Chapter 1: Ominous Signs

The sun rose like a flower unfurling, gifting its beauty to the world below. The morning rays slowly illuminated the sky with scattered golden radiance, seeking every nook and cranny of the jungle.

The birdsong then commenced as the most beautiful of notes of nature's flute, floating softly and free. Sparrows chirped while wild cranes sang, producing the beautiful natural background melody typical of Yellowstone National Park.

"BANG!"

Suddenly, a gunshot sounded, breaking the morning’s serenity. The wild birds were startled and quickly took flight towards the safety of the skies.

Ferocious wolf howls could be heard from the forest in the distance, along with more gunshots sounding in quick succession. They reverberated like thunder for the next few minutes, causing every human within the vicinity to shudder with dread.

"What’s happening?"

Odin McGill paused in his work, glancing towards the source of the disturbance. A wave of apprehension started building within him. But he forced himself to stay calm by taking deep breaths of the cold morning air.

With his six-month experience as an assistant researcher in Yellowstone National Park, he had learned not to panic in times of danger. Moreover, he was naturally brave and prided himself on handling dangerous situations more calmly than his peers. So, he quickly busied himself with work after the gunshots and howls in the distance had died down.

Odin was a twenty-one-year-old biology undergrad at the Montana State University's Land Resources & Environmental Sciences department. He had been selected as part of a team from his department researching stress hormones and the social behavior of gray wolves in Yellowstone National Park.

He wasn't a principal researcher or anyone of crucial importance to the team but simply an assistant who helped collect fecal matter and wolf hair samples from around the park. In less polite terms, he was the muscle of the team.

Nevertheless, he liked his part-time job as an assistant researcher and had never considered quitting his position. He enjoyed the thrill of staying in the wild for weeks and following animal trails to study their behavior, as opposed to remaining idle in the city during holidays.

However, of late, he was beginning to feel fed up with the monotony of the jungle since his team had been following the trails of several packs of gray wolves for three whole months.

To obtain biological samples of acceptable quality, they'd traversed jungles and climbed mountains in Yellowstone under the protection of a group of rangers.

The work had worn him out considerably since he didn't possess any notable physical qualities. He'd only decided to endure after the lead researcher had promised to increase his pay when the fieldwork ended in about a week’s time.

"Do you think it was just a rogue animal case?" Nicole Davies, a dark-haired girl with blue eyes and a shapely figure, queried from beside Odin just as they were about to collect another hair sample. Aside from being Odin's colleague on the research expedition, she was his classmate back at the MSU's Land Resources & Environmental Sciences department. They counted each other as close friends.

"Well," Odin said, taking a moment to organize his words. "It might be. Or, the rangers are probably testing out their weapons. But whatever the case, we shouldn't be in any danger. We have three armed rangers protecting us here." He added, pointing towards the two men and a single woman standing guard a few meters away.

"I'm still worried," Nicole intoned, knitting her brows in apparent consternation.

"Why would you worry, especially with those three protecting us?" Odin was puzzled since Nicole had always been brave during the six months he had been with the research team.

"You don't understand," Nicole murmured, her voice like a whisper. She looked around nervously before stepping closer to Odin. "My uncle works with the National Park Service," she confided. "He has been one of the superintendents of Yellowstone for the past ten years. He has recently been complaining nonstop about how there is a surge of ferocious animals around the park."

"Ferocious animals! You mean the wild animals?"

"Yes." Nicole nodded. "He says many animals in the park have grown more fierce or gone completely berserk over the past few months. They’ve even begun attacking homesteads located some distance from the park."

"Are you being serious with me?" Odin asked while holding Nicole's gaze. From her facial expression, he could tell that she wasn't kidding.

"I'm not joking, Odin. My uncle also said the rangers recently killed a ferocious bushy-tailed woodrat. It was as big as a dog and quite rabid. Four park rangers had to work together to bring it down when it attacked a group of tourists. One of the rangers was severely injured and is still recovering from his wounds."

"Try to factor in the reproductive rates of rodents into such a crisis," Nicole continued. "We might have a horde of thousands of fierce rodents near us in less than six months. If they happen to attack a town, then trouble will descend, and many people will die."

"Oh, my God!"

Odin couldn't help but shudder with dread as he imagined the scene of a horde of bloodthirsty wild rats descending upon a town. An army battalion would have to be called upon to stop the advance of such ferocious creatures.

"Could it be that some secret government experiment caused the mutations in the rodents?" Odin asked after a moment of contemplation. "What does your uncle say?"

"It can’t be because of an experiment," Nicole responded quickly in a poised tone. "The wildlife in the parks is under government protection for conservation purposes only. So, there is no way the relevant authorities would allow a crazy scientist to conduct such an experiment on the fauna in the wild. Besides, from what I hear, the mutations have occurred on a large scale within several distinct populations of various animal species. So, it simply can’t be the case of an experiment gone wrong."

"You mean to say it might be a case of a messed up natural process of evolution compressed within a few months?" Odin exclaimed. "That is simply impossible!"

"The park rangers and stationed zoologists are also boggled by what is happening," Nicole said with a sigh. "But what you can be sure of is that the mutations are real. The national parks are getting more dangerous with each passing day. We need to be on our toes while within the park boundaries. Otherwise, we might end up as food for some wild beasts."

"I'll take note," Odin said, letting out a breath to calm himself down. "Thanks for informing me about this."

"You're welcome," Nicole said with a forced smile. "Let's try to look out for each other when we're still in the park."

"No problem," Odin replied. "If there's danger, we will act accordingly. For now, let's finish collecting these hair samples."

"Okay."

The two of them soon busied themselves with the task at hand. Odin continuously collected wolf hair samples before placing them into the prepared sample bags. On the other hand, Nicole concentrated on labeling the plastic bags and taking the GPS coordinates of the area. Their teamwork was incredible, allowing them to finish their work faster than their peers. As a result, they were already storing their samples within an hour and ready to move to another site.

"At this rate, we might finish working on all the sites assigned to us by midday," Nicole said while placing the last sample bag in the storage sample container. "We can then go back to the hotel to rest."

"Dream on," Odin replied, shaking his head. "Have you forgotten that, unlike us, Tony is working alone? We still have to help him complete his part of the work before heading back."

"Ahh!" Nicole whined. "Can't we—"

But before she could complete the sentence, a deep and drawn-out bestial howl, accompanied by a few more gunshots, sounded once again from the forest in the distance.

The howl was so loud and filled with a savagery that induced an intense chill deep in the pit of Odin's gut. It didn’t sound like it was from an ordinary wolf.

"For fuck's sake, what was that?"

Tony Martins, another researcher on Odin's team, stood up abruptly. He was a tall blonde master's student who usually exuded confidence. But, his face had turned pale after hearing the savage howl from a distance.

"What’s going on? Has the other team run into trouble while following the other wolf trail?" Tony asked once again.

"Guys, please calm down," one of the rangers accompanying them said.

The boorish-looking man who stepped forward was called Johnson. He had probably not shaved in five years. But, even with a coarse beard, he still looked strikingly dapper in the National Park Service uniform. His attire, comprising a wide-brimmed hat, grey shirt, green pants, a pair of knee-high boots, and the rifle in his hands, gave him a commanding air that compelled every person present at the scene to quieten down after hearing his words.

"Our colleagues seem to be handling a rare case of a rogue wild animal," Johnson continued in a confident tone. "Cases like this sometimes happen when animals separate from their groups. However, you don't need to panic. We rangers possess the necessary skills and tools to handle the situation. We should, at least, be able to protect you even if the situation turns out to be worse than we imagined. So, please continue with your work, and leave—"

"Ahh-rooooooo!"

The bestial sound rolled through once again before the ranger could finish his little speech. But this time around, Odin could tell it was much closer, probably a mile away. The wolf or pack of wolves was obviously approaching their position.

"Let's quickly head back to the vehicles," Odin whispered to Nicole. "We'll be safer there."

"What about the samples?"

"Leave them behind," Odin said, his eyes narrowing. "The wolves will be upon us in less than a minute. So, unless you can outrun a wolf on land, you better leave the samples behind. If there's no danger, we can still come back for them after a while."

"What about the rangers?"

"Ignore them."

"Okay, then let's leave."

The two of them soon started jogging towards the road without regard for anything else. Odin, on his part, didn't want to remain in such a place prone to danger, especially since he was already aware of the abnormalities in the wildlife populations.

"Where are you two going?" Johnson, the park ranger, yelled from behind them. "Don't you understand that it's dangerous to separate from us when inside the park?"

Odin, of course, turned a deaf ear to the ranger. However, after a moment of deliberation, he still decided to warn them.

"You guys better run," Odin yelled back without halting his jog towards the vehicles. "If you stay here, you might soon turn into wolf breakfast. Better hurry."