Outbreak

by Paul Carberry

  ***

  “Yeah, I will check it out when I get back to work Jason.” Ethan hung up the cell phone. Jason wanted him to keep an eye on the wildlife around Black Duck Siding. Ethan was actually the senior Conservation Officer, but Jason had a good reason to call him. Something strange had happened near Black Duck Siding, Ethan had heard all the rumours back at the station. The cops were stumped, someone had gone missing out in the woods near Black Duck Siding, and they had no leads. They were doing their best to keep it quiet, but news travels fast.

  Ethan was on the way to Deer Lake when Jason called. Jason was off for the next few days so Ethan decided he would head out towards Black Duck Siding tomorrow morning. Ethan was already expected at the logging site outside Grand Falls. It was his job to make sure they were not cutting the wrong trees. If you let them, they would just bulldoze the whole forest with no regrets. Ethan had already marked the trees that were allowed to be cut with a giant red “X”.

  As Ethan drove down the highway, there was a cluster of cars pulled over onto the shoulder of the road. About four vehicles had stopped, and about seven people were huddled together just twenty feet from the road, just at the edge of the woods.

  They had gathered around something, most likely a dead animal so Ethan decided he should go have a look. Ethan eased his foot off the accelerator, and pulled his truck over to the shoulder of the highway, making sure he had his emergency lights on. Rocks popped under the tire as he drove over the gravel.

  Ethan walked through the small brush towards the group of people. “Everything alright here?”

  A man dressed in a heavy, brown coat turned towards Ethan. His face was pale, he looked sick. Sweat drenched his forehead, his eyes were bloodshot. “You better get over here!” The man shouted back as he turned away from the group. He stepped to the side giving Ethan a good look at the cause of the excitement.

  A dead moose laid near the edge of the tall trees. A swarming mass of flies buzzed around the corpse. Blood had pooled all around the body, gore matted in the fur of the moose. Its stomach looked like it had been ripped open, its intestines laid coiled besides the dead animal.

  “You poor bastard!” Ethan muttered as he approached. The blood was still fresh, steam rising from the cavity of the moose. “Alright, step aside folks.”

  Another man snapped a picture with his phone before stepping away from the dead animal. “That’s the second one I’ve seen now this week!”

  “Excuse me!” Ethan approached the man.

  “Yup, second moose I’ve seen this week, torn to shreds like this one.”

  He was an older gentleman. His white hair poked out from underneath his ball cap. The cap was old and worn, a logo with the local mill’s union numbers nearly faded away.

  “Where did you see this?”

  “Near home.” He was chewing on something. Most likely had a piece of chewing tobacco. He turned his head and spit out a dark brown sludge before turning back towards Ethan. “Near Millertown.”

  “Did you report this?” Ethan had not heard anything about a situation like this.

  “No sir, didn’t think it was necessary.” The man continued to chew on the tobacco.

  Ethan just shook his head. “Well sir, from now on you should consider reporting things like this.”

  “Why?” The man’s voice was hoarse. “Not the first time an animal has killed another, won’t be the last neither.”

  “Well, if a pack of coyotes is running around, might be something to be concerned with.” Ethan couldn’t help but think of his father’s old spit bucket. Disgusting habit.

  “Well, I could show you where it happened if you want?”

  “Sure, I just have to head on to Grand Falls. I could stop by on the way back. Where do you live?”

  “Just look for the Red Ford pickup parked in the driveway, won’t take too long.”

  That was the truth. If there were thirty houses in that town, that would be about it. It would not take long to find anybody there. The old man stepped into his old truck, a giant rust patch ate away at the bottom of the passenger side door. That truck would be easy to spot. The only problem would be the drive down to Millertown, it was going to be such a boring trip.

  ***

  Tracy sat in the passenger seat as Jason drove towards Fox Island. She hated to drive on the highway, and she felt bad that Jason had to spend his day off driving her out to Fox Island for her work. She was hoping to bring the school on a field trip to Fox Island to visit the medical facility, and hopefully get the kids more interested in science. She had an appointment to meet with Mr. Purchase this afternoon.

  “Turn on the news, honey?” Jason asked.

  Tracy changed the station until she found the news playing on one of the channels. The local news was all about the accident involving the police officer that took place last night.

  “Holy fuck! That’s some crazy shit man.” Jason swore a lot, but it never really bothered Tracy. “I wonder if they’ll catch the fucker who did that.”

  “I hope so.” Tracy was curious if they would see any of the aftermath caused by the accident. She knew they would pass by it on the way. She kept looking out the window for any indication of the wreck. “Hopefully he is going to be okay.”

  “Yeah, fucking crazy.” Jason shook his head in disbelief.

  As Tracy was looking out the window the flashing lights of a cop car came barrelling around the corner of the road, and rapidly passed them within seconds. “Holy Shit Jason, what’s going on?”

  “I don’t know. There must be something going on for them to be driving like that.”

  “They must be on a mission to catch somebody,” Tracy said as she looked through the back window as the cop car raced down the highway.

  ***

  Nick waited in the ambulance bay for Henry to return with their lunch. He found it cold so he had his jacket on, and he positioned himself in front of the heater.

  “Nick, let’s go!” Henry called out as he entered the lunch room.

  “What’s the call for Henry?” Nick asked annoyed, his hunger far outweighed his compassion right now.

  “Hey big guy, it’s fine. I grabbed a sub for you to eat on the way over.” Henry threw the sub at Nick.

  “Thanks man!” Nick ran over to the cab and hopped into the passenger seat. He expected Henry right behind him, but Henry was slowly walking over to the driver’s side. “Hey, Henry! I thought we had to go?”

  “We do, but it’s no hurry for us.”

  “What do you mean?” Nick had a puzzled look on his face and Henry opened the door and got behind the steering wheel.

  “It’s a corpse man. Some fucking lunatic took a bite out of the man’s throat apparently. The wife called it in. She went to check on her husband at the cabin, and found him in a pool of blood. Apparently it’s a fucking mess.” Henry just shook his head as they pulled out of the ambulance bay. The sky was getting very dark now as night approached and the heavy clouds began to pour cold rain out over the city again.

  “Holy crap man. You say he was bitten?”

  Chapter 8

  A Quick Recovery

  The ambulance’s flashing red and white lights illuminated the forest. As Nick looked out the window at the narrow road ahead of them, the radiant beams of light created dancing shadows that flickered across the dirt road. Gloomy, obscure shadows that seemed to be stalking them from the dead of night, and lashing out at them as they drove deeper into the woods.

  “It sure is isolated out here.” Henry finally broke the silence. For most of the ride, neither man had spoken about what they expected to find. In Nick’s mind, it was going to be a horrific image that would rattle his soul to its core. Something so sinister, it would devour his sleep and leave him with feverish nightmares.

  “Yeah man. It reminds me of my parents’ cabin growing up.” Nick pictured all the times that his parents drove him to the cabin when he was younger. They were always pleasant expeditions, something that he oft
en looked forward too. The smell of pine needles as they were carried on the crisp breeze, the bright blue sky as they reached the peaks of the tall mountains.

  This trip was nothing like those rides.

  Nick had his window rolled up, but something fowl seemed to linger in the air. The shadows were playing tricks on his mind, Nick began to wonder if the sour stench belonged to something lurking in the darkness.

  “I guess we won’t be barbecuing any burgers on this trip.” Nick chuckled a little, trying to make himself feel better.

  “No, not this time,” Henry snickered back.

  Nick wondered if Henry possessed the same sense of dread that he carried. Nick did not want to say anything that would make Henry think that he was afraid.

  “That must be the cabin up ahead. I can see the flashing lights of the police car.” Nick pointed ahead, towards the half-hidden flicker of luminescent light that was behind the trees just ahead of them.

  “I see it. The driveway must be on my side.” Henry eased off the peddle and the ambulance began to slow down. As they crept up on the clearing in the trees, Henry pulled into the driveway. Nick noticed that even out here, in the middle of nowhere, Henry still used his turn signal. Henry was a little neurotic when it came to driving. “Here we are. You ready?”

  “Not really, but let’s do this.” Nick did not want to bear witness to the appalling spectacle that was awaiting them inside that cabin. This was the first time Nick had responded to the scene of a possible murder.

  James White was the officer who had called it in. He was a seasoned cop, but Nick doubted that he had ever witnessed anything like this before. His face was as white as chalk, his eyes were frozen wide open, an expression of hysteria painted on his face.

  “Evening Officer. What are we looking at in there?” Henry inquired.

  “Well... I don’t know how to begin. It’s a bloody massacre in there.” Officer White looked like he was on the verge of a breakdown. “Whoever did this… is a fucking animal!”

  Nick noticed that James had recently thrown up, his black jacket covered in ropes of bile. “The man… he’s been torn apart in there. Never seen anything like it.” James wiped his face with his sleeve.

  “Shit. What the hell is going on out here? Any clues?” Henry got out of the ambulance and leaned against the door.

  Nick was starting to feel queasy, the smell in the air was putrid. This wasn’t the normal smell of a dead body. It wasn’t just the coppery smell of blood, there was something else hanging around that cabin. It reeked like the morgue at the hospital, like decaying flesh.

  “The two lab techs are inside now. Thank God they are more used to the smell of blood and shit than I am. They want a few minutes inside before we go in.” James walked over to Nick’s door and tapped on the window.

  Nick rolled down the window to speak to James. As the air seeped in from outside, the decomposed stench punched him in the face. Nick shoved the door open as his stomach clenched, and he dropped to the ground. Nick’s abdomen violently contracted, and he heaved half digested food that was covered in a slimy liquid on the forest floor. He continued to wretch until only the clear liquid was being expelled, and that was followed shortly by dry heaves. James patted Nick’s shoulder when he was finished, trying to comfort him.

  “Don’t feel bad son. I did the same thing when I opened the cabin door,” James reassured him.

  Nick looked up to apologize. “Sorry about that.”

  Nick looked at the ground all around him, there was nowhere for James to go without walking in puke. Now James had a mixture of both men’s bile on his boots.

  “Don’t be sorry son.” Nick’s head was filling with more of that repugnant odour from the cabin. It didn’t mix well with the acidic stench of vomit that had managed to find its way out through his nose. Nick’s stomach muscles began to tighten again, getting ready for round two.

  Nick hadn’t noticed that Henry already retrieved the stretcher from the back of the ambulance. Henry was ready to head into the cabin, he had a surgical mask covering his face. Henry was wearing the mask to block out the stench. Nick looked over at Henry, and was glad to see that he was holding two more masks.

  Henry handed both masks to James. James didn’t hesitate to put his mask on. After he had secured his own mask, James finally handed the other to Nick. Almost like magic, as soon as Nick put the mask on, the vulgar odour dissipated, and he felt better. The overpowering stench that hung in the air was no longer making its way up his nostrils. The vile taste of vomit was still in his mouth, but he could handle that.

  “Thanks!” Nick gasped as he stood up, and went to the back of the ambulance to fetch the biggest pair of gloves he could find. Nick wasn’t sure he was going to be able to do this.

  As Nick rummaged through the equipment bag in the back of the ambulance, he heard the cabin door open. Nick turned to see the two lab techs walking towards them. They were wearing full hazmat suits. The white plastic was covered in dark red blood stains. Both technicians were wearing the proper masks equipped with filters, Nick desperately wished he had one.

  “You two finished up in there?” James asked Albert. Nick noticed his suit had Albert Bennett embroidered in the fabric on the left side of his chest. Nick did not recognize the female technician, she must have been new, her suit only had the letters CSI embroidered into it.

  “Yes sir. We collected what we could and photographed what we needed,” Albert replied for both of them. “Amanda and I will just be over in the van securing the evidence if you need us.”

  “What is your initial report?” James reached out and placed his hand on Albert’s shoulder before he could walk away.

  “I would have to say a viscous murder. Whoever did this must have known this man. This was an argument that had gone terribly wrong. Whoever did this either hated this man, or they are an evil monster.” Albert looked at Amanda. “James could you stay by the van? Keep an eye on Amanda, just in case the suspect is still in the area?”

  “I will stay out here, but I need to keep an eye on the cabin as well. This area is too confined to let my guard down.” James had his flashlight canvassing the nearby trees. He was trying to see something hiding in the shadows. If there was anything concealed in the darkness, it would have no problem ambushing them. There were countless places to hide in those eerie shadows.

  “Thanks.” Amanda’s voice was timid, and clearly shaken.

  Nick and Henry walked to the cabin and nudged the door open. Nick was worried about what they were going to find on the other side of that door.

  The victim was laying face down on the floor, a giant pool of congealed, dark red blood spilt out from underneath him. A viscous gash in the man’s neck drew Nick’s attention. The man’s heart must have been pumping strong when the attack took place, blood splatter had reached the highest parts of the wall, and tiny red drops could be seen on the ceiling and chandelier that hung above the table. His small intestines were strewn about the floor next to him, almost as if they had been pulled out. The contents of his stomach mixed with all the blood and stomach chime, making it hard to distinguish what rested on the floor boards. As Nick looked closer, he could swear that the intestines had been ripped apart, they looked like they had been put through a meat grinder.

  Nick’s stomach turned inside as he stared at the diabolic sight in front of him. It was too much for him to handle, and he ran back outside just in time before every ounce of fluid that was left in his guts spewed out of his mouth. Nick was barely able to remove the mask before the acidic juices left his mouth.

  How in the hell was he supposed to get this man into a body bag and onto the stretcher? He looked over and cringed as he watched Henry scooping the man’s intestines back into the dead man’s stomach cavity. Nick gathered his last ounce of courage and made his way back inside.

  ***

  Eric pulled his squad car into the hospital parking lot, the flashing lights alerting everyone of his arrival. Gary jumped out o
f the passenger seat to greet Lieutenant Byrnes, who was puffing on a cigarette, the grey smoke from his mouth fading into the night sky as it cascaded over his face.

  “How’s Phillip?” Gary put his hands on his side and looked up into the sky, bracing himself for the bad news he was expecting.

  “He’s stable, but he’s in a coma. The doctors said he is burning up with a fever. They don’t know what’s causing it.” Frank threw the cigarette on the pavement in front of him and snuffed it out with his black boot.

  “Fever?” Gary had a puzzled look on his face. “From the accident?”

  “They’re not sure. Could be from internal injuries, but they cannot be sure. They hooked him up to an IV drip and are just trying to cool him down. I want you up there guarding his room, Gary. No one but hospital staff in or out.” Frank pulled out another cigarette and the flame from his zippo seemed to appear out of thin air.

  “What about me sir? What can I do?” Eric asked, he was worried for his friend, but his main priority was catching the man who did this. That fucker Gordon Purchase was somehow behind all of this, and Eric was going to make him pay.

  “We need to talk back at the station Eric.”

  Eric wanted to review the hospital security camera. He was sure one of Gordon’s goons would be on the tape.

  “About what, sir?”

  “Not here. Not out in the open like this.” Frank wandered over towards Eric. “It’s about Fox Island.” The stench of whisky was heavy on Frank’s breath. Eric felt his heart skip a beat. What was going on? Frank pushed past Eric and sat in the passenger seat. “Get in. We’ll talk on the way over.”

  Eric looked up at the sky as cold drops of rain fell on his face. A cold chill was running through his body, but this feeling had nothing to do with the rain. Whatever was happening, it had forced Frank to take a drink. In all of his years of duty, Eric was sure Frank did not drink. Something must be terribly wrong.