Severance (Book 1: Rise Of Chaos)

Prologue

The stars in the night sky shone brightly over the city, their lights almost blending with the ones that were below. New York was like it's own galaxy, with flashing lights and spotlights taking the place of suns and solar systems. It truly was the city that never slept. From parties in nightclubs to restaurants filled with people, there was something for everyone in this city. It was never quiet, and the sounds of life were like a heartbeat for it.

But on some sides of town, the city life was beginning to wind down. At least, that's what Officer Walter Banks could see as his cruiser slowly drove through the empty streets. His route always took him right past New York Harbour, and at least he always got a good view of the Statue of Liberty out on the water, but God, was it boring. He saw the same exact buildings every night, and saw the same exact nothing every night as well.

Walter had taken this job on the force in order to make a difference in this city, and the pay wasn't too bad either. But all he'd done so far in his 3 months of police work was drive around at a slower pace than his grandmother, issue parking tickets, and do endless amounts of paperwork. It was boring as all hell. He thought being a cop in a place like New York would at least make for some funny stories, but so far the most interesting case he'd been on was when an old lady had somehow gotten her walker stuck up in a tree.

Sighing, he checked his clock that was on the dashboard. He still had two and a half hours before his shift was over, and he could finally get some sleep. A couple more rounds of his route, and he could pack it in for the night. He drove his cruiser at a steady 40 miles an hour, looking around for any sign of...well, anything. 

Eventually, he made his way towards the yard in which they stored shipping containers. Walter always wondered what kind of stuff was in those things. Maybe some flatscreen TV's, couches, a few cars. What he wouldn't give to have any of those things in his crappy old apartment. He was barely paying rent as it was, what was a little luxury on the side? As he looked around, he was about to continue on his way, when something caught his eye. 

Stopping the car, he looked back towards the shipping yard. There was no one at the toll box that was next to the small fence that separated the entrance from the road, seeing as how all of the workers had gone home for the night, but that was why Walter was so interested in what he was seeing. Squinting his eyes to get a better look in the darkness. Then, he finally confirmed what he saw moving around inside of the yard: flashlights.

Walter smiled to himself. He didn't care if they were workers who had forgotten their keys, or just some punk kids who had snuck out of home to spray paint some crates, he was finally able to actually do something for a change on his patrol. Turning on his lights, but not the siren since he didn't want to alert them, he picked up his radio. "Dispatch, this is car A-27 , over." A few seconds later, the scratchy voice of dispatch answered. "Car A-27, go ahead Walter."

He pressed the call button again. "Investigating mysterious activity down at New York Harbour. Probably just some kids who snuck in. Will update later, over." He paused, waiting for the go ahead from dispatch. Sure enough, the raspy voice came again. "Copy that, A-27, proceed with caution." Walter scoffed and put the radio down on the dashboard. Opening the car door, he shut it, then managed to make his way over the fence and started walking towards the lights. He didn't need caution. How bad could it possibly be?

As he walked through the maze of large containers, he turned on his flashlight, looking around for any sign of people who might be hiding here. He continued to walk towards the lights, and as he did, he began to hear something. Namely, voices. They weren't whispering, but he couldn't make out what they were saying since he was too far away. But he could tell that they were too deep to be kids voices.