Jest3r
03-22-2008, 10:06 AM
The First Scream
A red sun bloomed over the apocalyptic metropolis that was Heavens Gate. The infection was spreading. Several miles to the south...
Corporal Harper. Corporal Mike Harper. An officer of the West Town Police Department for only two short years. He lived on the outskirts of the city, about a mile from his precinct. Every morning, he would jog into work, as he took pride in his physical strength. A small service revolver nestled in his sock, taped to his left leg.
As one foot pounded on the pavement after the other, he waved to some neighbors. The closer he got to the city however, the less people waved back. The city had seen several riots in the past weeks over the mayor's new tax plan. Occasionally, the riots had turned violent and the WTPD had been forced to end the proceedings with aggression. Mike Harper tried to put this in the back of his mind, but he could not. The WTPD logo typed onto his sweatshirt and hat made him an emblem of scorn, a target for all to see.
Harper glanced down at his watch. 7:10. He would arrive nearly twenty minutes early to relieve the night shift. Because of this extra time, he slowed down at a street vendor and bought a pretzel. A grizzled old man looked up and smiled.
"Hey, Mike."
"Hey Mr. S. Lemme get a pretzel please," Mike replied. He was grateful that no further conversation was needed, as the radio was humming quietly on the pretzel machine. He feigned interest in the report.
The announcer, however, was not saying something about the riots; "...Heavens Gate officials have not yet been reached for comment as to the outbreak of..."
"Here you go. Good luck today," said the kindly old vendor, cutting off the broadcaster. Mike Harper nodded his thanks. As he left, he saw other customers gather around the radio. In the distance he could swear he heard the constant ‘thup thup’ of a cadre of helicopters.
***
It was another five minutes before Harper got into his station. Everyone inside was running madly around the office, trying to find this document and that weapon, all buzzing around busily. Officers were screaming into phones, shifting papers, so much so that the building was a picture of ordered chaos. Before Harper could come to any conclusions, Captain Barnet, leader of Mike's S.W.A.T. unit, rushed up to him. "Follow me Mike."
They began to walk down a maze of hallways and offices towards the lockers.
"What the hell is going on?"
"Sorry to rush you into this, but there was a horrible... riot... during the night, across the bridges," explained the captain. “If you can even call it a riot.”
"So? If it was so bad why wasn't I called in?"
"Landlines have been restricted to let our communications get through easier. Also, check your pager, maybe it’s out of batteries, Mike looked down at his pager, and it was indeed powerless. There's more..." the captain paused as they had to back against a wall to allow fully armed and armored officers to rush past them. "As you know, West Town is divided into a north and south section by the Platinum Bridges. As of this moment, the northern precincts have declared martial law. They are allowing no one to get across to either side of the city.
"Why in the hell..." Harper noted to himself that that sounded more like a quarantine procedure than martial law.
Captain Barnet held up his hand and ushered Harper into the prep room. It was now that Mike understood the urgency of the situation. Out of bed and into armor. He hurriedly strapped on his gear. Harper noticed that all lockers had been stocked with additional Kevlar layers, namely in the form of a thin Kevlar shirt, fore-arm plates, and leggings. Barnet continued his explanation. "A few days ago, Heavens Gate reported a problem with their populace. That was the official explanation the officials gave us. Soon after, military types started showing up. No news got to us about what the hell was going on, because the Marines basically blockaded any kind of information that was being sent out of the city," he stopped talking for a moment to toss Harper some Kevlar leg pads. A moment of silence passed as Harper continued to get his gear together.
"Im still listening sir."
"Right. Apparently however, the marines only prevented information from leaving the city. Something else got out too."
"What do you mean?" questioned Harper.
"At approximately 0400 hours, yesterday, an ambulance burst through the toll booths in the north side of town. The vehicle was from a Heavens Gate hospital. The driver was actually some sort of security officer. He crashed into North Sector Hospital, and came out of the vehicle holding a head wound, we think it could have been an animal bite. He ran to the back of the ambulance to open the doors. Now, we aren’t exactly sure what he saw in that ambulance, the security camera angles won’t show it but whatever it was, it scared him ????less. He drew his firearm and fired fourteen rounds. A cop who was waiting in the lobby tackled him before he could use the last round on himself, and believe me, he wanted to. The cop had to break his arm to get him to stop. The whole time the man was screaming 'Kill me and get out of West Town while you still can,'" as Barnet paused, he looked at his watch. "Hurry up, briefing’s in ten."
"I'm goin' as fast as I can, captain. And, believe me, I’m trying to connect that story you just told me to the massive civil unrest north of us, but I can't," replied a slightly perturbed Harper. Barnet could give no straight answer.
"We have the security feed from North Sector Hospital, that whole escapade I told you about is on it. You'll see the connection by the end of the briefing."
"Why weren't any witnesses interviewed?" asked Harper.
He was now done putting on all of his gear. Captain Barnet checked him over and then led him into the briefing room.
"They're all dead," Barnet began to walk to the back room to speak with Lt. Daniels, but he paused to look back at Mike Harper and said, "Well at least they were."
Corporal Harper, shocked by his commander’s last words, sat down without giving a response. "What the hell does that mean?" he thought to himself. He looked around the briefing room. It was rather large blue room with stadium seating. In the back lay a projector, and in the front was a huge white screen, which slightly offset the podium to the left of its large face. He was sitting on a seat on the left side of the room, which was already beginning to collect with a few groups of S.W.A.T. officers, also waiting for the briefing to begin.
***
To be continued...
Any comments, criticisms, concerns, are greatly appreciated!
This is a non-RP story, I hope it's posted in the right place, please move it to the proper place if it is not.
Keep reading.
-Jest3r
A red sun bloomed over the apocalyptic metropolis that was Heavens Gate. The infection was spreading. Several miles to the south...
Corporal Harper. Corporal Mike Harper. An officer of the West Town Police Department for only two short years. He lived on the outskirts of the city, about a mile from his precinct. Every morning, he would jog into work, as he took pride in his physical strength. A small service revolver nestled in his sock, taped to his left leg.
As one foot pounded on the pavement after the other, he waved to some neighbors. The closer he got to the city however, the less people waved back. The city had seen several riots in the past weeks over the mayor's new tax plan. Occasionally, the riots had turned violent and the WTPD had been forced to end the proceedings with aggression. Mike Harper tried to put this in the back of his mind, but he could not. The WTPD logo typed onto his sweatshirt and hat made him an emblem of scorn, a target for all to see.
Harper glanced down at his watch. 7:10. He would arrive nearly twenty minutes early to relieve the night shift. Because of this extra time, he slowed down at a street vendor and bought a pretzel. A grizzled old man looked up and smiled.
"Hey, Mike."
"Hey Mr. S. Lemme get a pretzel please," Mike replied. He was grateful that no further conversation was needed, as the radio was humming quietly on the pretzel machine. He feigned interest in the report.
The announcer, however, was not saying something about the riots; "...Heavens Gate officials have not yet been reached for comment as to the outbreak of..."
"Here you go. Good luck today," said the kindly old vendor, cutting off the broadcaster. Mike Harper nodded his thanks. As he left, he saw other customers gather around the radio. In the distance he could swear he heard the constant ‘thup thup’ of a cadre of helicopters.
***
It was another five minutes before Harper got into his station. Everyone inside was running madly around the office, trying to find this document and that weapon, all buzzing around busily. Officers were screaming into phones, shifting papers, so much so that the building was a picture of ordered chaos. Before Harper could come to any conclusions, Captain Barnet, leader of Mike's S.W.A.T. unit, rushed up to him. "Follow me Mike."
They began to walk down a maze of hallways and offices towards the lockers.
"What the hell is going on?"
"Sorry to rush you into this, but there was a horrible... riot... during the night, across the bridges," explained the captain. “If you can even call it a riot.”
"So? If it was so bad why wasn't I called in?"
"Landlines have been restricted to let our communications get through easier. Also, check your pager, maybe it’s out of batteries, Mike looked down at his pager, and it was indeed powerless. There's more..." the captain paused as they had to back against a wall to allow fully armed and armored officers to rush past them. "As you know, West Town is divided into a north and south section by the Platinum Bridges. As of this moment, the northern precincts have declared martial law. They are allowing no one to get across to either side of the city.
"Why in the hell..." Harper noted to himself that that sounded more like a quarantine procedure than martial law.
Captain Barnet held up his hand and ushered Harper into the prep room. It was now that Mike understood the urgency of the situation. Out of bed and into armor. He hurriedly strapped on his gear. Harper noticed that all lockers had been stocked with additional Kevlar layers, namely in the form of a thin Kevlar shirt, fore-arm plates, and leggings. Barnet continued his explanation. "A few days ago, Heavens Gate reported a problem with their populace. That was the official explanation the officials gave us. Soon after, military types started showing up. No news got to us about what the hell was going on, because the Marines basically blockaded any kind of information that was being sent out of the city," he stopped talking for a moment to toss Harper some Kevlar leg pads. A moment of silence passed as Harper continued to get his gear together.
"Im still listening sir."
"Right. Apparently however, the marines only prevented information from leaving the city. Something else got out too."
"What do you mean?" questioned Harper.
"At approximately 0400 hours, yesterday, an ambulance burst through the toll booths in the north side of town. The vehicle was from a Heavens Gate hospital. The driver was actually some sort of security officer. He crashed into North Sector Hospital, and came out of the vehicle holding a head wound, we think it could have been an animal bite. He ran to the back of the ambulance to open the doors. Now, we aren’t exactly sure what he saw in that ambulance, the security camera angles won’t show it but whatever it was, it scared him ????less. He drew his firearm and fired fourteen rounds. A cop who was waiting in the lobby tackled him before he could use the last round on himself, and believe me, he wanted to. The cop had to break his arm to get him to stop. The whole time the man was screaming 'Kill me and get out of West Town while you still can,'" as Barnet paused, he looked at his watch. "Hurry up, briefing’s in ten."
"I'm goin' as fast as I can, captain. And, believe me, I’m trying to connect that story you just told me to the massive civil unrest north of us, but I can't," replied a slightly perturbed Harper. Barnet could give no straight answer.
"We have the security feed from North Sector Hospital, that whole escapade I told you about is on it. You'll see the connection by the end of the briefing."
"Why weren't any witnesses interviewed?" asked Harper.
He was now done putting on all of his gear. Captain Barnet checked him over and then led him into the briefing room.
"They're all dead," Barnet began to walk to the back room to speak with Lt. Daniels, but he paused to look back at Mike Harper and said, "Well at least they were."
Corporal Harper, shocked by his commander’s last words, sat down without giving a response. "What the hell does that mean?" he thought to himself. He looked around the briefing room. It was rather large blue room with stadium seating. In the back lay a projector, and in the front was a huge white screen, which slightly offset the podium to the left of its large face. He was sitting on a seat on the left side of the room, which was already beginning to collect with a few groups of S.W.A.T. officers, also waiting for the briefing to begin.
***
To be continued...
Any comments, criticisms, concerns, are greatly appreciated!
This is a non-RP story, I hope it's posted in the right place, please move it to the proper place if it is not.
Keep reading.
-Jest3r