Chapter 3: The Shallow End

So there we were, leaving the bar and headed towards the murder scene. We wanted to see what in god's name was happening. I drove in my navy blue Ford while Lonny had his Chevy. "I'll meet you there." He says. "I need to fill the tank up, I'm running empty." I tell him to just ride shotgun and that we'll come back for it later. He agrees and hops into the car. On our way to the alley, about a dozen cars with sirens blaring had passed us. The sounds were deafening and yet the emptiness of the quiet streets were even more eerie to me. I couldn't see anybody... not one god damn person. No kids playing, no hot dog vendors, no bible-thumping buskers. I turned the radio on to drown out the silence. Some host comes on one of the stations and starts talking, just by the way his voice is trembling, I can tell that he seems rattled by something. "Again, all of you listeners out there, please stay indoors. If you haven't turned on your televisions yet, you might have missed the reports about dozens of random attacks happening across the entire city. The police aren't really sure if it's some sort of cult or terrorist group but they are sure there's more than just one guy doing this since calls are coming in at the same time from different places. Also, if your in a car, listening to this right now, please be sure that your in a safe location with your windows up, and your doors locked. There are too many calls coming in about people being snatched from their cars." I glance at Lonny in alarmed confusion but he just brushes it off like it's some sort of made up story."Oh, what the hell is this bullshit, change it will ya. I haven't seen any dead bodies yet. This asshole's just tryin to scare us into believing some conspiracy crap. By tomorrow, this will all have blown over." I continue listening in. "Earlier we caught up with one of the officials of the police department and he had this to say, "Whoever these... people are, we aren't certain of at this time. We don't know why they're doing what they're doing or how they're choosing their targets. As of this moment, we are trying our best to control the situation, but still, we have no motive and no clear suspects. All of the attackers...believe it or not, assault their victims by biting them. Oddly enough, there have been no reports of any weapon usage other than in the defense of these perpetrators. If you encounter one of them, DO NOT try to attack the assailants, as they are extremely resilient. We believe that they might be utilizing some sort of pain-suppressing narcotic. One of my sergeants even reported that a man was still fully able to function with gunshot wounds to the face and chest. My best advice for you all would be to run. Run as fast as you can home, and if that's no longer secure, find a place that is and stay there until things are handled." The program ends right when we reach Co Pine. Lonny acts nonchalant, but I can tell just by the way he became silent that the inclusion of a familiar superior talking about this "conspiracy crap" had gotten to him. I, on the other hand, was stuck on the thought that the girl I had discovered earlier was not the only person found today that had died of bite wounds. Frankly, it made me uncomfortable. Finally reaching the scene of the crime, we find teams of officers in a barricading-arch across the alleyway opening. "What's going on?" I ask George, a guy I knew back at the academy. "Praja said the girl got up and then ran in there after she bit him...I know, it's fucking crazy, right?! Chief thinks she's hopped up on some kinda drug and..." Confused out of my mind, I interrupted him. "Wait, wait, wait...the dead girl?! The EMPs called her. She was dead. I mean, c'mon man, you saw her...what, did she just come back to life?" He looks at me with a disconcerting frown, "That's the thing bro, she WAS called, but that didn't stop her from getting up and fuckin bitin' people, did it?...We didn't move her, that's for damn sure..."