Free The Gorging by Kirk Thompson

those who lost it while they were driving. Paramedics were stretched thin and were unable to make it to the important calls due to helping the massive amount of people dialing into 911, claiming they were dying of food poison or anthrax, or of whatever concoction they could think of that might make them feel this way.
    Six people were trampled to death leaving a crowded casino in Las Vegas. An employee at the MGM lost his marbles and got on the intercom and screamed out they were being attacked and for everyone to run for their lives if they wanted to live. People were lying on the floor in pain from throwing up until their stomachs were dry on the casino floor. The casino security staff tackled the employee who screamed on the intercom. In all his madness, the employee went over the deep end when he grabbed one of the guards’ guns and waved it around, threatening to shoot anyone who came near him. He turned the gun on himself moments later and blew the back of his head off by putting the gun in his mouth and pulling the trigger. Seems he didn’t want to stick around for the worst to come. This is when people in the casino screamed as they heard the confrontation and the gunshot over the intercom. Everyone made a mad dash for the door, trampling over anyone that was in the way.
    The madness on the streets in Las Vegas topped the craziness that happened inside the casinos. Cars swerved to miss the people running out into the middle of the strip. Some actually made it safe to the other side, not knowing why they ran to the other side of the street, but they did. Some were mowed down as they ran in front of passing cars and were flung high off the ground and tumbled back across the car when they were hit, then only to be run completely over by the following car. A big Chevy Silverado hit a showgirl that was still wearing her costume. Her body landed in the back of the truck all mangled.
    Even the small towns were experiencing their fair share of the sudden stomach virus, or food poisoning or whatever you want to call it. Children lay in a bed of caked puke, screaming and holding their stomach, and parents rushing in to check on them and comfort them while they waited for it to pass. Their faces pale from the sight of their children being so miserably sick, and the children’s faces pale from the sudden dehydration and upset stomach. It happened everywhere and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Police communications were backed up, firefighters were attending to blazing accidents, doctors were dumbfounded at what to do, and the people in general had no idea what had just struck them. They had no idea it happened everywhere. Many thought it was some kind of terrorist attack.
    The sickness had come and gone within a matter of about one hour from the time everyone started getting that butterfly feeling in their stomach until the time they finished wiping the last drops of stomach acid from their lips and then wiping the watery mess from between their cheeks. At first, the news stations reported on the accidents that happened on the roadways in their locale. Then the word spread like wildfire and the people became more afraid of what had happened, but by the time the word made it to the national news, everyone was fine. It was just a bout of sickness that struck unexpectedly and without any type of warning. It was no terrorist attack because it was over so fast and nothing came of it. So what if it was a coincidence that 85 percent of the population had just puked and shit their guts out? It was over within the span of an hour. No one died and no one was hurt, except for their feelings. Well, people did die, but not because of the sudden stomach twisting and gut wrenching sickness. They had died because of their own stupidity of losing all commonsense and running about recklessly into the streets like someone who had lit themselves on fire by mistake. People died in their cars because other drivers were too busy worrying