Dead Earth (old version)

Chapter Five - Scarlett

Scarlett had driven herself and Finn to the hospital and was currently going back to the station, still in silence. Mostly because Finn likely needed some time to mull over what he'd read, though he'd accepted everything surprisingly easily, didn't even argue. When the report was sent from D.C. the police chief thought it was a joke. 

~

The chief had stomped into her cubicle where she was writing her own report on a recent case. 

"Is this some kind a' joke?" He grumbled with a slight drawl, shoving the report into her face. "It just came in from D.C., and according to them some old guy just woke up during an autopsy an' literally chewed the pathologist's face off."

Scarlett blew a pink bubblegum bubble. "If it's from D.C. we should probably trust the report. I doubt anyone here made that, especially since Finn hasn't shown up yet." 

He huffed again. "You won' be saying that once you read this." He dropped the report on her desk and walked away. 

Scarlet brushed some of her short auburn hair out of her eyes. She'd gotten it cut the other day at the hairdresser's and the guy cutting her hair made her bangs a little too long compared to the rest, which was practically shaved. 

She squinted at the report with her dark blue eyes. She'd forgotten her reading glasses at home again, so the report looked slightly blurry to her. She could still see it though and after reading it she almost wished she couldn't have, for the the report read like this:

___________________________________________

INCIDENT REPORT

Time: 7:13 AM

Flagged: Extremely Important. Procedures will take effect immediately upon receiving by orders of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  

Date: Tuesday, April 2, 2020

From: Washington, D.C. Police Department

To: New York State Police: New York City, New York

Reporting Officers: MPD Officers John Rollen, Alyss Andrews, and Sylvester Alistair

Approving Officer: MPD Police Chief Marianne Jordin

Persons Involved: Frederick Jones and Renee Jinx 

Synopsis: MPD Officer John Rollen received an emergency call at 202 West Street at 3:59 AM. Went to investigate with MPD officers Alyss Andrews and Sylvester Alistair. Said that a man had killed a young lady and was attempting to leave building. Transmission cut out, could not be reconnected. All three officers were found dead on the scene. 

Investigation: An emergency call came in at 3:59 AM at 202 West Street, Washington, D.C. When going to investigate, Officer John Rollen took his partner, Officer Alyss Andrews, and Officer Sylvester Alistair with. Upon arriving at the scene, Officer John Rollen entered the building, the local morgue, from the front. Officers Alyss Andrews and Sylvester Alistair took separate side doors. All three reported finding nothing in the rooms before entering body storage. All three witnessed a seemingly dead mean, Frederick Jones, age 74, alive and consuming the body parts of Renee Jinx, pathologist. Renee was found proclaimed dead by the officers. Frederick Jones did not listen to any verbal commands the officers issued, and was shot six times in the chest, none of which stopped him. Officer Alyss Andrews fired the final shot when shooting him in the head. Officer John Rollen then shouted into the communication unit, and what we could make out over the transmission was that Renee Jinx had gotten back up and attacked Officer Sylvester. Transmission of the communication units shortly after cut out to static on all three officers. When backup arrived at the scene they found all three officers to be deceased and missing body parts, of which appeared to have been eaten. Frederick Jones was also dead on the scene, from the bullet wound to the head. Renee Jinx was found in another part of the building, appearing to be unable to open any doors that were in her way. She did not respond to any verbal requests made by the officers, and did not go down until an officer made a shot to the head. Once down, the officer in question proclaimed her dead, but with a total of 17 shots to the torso that previously did nothing, and were not bleeding as much as they should have been. When the officers returned to the original scene, they found the three officers, who had been previously stated as deceased, wandering around the room with no apparent purpose. However, when the backup officers entered the room, all three attempted to attack them, and all three brought down only by shots to the head. 

Procedure Until Further Notice: Any persons found that appear to be ill, have a high fever, and bloodshot or otherwise discolored eyes are to be approached with caution. If said person attempts to approach violently with no apparent cause, a head-shot is necessary to bring the person down. As of now, no one has a name for this illness, but this particular illness seems to so far be an infectious virus that has proven to be in most living and dead people. It appears to bring the dead back to some type of 'life' and give them purpose to only attack and maim the living. There have been few tests, but they have proven that only destruction of the brain will incapacitate them. Those infected with the illness and who are showing signs of previously being deceased are currently being called the Living Dead, or Undead. Do not engage in any activity with anyone who has been called this, and request backup immediately. Bodies are to be immediately taken to the hospital for inspection. Stay in a local area close to your stations. 

___________________________________________

Scarlett had sat, shocked, in her seat. She hoped beyond hope that this was a joke, but no one had ever done something like this before. She quickly logged on to her computer and looked up anything that had to do with what this report claimed. Scarlett almost immediately found multiple videos and blog entries about what was happening. 

Scarlett hopped up and walked as calmly as possible to the Police Chief's office. 

"Andrew?" She called out softly. His door was standing wide open and she could see him at the desk. 

"It's not a joke, is't." He sat there, staring at his computer. 

"You found the videos then? It's all over the internet. What the hell are we dealing with here?" 

"Haven't watched the videos. The media got hold a' it, they're cooking up'a storm." He continued to watch what she assumed was the news on his computer. "I mean, come an' look at this. They're making it seem like the end a' the world." 

"Maybe it is." She muttered to herself, walking over to see what was on the screen. 

It showed a burning building, with burned people running out, some were even jumping out of the top windows. 

"Somebody fell down a staircase, broke their neck. Nobody found 'em 'til they heard a banging coming from the stairwell. Whatever these things are, they can't open doors, and they can't climb stairs very well. Anyway, whoever found the guy tried to help 'im and was bitten in the process. That's how it spreads. They 'turned' or whatever, took about two hours I hear, but they turned all right. And they infected practically the entire second floor, so somebody took it upon themselves to get rid of 'em. Poured gasoline everywhere and started a fire, killed a lot more innocents than saved them, I wager. " He narrated gruffly. 

"That's horrible. But I thought that everyone alive was supposedly infected with this, that it just didn't get them until they died. The media's got it wrong." 

"Oh we're all infected with this all right, but whatever the risen have? It's deadly. One bite and you're infected with somethin' that kills you. Fever an' headaches, then you die. That's when you'll rise, it's only after death. Cerebral somethin' or other."

"Cerebral Necrosis?" She read off of the little rolling bar at the bottom of the screen. 

He glanced down at where she was looking. "Yeah, guess so." 

"Scarlett?" A voice came from the doorway. "Finn's here, and a call just came in, someone was attacked in an ally about a block away."

Scarlett slowly looked up from the sight of destruction to see the chief's secretary standing there, nervously peeking out the windows. 

"I'll be right there." Scarlett walked out the door as the secretary went back to her desk. "And Nancy? You might want to stay inside, it's dangerous out there. For everyone."

~

Scarlett risked a glance away from the road to look at Finn. He was still silently sitting there, staring out the window as if seeing the city for the first time. 

"It'll be alright." She told him, as if it would make a difference, as if the apocalypse hadn't started. 

He didn't even look at her. "No, it won't be. The world's rolling down it's own little highway to hell, we're just the bowling pins in it's way."

He was right. They were living in what seemed like a world straight out of a Steven King novel. Someone had decided it was a good idea to open Pandora's box, and all they had left, all they could depend upon, was hope.