Turkey Time Gobble Gobble

94.

...This was before Delores was working for me. Before I really had any of my current client list. Sure I'd killed monsters for the Army, but private extermination is a different business. You don't have the resources or men, its just you and what you could afford to bring. I stupidly had business would just roll on in. Being a well known government exterminator would carry over. It had not at all. So when I got call from a farmer near Cottonwood Minnesota I couldn't exactly say no.

"Got your number from an old army buddy, said you handled weird shit in the army." His voice was that usual southern drawl farmers got even when they were well north of the Mason Dixon.

"So what's troubling you?"

"Something been killing my turkeys, ripping them up bad like no wolf ever done, I asked the local sheriff to look into it but I'm not popular in these parts and they aren't helping me." The way he said popular told me he was black and they weren't out to help him on that, racism is hard grained in this country even in places people think it aint.

"I hear you, you think it could be people?"

"No, well if it is they are some evil fucking people," There was some dead noise on the phone and then shouting I couldn't make out, "God damn its happening again, I'm going to go out and check."

"No sir stay where you are I can be there in a couple days."

"I'll just check don't worry." I waited for an hour for him to come back, but he never did. Even knowing I probably wouldn't get paid I figure I'd have to go, maybe he'd be alive, its not like I had a whole lot going on for myself at the time. So I gathered some stuff, up including books I'd owned in the military and made my way over to Cottonwood. Well eventually, turns out finding a farm town in Minnesota in the age of no gps was less than ideal. I told him a couple days it took me three.

Cottonwood was empty when I got there. I don't mean like it was a small town, I mean no one was there. Every building, house, and street was devoid of life. There's always something unsettling about showing up to a place that is supposed to have people but doesn't. You're just afraid, all your fears adding up in your head telling you to leave and pretend you never came. I probably should have left having no job and no idea what was wrong, but I think ultimately I always tell myself this job is about helping people and I figured just leaving wouldn't help anyone except myself so I stayed.

I did know that the farm was probably my best bet for finding out what had happened. So after making another double check in town to make sure I hadn't missed anyone. I set out for farm country, figured I could find one without issue, hopefully someone there could point me to the only black Turkey farmer around. I wasn't out of town very far before I heard it. A sound that still can make my blood chill even today.

Turkeys, gobbling, thousands of them, all at once.