by Aaron Guerra
That’s when Sarah noticed it. The station upstairs was quiet, too quiet. The gunshots should’ve alerted everyone in the building, but no one has bothered to come down to see what was going on. The three officers entered the main hall, but they were shocked to see that it was already destroyed. Chairs, desks and shelves were knocked over with the lights flickering above them. The smell was lingering in the large open room when they entered it from the first floor hallway. The stench however was stronger than before to where they couldn’t see clearly from all the coughing it was causing them. Sarah had fought against the horrible odor and lead the way to the exit of the building.
They stood outside of the police station to see that it was just quiet and dark. They couldn’t hear any of their fellow officers nearby from where they were standing. The lights within the building went out, which made the place look old and abandoned. Jen cocked her shotgun when she noticed a person came shambling over towards her with blood in his mouth. She quickly aimed towards him and pulled the trigger which caused it’s entire head to splatter from the impact. It’s pale body had fell down against the hard concrete when more of them came out from where the other police vehicles were parked. Jen cocked her weapon again so that it was ready to be fired when needed. Sarah tapped on James’s arm to get his attention when more of the gruesome beasts came from the other direction.
“We better get the hell out of here!” Sarah had said to them. “I don’t think this place is safe anymore.” James ran to his vehicle while the girls started to fire at the closest ones to give him cover. The officer opened his door and sat inside his vehicle before turning the lights on. He jumped back when the bright lights had shined onto a large amount of police officers in front of his car. It was as if they were all infected already from the look of their skin color and torn clothing. Some of them were scratching at the side of the building, but a few of them turned their attention to the machine that was making loud noise. Sarah and Jen had jumped into the passenger side of his car and slammed it shut before the creatures in uniform could reach the vehicle.
A swarm of the bloody creatures were all around the police car trying to get inside. Their bodies were pressing against the glass which started to crack from the pressure. James quickly put the vehicle in reverse and slammed his foot against the pedal, which caused some of the people to fall off and land in awkward positions that might’ve broken some of their bones. Jen noticed that the Sheriff’s truck wasn’t where he parked it earlier, so hopefully at least he got out and escaped. The driver immediately hit the brakes to send the ones flying off the trunk of his car. He gripped the gearshift and moved it once more. Now they were heading forward and away from the police department. Sarah couldn’t help but look back at the building that was overrun with the monsters already. She could see them all gathering near the front entrance of place. Jen was sitting on Sarah’s lap in the passenger’s seat, which made James chuckle a little from the sight. The two women both gave him a glare that caused his smile to instantly disappear. The sun has now gone down, which will make everything much more difficult for the remaining officers of Little Bow.
Chapter 2
The night sky was a friend and foe to the large officer that had been running down the street to his house from the police station. Mark could hear the groans that came from the psychotic people that were following after him since he left his desk earlier. He could feel his heart pound harder from inside with each movement he made since his body wasn‘t use to that kind of movement anymore.
“I have to get home!” he had said to himself while panting heavily. At that moment, Mark’s legs had given up on him. He tried to fight it, but it was too much for someone in his shape to win against. The large officer had fell over on the sidewalk before turning over to see the gruesome freaks jump at him from a few steps away. Mark tried his best to fight them off, but there were way too many of them. His screams for help alerted the entire neighbor in the area he was in. Each house’s porch light came on with a few of the owners coming out to see what was happening outside.
All they could see was a few people on top of a cop. One of the curious men by his house had called out to them.
“Hey, is everything alright?” said one of the neighbors. “What’s going on over there?” Hearing someone speak up had caught their immediate attention. Each of them got up slowly and turned to face the person that just spoke out loud. The man took a few steps closer before standing perfectly still in his yard. He caught a whiff of something he didn’t like in the air just then. “Did something die out here?” he said. The creatures slowly approached the man with fresh blood dripping down their face. “Holy shit! Are you guys alright?!” The one in the front of the small group had jumped at him with all of it’s weight to knock him down. As soon as the man fell back onto his lawn, the others joined in on their new feast. Some of the people that came outside soon went back into their homes after seeing their fellow neighbor being viciously attacked. But for some reason there was still a few of them that was standing in their yard. They were unfortunately tackled down and turned into another meal like Mark was only moments ago.
Mark‘s house was a few streets away from where he was devoured. His daughter Susan and son Jake were waiting impatiently for his arrival. Jake was an eighteen year old senior at his High School with a clean shaven head. He looked exactly like his old man, just not with the extra pounds. Jake was fit to be a football player, but his grades weren’t exactly the best.
“Do you think dad is almost home?” his sister had asked while looking out the window to see some lights that were on from the distance. Jake shook his head as he decided to go outside to feel the cool breeze of the night. The young man opened the door and walked out to stand on their front porch. Susan followed after him with a smile on her face. “I think he’s going to be happy that I got another A+ on my math quiz today!” said Susan as she smiled brightly. Her brother just smirked and went back into the house while muttering to himself. Jake never did like that about his sister. He was the strong dumb one while she had the brains like their mother did.
Susan was about to head back into the house when she heard something from the bushes nearby. The girl turned to face the large bushes that separated their yard from the neighbors next door. Inside the house, Jake entered his dad’s room to look for any magazines that had half naked women on it. Outside, Susan started to walk towards the strange sounds that was coming from the bush. She knew it was a silly thing to do, but she was still very curious. The teenager had gently called out to what she believed was a feline
“Here kitty!” she had said while moving her hand around to get it’s attention. “Come to me little kitty! Here kitty, kitty, kitty!” But there wasn’t a response. It got quiet for a while, but then the rustling came back. The closer she got to the bushes, the more it started to move. “Who’s in there?” she asked with a slight tremble in her voice. Susan decided to turn back and head inside her house before locking the door behind her. “Jake?” She called out for her brother, but he didn‘t reply back. The young girl had reached over for the phone that was beside her on the wall. “I wonder where Tiffany is? But knowing her, she’s probably at school still in the library studying.”
Jake finally found a magazine under his dad’s bed, but instead pictures of naked woman, it had sandwiches on it.
“Dad, you’re into some of that weird shit.” he had said to himself. He ended up dropping it on the carpet floor and kicking it back under the bed where it first was. “That sandwich looked pretty good though, but I’d rather have a different snack instead.” Jake had said before he left his dad’s room. The teen entered the living room to find his sister laying on the couch. He noticed that Susan was on the phone since she was talking loud and laughing like most of the girls he knew from school. “Hey smarty pants, I’ll be back in a little bit.” he had said to her. “I’m heading over to the convenience store for something sweet to munch on.” Susan shrugged her shoulders and continued to
talk with her friend over the phone. Jake had unlocked the front door and opened it slightly at first. He kept it partly open because there was a shadow figure standing on his front yard. Jake opened the door a little more to let some of the light shine on the unknown person. But it was his father, Mark. The large man started to limp towards the door while being covered in fresh bite wounds all over. “Dad?!” Jake had said.
Susan suddenly dropped the house phone and went outside with her brother after hearing him yell. Both of Mark’s kids started to choke from a terrible smell that was suddenly in the air. Mark’s body twitched a few times before he grabbed his daughter tightly. The man tried to take a bite out of her, but Jake didn’t let that happen. She struggled to get away from her dad, but he was too strong. Jake tried to pull him away from her, but it wasn’t working at all. The teenager had then jumped onto the man’s back and pulled on him as much as he could. Susan was finally released from his grip, thanks to her brother’s help. The girl had to walk away because the smell was too much for her to take. Mark lost his balance and fell back, crushing Jake under him. The large man struggled to move around, but he was immobile as long as Jake was holding onto him with all of his strength. Susan started to scream at her father as loud as she could. She tried to stop him from attacking them like a mad man.
“DAD! IT’S US!” she had screamed. “WE’RE YOUR KIDS! PLEASE! STOP DADDY!” Jake slowly turned his head to the side to see more people rushing over to aid them. The smile that was on his face soon disappeared the closer they got to him. They looked just like his father, all ripped up and covered in bite marks and scratches.
“Susan! Get the hell out of here!” her brother had yelled. She was walking back and forth, unsure of what to do. Susan finally ran inside and locked the door behind her. The sound of her brother screaming outside was making her body shake horribly all over. Jake continued to yell out when the people finally surrounded him. They started to grab his arms and legs and pull on them with all their strength. He cried out in tremendous pain when they ripped his limbs from his body. Blood had poured out everywhere as he finally started to lose consciousness. Each of the beasts started to devour the piece of him that they took for themselves. The large officer had finally rolled off of Jake’s torso with it‘s eyes looking down at the teenager. He slowly climbed over to his son and bit down into neck. More of the evil people came out from the bushes and tackled what was left of Jake’s body. In the end there was nothing left of Jake but some of his clothing and a pool of his warm blood.
Paul and Terrance had followed the Sheriff back to his house. The two were waiting in their own police vehicles, wondering just what the hell was going on. They’ve been with the Sheriff since the bodies were found at the basketball court in town earlier. A few minutes had passed and the Sheriff still didn’t come out of his place yet. Must’ve been giving the bad news to his wife about their son’s demise. Terrance had exited his vehicle and started to walk towards Paul. He then rested his arm against the open window when he finally stood beside the car. Terrance looked around the area before facing his partner.
“So what do you think?” said Terrance.
“I think there’s some crazy ass psycho that moved into our nice peaceful town,” said Paul as he relaxed in his seat while looking back up to Terrance.
“I feel you on that one brother. I can’t shake away that shit that went down earlier at the station. Ryan is dead, and so is little Kyle.”
“Terrance, we’re going to do whatever we can to aid Bruce in this matter. We’re all family down here, and nobody fucks with our family! We will find the ones responsible that did this to this kids at the park.”
Paul connected his fist with Terrance as a sign of respect to each other. They were chuckling to themselves for a bit when they noticed a young woman walking by herself to the side of the road. The officer outside the patrol car had flashed his light at her. They snickered somewhat cause of the sudden light ended up blinding her sight.
“Ma’am, are you well aware that there’s a curfew?” said Paul. She started to mumble to herself for a moment while checking her bag.
“I’m sorry officer, but I’m on my way home from work.” said the girl.
She seemed kind of innocent to them from how she was dressed and acted. The girl made her way over towards the police officer that was speaking to her. Nervously, she linked her hands together in front of her waist as she stood near the police vehicle. The cop clicked his flashlight once more to turn it off.
“What is your name?” asked Terrance. She looked a little puzzled at first, but she smiled back to him before answering his question.
“My name is Kim, Kim Kohn.” she had said. Paul decided to step out of the vehicle now. He wanted to join in on their little chit chat while they waited for their superior to return. Paul placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder in a way that gave her a bad vibe.
From what he could tell by his guess, was that she must’ve been around the age of nineteen or twenty. The girl couldn’t help but blush at first, but she didn’t like that he was so close to her. Kim took a few steps back so that he couldn’t place a hand easily on her again.
“P-Please don’t touch me,” she had said to Paul. “It’s nothing personal. I just don‘t like to be touched at all. Not even by close friends or family members.” Terrance started to laugh at Paul’s reaction when she said that to him. The officer that was rejected looked at his partner, then back at the girl in front of him.
“What’s wrong?” the man had said with a pissed off look on his face. “Am I ugly or something Ms. Kohn? Am I not good enough for you?” That negative vibe she felt about him was right on the mark. Kim started to walk away when Paul grabbed her by the wrist to pull her back to him. “I’m talking to you!” the angered man had said. “Do you see this badge?! You have to obey it! Whatever I say, you must obey it!” Terrance knew the joke was over the moment she looked terrified.
“Hey man, let the woman go. It’s not funny anymore,” Terrance had said to his partner. Paul glared at him before looking at the girl again.
“How about I take you down to the station for questioning? You could have something dangerous or illegal in that bag of yours!” said Paul. She didn’t know what was going on anymore. She just wanted to go home where it was safe.
“Look! I’m sorry that I hurt your feelings, but you’re really scaring me. Please, just let me go,” she had said to him with tears forming in her eyes.
Kim struggled to free herself, but he still refused to let her go. The sound of a screen door being kicked open had caught him off guard. The woman was able to pull herself free from his grip. She fell onto the road with her bag opening up. Most of her stuff came pouring out beside her. Paul quickly walked back to his vehicle and got inside. The Sheriff whistled at the two officers before he entered his truck. Terrance knelt down to help the girl up, but she was already trembling from what just happened. He watched as the two already decided to drive off without him.
“Damn it Paul, always making us look like the bad guys. You‘re no different from Ryan. Hey, I‘m sorry about what just happened. He can take his jokes a little too far,” Terrance had said before walking to his car. The officer had entered his vehicle and quickly started it up. He drove after the two that left him behind as his lights on the vehicle came on. Kim slowly reached out to pick up the last thing that fell out of her bag.
“S-STUPID PIG!” she had screamed out loud. She couldn’t help but place her hand over her mouth in disbelief from what she just did. “Did I really just say that?” she had said to herself in surprise.
James drove his police vehicle quietly into a dark neighborhood. He went all the way down the street until entering a long driveway. The house was a rather large two story building with none of the lights currently on. James glanced at his friends, then back to the house in front of him.
“Listen, I’m going to go check on my mom real fast,” James had said before continuing. “I want you two to keep a
n eye out for anything while I’m gone. If you think or feel like any kind of trouble is coming, honk the horn. Alright?” he said had to them.
Hesitant at first, he had reached down for the door handle to his side. The dark evil thought of his mother as one of those monsters was making it difficult to get out. But he took a deep breath and got out of the vehicle before quietly shutting the door behind him. Sarah and Jen looked at the windshield in the front of the car to see a bunch of cracks that was left behind from the horde at the police station. Jen had scooted over to the drivers seat to get comfortable. Sitting beside Sarah in the passenger’s side made her body ache in certain places.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” Jen had said to herself. “What‘re we going to do if we can‘t stop this?” she asked Sarah with a defeated tone in her voice. Sarah stretched her arms out while letting a soft yawn escape from her. She turned her head to face her friend, but there really wasn’t anything she could say to make her feel better.