beside me, a huge shadow glided along, and its leathery wings effortlessly carved through the gloom, flapping only on occasion to keep it aloft. It was too dark for me to see what color it was, but from the way it moved, I knew it wasn’t another helicopter. No, this thing was alive, easily the size of a small plane, and more than twice the length of my little McDonald Douglass. A long tail trailed behind it, and bore a distinct arrow-shaped snout, with twig-like spines fanned out around the back of its head. Whatever legs it had were drawn up under it like a bird, yet its skin appeared rough and knobby, almost resembling tree bark. Without pause, the gigantic bat-winged entity flew along beside me, as if my presence was on par with an annoying fly buzzing about its head.
Gripping the microphone switch so tight, I thought I’d crack the plastic, I whispered into my headset, forgetting all radio protocol. “T-There’s something up here.”
Static crackled.
“Douglas Three-One-Four-Foxtrot, say again your last, you’re coming in weak and unreadable, over.”
“There’s something up here.” I snarled into the headset, still glued to the controls of the helicopter, afraid to deviate even an inch from my course in case the monstrosity decided to turn on me. “A freaking huge thing, right beside me. I swear, it looks like a bat or . . . I don’t know.”
“Calm down.” The man on the other end of the radio broke his rigorous discipline as well, his voice deep, but level. “It won’t attack if you don’t move too fast. Slowly ease away from it and follow that course until you’re out of sight.”
I didn’t have time to think about how wrong that sounded, how the man’s strict tone had changed to one of knowledge, how he hadn’t been the least surprised by what I’d said. Instead, I slowly turned the helicopter away from the huge menace and edged the speed higher in tiny increments.
As soon as I was roughly two football fields away, I let myself relax, and clicked the mic switch. “It’s not following.”
“You’re sure?”
Eyeing the huge flapping wings, I nodded, then remembered he couldn’t see me. “Yeah, I’m well clear.”
“Good. Thank you, Mr. Dekker.”
Then, the radio went dead.
Something in my chest dropped, a weight that made my stomach roil. This wasn’t right, none of it. Who was that man? Why did he know about the thing I’d just seen? What was I supposed to—
A flash of light exploded from the trees to my right and shot into the air with a long finger of smoke.
What the . . .
On instinct, I jerked the cyclic stick to one side, and the helicopter swung to avoid the rocket.
Boom.
My world shook, metal screeched, and a dozen alarms began to go off inside the cockpit in a cacophony of beeps and sirens. Orange and red flames lit up the night sky just behind me, and the horizon started to spin wildly outside. Heat gushed from the cockpit door, and I smelled the greasy stench of burning oil. The safety belts dug into my shoulders, and with a final slip, the radio headset ripped free from my scalp.
I’m hit.
Desperate, I yanked on the controls, fought the bird even as she spun toward the ground in a wreath of flames, the inky black trees hurtling up to meet me. The helicopter went into full auto-rotation, the sky blurring past outside, and the alarms blared in a screech of doom. Panic slammed through my temples, I screamed at the top of my lungs, and for one brief second, my eyes locked on the little black Garmin still perched atop my control panel.
Its screen stopped twitching and settled on a map of the mysterious Barron County, with a little red arrow at the center of the screen, a few words popping up underneath it.
You are here.
Trees stabbed up into the sky, the belts crushed at my torso, glass shattered all around me, and the world went dark.
Copper, thick, warm, and tangy.
It filled my mouth, stank metallic in my nose, clogged my throat, choking me. In the murkiness, I fought for a surface, for a way out, blind and numb in the dark.
This way, kleineun.
My ouma’s voice echoed from somewhere in the shadows.
This way.
Both eyes flew open, and I gagged, spitting out a stream of red.
Pain throbbed in my ribs, and a heavy pressure sent a tingling numbness through my shoulders. Blood roared inside my temples, and stars danced before my eyes with a dizzying array. Humid night air kissed my skin, and something sticky coated my face, neck, and arms that hung straight up toward the ceiling.
Wait. Not up. Down.
I blinked at the wrinkled, torn ceiling of the cockpit, the glass all gone, the gray aluminum shredded like tissue paper. Just outside the broken windows, thick Appalachian bluegrass and stemmy underbrush swished in a feeble breeze, backlit by flashes of lightning from the thunderstorm overhead. Green and brown leaves covered everything in a wet carpet of triangles, and somewhere nearby, a cricket chirped.
Turning my head from side to side, I realized that I hung upside down inside the ruined helicopter, the top half burrowed into the mud. I could hear the hissing and crackling of flames, the pattering of rain falling on the hot aluminum, and the smaller brush fires around the downed aircraft sizzling out in the damp long grass. Charred steel and burning oil tainted the air, almost as strong as the metallic, coppery stench in my aching nose.
They shot me down. That military dude shot me out of the sky.
It didn’t make sense. I’d followed their orders, done everything they’d said, and yet the instant I veered safely away from whatever that thing in the sky had been, they’d fired, not at it, but at me.
Looking down (or rather, up) at my chest, I sucked in a gasp, which was harder to do that before.
The navy-blue shirt stuck to my torso with several big splotches of dark, rusty red. Most were clean slashes, but two held bits of glass sticking out of them, one alarmingly bigger than the other. They dripped cherry red blood onto my upturned face, and a wave of nausea hit me.
I gotta get down.
I flexed my arms to try and work some feeling back into them, praying nothing was broken. Half-numb from hanging so long, I palmed along my aching body until I felt the buckled for the seat belts.
“Okay.” I hissed between gritted teeth, in an effort to stave off my panic. “You can do this. Just hold on tight. Nice and tight. Here we go . . .”
Click.
Everything seemed to lurch, and I slid off the seat to plummet towards the muck-filled hole in the cockpit ceiling. My fingers were slick with blood and slipped over the smooth faux-leather pilot’s seat with ease. The shoulder belt snagged on the bits of glass that lay just under the left lowest rib, and a flare of white-hot pain ripped through me.
Wham.
I screamed, my right knee caught the edge of the aluminum ceiling, and both hands dove into a mound of leaf-covered glass shards on the opposite side of the hole. My head swam, being right-side-up again enough to make shadows gnaw at the corner of my eyes.
Forcing myself to breath slowly, I fought the urge to faint and slid back to sit on the smooth ceiling. I turned my hands over to see half a dozen bits of clear glass burrowed into my skin like greedy parasites, red blood weeping around the new cuts.
“Screw you.” I spat at the rubbish with angry tears in my eyes. “Screw you, screw you, screw you.”
The shards came out easy enough, and the cuts weren’t that deep, but that wasn’t what worried me. On my chest, the single piece of cockpit glass that remined was almost as big as my palm, and it really hurt. Just touching it felt like self-inflicted torture, but I knew it had to come out sooner or later.
Please don’t nick a vein.
Wiping my hands dry on my jeans, I gripped the shard with both hands, and jerked.
Fire roared over my ribs, and hot blood tickled my already grimy pale skin. I clapped a hand over the wound, pressing down hard, and grunted out a string of hateful expletives that my ouma would have slapped me for.
Lying on my back, I stared around me at the messy cargo compartment of the MD-902. Most of the medical supplies had been in cardboard boxes strapped down with heavy nylon tow-straps, but several cases had ruptured with the force of the impact, spraying bandages, syringes, and pill bottles all over the cluttered interior. Orange flames chewed at the crate furthest to the rear, the tail section long gone, but the foremost part of the hold was intact. Easily a million-dollar mess, it would have made me faint on any other trip, but today it was a godsend.
Half-blind in the darkness, I crawled along with only the firelight and lightning bolts to guide me, my right knee aching. Like a crippled raccoon, I collected things as I went, conscious of the two pallets of intact supplies weighing right over my head. I’d taken several different first-aid courses with some hunting buddies of mine, and the mental reflexes kicked in to help soothe my frazzled mind.
Check for bleeds, stop the worst, then move on.
Aside from my battered chest and stomach, the rest of me remained mostly unharmed. I had nasty bruises from the seatbelts, my right knee swelled, my nose slightly crooked and crusted in blood, but otherwise I was intact. Dowsing every scratch and cut with a bottle of isopropyl alcohol I found, I used butterfly closures on the smaller lacerations that peppered my skin. I wrapped soft white gauze over my abused palms and probed at the big cut where the last shard had been, only stopping when I was sure there were no pieces of glass wedged inside my flesh.
“Not too bad.” I grunted to myself, trying to sound impassive like a doctor might. “Rib must have stopped it. Gonna need stitches though. That’ll be fun.”
Pawing through the broken cases, I couldn’t find any suture chord, but just as I was about to give up, I noticed a small box that read ‘medical skin stapler’.
Bingo.
I tore the small white plastic stapler free from its packaging and eyeballed the device. I’d never done this before, only seen it in movies, and even though the cut in my skin hurt, I wondered if this wouldn’t be worse.
You’ve gotta do it. That bleeding needs to stop. Besides, no one’s coming to rescue you, not with those rocket-launching psychos out there.
Taking a deep breath, I pinched the skin around the gash together, and pressed the mouth of the stapler to it.
Click.
A sharp sting, like that of a needle bit at the skin, but it didn’t hurt nearly as bad as the cut itself. I worked my way across the two-inch laceration and gave out a sigh of relief when it was done.
“Not going to bleed to death today.” I daubed ointment around the staples before winding more bandages over the wound.
Popping a few low-grade painkillers that tumbled from the cargo, I crawled wriggled through the nearest shattered window into the wet grass.
Raindrops kissed my face, clean and cool on my sweaty skin. Despite the thick cloud cover, there was enough constant lightning strikes within the storm to let me get glimpses of the world around me. My helicopter lay on its back, the blades snapped like pencils, with bits and pieces of it burning in chunks all around the small break in the trees. Chest-high scrub brush grew all around the low-lying ground, with pockets of standing water in places. My ears still rang from the impact of the crash, but I could start to pick up more crickets, frogs, and even some nocturnal birds singing into the darkness, like they didn’t notice the huge the hulk of flaming metal that had fallen from the sky. Overhead, the thunder rumbled onward, the feeble wind whistling, and there were other flashes on the horizon, orange and red ones, with crackles that didn’t sound quite like lightning.
The guns. They’re still fighting.
Instinctively, I pulled out my cellphone, and tapped the screen.
It fluttered to life, but no matter how I tried, I couldn’t get through to anyone, not even with the emergency function designed to work around having no service. The complicated wonder of our modern world was little better than a glorified paperweight.
Stunned, I sat down with my back to the helicopter and rested my head against the aluminum skin of the craft. How I’d gone from a regular medical supply run to being marooned in this hellish parody of rural America, I didn’t know, but one thig was certain; I needed a plan. Whoever fired the missile could have already contacted my charter company and made up some excuse to keep them from coming to look for me. No one else knew I was here, and even though I now had six staples holding the worst of my injuries shut, I knew I needed proper medical attention. If I wanted to live, I’d have to rescue myself.
My bag. I need to get my go-bag, grab some gear and then . . . head somewhere else.
It took me a while to gather my green canvas paratrooper bag from its place behind the pilot’s seat and fill it with whatever supplies I could scrounge. My knee didn’t seem to be broken, but man did it hurt, and I dreaded the thought of walking on it for miles on end. I focused instead on inventorying my gear and trying to come up with a halfway intelligent plan of action.
I had a stainless-steel canteen with one of those detachable cups on the bottom, a little fishing kit, some duct tape, a lighter, a black LED flashlight with three spare batteries, a few tattered road maps with a compass, a spare pair of socks, medical supplies from the cargo, and a simple forest green plastic rain poncho. I also managed to unearth a functioning digital camcorder my ouma had gotten me for Christmas a few years back, though I wasn’t sure I wanted to do any filming in such a miserable state. Lastly, since it was a private supply run from a warehouse area near Pittsburgh to a direct hospital pad in Ohio, I’d been able to bring my K-Bar, a sturdy, and brutally simple knife designed for the Marine Corps that I used every time I went camping. It was pitiful in comparison to the rifle I wished I had with me, but that didn’t matter now. I had what I had, and I doubted my trusty Armalite would have alleviated my sore knee anyway.
Clicking on my flashlight, I huddled with the poncho around my shoulders inside the wreck of the chopper and peered at the dusty roadmaps. A small part of me hoped that a solution would jump out from the faded paper, but none came. These were all maps of western PA and eastern Ohio. None of them had a Barron County on them anywhere.
The man on the radio said to head north, right before they shot me down. That means they must be camped out to the north of here. South had that convoy and those burning houses, so that’s a no-go. Maybe I can backtrack eastward the way I came.
As if on cue, a soft pop echoed from over the eastern horizon, and I craned to look out the helicopter window, spotting more man-made flashes over the tree tops.
“Great.” I hissed between clenched teeth, aware of how the temperature dipped to a chilly 60 degrees, and how despite the conditions, my stomach had begun to growl. “Not going that way, are we? Westward it is.”
Walking away from my poor 902 proved to be harder than I’d anticipated. Despite the glass, the fizzling fires, and the darkness, it still held a familiar, human essence to it. Sitting inside it made me feel secure, safe, even calm about the situation. In any other circumstance, I would have just stayed with the downed aircraft to wait for help, but I knew the men who shot me down would likely find my crash site, and I didn’t want to be around when they did.
Unlike much of central and western Ohio, southeastern Ohio is hilly, brushy, and clogged with thick forests. Thorns snagged at my thin poncho and sliced at my pant legs. My knee throbbed, every step a form of self-inflicted torture. The rain never stopped, a steady drizzle from above just cold enough to be problematic as time went on, making me shiver. Mud slid under my tennis shoes, and every tree looked ten times bigger in the flickering beam of my cheap flashlight. Icy fear prickled at the back of my neck at some of the sounds that greeted me through the gloom. I’d been camping loads of times, both in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, but these noises were something otherworldly to me.
Strange howls, screeches, and calls permeated the rain-soaked sky, some almost roars, while others bordered on human in their intonation. The more I walked, the softer the distant gunfire became, and the more prevalent the odd sounds, until the shadows seemed to fill with them. I didn’t dare turn off my flashlight, or I’d been completely blind in the dark, but a little voice in the back of my head screamed that I was too visible, crunching through the gloomy forest with my long beam of light stabbing into the abyss. It felt as though a million eyes were on me, studying me, hunting me from the surrounding brush, and I bitterly recalled how much I’d loved the old Survivor Man TV series as a kid.
Not so fun being out in the woods at night. Especially alone.
A twig snapped somewhere behind me, and I whirled on the spot, one trembling hand resting on the hilt of my K-Bar.
Nothing. Nothing but trees, bushes, and rain dripping down in the darkness.
“This is stupid.” I whispered to myself to keep my nerves in check as I slowly spun on the spot. “I should have went eastward anyway. God knows how long I’m going to have to—”
Creak.
A groan of metal-on-metal echoed from somewhere to my right, and I spun to face it, yanking the knife on my belt free from its scabbard. It felt so small and useless in my hand, and I choked down a wave of nauseas fear.
Ka-whump. Creak. K-whump. Creak.
Underbrush cracked and crunched, a few smaller saplings thrashed, and from deep within the gloom, two yellow orbs flared to life. They poked through the mist in the trees, forming into slender fingers of golden light that swept back and forth in the dark.
The soldiers . . . they must be looking for me.
I swallowed hard and turned to slink away.
Ice jammed through my blood, and I froze on the spot, biting my tongue to stop the scream.
It stood not yards away, a huge form that towered a good twelve feet tall in the swirling shadows. Unpolished chrome blended with flash-rusted spots in the faded red paint, and grime-smeared glass shone with dull hues in the flashes of lightning. Where the wheels should have been, the rounded steel axels curved like some enormous hand had bent them, and the tires lay face-down on the muddy ground like big round feet, their hubcaps buried in the dirt. Dents, scrapes, and chips covered the battered thing, and its crooked little radio antenna pointed straight up from the old metal fender like a mast. I could barely make out the mud-coated VW on the rounded hood, and my mind reeled in shock.
Is . . . is that a car?
Both yellow headlights bathed me in a circle of bright, blinding light, and neither I nor the strange vehicle moved.
Seconds ticked by, the screech-thumping in the background only growing closer. I realized that I couldn’t hear any engine noises and had yet to see any soldiers or guns pointed my way. This car looked old, really old, like one of those classic Volkswagen Beetles that collectors fought over at auctions. Try as I might, I couldn’t see a driver inside the murky, mold-smeared windows.
Because there wasn’t one.
Lightning arched across the sky overhead, and the car standing in front of me blinked.
Its headlights slid shut, as if little metal shades had crawled over the bulbs for a moment and flicked open again. Something about that movement was so primal, so real, so lifelike, that every ounce of self-control I had melted in an instant.
Cursing under my breath, I lunged into the shrubs, and the world erupted around me.
Under my shoes, the ground shook, and the car surged after me in a cacophony of ka-thumps that made my already racing heart skip several beats. A weather-beaten brown tow truck from the 50’s charged through the thorns to my left, it’s headlights ablaze, and a dilapidated yellow school bus rose from its hiding place in the weeds to stand tall on four down-turned axel-legs. They all flicked their headlights on like giants waking from their slumber, and as I dodged past them, they each blared their horn into the night in alarm.
My breaths came short and tight, my knee burned, and I crashed through thorns and briars without thought to how badly I was getting cut up.
The cheap poncho tore, and I ripped it away as it caught on a tree branch.
A purple 70’s Mustang shook off its blanket of creeping vines and bounded from a stand of trees just ahead, forcing me to swerve to avoid being run over, my adrenaline at all-time highs.
This can’t be happening, this can’t be happening, this can’t be happening.
Slipping and sliding, I pushed through a stand of multiflora rose, and stumbled out into a flat, dark expanse.
I almost skidded to a stop.
What had once been a rather large field stood no taller than my shoestrings, the grass charred, and burnt. The storm above illuminated huge pieces of wreckage that lay scattered over the nearly 40-acre plot, and I could just make out the fire-blackened hulk of a fuselage resting a hundred yards away. The plane had been brought down a while ago it seemed, as there weren’t any flames left burning, and I threw myself toward it in frenzied desperation.
Burned grass and greasy brown topsoil slushed underfoot, and I could hear the squelching of the cars pursing me. Rain soaked me to the bone, and my lungs ached from sucking down the damp night air. A painful stich crept into my side, and I cursed myself for not putting in more time for cardio at the gym.
Something caught my left shoelace, and I hurtled to the ground, tasting mud and blood in between my teeth.
They’ve got me now.
I clawed at the mud, rolled, and watched a tire slam down mere inches from where my head had been. The Mustang loomed over me and jostled for position with the red Volkswagen and brown tow truck, the school bus still a few yards behind them. They couldn’t seem to decide who would get the pleasure of stomping me to death, and like a herd of stampeding wildebeest, they locked bumpers in an epic shoving match.
On all fours, I scampered out from under the sparring brutes, and dashed for the crumpled airplane, a white-painted DC-3 that looked like it had been cut in half by a gargantuan knife blade. I passed a snapped wing section, the oily remains of a turbo-prop engine, and a mutilated wheel from the landing gear. Climbing over a heap of mud, I squeezed into the back of the ruined flight cabin and dropped down into the dark cargo hold.
Wham.
No sooner had my sneakers hit the cold metal floor, and the entire plane rocked from the impact of something heavy ramming it just outside. I tumbled to my knees, screaming in pain as, once again, I managed to bash the sore one off a bracket in the wall.
My hand smeared in something gooey, and I scrabbled for my flashlight.
It clicked on, a wavering ball of white light in the pitch darkness, and I fought the urge to gag. “Oh man . . .”
Three people, or what was left of them, lay strewn over the narrow cargo area. Claret red blood coated the walls, caked on the floor, and clotted under my mud-spattered shoes. Bits of flesh and viscera were stuck to everything, and tatters of cloth hung from exposed sections of broken bone. An eerie set of bloody handprints adorned the walls, and the only reason I could tell it had been three people were the shoes; all of them bore anklebones sticking out above blood-soaked socks. It smelled sickly sweet, a strange, nauseas odor that crept into my nose and settled on the back of my tongue like an alien parasite.
Something glinted in the beam of my flashlight, and my pulse quickened as I pried the object loose from the severed arm that still clung to it.
“Hail Mary full of Grace.” I would have grinned if it weren’t for the fact that the plane continued to buck and roll under the assault from the cars outside.
The pistol looked old, but well-maintained, aside from the light coating of dark blood that stained its round wooden handle. It felt heavy, but good in my hand, and I turned it over to read the words, Waffenfabrik Mauser stenciled into the frame, with a large red 9 carved into the grip. For some reason, it vaguely reminded me of the blasters from Star Wars.
I fumbled with a little switch that looked like a safety on the back of the gun and stumbled toward a gap in the plane’s dented fuselage to aim out at the surrounding headlights.
Bang.
The old gun bucked reliably in my hand, its long barrel spitting a little jet of flame into the night. I had no idea if I hit anything, but the attacking cars recoiled, their horns blaring in confusion.
They turned, and scuttled for the tree line as fast as their mechanical legs could go, the entire ordeal over as fast as it had begun.
Did I do that?
Perplexed, I stared down at the pistol in my hand.
Whoosh.
A large, inky black shadow glided down from the clouds, and the yellow school bus moved too slow to react in time.
With a crash, the kicking nightmarish vehicle was thrown onto its side, spraying glass and chrome trim across the muddy field. Its electro-synth horn blared with wails of mechanical agony, as two huge talon-like feet clamped down on it, and the enormous head of the flying creature lowered to rip open its engine compartment.
The horn cut out, and the enormous flying entity jerked its head back to gulp down a mass of what looked like sticky black vines from the interior of the shattered bus.
At this range, I could see now that the flying creature bore two legs and had its wings half-tucked like a vulture that had descended to feed on roadkill. Its head turned slightly, and in the glow of another lightning bolt, my jaw went slack at the realization of what it was.
A tree trunk. It’s a rotted tree trunk.
I couldn’t tell where the reptilian beast began, and where the organic tree components ended, the upper part of the head shaped like a log, while the lower jaw resembled something out of a dinosaur movie. Its skin looked identical to the outside of a shagbark hickory but flexed with a supple featheriness that denoted something closer to skin. Sharp branch-like spines ranged down its back, and out to the end of its tail, which bore a massive round club shaped like a diseased tree-knot. Crouched on both hind legs, it braced the hooked ends of its folded wings against the ground like a bat, towering higher than a semi-truck. Under the folds of its armored head, a bulging pair of chameleon-like eyes constantly spun in their sockets, probing the dark for threats while it ate.
One black pupil locked onto the window I peered through, and my heart stopped.
The beast regarded me for a moment, making a curious, sideways sniff.
With a proud, contemptful head-toss, the shadow from the sky parted rows of razor-sharp teeth to let out a roar that shook the earth beneath my feet. It was the triumphant war cry of a creature that sat at the very top of the food chain, one that felt no threat from the fragile two-legged beings that walked the earth all around it. It hunted whenever it wanted, ate whatever it wanted, and flew wherever it wanted. It didn’t need to rip the plane apart to devour me.
Like my hunter-gatherer ancestors from thousands of years ago, I wasn’t even worth the energy it would take to pounce.
I’m hiding in the remains of the cockpit now, which is half-buried under the mud of the field, enough to shield the light from my screen so that thing doesn’t see it. My service only now came back, and it’s been over an hour since the winged beast started in on the dead bus. I don’t know when, or how I’m going to get out of here. I don’t know when anyone will even see this post, or if it will upload at all. My phone battery is almost dead, and at this point, I’m probably going to have to sleep among the corpses until daylight comes.
A dead man sleeping amongst friends.
If you live in the Noble County area in southeastern Ohio, be careful where you drive, fly, and boat. I don’t know if it’s possible to stumble into this strange place by ground, but if so, then these things are definitely headed your way.
If that happens . . . pray that they don’t find you.