This is science friction. He has on Hudson River Radio dot Com tonight,
episode eleven, Rampaging Ravenous Rats. It was a perfect Sunday afternoon that spring
of nineteen fifty four in Stony Point, that is until missus Kelly went into
the kitchen to check on her pies. Joey, where are your Joey?
What's the boy done? Now? I had two pies cooling on the window
sill, and now there's not so much as a crumb left. Don't work
yourself up, dear, He's just a growing boy. You can always make
more pies. That's easy for you to say. I cook and I clean,
and I slave around here, and what thanks? Do I get another
thing? Land sakes? Now, what's that boy up to in the basement?
Great Caesar's ghost? It's a pack of wild dogs. Ow. One
bit me. Oh, they're biting me too, ow. And they aren't
dogs, the cions rats. OW. The pack of giant rats continued to
stream into the kitchen and swarmed over the Kelly's like a school of piranha.
And just like pirunha, by the time they were done, there was nothing
left but a pile of gnawed bones. Meanwhile, at Giuseppe's Pizza on Main
Street. Mario, how many times I gotta tell you to get me more
flower? We're running low on dough and we gotta make them more. I
look twice, but I do see any flower in the storeroom. Are you
crazy? Mario? We got a plenty of flower? You calling me a
liar? Go look at yourself, smart guy. If I want anything you've
done right, I gotta do it myself. I'm gonna tell you. Wait,
the shelves they're empty. What happened to all the flower? I had
a dozen fifty pounds sacks? I told you so. Someone must have a
stolen in. Hey, look over there, they're bigger hole in the wall.
That's how the thieves got in. Deo mio. There's a tunnel back
there. Who would have spend all this time digging a tunnel to steal flower?
This is sh There is someone in there and they're coming to this away
here to Zippy. We will use this rolling pins to show those thieves some
Italian hospitality. Here he comes, Mom, it's a rats, huge rats.
There's too many of them at the police station. Hey, chief,
why aren't you out on the golf course. Don't remind me. I was
just loading my clubs in the car when my wife's parents and brothers from Jersey
drop by for a surprise visit, and they all brought their clubs along and
they wanted to come with me. So you made up an excuse that you
had to come into work. Oh yeah, yeah, big emergency, no
time to waste. You won't rat me out next time you see the missus,
will you not me, Chief, because I'll need you to cover from
me the next time my in laws come to visit. So are there any
emergencies anything at all? Well? Speaking of rats, crazy old missus,
Ferguson said that for weeks she's been seeing rats the size of German and shepherd's
coming up from the river. Yeah, probably a pack of stray dogs.
What did you tell her to buy? Really big mousetraps? Anything else?
The only other calls were about no one being at Giuseppe's. What do you
mean some people went in to pick up pizzas and neither Giuseppe or Mario were
there. Well, maybe they finally duked it out and they're both unconscious in
the back room. Better send someone over there to check it out. Sure
thing, Chief, I'm going to duck into my office and take a nap.
Maybe I can at least dream about golfing. Meanwhile, at Talbot's grocery
store, which is always closed on Sundays, two plumbers arrived to check out
the pipes in the basement. As mister Talbot told them he had heard a
lot of rumbling going on double over time on a Sunday. You gotta love
it, yeah, because sure you was the cache. And if we wrapped
this up quickly, we'll still have time to fire up the grill and have
a few beers, just a few. Whoa, what the hell happened in
here? Looks like an earthquake? Kid, Everything's been knocked off the shelves.
Yeah, and everything was also torn apart, probably some of those damned
delinquent kids vandalizing the place just for fun. They're still here, how about
you, Me and a couple of monkey wrenches fixing them real good? Let
me add them. As the two men descended the stairs into the basement,
they were instantly overwhelmed by hundreds of rampaging, ravenous rats. Oh. Back
at the police station an hour later, have a good nap, chief,
yeah, good enough, and he knews. Yeah, it's kind of weird.
I send Jenkins over to the pizza place, and he said Giuseppie and
Mario were a wall and there was cash in the register. Did you call
their wives, wives, cousins, friends, Everyone said they were supposed to
be working today. Well, any sign of a struggle? Jenkins said the
storeroom was in shambles and there was a huge hole in the wall. I
told him to stay there and watch the place until I talked to you.
Ah, what the hell? Well, damn looks like I'll have to work
after all. Head over there myself. But before the chief could get out
the door, and angry Missus Wilkinson stormed into the police station. Chief,
I want something done immediately. And what seems to be the problem, Missus
Wilkinson, thieves, Thieves, who stole what? It's my little Bobby's birthday
today. And I put all the food outside, including a full sized sheet
cake that took me all morning to make. I went inside for a few
minutes and when I came back out, every crumb of food was gone.
Everything. Now I have twenty three five year olds coming to my house in
an hour and nothing to feed them. Must be that pack of dogs.
Yeah, better call the dog catcher wild dogs. Good heavens, I'd better
call all the other mothers and tell them to keep their children inside. Well,
now, let's not spread rumors and start a panic. Missus Wilkinson,
My missing sheepcake is not a rumor. What if my little Bobby was outside
when these rabid wolves attacked? Missus Wilkinson, Please, nobody said anything about
wolves or rabies. I don't have any time to waste. I have to
warn everyone. Good day, chief, great, Yeah, this day just
keeps getting worse. Now all hell's going to break loose. There's still time
to go goffin with your wife's relatives. Yeah, oh well no, I'd
rather face a pack of rabid wolves, but nothing more than a squirtgun.
When the Chief arrived at Giuseppie's piece, AIHA, Officer Jenkins patrol car was
in the parking lot, but he was nowhere to be found. Seeing the
gaping hole in the wall of the storeroom and the tunnel beyond, the chiefs
suddenly got a bad feeling, a very bad feeling. Locking the storeroom door,
he called the station. Yeah, I'm telling you, Jenkins cars here,
but he isn't. Something is very wrong called Giuseppi's wife to come and
lock up the place. I'm on my way back to the station. As
the chief pulled out of the parking lot, a young girl ran across the
street right into the side of his car. Holy smokes, are you okay?
Dear? Please? Please don't let them get me? Please? Who
who's after you? Those those things? Rats? Huge rats? Now,
dear, calm yourself. Where do you live? Where are your parents?
The rats got them, They're all gone. Rats. The girl fainted into
the Chief's arms, and he brought her to Duck Grady's house. Well,
Doc, how is she literally frightened out of her mind? What the hell
happened to the poor child? Well, I was hoping you could tell me.
I gave her a sedative and she started mumbling about a picnic with her
family, and then they kept yelling about rats. She does have a nasty
bite on her leg, but something much bigger than a rat? Did that?
Like something the size of a German shepherd? Yes, but this doesn't
look like a typical dog bite. I've treated Joe the Mailman enough times to
know that all kinds of dog bites look like Well, I'm telling you,
Doc, something weird is going on in town. People are missing, someone
tunneled into Giuseppe storeroom something eight, all the birthday party food at Missus Wilkinson's,
and Missus Ferguson is well, she's just nuts. Go on, Chief,
What did Missus Ferguson say? I feel silly even repeating it, but
she says she's seeing rats the size of German shepherds coming up from the river.
So how come you're not laughing, Doc? Because rats that large would
probably create a bite identical to the one on that girl's leg. Doc,
come on, you're giving me the hebgebs. You're not serious, are you?
I know what sounds crazy, but something scared this girl senseless. I
want her to get a raby shot just as a precaution. There's nothing more
I can do for her. I've called an ambulance to take her to the
hospital. I have a terrible bad feeling about all this. Well, thanks,
Doc, sure thing. Let me know if there's anything I can do
to help. We'll be right back with more of science friction fatime on Hudson
River Radio dot com. Johnny, why don't you go ahead and play with
the other boys. I'm too tired Ma, it's because you didn't need a
healthy breakfast, young man. Here, try a bowl of delicious poco cereal
poo cereal. That's right, poco cereal not only taste good, it's good
for you, with plenty of sugar for energy and four times the caffeine and
a cup of coffee to put that bounce back in your step. You're right,
ma, I feel more energetic already. Who make sure your children start
every morning with a nutritious bowl of poco cereal. I'm mubby, bouncing off
the walls all day long. We now, we'll return to Science Friction Theater.
On nudson dot com, about two dozen anxious parents were crowded into the
police station when the chief arrived and demanded to know what was going to be
done about the pack of rabbit wolves that were on the rampage in Stony Point.
Pipe down, everyone, pipe down now? Has anyone actually seen a
wolf? Oh no, no. We have the dogcatcher out looking around,
and I'll have extra patrolment on the lookout too. Please, folks go home
and call if you see anything. Oh sure, scary, Thank heaven,
they're gone. Any word from Jenkins yet? No, and the dogcatcher is
missing now too, and a couple of plumbers was supposed to be home hours
ago. That's it. I want every officer here asap, and I don't
care if they're in the middle of Sunday dinner. Get them down here now,
yes, their teeth. In fact, as the sun set families all
across Stony Point, we're just sitting down to Sunday dinner. But as enticing
as the aroma of roast beef and hot what her rolls was to the people.
It was an irresistible beacon to thousands of ravenous rats who emerged from their
tunnels, tunnels which were now criss crossed beneath the entire town. Lord bless
this food, and Grandad why? And so it continued, house by house,
family by family, life by life. Got Grady was spared because instead
of having Sunday dinner, he was on a mission following a hunch. Oh,
doctor Grady, this is a surprise. How could I help you?
Sorry to bother you at home, Pinkie, but I asked some questions for
you about rats. Well then you've come to the right place. Please cove
in. Malcolm Pinkas's love of rodents had earned him the nickname of Pinky the
rat boy way back in elementary school. Even though he was now a professor
of biology at Hudson River University, people in Stony Point still called him Pinky
Pinky. How big can a rat get? Well? The Gambian pouched rat
can grow to three feet three feet good heavens, yes, but half of
its size is just its tail. They do get to be about three pounds,
though, and they have litters about every two months. I guess that's
why people use the term breeding like rats exactly. Then there's the Northern Luzon
giant cloud rat. They're about two and a half feet long and can weigh
over five pounds. Yuck, that makes my skin crawl. No, no,
they are beautiful animals, really, but not as beautiful as by Lucy.
Doctor Gritty was horrified to see Pinky pull a rat out of his could
pocket and place it on his shoulder, where it sat contentedly. Bug.
I don't know what you see in those filthy rodents. Filthy Lucy bathes with
me every board ache, and I've trained her to perform all sorts of tasks,
making a series of strange sounds and hand gestures. Lucy The rats scurried
down Pinky's arm and across the room, where she grabbed a pack of cigarettes
and dutifully brought it back. Care for a smoke? Doctor, Oh no,
thank you, suit yourself. Now, why all the sudden interest in
rats? Some strange things have been going on in town, people going missing,
a girl got bitten by something big, and Missus Ferguson claims she saw
rats as big as German shepherds. H Missus Ferguson makes me look socially acceptable.
I really doubt that there are any Gambian pouched rats, or giant cloud
rats or any other large species running around Stony Point? What the doc?
Grady and Pinky raced to the window, only to see a man and a
woman running down the street, followed by dozens of massive rats. The woman
stumbled, and when the man stopped to help her, they were overwhelmed by
the bloodthirsty rodents. Their cries were quickly silenced. God in Heaven, I
can't believe my eyes. It can't be. It just can't be. They
have to be at least eighty pounds each. How is the seven possible?
Well, if you don't know, then we have no hope where's the phone.
I need to call the chief. The line to the police station was
busy because hundreds of people were trying to call. Some had barricaded themselves in
rooms in their homes, which were now overrun with killer rats, and some
called with their dying breaths, begging for help. For too many, help
would never arrive in time. Giant rats, God help us all. Call
the army. I met are getting slaughtered out there, and get me the
radio station. We need to warn everyone. Arm yourselves and stay inside.
Twenty minutes later at Hudson River radio, repeat, this is an emergency.
Diet ravenous rats are rampaging all the cross Stony Point. This is not a
drill. Do not go outside. Arm yourselves the guns, knives, baseball
bats, whatever you have, and go to the most secure room in your
house. Do not go into the basement. Repeat this is an emergency.
The first army troops to roll into town began lining main Street. Some fired
their weapons until they ran out of ammunition and were overwhelmed. The remainder formed
a tighter group in the center of town and seemed to be holding their own
until the street itself collapsed down into a massive underground borough of giant rats.
There were no survivors. We must get to the lab in your office.
We need to study some specimens. We'll never make it in my car in
the driveway. My car is in the garage. Just go through the kitchen
door. Let's go. Once they were in Pinkie's car, there was the
problem of opening the garage door. Whoever opens that door will be torn to
shreds. That I only have one choice. Stepping on the accelerator, Pinky
drove his forty nine Plymouth right through the garage door and across the front lawn.
It was like a deadly game of bumper cars as the massive rats through
themselves at the Plymouth in a frenzy to get fresh meat. Finally they made
it to the doctor's house, which looked more like a war zone. My
god, what's happening. The rats are everywhere. There's no way we're getting
to the front door. They're in a feeding frenzy. Rats are mostly nocturnal
animals, so maybe they'll go back to their burrows at dawn. Dawn,
we have a long night ahead of us. I should have brought a deck
of cards. Back in downtown Stony Point, the army Brass quickly decided that
it would be a complete slaughter to bring more men, so armored vehicles were
ordered, but it would take many hours for them to arrive. Meanwhile,
streets continued to collapse, swallowing houses and businesses into cavernous rat burrows below and
releasing more swarms of rats. It made the catastrophic ha A straw landslide of
nineteen oh six looked like a picnic. They just keep coming and coming.
How many can there be? As I said before, the giant, Gambian
and lose On rats can have a litter about every two months. Come when
rats in this area can have a dozen offspring every three to four weeks.
Those offspring can start reproducing in as little as five to six weeks. Given
just a few months, the population will grow exponentially. But where have they
all been? What have they been eating? Shouldn't we have seen them before
this? Yes, that is quite a mystery. From what I can see,
they're just ordinary rats. But what in God's name could have made them
grow to such an extraordinary size? And just what have they been eating?
Meanwhile, anchored a short distance to the north in the Hudson River was the
National Defense Reserve Fleet, which contained row after row of ships used in World
War Two, lobally known as the Mothball Fleet. Wasn't so well known was
that these ships were actually floating silos filled with millions of bushels of wheat,
some of it experimental, Doctor hedges, Doctor Hedges, it's true. All
the wheat that was treated with the growth hormone X is missing from the compartment
d missing. How could that be? It looks like the back wall of
the compartment had rusted away and rats gotten And we can't find a single rat
on the ship now, so they all must have swum to sure rats,
My god, do you realize what this means? With their metabolism and rate
of breeding, this will be nothing short of a complete disaster. Don't breathe
a word of this to anyone. Begin lockdown protocols. Yes, ma'am,
will be right back with more of science fiction theat on Hudson River Radio dot
com. And now for the exciting conclusion of science fiction theater on Hudson River
Radio dot com. As the sun rose, the ravenous rats scurried back to
their tunnels and burrows, at least most of them. Wake up, Doctor
it looks like the coast is clear. Say what, Oh, it's finally
morning and we're still alive for now. Let's get inside and then see if
the police have any rat carcasses for us to examine it. I sure,
I'm glad to get out of that car. Just a few yards from the
front steps of the house, an enormous rat, loaded from over eating,
emerged from the bushes and crawled up the staircase, turned and growled at the
two men with flashing fangs and blazing red eyes. My god, what do
we do? Wait, I have some of Lucy's nutrition wafers in my pocket.
Let me toss them to it, and whilest distracted, we could hopefully
run back to the car. Pinky threw the little wafers towards the humongous rat,
but as small as they were, their aroma was irresistible, stepping the
ground until it located the wafers. The giant rat went straight for the trees,
and the two men took the opportunity to race back to the car.
Thank god we made it. Look he ate the first wafer, but he's
not going for the others. Maybe he just doesn't like them. No,
it's something else, something isn't right. Yes, he seems to be sick,
staggering and trembling. Good god, the rat it exploded. Well,
there's your carcass, or what's left of it. Let's go inside and get
some rubber gloves and masks, then bring this beast into my lab to examine
it. A few hours later, Dot Grady tried and tried to call the
chief, but the police station line seemed to be dead, as did every
other phone in town. We have to get this information to the police.
Had the army sap, You're all right, let's go. They made it
safely to the car, but driving into town was like driving on the surface
of the moon. All of Stony Point had either collapsed or was teetering on
the edge of massive sinkholes from the rat tunnels and burrows, which undermined the
entire town. They will have to go on from here. I'm too damn
old. I'll just slow you down here all here's all our notes and test
results. I'm not leaving you, doctor Grady. I'll be fine in the
car, Go pinky before it starts getting dark, Okay, but I'll said
help as soon as I can. Clutching the file folders as if lives depended
upon them, which they did. Pinky began jogging toward town, but he
hadn't even gotten a block before he heard a terrible noise. Oh my god.
No. Looking back, Pinky saw a gaping hole had opened directly beneath
the cars, swallowing it and doctor Grady with it. Now running at full
speed, Pinky leapt over collapsed road surfaces, dodge ruptured water mains and sidestep,
grew some piles of human remains and exploded rats. Finally, he made
it to the police station, which was one of the only buildings still intact.
Inside it was like a triage center on a battlefield. Officer, Please,
where can I find the Chief? He's too busy to see anyone.
Wait a minute, aren't you, Pinky the rat boy. Is all of
this one of your road and experiments gone wrong? Oh of course that.
But I know how to stop these rats. Please, lives depend on it.
Okay. The Chief is in with the General right this way. Yeah,
I thought I told you not to disturb us. Yes, sir,
but Pinky says he has a plan. Pinky, who is Pinky? What
is he talking about? General? This is Professor pinkis our resident rat expert.
Well, well, what a coincidence? And just what do you know
about these rats? Are they part of some twisted breeding experiment? No,
I had nothing to do with this, I tell you, but doctor Grady
and I Grady. I've been trying to reach him for hours. We need
his help with all the wounded. I'm sorry, Chief, but he didn't
make it. Ah, No, come on out with it, man.
What do you know? Something bizarre has happened to these rats. I've never
seen blood chemistry like this, and it's brain and organs. I've never seen
accelerated growth like this either. Is it from radiation? No, it's something
chemical. The pituitary gland was enormous. It's as if this rat was bored
to grow. And just how does that help us? Their bows and muscles
have obviously grown uncontrollably, but their digestive systems, their stomachs and intestines haven't
grown at the same rate. So that means what cut to the chase man?
These rats have insatiable appetites, but they can't fully digest all the food
they're eating. Gas is building up with tremendous pressure until they'll literally explode.
Exploding rats. Get this lunatic out of my sight. It's true, doctor
Gradient, I saw for ourselves. Please, I don't have time for this
nonsense. No, General, it could be true. My men said they
saw several rats burst into pieces, but they thought it was from the shotgun
blasts. I swear it's true. Look at doctor Grady's notes for yourself,
say it is true. How does that help us? We need to give
the rats more food. What are you out of your mind? I'm serious,
deadly serious. You saw those rats for yourself. They all have terribly
distended abdomates. They're ready to blow. It only took one thin way for
to make the one we saw explode some I'm supposed to order everyone to dump
all the food they have into the streets. Yes, and truckloads more.
General, short of knooking stony point, what are the choice do we have?
Washington has probably gonna bust me to private, but if this saves lives,
it's worth a shot. Get ahold of the radio station, and I'm
sorry, sir, Hudson River Radio. Thank you to the ground. Uh.
We'll have to use megaphones, even go door to door if we have
to. This has to be done. Before dark, contact headquarters, tell
them I want every pound of food they can get. By the time the
sun had set, tons of food sat in large and small piles all across
town. Those residents who were still alive emptied their pantries, refrigerators, and
freezers out onto their lawns. Meanwhile, army trucks had dumped mountains of surplus
food meant for civil defense shelters. Even Missus Ferguson baked chocolate chip cookies for
the occasion. Well, Pinky, the sun's going down. This did better
work as if on Q There was an awful sound in front of the police
station, as if a high pressure hose burst, then another and another.
Chief Chief it's working, observes the radioing inn that the rats are exploding everywhere.
It was a night of indescribable horror as thousands of ravenous rats literally ate
themselves to death, then exploded, scattering their remains everywhere. All the rats
then feasted on the exploded rats, causing even more carnage. The sounds were
beyond human tolerance and men had to cover their ears to keep from going mad.
Chief. The observers report that the rate of explosions is subsiding. Most
of the rats must be dead. Praise the Lord. Let's pray we never
had to live through another night like this. At dawn, I'll order my
men to pick off any stragglers. Then we'll set incendiary charges to their tunnel
entrances to finish them off. But generally you can't do that. That will
burn what's left Stony Point to the ground. And just what is left of
Stony Point the police station and a handful of other buildings. And what is
the risk of leaving even two of these mutant rats alive to start breeding somewhere
else. Yes, yeah, I know you're right, but this is my
town. I grew up here, and we will help rebuild it so others
can grow up here again someday. It wasn't easy, but by noon the
last remaining residents had been evacuated. Pinky had to hide Lucy under his shirt
as he was afraid someone would harm her under the circumstances. An hour later,
set off the charges. Only as incendiary devices began shooting tongues of flame
through the rat tunnels. Was the true destructive power of the monstrous rodents revealed.
The tunnels must have stretched for miles back and forth beneath the town and
directly under houses. For example, an incendiary device set off at one tunnel
entrance caused several houses to burst into flames a quarter mile away. I can't
watch. I just can't watch Tony Point burn. I know, but it
was the only thing to do. I just hope it's over. No living
creature could survive that inferno. It's over. I'm not so sure. What
do you mean, well, doctor Grady, and I couldn't understand what caused
these mutations and where did all the food come from to feed them. You'll
figure it out in the university lab, I hope so. For humanity's sake,
I hope so. Meanwhile, aboard one of the Reserve Fleet ships,
doctor Hedges, the ship is ready to go. Good weigh anchor, and
get us the hell out of here. Are all of the other compartments of
Experimental Gray and secure, Safe and secure, man, safe and secure.
The staff ashered me, this will never happen again. The bright blazes from
the fires in Stony Point cast an eerie glow on the whole of the large
ship as it headed down the river, but nobody noticed it. After all,
what significance could there possibly be to a simple cargo ship, a ship
whose crew had noticed a line of cockroaches entering a tiny crack in the wall
of a grain compartment. This has been Science Friction Theater, a production of
Hudson River Radio dot Com, written by Linda Simony. Don't forget to subscribe
to the podcast so you'll never miss an exciting adventure. See you next time
on Science Friction Theater.