Apocalypse now (Pt 2 Not so ordinary noise compliants)

Not So Ordinary Noise Complaints

Officer Richard Rollins was driving down a backstreet on his way to a house that had a noise compliant. Another officer had gone there last night but it seemed no one was home, so now Rollins had to go to make sure that was the case.

Rollins was an older man, mid-50s, but he could pass for early 30s. He took care of himself, being a solider in the army and a police man for the past fifteen years really did well by him. He had a buzz cut, so his tinted gray brown hair barely ever showed, somewhat uninviting bluish-gray eyes, and a wise face. Rollins was flying down a dirt road and was daydreaming again about his beautiful wife, Linda. The daydreaming had gotten worse since their daughter, Sarah was away at college. Richard missed them both so much. He didn’t like to remember the last time he saw Linda. Her lifeless eyes, her dark brown hair matted with blood and her neck twisted at an unnatural angle. He had nightmares about the last time he saw her. He had been working on a serial murder case a couple years back, Rollins had thought he caught the bastard and had called Linda to tell her the good news. She hadn’t answered. He had decided then she probably had the music up, cooking and waiting for Richard and Sarah to get home. He remembered flying home on this very route, he remember walking in and smelling pasta and buttery garlic bread. Walking into the kitchen he had glanced around for His beautiful wife. He noticed a note on the fridge, Sarah had written it that morning:

‘Dear Moms and Pops, I am going home with Jessica after practice be home before nine!

-Sarah

When Richard read this he decided that Linda must be upstairs, it wasn’t often that they had the house to themselves. She was probably wearing the lingerie he liked. The black and red corset with matching thigh high socks and black heels. Linda was sexy as hell, always was, even after she had Sarah. He remember coming into his room, and there on the bed was Linda, in her lingerie. She wasn’t shooting her seductive smile at him or anything like that. She was laying there with her neck broken, lifeless eyes gazing at him.

 

Rollins shook his head, shaking the image from his mind. He didn’t want to think about that now. That’s when he noticed a girl walking alongside the road alone. He flashed his lights; the girl looked up and stopped. Rollins pulled over. “Good morning Miss.” He said stepping out of his car and scanning the girl.

“What seems to be the problem officer?” the girl asked curtly, she clearly did not want to be bothered.

“Where you headed?” he asked, he was studying the girl. She couldn't be more then 18, she was tiny, with wild dark brown hair and a distraught look on her face.

“Anywhere but here.” she replied.

“You got a family?” Surely a young girl like this must be missed by someone.

She winced at that question. “Use too.”

He raised his eyebrows at her reply. “Where do you live?”

“678 Oak Lane.” The girl turned her gazed down the street. “Listen if there isn't any prob-”

“Why don't you come with me?” Rollins said after he noticed two things, one: 678 Oak Lane was where the noise complaint came from and two: this girl had dried blood on her hands.

“I haven't done anything wrong sir.” the girl shot back defensively. “You have no right to take me in!”

Rollins came toward her, unhooking his handcuffs. “You have dried blood on your hands, and I can tell what's in the bag.” She backed up and he could tell what she was thinking. “Don't you dare reach for a gun Miss, I will shoot, just turn around and everything will be fine.”

The girl looked like her pride was wounded but after a few moments of an intensive stare down she let him handcuff her. Rollins didn’t want to be too rough with the girl so he put her in the back of the car carefully and took her book bag and put it in the front seat with him. He started the car up and began to drive back to the station; he studied the girl by glancing in the rear view mirror whenever he had the chance. She was quite small, not in an unhealthy way just in a naturally tiny way, like Sarah. He couldn’t read her emotions like he could with most people. She kept her composure, unlike most young people when they are in the back of a cop car.

“Do you mind telling me what happened?” He asked the girl slowly and quietly. For some reason he didn’t want to startle the girl.

She gazed in the rear view mirror to meet his eyes. There was a certain unattached look in her grass green eyes, the look that normally only happened to war veterans. That look that happens when someone sees the unimaginable, they lose what they love and while they lose what the love they lose themselves completely. She parted her lips and without missing a beat this incredibly witty girl said: “Anything I say can and will be held against me in court.”

This took Rollins by surprise. If he was in the position she was in he would have said the same thing.

“Well aren’t you a smart ass.” He mumbled, Rollins had a problem with saying his thoughts out loud.

The girl met his eyes again in the rear view mirror and did something even more shocking then a witty remark, she smiled. For a split second Richard had to take a double take to make sure the girl in his backseat wasn’t Sarah. The girl smiled the same way. She had a stunning smile.

When they got to the station, Richard took the cuffs off of her. “Listen kid,” He gazed down at the girl, he was a good foot taller than her. “I don’t want to think you did anything, but I need to put you in the holding cell either way.”

“I understand,” For some reason Richard felt incredibly guilty that part of him thought the girl hurt someone. “But just know I would never hurt my family.” She tilted her head up, partly to meet his eyes, partly so the tears that were forming wouldn’t fall down her cheeks. “I loved them.”

“I know.” Rollins could see emotion in the girl for the first time. She was broken and scared. Just how he was when he lost Linda.

They walked in the station, Richard had one hand clasped on the girl’s arm and one hand was carrying the book bag.

“Rollins!” a rookie named Jared Times called from across the office.

“Times, take this girl and put her in the holding cell, no one bother her till I get back.” The girls head wiped around and she glared at Richard.

“Mmmm…” Times purred as he took in Jordan’s physique. “Fresh meat. What’s she in for? Oh please let it be prostitution.”

Rollins glared at Jared, if looks could kill, Richard would have his head on a platter. “Don’t. Touch. Her.” He said really slowly so even an idiot like Jared would comprehend it.

“Ugh you torture me Dick.” Jared placed a hand over his heart and acted wounded. “Let’s go sweet ass.”

The girl looked back at Richard. “I’ll be back.” He said.

“I promise.” He added under his breath.

 

 

On his way to the house where the girl apparently lived, Rollins downed six Advil, although he was in terrific shape his head was pounding from all his thoughts crashing around. He was thinking about Sarah. She'd been away at college for two years now. He missed her immensely. Sarah was blessed with her mothers full heart shaped lips, soft rounded nose, and beautiful sandy blonde hair, which she insisted on dying black. He remembered when she came home one day from a friends house with black hair, Linda almost fainted. Even though Richard hated it at first he had to admit it looked fantastic against her ice blue eyes, which she possessed thanks to him. He loved his daughter more than anything, she was his baby girl, his princess. He remembered when Sarah told him she was going to go to college in Texas, his heart shattered. Texas was way to far for his liking. He hasn't seen his daughter in four months. He sighed. The tires of his car flew over the dirt road with such speed it gave him a little bit of a rush. Rollins turned into a little bit of an adrenaline junkie after Linda died, even though Sarah tried to force him to go to therapy nothing but danger made him feel any better. He hated therapy. His shrink was an ass, idiotic pansy who did nothing but sit in his cushy chair and write down other peoples problems. The doctor never saw his wife dead, never lost everything he ever loved. He didn't have a daughter who insisted on living as far away from him as possible. He was an idiot. Rollins own thoughts made him so angry he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings. Glancing over at the side of the road, he slammed on his brakes. He saw a women laying on the ground with a man pinned on top of her.

“Hey!” He called getting out of the car and withdrawing his gun. “Hey get off of her now!” The man craned his neck in the most unnatural of way to look at Rollins, his eyes were sunken in and his skin pale with patches of purple sagging wounds. Blood was smeared around his mouth and flesh from the woman’s midsection in his teeth. He stopped clawing at the women and cocked his head at Richard.

“Put your hands on you-” Rich stopped when he saw that the man had a hole in his midsection the size of a football, his large intestine was drooping over the side of him. The creature rose of the women and started limping fast toward him. Panicking Richard shot the thing in the kneecap, it fell but still clawed it's way closer. “Son of a...” Mumbling Richard he shook the creatures hand off his boot and shot him in the head. The creature didn't move, with the toe of his boot he rolled it onto it's back. It looked like something out of a horror movie. Rich glanced over at the women. Walking toward her gun drawn, he looked down on her.

“Oh.. God..” she whispered, her mouth was spilling out blood and her eyes were slowly dimming.

“Ma'am!” Rollins said kneeling down to her. “What happened?”

“Please... shoot me.. I..” She coughed projecting a thick vat of dark blood out of her mouth. “I don't want to be a zombie...” Weakly she began to weep.

“Zombie?” Rich raised his eyebrows. That's insane, zombies were fake.

“Yes..” She breathed. “They're coming...” The woman’s eyes were getting very dark, her pupil was dilated so much it almost took up her whole eye. With one last cough she stop moving. No gasp or wheezing escaped her lips anymore. Rollins checked her pulse. She was dead. Rollins walked backward toward his car and got inside, he debated on calling for backup but decided to call his daughter instead.

The phone rang several times.

“Hello?” Sarah's voice answer the phone.

Richard closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief.

“Sarah sweetheart, are you okay?” Richard opened his eyes again and kept his gaze on the women. He could have sworn that he saw her foot twitch.

“Yes of course. Why daddy? What's wrong?” Sarah's voice sounds like Linda's especially when she was concerned or scared.

“There is something weird going on here. Just please stay inside today, you still have that gun I got you...right?” Richard's eyes went from the women to another group of people in the distance, looked like a street gang.

“Yes, I do. Daddy are you sure you are okay? I'll stay indoors and all but maybe you should go see Dr. Kenner...” She trailed off not sure if bringing up her fathers mental state was a good idea.

“I'm not crazy Sarah.” Richard sighed and glanced back at the women, who was sit on the ground. “Just do what I ask okay? Humor me.”

“Okay Daddy,” she replied. “I have a paper to write, I love you, I'll call you later okay?”

“Okay sweetie, I love you too.” He waited until she hung up to close his phone. He shook his head and started his car. As he drove away he looked in his rear view mirror and a lump formed in his throat. The women was gone.

Rollins normally didn't take advantage of his position but today he made an exception, Rollins went eighty down the road until he reached the house where the girl had lived. They didn't have neighbors for at least a half mile. So the noise must have been extremely loud to even attract the attention of anyone. The house was old, it had a distinct country appeal to it. The door was dented and hanging almost completely off the hinges. Before Rollins even stepped on the porch he smelled the sicking coppery smell of blood, and a sour smell that he only smelled one other time in his life. When he was a rookie cop and stumbled upon a corpse that was dead for two weeks. That smell was something he would never forget. Rotting flesh. Not many things made Richard's stomach turn but this did. He gulped and walked up the porch, the wooden steps shrieked with pain from under his feet. The smell worsened when he opened the door, winds scented with death threw themselves at him. He stumbled back and covered his nose with his hand. His swallowed his disgust and entered the house. Everything was quiet, everything was still. “Hello?” Richard called out closing the door behind him, his fingers lingered on the rosemary beads wrapped around the doorknob. “Officer Rollins,” He identified himself. No one answered, there was no sound, but still something compelled him to pull out him gun. He inched himself forward until he reached the kicthen he peered inside. The bloodbath that greeted him was so foul Richard doubeled over and tossed his cookies. He straightened himself out and glanced at the bodies. There were fourteen in total. He noted that some of the bodies looked fresher than other, some looked like they had been decaying for weeks. His eyes were stuck on a armless corspe slumped agaisnt the oven, the man looked fimilar, but Rollins was pretty sure he had both arms the last time he saw him. Shaking his head he decided to check the upstairs. As he climbed up the stairs he noticed the pictures on the wall, the girl. The girl he put into the holding cell was holding a little blonde haired boys hand, on the boys side was a stunning women who Rollins decided was his mother. On the girls side was the armless corspe in his living state. It hit Rollins like a ton a bricks, Joey Belle, or sargent Belle as he had known him, they fought in the war together. Richard looked at the little boy in the picture, he wasn't in the kicthen with the rest of the corpses, and he doubted his sister would leave him. Richard looked up the rest of the staircase praying that he won't find a little kids body. Richard stood in front of a corpse in the hallway, it was a man, he looked similar to the one Richard shot eariler. His eyes were black pits and his skin was decaying and purple. Richard swallowed the urge to vomit and stepped over the body. Glancing around he realized he was in the little boys bedroom. No body, alive or dead. He let out a sigh, under his sigh he heard a thump. His glanced around catiously. He walked futher into the room, the thump was coming from a same trunk in on the far side of the room. Slowly he crept toward it, he pointed his pistol toward the lid as he removed it. A pair of blue eyes shot up toward him. They belonged to a small, blonde haired, boy who was clutching a stuffed tiger.

“Don't shoot.” He whimpered, closing his eyes tightly.

“Oh..shit.” Rollins breathed. “Come here son,” He helped the little boy out of the chest. Holding the little boy in his arms he put his gun away.

“Are they all dead?” The boy whispered as Richard placed him on the bed.

“Excuse m-” Richard's stunned reply was cut off by the boy.

“I know what was happening, those things broke in, they were eating my family, my sister, Jordan, went to help, and there was one of the upstairs.. so I hid.. and she never came back.” In the mist of his sentence the boy started crying quietly. “I...Are they dead?”

Richard grabbed a book bag with some turtles in ninja outfits on it, he began to put some of the boys clothes in it. “Your sister is at the station. She's okay.” He handed the book bag to the boy. “Let's go,” He picked up the boy and pulled out his pistol. “When I say eyes closed, your eyes are closed no matter what. Okay?”

The boy nodded. “Yes officer.”

“You can call me Rich,” He said softly to the boy.

“I'm Charlie,” He said back holding onto Richard as he went down the stairs.

“Okay, Charlie, eyes closed.” Richard was passing the kicthen when he realized Joey's corspe and three other corspes jaws were snapping in his direction.

“Shoot them, Rich, my eyes are closed but I heard that sound last night, they aren't people anymore.” Charlies little hands were digging into Richards arm.

Richard nodded. These things were dead when he came in the house there was no way they could be human and alive. He fired four shots, hitting everyone perfectly.

After Rollins did that he practically ran out of the house he placed Charlie in the back of the car. He got in the drivers seat and slammed the door shut.

“So my sister,” Charlie said. “She's okay?”

“Yes,” Richard said as he flew down the dirt road back to the station.

“She didn't come back from me,” he sounded confused and hurt.

“I think your sister thought you were...” Richard trailed off and shook his head.

“Dead?” He completed.

“Yeah.” Rollins said nodding. A shock of static came from Rollins radio. “We need an officer to report to Northway College, there are reports of mass homicide.”

Richard swallowed hard. He was only minutes away from the campus.

“You should go.” Charlie chripped from the backseat. “They need your help.”

Richard nodded. These were kids his daughters age. “Hold on!” Richard made a sharp left. “You stay in the car and lay down on the floor so no one sees you. Understand?”

“Understood.” Charlie said.

“You are a much better listener than your sister.” Rollins chuckled.

“Yeah I got that a lot.”

Richard leaned over and took his extra pistol out of the glove box. He was ready to save some lives.