Chapter 3

The next hour drags on. Cole was wrapped in a body bag. He didn't deserve it. Danny walks up to me.

"Hey, Cpt. Stanley."

"It's just Jack now, buddy."

"Cole was like the dad of the precinct. He was the one who convinced me to stay with the police. I was considering leaving after I seen the aftermath of the bank robbery." I looked at the ground.

"It's not your fault, Cpt. You had no idea he had a bomb strapped to himself. No amount of training could of prepared you for that."

"Maybe so, buddy. But those people's blood is on my hands. Including Lauren's." Danny was silent for a few minutes. Chief walks up from behind us.

"It's good to see you, Jack."

"You too, chief."

"We lost a good man today. I have no doubt you'll be at his memorial service." He implies.

"I'll definitely be there, I don't have much to do now a days." He simply nods and goes on his way.

Danny says goodbye and then goes to his cruiser. Dale waves goodbye from his cruiser and pulls out. The only people left are the chief, the crime scene investigators and the paramedics.

The sun is setting behind the trees when I begin walking to my car. I sit there, trying to run what had happened through my mind. In all my years of service, I had seen death and pain. But never before have I seen someone live after that many bullets had went through them.

I roll the window down to let some air into the car.

One of the paramedics calls the other over. I look to see what the commotion is about but I can't, they're pointing inside the back of the ambulance.

I open the door to my car and step out, walking over to the back of the ambulance I see what can't be explained as none other than a miracle. Cole was sitting up on the gurney. He was struggling to get out of the body bag. The paramedics stood there dumbfounded.

"For fucks sakes, he's gonna suffocate in there, someone let him out." I say.

That snaps them into movement, they climb into the back of the van and start to unzip the bag.

The first thing I noticed was the Cole that I knew wasn't in that bag. His eyes were lifeless. The brown in his eyes had turned into a milky white. These odd lesions had formed on his face and he's snarling.

"Cole?" I asked. He snapped his head towards the paramedic on his left. With one quick motion he bit a chunk out of his shoulder.

The muscle was stretched past its limit and snapped. Tendons hung loosely from the wound an arterial blood spray covered the other paramedic.

His screams pierced the air. Cole, or what used to be Cole turned to his right and grabbed the arm of that paramedic and bit the inside of his forearm. The sound of his skin being pulled away from his body was sickening.

The screams of the two filled the air in some sort of horrible cacophony. Cole slid off of the gurney.

"Cole. Listen man, I love you like a brother. Don't do this." I plead with him. I don't have the heart to take out this man.

Him and I had become close friends, we were partners at one time. "Cole, please. Just put your hands up." The chief had come to my side. The hammer of his revolver already pulled back.

"Deputy Cole, I order you to stand down." Cole responded with a guttural moan. His dead eyes staring right into my soul.

Another moan escapes his throat. "This is your last chance deputy." Chiefs voice wafers. I can tell he doesn't want to shoot him. Cole charges. A single shot is fired and Cole falls to the ground.

"Chief, what the fuck is going on?" I ask as we make our way to the ambulance to check on the paramedics.

"I don't know, but Cole was dead. He was fucking gone. I seen the paramedics do everything they could."

The one that was bit on the shoulder was already gone. The one with the bite on the arm wasn't looking to good. I reached up in the cabinet above him to find some gauze.

I wrapped the bite and told him to stay put. Chief was looking over my shoulder, speaking into his walkie. "Janette, send another ambulance ASAP."

She didn't respond.

"Janette, send another ambulance." Static followed his request.

"Janette, send a fucking ambulance now someone is dying out here." Someone or something responded but it wasn't Janette. Whatever had pushed the button on the walkie talkie at the precinct had sounded like Cole after he rose from the bodybag.

"This is absolute bullshit!" The chief yelled and punched the roof of the ambulance.

"Hand me your radio, chief." I said, holding out my hand. He unclipped it from his shirt and handed it over.

"Dale, this is Jack, do you copy?" A few seconds of static and then his answer ensued.

"Copy, Jack, this is Dale." His words were cut by sounds of muffled gunfire.

"What's going on out there?"

"I don't know man, the whole city has gone to shit. People are fucking eating each other man. Danny was bit by one of these assholes. He's in the backseat of my cruiser. He's not looking good."

More sounds of gunfire. "Danny, the fuck are you doing man? Chill out." Screeching and a slow drawn out moan follow.

     "What's going on, Dale. Talk to me."

     "Danny's clawing at the gate behind me. He's acting insane. The grate is coming loose. Hey! Danny what the fuck man, calm down!" A gunshot rings out followed by the sound of Dale screaming. Static then follows.

    "Dale! Are you okay!? Dale!" Static. Chief and I locked eyes, it didn't have to be said, we both knew the severity of the situation.

    "Follow me, Jack." Is all he said. He stepped out of the ambulance, I helped the injured paramedic out and sat him down outside.

     Chief was already digging around in his cruiser when I caught up with him. He came out with a 12 gauge, a box of shells and a walkie.

     He handed them to me. "I'm going into the city, I want you to stay here and keep an eye on things."

     I nodded and he was off. I went in to check on the investigators.

     "What the fuck was all of that out there earlier?" One of the investigators asks, in his heavy African accent. Abayomi was his name. The other investigator stood up from behind the couch.

     "You're not going to be believe this. Cole woke up. He bit one of the paramedics on his shoulder. He bled out fast. The other has a large bite wound on his inner forearm. Cole had to be put down. Chief gave him every chance he could." My voice wavers at the end.

     "We tried contacting Janette at the office so she could send another ambulance but she didn't respond. We radioed Dale, he said the city has gone to shit, that people are eating each other. Danny was bit" I say, looking them in the eye.

     "Dale said that he started to act in a crazed manner. Dale eventually fired a shot. Before his radio cut out a scream came through. That was all we heard of Dale." The two look at each other in disbelief. Then one looks behind me.

     "Jack, you sly son of a bitch. You really had me going there for a second."

     "What are you talking about?" He pointed behind me.

     "The paramedics are right behind you." My heart dropped. I turned around and brought the shotgun to my shoulder.

      They both had the same milky white eyes as Cole. The lesions were beginning to form on their skin.

      "Stop right there. I don't want to have to put down two more service members."

     "They shamble forward. "I said stop, God dammit." They continue. I steady the shotgun. Sweat beginning to bead on my brow. Heart thumping. Blood rushing. Adrenaline flowing. They charge.

      I snap the barrel to the one on the left, and pull the trigger. The muzzle lets loose a reign of pellets that tear the entire right side of its face away. He falls backwards.

      The one on the right continues rushing forward. I aim up the shot and fire. I aimed a little too low and clipped his shoulder.

      He takes the shot like nothing and keeps running. I try for another but he closes the distance too fast. He knocks the barrel sideways and the gun slips from my hands. He comes forward and snaps his teeth at my neck.

     I push him back and put a forearm under his chin to keep his teeth away from my neck. This scrawny paramedic sure did have a shit ton of strength. His jaws continued to snap open and closed, drool falling from the corners of his mouth.

    I push him off of me, he stumbles back a few feet but continues forward again. I watch his knees and as soon as the right one straightens I kick into the knee as hard as possible. The crack of his bones breaking sounded almost as loud as the blast from the shotgun.

      He falls. No pain registered on his face. A hit like that would make any grown man scream like a little girl. He crawls forward. I pick up the shotgun and bring the stock down on his head. I feel it cave.

     He continues to crawl forward. I bring the stock up and smash it again. He's moves slower but still continues forward. "Die, you stupid piece of shit!" I bring the stock up and down, up and down, up and down. Smashing his skull. Brain matter splattering the floor and nearby walls.

     "Hey, Jack..." Abayomi puts his hand on my shoulder. I snap around and raise the gun to my shoulder. My vision blood red.

      Abayomi puts his hands in the air. "Calm down, buddy. He's finished." The red haze slowly begins to fade.

      I drop the shotgun and put a hand on the wall to balance myself. The room is spinning. Abayomi is saying something but I can't hear him. That paramedic was just a kid. I mercilessly smashed his skull to pieces.

     I grab the twelve gauge and walk outside and sit on the front porch. The investigators follow.

     The events of today run through my head at a million miles a minute. Three good friends and amazing people died today. Undeservingly. I stand up. The two investigators look at me.

     "I suggest getting home to your families. I don't think this crime scene matters that much anymore." They nod and thank me for saving them.

     I say nothing and just begin walking to my car. I throw the shotgun into the back seat, start the engine and begin my drive home.