Outbreak

by Paul Carberry

  “I see it, but one set seems to be going in both directions?” Phillip pointed to one set of footprints that seemed to emerge from the river. Eric traced the tracks as they left river’s edge, scuffled around the crime scene before heading back to the river.

  “Yeah, so I’m thinking one of the men that were helping you this morning owns a set of those prints. You should gather them and see if any of them have shoes that could belong to one of those prints. We can eliminate one set and then we will have a better idea of which way our body went.” Eric had his eyes fixed on a tree across the river, it looked like there was a blood stain on one of them. “Did anyone search the other side of the river?”

  “No, we never. You would have a hard time crossing it yourself on a good day. With that amount of blood loss you could never have made it to the other side. The current would have swept you off your feet and took you with it down stream.” Officer Payne walked back towards the trail. “We did keep an eye on the other side of the river bank to see if he washed up on the other side.”

  “So how do you get to the other side?” Eric looked in both directions, hoping to see a bridge.

  “You have to head back to the road. You can cross the bridge and hit the other side of the river bank from there. I’m going to gather the men and get this straightened away. You okay here by yourself for a little while?” Phillip looked down at Eric.

  “Sure thing, I’ll see you back here in a bit then.” Eric looked at his cell phone but there was no signal. “You have trouble with you cell out here?”

  “Cell service?” Officer Payne cracked a smile and started to laugh. “We don’t get much cell service out here city boy. You need anything?”

  Eric almost felt stupid for asking that question, he should have known the answer himself. “No, not yet.”

  “Alright then, if you need me, just use the radio.” With that Officer Payne pushed past the trees and disappeared into the forest in an instant, almost like a magic trick.

  Eric was alone now and he felt like he was in a tiny box. The only sound was the water rushing past him. He did not hear any of the usual wildlife that you would expect to hear. It was as if this gruesome event had scared all the wildlife away. He looked up into the sky, and it seemed like the sun was even trying to hide behind the clouds. It seemed like this part of the woods had been isolated from the rest of the world.

  Eric began to search for clues as to what had taken place here. He didn’t see much of anything at first through all of the blood, it was as if someone had taken a can full of red paint and threw it all over the forest floor. The colour of the blood was a disturbing reddish brown, with black streaks that you only seen emerge from deep wounds.

  Eric knelt down and took a closer look at the ground. He was looking for animal prints, hoping that he would find some sign of what caused this grotesque mess. He could see no signs of bear prints and an animal of that size would surely leave a noticeable print in the soft ground around the river’s bank.

  It was strange, a detective could not ask for a better scene. Everything would show up on this soil, the weather had co-operated and the looming rain did not have a chance to wash away the evidence yet. The impression where the body had fallen to the ground was easy to see, the indent where the body had laid was perfectly preserved. There were footprints all around where the body had been. Eric had noticed two sets of prints in the earth, the same two that headed out into the river. One of the men must have walked over and had gotten too close to the crime scene.

  He went back to the bloody footprints that originated from the river and tracked them back to the scene of the crime. It was easy to track, even someone with no experience could see the prints. As Eric followed the tracks he began to notice something very strange. It baffled him. The sets of tracks showed that someone walked from the river towards where the body was found and then back to the river in a different direction. The second set of tracks only walked towards the river from where the body lay. As he looked closer there was a weird pattern to the footprints, it looked like drinking could have been involved. The staggered prints were very clumsy. Eric began to wonder if Officer Payne was going to find a matching shoe or was something else going on here?

  As Eric crouched down to examine the shoe prints closer he shut out the rest of the world. He didn’t hear the sounds of tree branches snapping, or the pounding of footprints approaching. It was too late, whatever had been lurking behind the trees had already broken the barrier enclosing the crime scene and burst into the clearing.

  Chapter 2

  Heavy Rains

  “Eric, we know who we are looking for!” Officer Payne yelled out as he erupted through the thick branches of the trees at the edge of the clearing.

  “Who is it?” Eric tried his best not to sound startled.

  “A Mr. Sean Bartlett, of Burgeo. His wife reported him missing this morning. She said he had driven up this way to see his sister but the sister never heard from him. His truck is parked just up on the road.” Officer Payne walked over to Eric and handed him a piece of paper.

  “What’s this?” Eric had a puzzled look on his face as he read the paper. The writing was about as sloppy as a third grader learning how to do cursive for the first time.

  “It’s just the notes I took about Mr. Bartlett. His home address and contact information.” Eric handed the paper back to Phillip. “Should we contact his family?”

  “And tell them what? We don’t have a body yet? I am not the one to ask about that, it’s your call. This is your case. I would tell his wife we found the truck and that we suspect he is missing but don’t give too much detail. We still don’t know what’s going on.” Eric took his camera out and took pictures of the crime scene. “Did you speak to the men? Are any of them possible matches for the ones we have here?”

  “There are three men whose shoes look like they could match either set of prints. But they all deny walking over the crime scene.” Phillip hauled a notebook out of his back pocket. “I got their names here. They are all willing to help in any way possible. Do you want their info?”

  Eric looked at the open page, this time he could see names and telephone numbers written clearly. Eric reached out and took the notebook, and then he tore out the page. “Thanks, I suspect they are telling the truth though.”

  “So, what do you think could have happened? Did you find any animal prints around?”

  “Not yet, I’m going to call a friend who works for the Wildlife Department once I get out of these woods and get a signal on my phone. Maybe he could give us a hand tracking down any prints.” Eric looked across the river at the tree where he thought he saw blood. “Let’s head across the river. There’s something I want to take a look at.”

  Eric and Phillip followed the trail back through the woods that led back to the squad car. The sun had now come out from behind the clouds once again. The bright rays of sunlight instantly made a positive impact upon the temperature. The sun felt good against Eric’s face.

  “Hold up, I’m going to make a call.” Eric took out his cell phone and called his friend Jason.

  “Jason, it’s Eric. I need a hand with something.”

  “What do you need bud?” Jason Cook worked for the government as a Wildlife Officer. They had gone to school together since grade one. Eric had always known Jason to be outside playing in the forest. He was always interested in wildlife and had taken a special interest in bears. The news didn’t surprise Eric when Jason told him that he was moving away to attend university in New Brunswick to study Forestry.

  “I think I need some help tracking down an animal. Want to meet me at the coffee shop in Stephenville at two?”

  “Sure thing, and since it’s work related you’re buying!” Jason started to laugh. “See you at two.”

  Eric hung up the phone and placed it back into his jacket pocket. He looked up at the sky and noticed that the rain clouds had began to sneak back over head. They seemed to be closing in fast. The brightness of
the sun was quickly disappearing and being replaced by the gloomy dullness of rain clouds.

  “Phillip, you want to lead the way?”

  “Sure, it’s just across this bridge up ahead.” Phillip led Eric across the bridge and onto another trail that went alongside the opposite bank of the river. “What is it that you expect to find over here?”

  “Just got to check something out, got a hunch about something.” They walked along the trail. This side of the river bank was more open, you could see through the trees much easier, as most of the leaves on these trees had already fallen to the ground creating a colourful canopy. The leaves were a mixture of orange, red and yellow on the top, but underneath all of the old leaves had rotted and turned brown. On the other side of the river bank most of the trees were still green. Eric knew that if Jason was here he would explain what kinds of trees were on each side of the river bank, and why the leaves on one tree would fall off every autumn but the pine needles on the other trees remained all year round. Something about deciduous? Eric couldn’t quite remember, even though Jason had told him several times before.

  “Any idea where you want to go?” Phillip asked as they made their way down the trail.

  “Just across from the crime scene, we should be close now I think.” Eric looked across the river bank and could see the clearing. Even from across the river bank he could see the almost satanic blood splatters that coated the exposed area. Eric walked closer to the river bank so he could look back and find the stain on the tree. He looked around and it didn’t take long to find. Phillip had seen it before Eric and had already began to walk towards it.

  “Eric, do you see this? Looks like blood on this tree here.” Phillip was face to face with the blood stain. “Does this look like a... handprint???”

  Eric walked over beside him and reached into his belt. He drew out a vial that contained a cotton swab inside. He dabbed it against the blood, soaking up the residue that was left against the tree. He put the cotton swab back inside the vial and secured the lid tightly.

  “Do you think that belongs to Mr. Bartlett?”

  “We will have to wait and see. In the meantime, let’s see if we can’t find a set of matching shoe prints over on this side of the bank.”

  Eric and Phillip headed on over to the river bank, near the softer ground where it would be easier to find any signs of prints. It didn’t take long to find the staggered shoe prints as they emerged from the river, and led clumsily towards the bloody handprint. Eric took his camera out again, and took some more pictures of the prints on this side of the river bank. He determined the size of the shoe to be around a men’s size nine. A zig zag pattern in the sole of the shoe. The same awkward pattern of a drunk man walking was replicated on this side of the bank.

  “Notice the pattern of the footsteps, as if he was a drunk man.”

  “I did notice the pattern of footprints, but I was thinking they belonged to an injured man.” What Phillip said had just pointed out something that Eric had not thought of. Why had his mind raced directly to foul play? Maybe Officer Payne was right. Maybe an animal had taken the body, tried to drag it across the river but the current took it downstream. “Do you think something else took place here?”

  “I’m not sure what to think. The second set of footprints is really changing what’s possible. Also, a lack of any animal prints around is confusing. I should be questioning the other men, maybe they just don’t want to admit they walked through the crime scene.”

  “I’m sure that’s the case. They probably don’t want to get themselves in trouble. For a moment I thought we were going to be looking for another person. It’s just that this place is giving me the creeps.” Phillip felt a shiver run through his body.

  “You and me both. My mind has definitely been influenced by all of those gruesome zombie movies I am always watching. Hard to imagine anything else could have happened over there when all you watch is that crazy shit.” Eric felt better now that Phillip admitted that he suspected foul play too. Eric had felt that it was just him and that no one else could have jumped to that conclusion. It was comforting to know that there was not anything wrong with his mind, that someone else could think like he did. “Let’s just walk this side of the river bank to see if we can see anything else.”

  “Alright, looks like it is going to rain soon. We should hurry, rain now could wash any potential clues away before we have a chance to find it.” Eric and Phillip headed along the river bank downstream. The clouds above them had grown dangerously dark. It looked like the rain clouds were about to burst open and drown them. Phillip was right, if it began to rain any evidence out here could be lost to them. The river had been known to raise to very high levels, and all the evidence near the river bank would surely be lost in an instant if that happened. They both knew they had to act quickly, but at the same time a procedure like this required patience. Missing a critical piece of evidence could be what would turn this case into an unsolved mystery.

  “Look, up there. Do you see it?” Officer Payne pointed to a spot just along a bend in the river.

  Even from back here Eric could see it. The blood along the side of the river bank was a dark, deep reddish brown. They raced up to the spot and the coppery, foul scent of blood was heavy in the air. Just as they reached the bloody rocks Eric felt the rain drops. Ice cold droplets of water fell from the dark rain clouds. Eric quickly took out his camera, trying to take some pictures before it was too late.

  “Are those tire tracks over there?” Eric pointed to some tracks alongside the river bank. The tracks ran up the river bank back to the forest trail. Someone had recently been down here on their ATV. The tire tracks had been hardened by the cold and now the rain drops began to form puddles in the indentations left behind.

  “Eric, come here! Look at these footprints. They are the same as the ones that were on both sides of the banks.” Eric walked over and looked down at the same size nine footprints with the zig zag pattern. He took a picture and started to follow the tracks through the blood and mud. The rain was starting to fall heavier now. Getting colder and colder. The ground was changing from dirt to mud in an instant. Eric realized that they were too late. They were going to lose every bit of evidence here.

  “Damn it!!” Eric cursed at the dark sky.

  The shoe prints headed towards the ATV tire tracks, that were now overflowing with the ice cold rain water. Puddles of water were forming tiny streams that were running down to join the river. The blood must have been flowing from his open wound as he walked towards the parked ATV. Huge drops of the dark red blood were starting to wash away with the streams of water. Eric took out another vial with a cotton swab in it to collect some of the blood that had been left behind on the ground before it was completely washed away.

  Eric looked up and the sky was a very dark blackish blue. He never caught the weather forecast for today but he knew it was for rain, and lots of it.

  “Eric! The rain is going to cause the river to flood over the banks. We are going to lose everything!”

  “Yeah, it’s like someone doesn’t want us to find something down here.”

  Eric could not give up yet, he still had precious moments to find evidence. He looked down by the tire tracks and the rain water was building up in a set of shoe prints. Not the same shoe prints they had seen along the river bank earlier, these were much larger, much deeper. They belonged to a much heavier man. The pattern was very plain, he was guessing work boots. He snapped a picture on his camera but there wasn’t much chance of it coming out very good. As he looked at the print he noticed a marking embedded in the ground. It looked like some kind of logo. It was familiar to him, but he just could not place where he knew it from.

  Now the rain was really turning into a downpour. It soaked them down to the bone and sent an icy chill coursing through Eric’s body.

  “Where does this ATV trail lead!?” Eric had to shout out over the sound of rumbling thunder that was creeping in.

  “It circ
les back to the highway. About a kilometre from the bridge we just crossed.” Even Phillip’s voice was hard to hear over the thunder.

  “Is it far!?” Eric put his hand up to block the icy cold rain drops from his eyes.

  “Should be about a twenty minute walk, why!?” Phillip looked puzzled.

  “Maybe he had parked his ATV here and tried to make it back to town.” The thunder had ceased for the moment.

  “Alright, let’s head up the path and keep our eyes open.” Phillip quickly turned and headed up the river bank towards the trail.

  They headed onto the ATV path and walked up the bank, the mud was making the uphill path treacherous. Eric’s feet slipped with every step he took. The rain was not letting up now. Eric was startled by a lightening flash that lit up the sky. The wind was hurling the rain in their faces as they struggled up the path. The thick, icy sheets of rain shrouded Eric’s vision. The forest had offered them no shelter from the droplets of ice cold water as the wind whipped it through the trees. It drenched Eric to his very core, making him uncomfortable. As they walked along the path there was no sign of the missing man, or his ATV. The wind continued to pelt the rain in their faces, as if it was trying to get them to stop heading down this path.

  “Do you see anything?” Eric called out over the pounding of the rain against the ground. A sudden flash of lightening streaked across the sky and a large clap of thunder boomed.

  “No, I’m starting to think we aren’t going to find him on the trail.” Phillip was visibly cold. He was shaking and his lips had begun to turn blue. Eric could feel the cold rain pooling up in his boots, and his clothes hugged his body like a second layer of skin.

  Another boom of thunder could be heard, this time it was closer.

  They could see the highway now, but there was no ATV in sight. The rain was hammering the road so hard Eric thought that the pavement would crumble away beneath them. The road was fighting back though, sending the rain drops back up into the air if only for a moment before it fell back down harmlessly and washed away into the ditch on the side of the road. The wind was now at their backs, propelling them towards their squad cars. It felt like someone was pushing them away from the woods. Something wanted them to leave that place, now. The howling of the wind and the rain pounding against the road was so loud that it was drowning out Phillip’s voice. Eric could see his lips moving but couldn’t hear anything Phillip was saying.