“Keep alert Jim,” Dave said. “I’m going to bring in the paramedics. Our killers could still be near by and as crazy as the bastards are, they might decide to come back.”
“Gotcha there,” Jim replied as Dave walked out onto the porch.
Ted and two paramedics with a stretcher ran up on the porch.
“Hey Dave,” Ted said. “What happened here?”
“The hell if I know,” Dave replied. “None of this makes any sense. The best I can say is that it looks like Hannibal Lecter went on a rampage.”
“What?” Ted asked.
“You’ll see,” Dave replied. “Follow me, just watch where you step so you don’t destroy any evidence. There is blood and bodies everywhere inside. The only one still clinging to life is a kid on the second floor.”
Dave turned and started back inside.
As they walked inside, Dave could hear the paramedics begin to gag.
“Shit Dave,” Ted said. “I’ve worked my share of gory accidents out on Route 95, but this is sick. What the hell is that smell, I’ve never smelled anything this gross in my life. Are you sure this just happened tonight? It smells like these bodies have been rotting in here for at least a month.”
“Look at the walls,” Dave said. “The blood is still fresh, but ignore these poor bastards, the only one that might be able to tell us what the hell happened is upstairs. You need to get him to the hospital as fast as possible. He might be the only way we are ever going to find out what went down here tonight. I certainly can’t imagine what the hell happened.”
“I would start by finding out where the hell Hannibal Lecter was tonight,” Ted replied as Dave led them over to the stairway to the second floor.
Dave and Pete left the paramedics to do their job and went back down to the living room.
“Jim,” Dave said, “Tell Ted to call me after they drop that kid off at the hospital. Pete and I are going to see if we can follow the bloody foot prints out back and see where they lead. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Jim nodded as Dave and Pete went out to the kitchen.
They shined their lights on the bloody prints that went across the back yard and into the brush out behind the house.
“It looks like there were at least three people making these tracks,” Pete said. “But what I don’t understand is why these tracks go so far out through the yard.”
“What do you mean?” Dave asked as they walked out through the yard and into the wooded area behind the houses at the edge of the development.”
“I would think that as these people walked across the grass, the further they went that the blood would be cleaned off their feet in this damp grass. Their shoes should have been wiped clean by now. But instead of the trail becoming faint and harder to follow, these tracks still look like they had just walked through all the blood in the living room,” Pete replied. “Its like they are still leaving fresh prints because their feet are bleeding. If they were injured somehow back at the house, how are they still walking? If nothing else I would expect to find someone laying on the ground, bleeding to death.”
“I see what you mean,” Dave said. “I guess we can just add it to the list of everything else that doesn’t make any sense tonight.”
They had followed the trail for about a hundred yards when the tracks seemed to split up and were now going in three different directions.
“I think they are splitting up,” Pete said.
“This seems like a hell of a place for them to be splitting up,” Dave replied.
Just then a voice sounded from Dave’s radio.
“Dave, are you there?” Carrie’s voice asked.
“I’m here Carrie, what’s up?” Dave asked.
“I just got another call from 911 dispatch,” Carrie replied. “Well actually it was two more calls, but they were both from the same area so I sent Joe out to check them out. If we get anymore calls I don’t know what I am going to do, we are running out of men.”
“Where was the call?” Dave asked.
“I thought maybe you could go over and help out Joe if you were almost finished,” Carrie continued.
“Carrie, where was the call?” Dave asked again.
“It was at 89 Sunnyside Drive near where you are,” Carrie replied.
“What was the emergency?” Dave asked.
“Someone complaining about people going through their back yard knocking things over and pounding on the house,” Carrie replied. “Are you done yet with your call. I didn’t like sending Joe out by himself, but he was all I had left. What’s going on over there?”
“Call Joe and tell him to wait in his car in front of 89 Sunnyside Drive,” Dave said. “Tell him I’ll be over to back him up in ten minutes. Tell him to stay in the car until I get there, understand?”
“OK, Dave but what do I do if I get another call?” Carrie asked.
“Just call me,” Dave replied then added impatiently, “Dave out.”
“Let’s get back to the house,” Dave said.
“Do you think these tracks end up over at 89 Sunnyside Drive?” Pete asked.
“That’s my guess,” Dave replied. “Why the hell they are over there causing a disturbance is beyond me, they have to be out of their minds.”
“I think we have already determined that,” Pete said. “I think we are going to need more men.”
Dave and Pete returned to the house as the ambulance roared down Sunnyside Drive, leaving the development.
Jim was still manning his post in the living room, looking very uncomfortable.
“Ted just left,” Jim said. “He said the kid looks bad. He doesn’t think the kid is going to make it long enough to get him to the hospital. He said the kid is burning up and his blood pressure is dropping fast. I told him you wanted him to call you after they dropped the kid off at the hospital, he said he would stop over and see you as soon as he gets back.”
“I just got another call eight doors down the road from here,” Dave said. “I want you and Pete to go out to the car and keep an eye on this place until I get back. I’m going down to meet Joe and see what is going on down there.”
“Where did the bloody trail lead?” Jim asked. “Did you find anything out back.”
“We think the trail leads down to 89 Sunnyside Drive,” Pete said.
“You mean whoever was here has moved down the street?” Jim asked. “Maybe we should go with you?”
“We’re not sure that’s what going on down that way,” Dave replied. “I want you to stay here and keep an eye on this place until I get back. If I need help I’ll call you. I just need you to keep an eye on things so no one disturbs the crime scene. After I’m done with Joe, I’ll check back in with you before I go back to the base and contact the State Police to get a forensic team and some tracking dogs out here.”
“Watch your back,” Jim said. “This is one crazy ass night.”
“Yeah and if it gets any crazier we’re going to need to call the Marines,” Pete chuckled.
“That was going to be my second call after I get back to the base,” Dave said. “Call me if anything else starts happening.”
“Good Luck,” Jim said.
“Something tells me we might just need it,” Dave replied, then he walked out to his patrol car, started the engine and roared down Sunnyside Drive to meet up with Joe.
Chapter 3
Michelle wiped the perspiration from her face as she reached for the red phone that was ringing again for the umpteenth time tonight.
“You sure picked a good night to start working here,” Betty laughed. “It must be a full moon out or something. The crazies are crawling out of the woodwork tonight. It’s been months since we’ve had this many crazy calls. I think it was Halloween two years ago that we had so many calls like this. It ended up that a bunch of crazy kids from a fraternity over at Georgia State decided to terrorize all the McDonalds out on Route 95 as some kind of practical joke on a dare from another fraternity.”
“91
1 Dispatch, what is your emergency?” Michelle asked as she held the phone to her ear.
“There is someone at my backdoor,” an older sounding woman whispered in a terrified voice.
“Is he trying to break into your house?” Michelle asked.
“I don’t know what he is trying to do,” the woman replied.
“Did you try talking to him or to tell him to go away?” Michelle asked.
“I tried, but I think he is in too much pain to understand me, all he does is groan and throw himself against my door,” the woman replied.
“Why do you think he is in pain, does it look like something happened to him?” Michelle asked.
“It sure does, I think he needs an ambulance,” the woman continued. “He is covered in blood, his clothes are all torn, it looks like he was run over by a car or something, he looks horrible.”
“I’ll send an ambulance out right away,” Michelle said. “Is your location 92 Sunnyside Drive?”
“Yes, it is,” the woman replied. “I think you better hurry, he is going out of his mind. The way he is throwing himself in to my back door, he is going to injure himself even more.”
Ma’am, please turn on your front porch light to help the ambulance find your home, they will be there in a few minutes,” Michelle said.
“Oh my!” the woman said.
“Did something happen to the man at your back door?” Michelle asked.
“No, he is still at my door, but two more men just came up behind him. They both look like they were run over by a car too and one of them is in his underwear,” the woman replied. “Oh my!”
“Ma’am, will you be OK until the ambulance arrives?” Michell asked.
“Just please hurry,” she replied. “Was there a bus accident? All these poor bloody people, this is so horrible, they need help.”
“An ambulance is on the way, call me back if you see anything else,” Michelle said, then hung up the phone and quickly reached for the black phone to call Medic One.
“This is Bill,” a voice answered.
“Bill, this is Michelle at the dispatch center,” Michelle began. “I have a call at 92 Sunnyside Drive of multiple injured people. An elderly woman called and said there are three bloody people at her back door. No information on what happened to them, just that they are bloody, moaning and pounding at her back door.
The poor woman is scared to death.”
“I’m on my way,” Bill replied. “What is going on at Sunnyside Drive tonight? This is the third call for an ambulance out that way tonight from what I can see on our logs.
I just got back from my run at Martha’s Lane and found this place deserted, I was looking around trying to find someone when I saw the logs.”
“I’m not sure, Dave hasn’t gotten back to let us know what’s going on for sure,” Michelle replied. “All I can say is we have been getting a lot of crazy calls from that area tonight. Calls from people complaining about someone running around behind their houses knocking over their garbage cans, making their dogs bark, banging against the side of their houses, to this call about bloody people trying to get in through their back door.
We even had a call from someone that just said help me and then hung up.”
“We’ll, I’m heading out to Sunnyside Drive now, I’ll see what I can do, but I don’t know if I can handle three injured people in my rig, it’s just not big enough,” Bill said. “But hey, that’s my problem. Maybe I can tell you what is going on out there after I get back. Maybe we can have lunch together tonight? Do you like Chick-Fil-A or would you prefer pizza?”
Michelle looked over at Betty, who had her head down trying to stifle a laugh.
“We can talk about that later,” Michelle replied. “Right now, you better get moving before that little old lady has a heart attack.”
Michelle smiled at Betty as she hung up the phone.
“It looks like I have to deal with all the crazies tonight whether I use the red or the black phone,” Michelle laughed. “I haven’t decided yet which is worse.”
“You better give Carrie a call over at the police station,” Betty said. “She can contact Dave, since he is over in that area, he might want to look in on 92 Sunnyside Drive while he is there. Maybe all these calls are related somehow, he might want to know about this call too.”
“Maybe Carrie can tell us what is going on over at Sunnyside Drive,” Michelle replied as she reached for the phone. “After handling all these calls for that area, I’m kind of curious what’s going on over there.”
“Hi, this is Michelle over at 911 dispatch,” Michelle said when Carrie’s voice sounded over the phone.
“Don’t tell me you have had another call on Sunnyside Drive?” Carrie replied.
“Yes, but this call was for an ambulance,” Michelle said. “I just thought Dave might want to know about it since he is over there and we have had so many calls from that area tonight. Do you know what is going on over there? Why have we been getting all these weird calls tonight?”
“Dave can fill you in on all the gory details later,” Carrie sighed. “I haven’t been able to make any sense from what Dave has told me tonight, he is still trying to make sense of everything himself.
All I can say for sure is that there are at least four people dead, one person transported to the hospital and everyone in our department is still over there trying to find out what happened while they respond to all these new calls.
Dave thinks all the calls could be connected, but he doesn’t know how just yet.”
“That sounds terrible,” Michelle replied. “I was thinking it all sounded like a bunch of kids playing pranks.”
“Oh it’s gone way beyond that,” Carrie said. “If this started out as a prank, whoever is involved must be high on drugs and out of their mind. Dave told me the four people he found dead, someone had been eating them!”
“What!” Michelle shrieked.
“Dave can fill you in later,” Carrie said. “I have to go. I better tell Dave about this last call. Did they say why they needed an ambulance?”
“The lady that called said that three bloody people were banging at her back door. She thought they looked like they were in pain and needed an ambulance. Bill is headed out that way now.”
“Shit, Dave needs to know about this one,” Carrie said. “I’ll talk to you later Michelle. This is your first night, right?”
“Yeah, some first night,” Michelle replied.
“You planning on coming back tomorrow night?” Carrie asked.
“I was,” Michelle replied.
Carrie laughed, “Sounds like you’re not sure. Talk to you later, I hope.”
Then Carrie hung up.
“Did you hear what Carrie said?” Michelle asked Betty. “Four dead bodies and someone had been eating them.”
“I’m going out and make sure the doors are locked,” Betty said. “We usually don’t lock the side door so Dave, Bill and the guys can come in, but I think we should make an exception tonight.”
“Hurry back,” Michelle said.
“Hey, you’re doing fine. I’ve never seen anyone learn the job as fast as you,” Betty replied as she started out the door.
“It’s not the job I’m worried about,” Michelle answered.
Chapter 4
Dave spotted Joe’s patrol car and pulled in behind him.
As he shut off the engine, Carrie’s voice came over the radio.
“What’s up Carrie?” Dave asked.
“Where are you?” Carrie asked.
“I just pulled in behind Joe at 89 Sunnyside Drive,” Dave replied. “I’m going to go with Joe to investigate the disturbance reported here.”
“I just got another call from 911 dispatch,” Carrie said.
“It will have to wait,” Dave replied, hesitated then asked. “What is it? Is it a higher priority situation?”
“A lady at 92 Sunnyside called for an ambulance. Bill is responding. The lady claims that there are three bloody indivi
duals trying to get into her house. She thought they needed an ambulance.”
“I’ll take Joe and check it out,” Dave replied. “If the person reporting the disturbance at 89 Sunnyside calls back again, tell them I am only a few doors away and will be there as soon as I can. Let me know if the caller reports any changes to their situation.”
“Will do,” Carrie replied. “I just thought you would want to be informed about this last call.”
“Thanks,” Dave replied. “These people might be the ones that were at 81 Sunnyside. I sure hope so, I would like to end this now before these bastards leave the area. Let me know if anything else develops. Dave out.”
Joe got out of his patrol car and walked back to Dave’s car as Dave finished his conversation with Carrie.
As Joe walked back next to Dave’s side of the car, Dave wound down the window.
“I’ve been watching the house, but everything seems quiet,” Joe said.
“Hop in the car,” Dave said. “We have another report a few doors down. An elderly woman reporting three bloody individuals trying to get into her house.”
“Three bloody people trying to get into her house?” Joe repeated.
“That’s right.” Dave replied.
“Isn’t that a job for an ambulance?” Joe asked.
“Normally that would be right,” Dave replied, “but my concern is how did those people end up bloody.”
“Do you think they were at 81 Sunnyside where all those people were killed?” Joe asked.
“That crossed my mind,” Dave replied. “But were they victims or are they the ones that did the killing. Either way, I want to talk to them. If they aren’t the killers, maybe they can explain to me what the hell is happening around here.”
Dave looked up at Joe and saw red lights flashing and reflecting off Joe’s face.
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