Dead in Love

by Colby Van Wagoner

  The two officers, along with the sheriffs, roped off the store with crime tape and began to photograph the scene. They finished the investigation and found nothing unusual on the store's video camera to indicate or identify the suspect. “We got nothing. I will head over to the hospital and follow up with the victims and see if they can provide a description.” The sheriffs locked up the store and returned to their vehicle to notify the owner of the store of the incident.

  The other two officers pulled out of the parking lot and drove in the direction of the hospital. After waiting for a few minutes, the sheriffs pulled away from the store. In the rear alleyway of the store, the lid of one of the barrels next to the dumpster rose and fell to the ground. From inside, George climbed out and stumbled down the alleyway. His motor skills were improving and he was able to move with more speed. He walked down the street and into the darkness of the night.

  The officers waited in the lobby to question the store clerk and the couple James and Amy. The doctors and nurses were in surgery, attending to Dave’s shoulder wound. Amy was in the opposite room, in surgery two. James stood near the door waiting. A doctor walked from the surgery room door and over to James, “I am afraid she is in really bad shape. Her wrist is showing signs of decomposition and her vitals are weakening.” James wiped his forehead and paced around the doctor, “Is she going to make it?” The doctor replied, “Everything I can see would indicate that she should recover. I am waiting on some blood work, because she is running a high fever and low heart rate. Do you know what happened?”

  The two police officers walked over, just as the doctor asked what had happened, “We also need to know what happened sir. There is still a suspect at large, the one who attacked your girlfriend. We need you to help us. Can you remember anything about the man?” James began describing the incident as best he could. One of the officers was writing notes on a clipboard.

  After he finished with most of the details, he paused and looked up at the officers and then over at the doctor, “There was something not right about the guy, he was slow, his eyes were glazed over and when he grabbed my ankle, his skin was cold. There was no warmth and the cold shot right up my leg.” The doctor looked at the police officers and then back at James, “I will get a rush put on the blood work and see if I can provide you an update within the next hour. Meanwhile, why don’t you go grab some coffee son? Looks like you could use a cup.”

  “Yes, you are right doctor.” One of the police officers looked at James, trying to reassure him, “She will be alright kid and we will get this guy.” The officers turned and walked into the lobby, then out the doors of the hospital. James turned and walked down the hallway and into the cafeteria. The surgeons working on Dave, the store clerk and were successful in stopping the bleeding from his shoulder. They had difficulty repairing a severed artery in his shoulder, but were able to suture the wound.

  After an hour, the machine monitoring Dave’s vitals began beeping. An alarm went off and the nurses and doctors rushed to his room. They began working on him, until one of the doctors began CPR. One of the nurses put a breathing device over his mouth and began pumping it, pushing air into his lungs. The doctor called out, "Continue Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation to manually preserve the brain function, until I can take further measures to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing."

  "Doctor he is in cardiac arrest, no breathing" A nurse responded. The doctor walked over to the table and picked up a syringe and drained the contents into the IV drip, "Continue chest compressions at least 5 cm deep and at a rate of at least 100 per minute to maintain artificial circulation, provide breaths pushing air into the lungs.

  After 10 minutes, the doctor ordered "Clear, it is unlikely going to restart the heart at this point; if we can’t delay tissue death and have not extended the brief window of the opportunity here, there may be permanent brain damage. Nurse, quickly, administer an electric shock to the patient's heart, using defibrillation."

  A nurse wheeled over the defibrillator and powered on the unit. The device sounded an alarm, indicating it was ready for use. The nurse announced, “Clear,” and pressed the pads against Dave’s chest, pressed the button and unleashed the first charge. Dave’s back arched as the charge went through. They waited and watched the monitor. “Nothing, again” The doctor ordered. The nurse gave Dave another charge and another, until the doctor called out, “That’s it. I am calling it. The patient is deceased at 20:46 in the p.m. The doctor walked from the room, as the nurses continued to tend to the deceased.

  A code alarm was announced over the intercom, various nurses and doctors rushed to Amy’s room. She was also in cardiac arrest and her vitals were weakening. “Start CPR and breathing.” The doctor called out. The staff continued the same procedure on Amy as they did earlier on the store clerk.

  Among all the confusion, Dave was left in surgery room one. James was walking down the hall and realized all the nurses were coming in and out of the surgery room. He rushed to the door and watched as nurses and doctors frantically struggled to resuscitate Amy. In the background, the door to surgery room one opened. The store clerk, Dave walked from the room and down the hospital hallway.

  He stumbled over wheelchairs and pushed a gurney from his path, walked towards an exit and pushed open the door. After walking a few steps, he tripped and fell down the staircase, tumbling down end over end and smashed against the wall and coming to an abrupt stop. His face smashed against the wall, breaking his nose.

  Within seconds, he moaned and stood up, reaching for the handrail and pulling himself further down the stairs. At the bottom, he left the hospital and entered a dimly lit parking garage. Walking among the cars, he reached a guard rail and ducked underneath, then walked towards the sidewalk. He made his way down the sidewalk and into a residential neighborhood.

  Street lights lit up the corners as he walked further down the road. A few kids rode by on bicycles, laughing and playing as they popped wheelies and rode off down the street. Rain began to fall and splash off the asphalt. Puddles quickly formed on the streets and sidewalks as Dave stumbled towards a park. He walked into the trees and disappeared into the night.

  Back at the hospital, Amy was pronounced dead at 21:32 p.m. and James sat in the lobby of the emergency room. He was staring down at the ground and looking at the patterns in the carpet, wondering what went wrong. “Excuse me,” the doctor approached, “something strange is happening. Amy has been pronounced dead, however, her blood work came back and there is a strange virus in her bloodstream that we cannot identify.”

  “She has a virus, what type of virus?” James stood up and looked at the doctor.

  “We have no idea. No-one has ever seen anything like this. I have called the local division of the CDC and will wait for them to arrive and provide them samples. Until then, why don’t you get some rest? I will call you after I know more.”

  “Thanks doctor.” James walked down the hallway and into a quiet room. He lay down on the couch and stared at the ceiling, looking at the dots in the ceiling panels. He closed his eyes and fell asleep. The doctor walked passed the room where the deceased patient Dave was in and noticed he was gone, but the gurney was still there. Locating a nurse he asked, “Nurse, was the deceased patient in surgery room one taken to the morgue already?”

  “I’m not sure doctor; I will call down and check.” The nurse walked over to the nurse’s station, picked up the phone and dialed an extension. “Hello this is the emergency room nurse’s station. Was a deceased male brought down there in the last 30 minutes?” She received the answer, looked up at the doctor and replied, “Thank You” She hung up the phone, “No doctor, no-one has been brought down to the morgue today.”

  The doctor walked back over to the room and looked at the empty gurney, puzzled. “Notify security and tell them to search the hospital, a dead body can’t just get up and walk away.” The nurse went back to the nurse’s station, notifying security of the situation. Moments later, security te
ams were walking through the hospital, attempting to locate the missing body.

  Back at the convenience store, there was one light on, in the store front, shining down on the front door. Out of the shadows, a figure appeared and walked towards the store. It walked to the front door and bumped into the glass. It was Dave, the store clerk, still wearing his work uniform and apparent shoulder and face wounds.

  As he had done before day after day, he reached down into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys, putting one of the keys into the lock and opening the door. He walked down the isle, into the back and began turning on all the store lights, came back out into the store and walked behind the counter. The first customer walked in and shouted, “Nice costume man!” The customer didn’t even notice the wound on his shoulder and face was real, only thinking it was an elaborate costume.

  The customer walked up to the counter and looked closely at Dave, “Wow that looks real. Who did your makeup?” Dave moaned and pushed a few buttons on the register. The register popped open and the customer laughed, placed some money on the counter and looked around the store, adjusting his button up shirt. Dave picked up the money placed it in the tray and handed the customer back some change. It wasn’t the exact change, but the customer didn’t even notice, “Have a good night man, great costume, Happy Halloween.” Halloween was still six days away.

  After an hour of helping customers and none of them realizing Dave, the store clerk was dead, the store’s owner Steve, walked through the door. He was looking around the store, “Dave what happened tonight? Why are you still here? The police called me and said you had been attacked. Dave?”

  Steve walked down the isle, where all the products were scattered on the floor. He began picking up the various snacks and cans of food, placing them back on the shelves. After picking up some more products, he walked into the back room and came back out, “There is still blood all over the floor and splattered on the walls. Why haven’t you cleaned this up?”

  Steve walked behind the counter and over to Dave, “Look at your shoulder and what happened to your face? Why aren’t you in the hospital?” Steve reached out and grabbed Dave by the arm. Dave turned and placed his hand on Steve’s face, pushing him to the floor. “What are you doing Dave?” Just as he was about to stand up, Steve was attacked by Dave, who crouched over him and overtook him.

  Chewing and biting Steve’s hands, he bit off two of his fingers as Steve tried to fend off the attack. He screamed as Dave spit the fingers onto the floor. Dave pushed away Steve’s hands and lowered his mouth into his neck, biting a large piece of flesh from his neck, severing the artery and releasing blood, which splattered all over the rear of the counter space.

  Steve continued screaming and struggling to escape Dave, but was unable to hold his hand on the wound and pull himself free. Dave continued attacking the owner until Steve finally lost consciousness. He stood up and walked back to the register, more customers came through the door, walking down the isles, selecting various bags of chips and returning to the counter.

  “Is it Halloween yet?” One of the customers looked at Dave’s face and replied, “Is that real blood?” The customer reached out and touched his work uniform and looking at the blood, then down at Steve’s body on the floor, “Is this some kind of joke? Is that man alright?” The customer reached in his pocket, pulled out his cell phone and began dialing.

  The customer ran out of the store and into the parking lot as a dispatcher answered the phone, “911 what is your emergency?”

  The customer nervously replied, “I’m down at the corner store and it looks like there are two people who are injured.” The dispatcher had known a previous call came from the store and warned the customer, “Stay out of the store and clear the area immediately. I am dispatching officers now.”

  The customer hung up and ran from the parking lot and down the sidewalk. Moments later, two police cars came swerving around the corner, into the parking lot. Officers rushed from their vehicles and walked to the front of the store. They drew their weapons, as Dave came walking through the front door.

  One of the officers yelled out, “Get down on the ground and place your hands above your head.” Dave ignored the order and began walking towards the officers. “Get down on the ground now!” The officer repeated the warning, but Dave stumbled ahead. He reached his arms up at the officers as one of the officers pulled his stun gun from a holster and shot Dave with it. The stun gun had no effect on Dave as he grabbed one of the officers. His strength was more than the officer could handle and was pulled down to the ground.

  The other three officers rushed at Dave, knocking him to the ground. Dave grabbed one of the officer’s guns and held it out towards the officers. Two of the officers raised their weapons, one of them called out, “He has a gun! He has a gun!” They opened fire and unloaded their weapons, until Dave fell to the ground.

  The officers called for the ambulance, which arrived five minutes after the shoot out. The paramedics pulled up and climbed out of the ambulance, “We were already here tonight.” After seeing the store clerk, Dave, on the ground, the other paramedic looked back up at the officers, “We already took this guy to the hospital earlier.”

  The officer replied, “He was taken to the hospital? Why would they release him?” The paramedic shrugged his shoulders and went over to check Dave’s vitals, “He’s dead.” The officers called in the shooting to their supervisor, who showed up on the scene to determine what had happened. The officers, paramedics and witness gave detailed statements of what happened in the store, during the shooting and after the paramedics arrived.

  The hospital was notified and the call came into the supervisor that they had a patient disappear from the hospital, earlier that evening. The supervisor looked over at the other officers, “Something strange is going on tonight. I have had several reports that people are wandering around dressed up as Halloween characters. Circulate this with the other officers and double patrols. Keep an eye out for anything strange and let me know ASAP.” The other officers returned to their vehicles and left the paramedics to clear the body and take it to the hospital.

  Chapter Nine

  Major John Hunter was sitting in a small room at the Dugway Proving Ground facility. He had been given orders from General Conrad Raymond to take the body of Laylianna and dispose of it. The body was to be incinerated at the off base test facility located near the Lake Mountain range.

  He put together a team of eight soldiers to accompany the transport vehicle and two M1123 Humvees. Sergeant Dillon Powers, three corporals and four privates first class. The team was told to take two Humvees and escort the M997A2 medical transport to the disposal facility and make sure the body was incinerated.

  The Major assembled the team and went through the directive, it was a simple enough order and he planned to carry it out that evening. The corporals and privates were known to lack discipline and Major John Hunter was aware of their carefree attitudes. He stood in front of the group and walked back and forth, “I know this seems like a simple operation, but it is my operation and we are going to follow it step by step.”

  Sergeant Powers handed maps to each team member and finished repeating the orders. They assembled in a hangar filled with vehicles. The body was brought out by two scientists and presented the sealed body bag to the medical team, who quickly loaded the sealed bag into the back of the medical transport.

  The soldiers climbed into the vehicles and the three Humvees pulled out of the hangar. Their motors rumbled across the tarmac, down one of the main roads, through the base and out an auxiliary entrance from the south end of the base. They pulled out onto the main highway and sped across the desert plains. The Major communicated via radio, the team’s location as it turned onto highway N-68, towards the military disposal facility. The trip took the vehicles approximately 25 minutes from the Dugway facility, to the off- base incineration facility.

  They pulled off the main road and onto a secluded dirt road, which led to
a security gate. The gate slowly swung open and the team pulled forward, moving pass a large, no trespassing sign that reads: Restricted! Military Disposal Unit, No trespassing, violators will be detained and subject to arrest. The gate closed behind the vehicles. They drove for 5 miles and deep into the southern region of the Lake Mountains. The team drove up the secluded dirt road and approached a grove of trees, where a group of hikers had set up camp. The campers must have come in through the unguarded area of the military property.

  On the perimeter of the property, was a popular caving system called Nutty Putty caves. Most of the campers that set up north of the cave system were not aware they were on military property. The area around the cave system was rocky and there was little cover to protect cavers and campers from the harsh elements of the day and possibly storms, which erupted randomly during the fall season.

  The team pulled up on the road, nearby the campers and came to a stop, “OK team, we clear out the campers and move them to the perimeter of the property” the major ordered. The soldiers stepped from the Humvee and quickly approached the campers. “United States military stay calm and nobody make any sudden movements.” The major came to the center of the camp and looked around. One of the campers stood up from his chair and approached the major, “What seems to be the problem soldier?” The kid was wearing thick, dark pants, a thicker overcoat and a beanie. “This is military property, you are trespassing and it’s not soldier, it’s major.”

  “Well we weren’t aware of that.” The kid walked back over to the fire with the rest of the group and sat back on the chair. More armed soldiers approached the fire and formed a perimeter surrounding the group. They suddenly became aware of the seriousness of the situation and a few began to take down their tents. The Major continued, “Everyone pack up and move back down to the public land, otherwise, you will be detained and taken into custody.” In the background, the shadows of two people scurried through some trees and to the back of the medical transport Humvee.