by Aaron Guerra
“Thank you. He may have acted rough with you, but he was only joking around. Ryan never meant anything behind his words,” she said to him.
“You sure about that, darling?” Mark asked while looking away from her.
“Yeah, he’s been a goofball since the fourth grade.”
She put her hand on his while fighting the urge to shed some more tears. The large man scuffed and looked out the window before he removed his hand from her shoulder. Mark had walked to his desk that was near the entrance of the building. She didn’t know what he meant by that, but the smell of death was making her feel sick to her stomach. Some of the officers started to spray some air fresheners in there, but it wasn’t really helping at all.
The phone started to ring but she waited a few seconds before answering it.
“This is Officer Jen Campbell,” she had said in a professional manner. “What is your emergency?” A woman started screaming her head off from the other side of the line, which caused Jen to move her head away from the phone for a brief moment. “I’m sorry ma’am, could you repeat all that once more?” Jen had asked. The woman tried to calm herself down, but she was still hysterical.
“I NEED SOMEONE TO COME DOWN HERE AND TEACH THESE PUNKS SOME MANNERS!” the person had shouted through her end. The voice was recognizable now after she was done yelling through the phone.
It was the Librarian to their Public Library.
“Ma’am, please calm down,” said Jen in a calm voice. “Now what are these punks doing exactly?” The librarian took a second to catch her breath until she spoke in a more sophisticated tone.
“They’re talking loud and eating in the library. I have some people that are trying to study! Come over here and get these delinquents out before they do anything else!” said the Librarian.
“Alright Alright! I will come down there personally to see each of them out,” Jen said. She couldn’t help but chuckle from this call. The librarian was able to hear the light chuckle which caused her to shout through the phone again like a bat out of hell. She abruptly hung up to end their brief chat together. Jen sighed as she slowly got up from her chair. She walked over to Ryan’s desk, hoping to see him there. But the sad reminder of an empty seat got to her. “Ryan,” she said to herself.
Bruce stood behind her and placed his comforting hand on her shoulder like Mark had did earlier.
“He was a good officer,” he said as he went on. “I couldn’t have asked for anyone better than him, Jen.” She turned to face the older man and smiled.
“Thank you, Sheriff,” said the officer with tears in her eyes. “I’m going to head out now. I just got a call from the librarian about delinquents disturbing her domain again. I think this is her third call this week already.” The Sheriff made a face when the word ’Librarian’ came up. At least once a week she would call about something and it’s always a big nothing.
He said to her, “Alright then, drive safe out there. Let me know if you run into any of those morons that left this morning.” The man had rubbed his moustache while looking down to her. “I still haven’t heard from George, Harvey, Erik or Sarah yet.” he said. “I might have to send a patrol car out there to hurry their asses up.” She couldn’t help but smile when she left his presence. The officer headed to the department’s entrance to leave the building.
It didn’t take long for Jen to pull into the library. She had decided to fix her short brunette hair incase she saw an attractive young man inside.
“Nothing sexier than a man with a brain,” she had thought to herself. Ryan’s image flashed into her mind after she said that. “You were the exact opposite of that, but I still liked you.” When she was done fixing her hair, she left the car and started walking to the library with a serious expression on her face. But she soon stopped when that same disgusting smell from the bathroom caught her attention. It was so vile and repulsive. “That horrible stench must be on my uniform,” she had thought. “I’m gonna have to wash this good when I get home tonight.” She decided to sniff her shirt, but she wasn’t able to detect the smell from it. “That crazy man really stunk bad, more than most drunkards usually do.” she had thought to herself when remembering the one that killed Ryan.
Jen entered the library to find the woman barking her head off at the students sitting at a table in the middle of the building. They were reading their books with headphones covering their ears. It was loud enough for you to hear their music, but to complain about that to the police was just a tad bit on the crazy side.
“Finally! You’re here!” said the Librarian. “Come remove these delinquents out of my library so the other people here can study in peace!” Jen had glanced around the large room to see that there was no one else in there but them.
“R-Right then,” Jen had said. She gently tapped one of the student’s shoulder to get their attention. The officer told them nicely, “I’m gonna have to ask for you and your friends to leave the library for now.”
The students started to tap on each other with their pencils. Each of them removed their headphones and looked up at the librarian and the officer that was standing beside her.
“Sup baby!” said one of the teenagers. “You going to teach me right from wrong tonight at your place?” A few of the boys had clapped their hands with the one that said that, which made Jen’s sweet friendly smile fade away. For once the librarian was right about something. They were little punks.
“Alright, you guys get your stuff and get out now,” she said as she pointed to the closest exit. “Shouldn’t all of you be in school right now?!” The high school students quickly got their backpacks and started to walk towards the door with their loud music escaping from their headphones. Before they left the building, they abruptly stopped by the doors that lead outside. A few of them started to sniff the air and cough heavily.
“Hey Big B! You smell that shit?” A student had said as he waved his hand around to blow the smell away.
““Yeah man, smells like a dead animal or something.” said Big B, a young tall man that was always causing trouble with his friends. “Hey Library lady! You need to clean this place real good since you’re probably the one who’s stinking it up!”
They started to laugh as they finally walked out of the library. Jen thought it was just her that could smell the disgusting stench, but apparently they were able to pick up the smell as well. The librarian just stood there, glaring at the cop that was in her way.
“What’re you waiting for?” said the older cranky woman. “Get out of my library! Go do what police do and keep those delinquents out of my building!” She waved her hands around with an angry look on her face before returning to her book covered desk.
“You’re welcome?” Jen had whispered to herself quietly so that the librarian couldn’t hear that. The officer walked to the entrance before she stopped to smell it again. “What is that disgusting smell?” she had thought to herself. When she had walked out of the building, she was able to see the young men walking towards the down town area. Jen unlocked her vehicle with the key and got inside to start it up.
The librarian got up from her desk when she finally caught the horrible odor that they complained about.
The woman said to herself, “Disgusting! They must’ve been smoking in the bathroom! Nothing but delinquents I tell you! They will always be little bastards that will ruin this town in the future!” She turned around and started walking to the bathroom door that was next to the front entrance. But before she could open it, a few drunk-like-people came tumbling out. All of them landed on top of her with their hands holding her down to the floor. They immediately started to tear through her flesh like hungry wild rabid animals. She was only able to scream once before the blood started to clog up her throat, causing her to choke soon afterwards.
One of the student’s that was in the group had stopped walking and began to pat his pants that were hanging low around his waist.
“Shit man, I forgot my lighter,” Big B had said to
his friends. He clapped his hands and started to laugh to himself for no reason.
“Hey man, just forget it. I got a few back at my place that you can have,” said Joey. He was the little punk that was hitting on the police officer at the Library. Big B had shook his head and looked back at the library. It was a gift from his late grandfather.
“Na man, I have to go retrieve it. I’ll meet with you guys later at the basketball court. Tell Kyle not to leave early! Going to school him at the court,” said Big B. All of them lifted their heads slightly in a way to say goodbye before he started to jog back to the library.
The smell that resembled road kill was getting to him when he walked inside the building. There was a large red stain on the carpet floor near the bathroom when he had walked in.
“That bitch said that WE were sloppy?” said Big B as he stared at the puddle. “Shit! Freaking hypocrite! I hope she has a stroke soon or some shit.” He walked over to the table where he was with his friends. The lighter was there on the floor when he checked around the chairs. He smiled when he went down to reach for it. As soon as he had it in his possession, he felt something bite down hard into his back. He moved around to try and fight it off but it was too strong. The lighter fell out of his grasp again when he was forced onto the table. A few crazy blood covered people came out of the book aisles with white eyes. Each of them held him down with their teeth biting into his flesh. Through the corner of his eye, he was able to see the librarian not that far away. She was on the floor with her insides removed, same with the side of her face. That was the last thing he saw before he passed out into the darkness as they continued to devour his remains.
It was early in the evening when the sun was at the point of leaving for the day. Bruce came walking out of the station, dead beat tired from the paper work he had to do since Ryan met his untimely end.
“Still no word from Harvey or Sarah.” said the sheriff. He looked around to see two police officers known as John and James, were having a discussion that didn’t have anything to do with their job. A loud whistle from their superior caught their immediate attention. He came walking towards them with pure anger in his eyes. “You two cotton heads!” yelled the sheriff. “I want you both to head on over to route 45 and see what’s taking Deputy Harvey, George and Sarah so long. Call my house when you find them. I’m going to give those three my boot when I see them tomorrow!” The two officers just stared at him, and then to each other. A vein was now visible on the sheriff’s face when he opened his mouth and raised his voice. “DIDN’T I JUST TELL YOU TWO MORONS TO MOVE?! GO! GO! HURRY THE HELL UP!” Both of them quickly got into their vehicle and drove off to Route 45. Bruce watched them leave the area before he walked to his own personal black truck.
Finally he would be able to relax when he’d get home to his wife and son.
“My boy Kyle is about to turn 17,” he had said to himself. “He better not be screwing around right now with those so-called-friends of his. Can‘t stand those little punks.” He got into his truck and started the engine. It was always a peaceful drive to his home. The thought of his wife cooking in the kitchen that she loved always put a warm smile on his face. She was the love of his life since they were young kids. Happily married for over 40 years. He smiled once again which caused his white bushy moustache to perk up abit.
The Sheriff slowly entered his driveway and parked the truck. He could smell the delicious dinner his wife was making through the open window nearby. Already he was feeling a whole lot better from the long day at work. But that’s when he remembered that god awful smell from the accident this morning and inside the precinct.
“Damn, I’ll need to take a hot shower to forget that disgusting stink.” said the sheriff. As soon as he opened the door to his truck, his son Kyle came walking out of the front door of the house.
“Too cool to say hello to your own pops now?”
“Sup pops? Just got out of work?”
“Yeah, been a hell of a day. Lost a good man earlier at the station.”
“What? Who died?” said his son with a curious look in his eye.
The sheriff just shook his head when he didn‘t give the name out. His son just shrugged his shoulders when he placed some large headphones around his neck.
“Hey, don’t stay out too late.” said his father. “You hear me boy? I want you to stay alert.” Kyle waved his hand in the air to show his dad that he heard him when walking away. The young man fixed his pants and left for down town to meet up with his friends. Bruce had slowly waved his hand once more before taking himself inside his house to see his wife cooking in the kitchen. “Dear, what is wrong with our boy?” he asked as he faced his wife. The sheriff continued to talk to her about their son. “He is dressing up like a clown still with those baggy pants. I don‘t know how to get through to him anymore.” Bruce sighed heavily when he removed his jacket and placed it to hang on the wall. The woman chuckled while she twirled the potatoes around to make them mushy in a large bowl.
“He’s just in a phase. Don’t you remember all those times when you wore that silly hat for almost a year?” his wife had said.
“Hey now, that’s different. That was class.”
“Class? My dear husband, that was just a silly hat that you found at a garage sale! Don‘t you remember when we were driving around Travis for the sights? We found a small garage sale and you fell in love with that tiny hat,” she said to him.
A blush grew on his face when she mentioned their past. He always enjoyed the good times he had with his wife in their younger years.
“Hell, I almost forgot about that hat! Still have it too somewhere in this place. Maybe I can give it to Kyle for his birthday?” said Bruce. He sat down in his comfortable green chair and relaxed his feet on the ottoman. The tired man had stretched once more before taking a well deserved nap while his wife continued to make their supper.
Officers James and John slowed their vehicle down along the road when they noticed Sarah walking on her own in the darkness. She looked dead tired with her uniform messed up and hair cut short. James had parked the car and got out to walk to her, but she ended up swinging a big kitchen knife towards him that was covered in dried blood. Her eyes widened up when seeing the two dark figures moving towards her from the police car. James released his gun from the holster and aimed it towards her. His partner John did the same near the Vehicle while flashing the bright search light on her.
“What the hell happened to you Sarah?” said James as he pointed the gun slowly to the ground. “It’s us! The J-Team!” he said to jog her memory.
She suddenly dropped the knife and ran into James’s arms when she finally came to. The woman held onto him tightly while finally crying out from tears of joy. John smiled and made a perverted hump in the air when seeing the two hold each other very closely. James gave him the middle finger in return and looked back down to her. Sarah looked past James’s shoulder since the car’s headlights were still on. She could see a few people limping in their direction from the distance.
Sarah instantly grabbed James’s hand and forced him back into the car with her. She got into the middle seat and pointed towards the people that was heading their way.
“We have to get back to the station!” she had said. “We have to warn everyone! Come on let‘s go!” The woman quickly wiped her tears away and grabbed her empty handgun from it’s holster. John had stepped away from the vehicle with his nightstick and flashlight in both hands. The man began to walk towards the group while James and Sarah watched from the inside of the police car. She called out to him, “JOHN! GET BACK IN THE FUCKING CAR! THEY’RE NOT NORMAL! THEY’RE MONSTERS! THEY KILLED THE OTHERS!” The officer that was outside the vehicle had turned around to see Sarah in the passenger’s window. The moment he was going to turn back to the people, he felt his body fly forward to the ground. He could feel the excruciating pain when the assailants began to tear through his back with their pale rotting fingers. James watched in horror as partner was bei
ng torn apart by a few unknown people, but the sight of Harvey and George eating John was messing with his head.
Blood was spilling everywhere as the smell of that old rotting decayed flesh finally reached the car. Some of the attackers started to moan when they noticed the car in front of them. They held out their arms and began to sprint towards the vehicle with John’s blood and flesh still in their mouth. Sarah quickly rolled the window up and moved over to pull the stick into reverse. James read her mind and stepped on the gas pedal hard which made the vehicle drive back. He took over the stick and changed it to drive as they drove back to town with the lights going off on the top of the cruiser. Sarah was gripping his hand tightly as he held hers for comfort. The sounds of agonized screaming started to die off the further they drove down the old dark road.
“Are you going to tell me exactly what the fuck just happened?!” James had said as he kept driving. “Who the hell were they?! What were they?! What happened over there this morning?!” he asked his friend. She couldn’t handle it at the moment. He kept staring at her, then to the road as his body started to shake from the fear of the unknown. “Listen, was that really George and Harvey?” he had asked in a calmer tone this time. “Why did they attack John with those other people? None of this is making any sense to me Sarah! Please tell me what you know!” The woman pulled her hand away from his and smacked the window to her right from the built in frustration.
“I don’t fucking know!” she had finally said. “I just don’t know! Let’s just get back to the station! We’ll think of something…” she told him. James gripped the steering wheel tightly and pressed the pedal down to increase their speed.
“Alright then. That’s our plan for now,” said James.
A loud buzzing noise had suddenly awoken the Sheriff from his nap. He opened his eyes to see that the channel he was watching on the TV had went out.