Part III:

Showtime

There was a van from the park waiting for Allison outside the hotel the next day. She was as prepared as she could be as she stepped inside and was driven to the park. The van took a back route and came in through a restricted access area to avoid the traffic, which was tremendous. After parking, the driver then escorted Allison back to the main part of the park. The guard, who had been silent for most of the trip, finally spoke.

"Ms. Whitmore, welcome to the park. Enjoy the show. We will be keeping an eye on you at all times, so no funny business." As he spoke, he pointed to security cameras, and then to another guard who simply nodded while keeping eye contact. Allison figured as much, and wasn't planning on causing any trouble. Her hope was somewhere along the line Shea Bradley would shoot himself in the foot. A dismal crowd reaction, a hiccup in production somewhere, something that she could use to invalidate the production in some way. It was a long shot, but all she had.

With just a half hour before Orca Odyssey's debut, Allison went to get a seat. At least she could find a good vantage point. She was still going to write that article, and Bradley be damned, she would find some flaw if she could.

The amphitheater was packed. The stands were dotted with Marine Kingdom hats and balloons. The cacophony of children’s laughter and parental chatter was almost deafening. Allison folded her arms and sat back in her seat. The show was about to start, and it would have to be a true disaster to make these people see it as anything but great entertainment. Allison knew she was screwed. Music began playing over the loud speaker, and the show began.

"Welcome everyone to Marine Kingdom's Orca Odyssey! Let's get ready for some thrilling action! And if you are sitting in the Wave section, get ready to get soaked by the star of our show, Kallik!" As the announcer shouted his name, Kallik was released into the main pool. He circled the pool and surfaced, sending a spout of water out his blowhole. The crowd sent up a collective cheer and applauded. The announcer continued.

"Kallik is an Inuit word for "lightning"..." As the announcer spoke, a screen at the back of the main pool flashed lightning strike on video and rumble of thunder rolled through the amphitheater.

"And the name fits this orca, who always performs with a flash of brilliance!" Kallik hit all his cues and leapt out of the water to create a huge splash, soaking those in the aforementioned Wave section. The trainers came out of the back area, waving to the crowd.

"Let's get to know our trainers working the Odyssey today. Eric, Jessica, and Ryan! Give them a round of applause ladies and gentlemen!" The audience followed suit and cheered loudly. Allison sat forward a little in her chair, looking at Eric. He seemed as confident as he did the day before. The show continued and was hitting all its marks. Kallik was performing a variety of tricks, and the production was seamless and well-paced. Nearly a half hour had passed, and they were heading into the grand finale. The platform had been extended and all three trainers had headed out, carrying buckets of fish for Kallik.

"Now, in a show of coordination and precision, Kallik will execute three vertical breaches, gathering fish from each trainer!" The announcer bellowed over the speakers and the music began again. Eric gave a signal and whistle, and Kallik seemed to hesitate. Allison sat forward, knowing that something was awry. She pulled out her notepad and began to jot down what was going on. Eric signaled again, and Kallik swam to the edge of the pool and circled it. Allison recognized this as the Wave, but Kallik was not flapping his fin. He was just cruising past the crowd, his head above water, almost surveying the entire audience.

Perfect. Allison thought as she continued to write down little notes about the whale losing focus, the show going on too long, anything that she could use to turn this tiny error into a stain on the show. Kallik then dove down once again and went to the platforms. Ryan held out a fish and Kallik rose from the teal waters, mouth agape. Ryan dropped in the fish and the crowd roared. Maybe it wouldn't be enough of an error after all. Kallik circled at the bottom of the pool and broke the surface once again, and caught the fish dropped from the hand of Jessica. The crowd was enthralled. Kallik circled the bottom once more. Eric now held out the fish, and the finale was near end. Kallik once again ascended into the air. This time, he missed his mark, and his jaw snapped down on the framework of the platform, just underneath Eric. The weight of the whale caused the platform to snap and the trainers plunged into the teal tank. The crowd's cheers cascaded in to screams of terror.

Allison leaped to her feet and covered her mouth with her hand. Most of the crowd had risen as well as the platform sank into the pool. Jessica was swimming around it, heading towards the small dock that Kallik would slide up on to pose. Ryan was heading to the right side of the pool. Eric was nowhere to be seen. Under the chaos, at the bottom of the tank, Eric was struggling to detach his wetsuit from a loose piece of the broke platform that it had snagged on.

Ryan had almost made it to the edge when a shadow passed under him. Fear dug into his spine, but he had no time to process it. Kallik used his tail fin to launch Ryan several feet in the air and over the crowd. Onlookers panicked, and pushed others to escape in the packed amphitheater. The panic caused an elder man to get caught under the surge of humanity, and he was trampled underfoot. A child was pushed over the seats in front of them and tumbled three rows down before coming to a halt and shrieking in pain and fear. Ryan's flight was nearing its end, and he tumbled out of the summer sky to the seats below. His body spun as it landed in the stands, his head and neck catching the steel bench in the worst way. His neck snapped, his back broke, and had crumpled in upon himself as his body wedged in between the steel and concrete seats. His limp body appeared as a contorted tangle, grotesque and unmoving, just a few rows back of the Wave section.

Tears welled in Allison's eyes, but she had now begun to write once more. Her hand shaking, her writing near illegible, but she continued.

In the offices above the amphitheater, Shea Bradley had dropped the Scotch he was drinking on the floor, and was standing at the window, turning pale as the show continued.

Jessica hadn't seen Ryan's demise, and was still trying to get out of the pool. She had almost made it to shallow dock, and had begun to climb out. She had gone to push herself out of the water, but as she did, the jaws of Kallik closed down on her leg. Kallik breeched vertically, and higher than he had all show, with Jessica clamped in his jaws. On the descent, he swung her down, viciously. Her body was whipped with astounding force onto the shallow dock. The splash of Kallik hitting the water and the screams of the crowd were barely able to cover the sound of Jessica's skull cracking on the hard-concrete dock. Her body lay still as the now oblong and disfigured head leaked out blood and brain matter into the shallow water. It only lingered for a moment, as Kallik returned and yanked her into the pool leaving only a crimson shadow of her in the shallow water.

Eric had managed to rip his suit free, and swam with determination to the surface. Gasping hard, he broke the surface. Lungs ablaze from holding his breath for so long, he took a few more breaths and began to swim to the side. It was then he heard the screams, and a voice ringing out over the speaker system.

"Please stay calm! Do not run! Exit calmly!" The announcer's panicked voice echoed through the chaos. Eric then saw the stands a madhouse, people crying, rushing to the exits, and some on their knees, puking on the stairwells. He then saw Allison, and she put out her hand to him. He could see her screaming, but couldn't hear her this far away. Movement from the corner of his eye made his head jerk back just in time to see Kallik's dorsal fin sweep by. A shooting pain suddenly gripped his left ankle, and Eric was violently pulled under.

Eric opened his eyes underwater to see his foot in the mouth of Kallik. The pain throbbed and he wanted to scream out. He looked into the eye of Kallik and pulled at his leg, each attempt making his lungs burn more. Then, without warning, Kallik released Eric's foot. He thrashed at the water, trying to get to the surface once more. His left foot was useless now, but he still kicked with all his might. Eric surface once more, howling in pain as he did. Tears were running down his face, but no one would know, save for Kallik perhaps. His energy sapped now, he pushed himself to get to the side of the pool. As it was nearly in reach, Kallik returned. His jaws crushed the same foot, and Eric screamed as he was pulled under again. Kallik did not go to the bottom, be he kept Eric's head just inches below the surface. His hands were flailing about on the surface, and Eric's muffled shrieks of pain bubbled up his arms.

Allison watched in horror as Eric's hand shook just at the surface, and then they stiffened for a brief second, then went slack. She stood in shock, and openly cried. Most of the spectators around her had left, and she had stopped writing since Jessica had stained the shallows. Allison stood for a moment, watching Kallik circle the tank. He circled twice. Then, on his own volition, Kallik swam along the tanks front edge, body tilted, his fin waving to the empty stands. Allison shook in fear. Her fear turned to rage as she glanced up at the offices above the amphitheater. Tears in her eyes, she moved quickly to the office of Shea Bradley.

Allison had snuck in through the commotion and had ran up the stairs to get to the top floor where Bradley's office was. She ran down the hall, and was nearly there as a security guard grabbed her. Allison hadn't noticed him; she was only focused on getting to Bradley's office. She shook in the guard’s arms and tried to elbow him in the gut.

"Let go of me you bastard! He did this to them! That monster is going to pay!" Allison tried, but was no match. The guard subdued her and held her down.

"Careful what you say. Mr. Bradley..." The guard's threat was cut off by the sound of a gunshot. It had come from Bradley's office. The guard scrambled to his feet and ran to the door. Allison followed.

The guard opened the door and immediately recoiled and fell backward, his legs giving way. Allison opened the door all the way to see Shea Bradley in his office chair, blood spilling out of his head from a fresh bullet wound. A gun lay on the floor next to his chair. Other guards bumped Allison as they rushed past, and she slowly stepped back. She leaned against the wall, and slid down it until she was sitting. She put her head in her hands and cried.

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Written by Doug

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