Clifton Falls (10 page)

“Okay. Tell me their names and I’ll find out where they were taken and what’s happened to them?”

Karen trembled slightly. The closer she was to finding out about the mentioned couple, the more nervous she became. The names were passed over to the other woman and checked on the computer. Nothing showed on the screen; no one by those names had checked in today according to the machine. “The computer says ‘no’,” the chuckling receptionist replied.

This wasn’t greeted well by Blake. “My wife asked you a serious question, but you feel it appropriate to take a gag from a comedy sketch.”

The woman stopped her childish humour and puffed out her cheeks. “Are you sure they were taken to this hospital? The computer isn’t registering anyone by the name of Smythe coming in today.”

Blake placed a comforting arm around Karen. He didn’t need people trying to make her look like a right idiot.
“Look, my wife was told that they were in an accident and the nearest hospital is here. Maybe your computer is wrong.” The receptionist felt slightly shell-shocked by the sudden outburst, but this didn’t stop Blake from off loading more angry words. “I’d like you to find someone who we can discuss this with. Maybe someone higher up, if that’s not too much trouble for you.”
Wayne returned from the morgue. He required some fresh air, but the receptionist spotted him as he tried to sneak outside. Her crazy waving caught his attention so he had to see what she wanted. “What seems to be the problem?” he asked her.
The receptionist now had painted circles of crimson around her cheeks after Blake’s barrage caused her to feel very much incompetent. “Do you know anything about a married couple being brought in earlier? Surname is Smythe?”
“Why? Who wants to know?” The woman pointed at the couple. Wayne needed some rest, but now had to talk to a couple of uptight and eager humans. The big discussion with his chief was going to come up very soon so he had to tread carefully in order to prevent the truth from leaking out. “I’ll answer any questions you want to ask, but let’s do it in private.”
This puzzled the receptionist.
Why wasn’t the information on the computer screen?
Everyone, except Wayne seemed confused by it all, but not one of them said anything to him.
The receptionist watched as the others entered the waiting room. Karen sensed there was a problem and the whole business of Wayne taking them into a room wasn’t looking like good news.
“Take a seat,” Wayne said.
She remained on edge, anxious that she was to be given bad news. “Look, I don’t want a seat. I just want to know what’s happened to Mr and Mrs Smythe.”
Wayne was stuck for words. The truth was a “no entry” sign so a false truth needed to be found. It had to be good to keep the married pair quiet for a while.
“What’s your relationship to the couple?”
“Well, Vincent’s my boss, but I’ve known them for a while.”
Wayne knew Karen worked at the bank, as he was one of the officers assigned to the murder case a few months ago, but he’d a plan to pound the woman with questions in order to stray her away from the actual events.
“It’s a bit strange that someone would phone you and not any of their family.”
“I don’t think they have any.” Karen’s heartbeat pounded excessively fast for her to control, so Blake calmed her down. The family question was enough to make her think the worst. “Why are you asking me that for?” she said, holding a hand up to her face.
“I was just checking that’s all…”
There were two things Wayne wasn’t very good at, one was giving bad news and the other was lying, so this was a great time to break the habit. “Your boss and his wife were involved in an accident occurring earlier today. They died instantly. There was nothing anyone could do to save them.” He paused, and then added. “I’m really sorry.”
Karen burst into tears, holding out her hands to signal to her husband to put his arms around her again. She then rested her head on his chest.
Blake wanted to find out more about the old couple’s sudden death.
It just didn’t seem to add up that they were involved in an accident. Not those two, surely
, he thought.
“What kind of accident?” he asked.
There could well be a battle of words happening here. If Blake kept on digging for the right answers then Wayne would have to come up with his trump cards, if he’d any.
Blake kept pushing. “The whole thing doesn’t sound right. Was it a car crash?”
Wayne wasn’t in the mood for an extension. As far as he was concerned the news was told in the right manner.
If Blake’s going to let his feelings out then okay, but he wasn’t personally going to aim them at me.

“Look, I know you’ve a million questions to ask me, but I don’t know how they died,” replied Wayne.
Karen remained with her head against Blake, but now watched the officer’s movements instead of crying. Blake still had a feeling that the sergeant wasn’t telling him everything and was keeping something back, but what?
“Where are they now?”
Wayne hoped the questions would end soon because if not, there could well be a chance he’ll slip up.
“They’re being examined.”
“I take it we can’t see them then?”
“That’s right, well not just yet, maybe later.”
Wayne seemed pleased with his answers and felt he was now off the hook.
Karen removed her head and asked. “Can we see them when the time is right?”
“Whoever you spoke to wanted you to identify the bodies, so yes you can. I’ll let you know when, but in the meantime you can remain in this room.” Wayne was now given the chance to exit the area without getting his head bitten off, but stopped as he approached the door again. “I’ll ask my chief to have a word with you. Maybe he can explain things more thoroughly.”
He headed back to the receptionist because he needed her to keep an eye on the couple. He asked her to supply them with beverages and not to let anyone enter the room unless they were from the police or the hospital services. He knew that snooping reporters could show up to pester the husband and wife very soon. It wouldn’t take long before the press found out about the deaths of everyone in that house and the ones from earlier. They were probably gaining stories from the people who were outside the house of horror at the time of the killings. They hadn’t seen what was going on, but they sure as hell would’ve heard everything.
Wayne returned downstairs to speak to Mike. The chief had been in deep conversation with Colin, (the head of the morgue department), over who was who? He knew he would have to wait a while before the surgeon finally identified the cause of Frank’s sudden death, but he’d been able to rescue some information from the dead man’s jacket to contact a next of kin.
Wayne saw dead bodies sprawled out on tables as he re-entered the morgue room. The human remains appeared gruesome, except for Frank’s. The not so human-like bodies were shoved in the corner for now. It would take a very long time before anybody identified these.
Colin was the top surgeon for tidying up the dead. He stood, wearing a blood-spattered uniform, but was so focused on his job that he failed to notice traces of the red liquid tattooed to his balding scalp. He’d placed the bodies out, but seemed just as baffled by them as everyone else. Wayne had more to contribute than Mike as he’d witnessed the dark side recently. Colin dived on him with questions. The chief made a signal to indicate he would pay the upset couple a visit. He then left the area.
“So, Wayne, you’re telling me that these ugly corpses over here attacked the other ones over there?”
“That’s correct. I can’t explain it, but that’s what happened.”
“If everything you’re saying is true then we’re dealing with the living dead. You know, walking zombies.” Colin waved his hands around like some kind of a crazed weirdo. “If this mess isn’t sorted out soon then the whole town could become infected.” He grabbed onto Wayne, snapping teeth together as he did so. This totally confused the sergeant. “Who else knows the truth about this?”
Wayne felt confused.
What’s he going on about? Why does he think they’re zombies? They don’t exist in real life
.
“I’m sorry Colin, but there’s no such thing as a zombie. It’s made up nonsense. You’ve been reading too many comic magazines.”
“Is it? How’d you know? What other answers have you come up with?”
These questions popped out of Colin’s mouth as quickly as an automatic firearm. Wayne couldn’t believe that the other man was taken in by the story, but seemed so genuine that Wayne began to consider his words. Truth was he’d no answer for what was happening, and Colin’s fantasy theory sounded better than his nonexistent one.
Mike sat with the married pair, explaining what’d happened to Vincent and Mary Smythe. He was a more convincing liar than Wayne and knew how to concoct a tale when needed to do so. His mind opened up a box of tricks, or in this case, a box of lies, so all he needed to do was to make them believe him.
“What happened to them?” Karen asked.
“Mr Smythe returned home and noticed his wife sprawled out on the kitchen floor; she’d been electrocuted by an appliance in the room. Unknown to him, the electric charge still ran through her body. He bent down, touched her, but the charge ran through his body, causing him to have a heart attack.” Mike stopped for a split second. “It was just a freak accident.”
Karen shook her head from side to side and puffed out her cheeks. “That’s so sad. What an awful way to die.”
The three remained talking for a little while. Blake backed off from his conspiracy theory like approach, accepting the fact that it was an accident, a strange one, but one all the same.
The couple decided to return home for now. Mike said they’d receive a call when they were needed to identify the bodies. After the couple left he set about in doing his own investigation.

THIRTEEN

The Gilbert family lived next door to the Smythes. They’d heard all the commotion from earlier, especially the constant banging against their living room wall, but, instead of being nosey, like some of the street folk, had remained in their house at this terrible time.

A change had happened right under their noses, a change that could affect the life of the family. Within the past few hours Bruno had gone from being a very friendly and outgoing animal to a dog that just lay in his kennel, staring at everyone through the kitchen window.

Sid Gilbert, the father in the household, was the dog’s master. He was the first to notice Bruno’s drastic transformation, but wasn’t aware of anything being different with the dog’s appearance, so wasn’t aware that his pet had risen from the dead as a new recruit to the zombie army.

“Betty, do you know what’s up with Bruno? He’s not touching his food.”
“How the hell should I know what’s up with him? Do I look like a bloody vet?” she shouted.
“All right, all right, I might’ve known you’d give me grief. I was only asking.”
Sid frowned at his wife of many years. There wasn’t a day that went by without the couple having an argument over something. Sid was convinced that Betty caused most of the fighting. They didn’t talk much these days so bickering was the only thing resembling a conversation.
“The next time you want to ask me a question, ask one I can answer. You thick twat...”
Betty had a way of manipulating Sid. The swearing upset him. There was no need for her to put him down in front of the children, but she always did.
“I get more sense from the kids than from you. You try to make me look stupid.” He closed in on a swear word, but held back. “You really do my head in sometimes, do you know that?” he shouted, ready to fight back.
Betty heard his anger tone, gave a small smile then reversed her own to a calmer one. She was sneaky, noticing the children had seen the argument just as Sid blew his top.
“Look, if the dog’s off his food then he’s probably just tired or something. If he’s like this later on then get the vet in to take a look.”
The ten year old, and wise for her age daughter, picked up on the arguments more than her six year old brother. Betty knew that, so made Sid look the guilty party once again.
The time was close to 4.00pm. Betty prepared dinner while the kids tidied their bedrooms. Sid remained watching his pet through the window. He witnessed frothy saliva form around the mouth of the dog and its eyes were now a bloodshot red. “I don’t know what to do. Bruno’s really ill. Come, take a look.”
He was very frantic, but Betty knew he would go miles over the top just to get her attention. She wasn’t falling for it.
“I’m doing the bloody dinner. I haven’t got time to check on him. If he’s ill then fetch the vet in. It’s that simple.”
“Where’s the number for the surgery?” asked Sid.
“It’s in the phone book, under V for vets.”
“Stop being sarcastic, you mad cow. This is an emergency.”
Betty left him to it.
Sid took another look. The frothing from Bruno’s mouth became worse. He put the call on hold to investigate the symptoms, walking outside to get a closer look at the poor animal lying on the ground.
“Hey boy, I’m going to get you some help. You’ll be okay.”
He noticed dark bloodstains stuck to Bruno’s fur. This convinced him that the dog had been attacked and was the reason he was drained of energy. He stretched out a hand to feel the stain, seeing if it was still wet, but as he did this Bruno’s eyes widened and sharp teeth appeared. Bruno produced a vicious growl that extended in volume over the next few seconds. This wasn’t a good time for Sid to be in this situation because Bruno was now a killing machine that was about to explode. Sid backed off as soon as the dog snarled at him. “Bruno, it’s me. What’s wrong with you?”
Why did the man ask the dog a question? Maybe Sid thought Bruno was more intelligent than his wife? But even so, the poor mutt was never going to talk.
The dog didn’t react to his voice. Instead, it remained growling and slobbering. Sid wasn’t going to wait around to see if the dog would bite him or not so ran back inside the house, slamming the door shut behind him.
Betty had stared out the kitchen window during all of this but thought Sid was tormenting the dog. At first thought nothing more of it, but that changed when her husband rushed back inside with a frightened expression on his face. “Fuck. What’s up with the dog? He’s gone mental,” he shouted.
“What’s going on? Why’s Bruno barking?” Betty asked, with one of her telling the man off for being naughty, smirks.
“I don’t know, but there’s something wrong with him.” Sid closed in on his wife, wrapping hands around her face. “I swear; he was looking at me like I was a stranger. This isn’t right. I’m phoning the vet.”
Betty worried, and now knew her husband wasn’t fooling around. “You do that and I’ll make sure the kids don’t go outside.”
Bruno sniffed and scratched the bottom of the back door, but, after a few seconds of unsuccessful achievement, wandered to the side of the house, searching for another way in.
Sid made the call, explaining to the vet the condition of the animal. The reply was swift, but to the point, everyone was to stay indoors until he turned up with the police.
Betty again looked out the window, but Bruno seemed to have vanished. “I can’t see him, Sid.”
“Keep calm. He can’t get in. Let’s just wait for the vet to arrive.”
“What about the people outside?” she said.
Sid’s hands rose. It was a sign to say that he’d no control over what was going to happen next with the dog.
The children were told to remain in one of the bedrooms until further notice.
Sid reached into the staircase closet and removed a putter from his set of golf clubs. It was more of a macho thing than anything else. Having a weapon ready to fend off an attack would make him look like a hero to his family, but deep down wasn’t sure if he could actually take a swing at the pet he’d raised for the last twelve years.
Betty decided to keep as calm as possible. She’d a meal to prepare and nothing was going to interrupt dinner, so she returned to the kitchen.
Five minutes flashed by when the sound of a police siren closed in. Sid moved to the front window, witnessing the vehicle pull up outside his house.
Betty was looking down, busy preparing dinner, but when she heard the siren, looked up and saw Bruno glaring at her through the window. The dog was standing on its hind legs with its face pressed against the glass. Saliva dripped from the jaws. This startled her into retreating against the kitchen table. The blood-shot eyed dog faded out of sight again, leaving a running, dribble-stain on the glass. Betty thawed out, able to think again, but before warning her husband, the zombie beast crashed through the window, showering glass in numerous directions. She stuck an arm across her face to avoid being blinded by the flying debris, but once removed, frantically scanned the area for the window breaker.
Luckily, Sid, the vet, and two officers entered the kitchen, witnessing the virus as it turned the dog into a flesh-eating monster.
“Betty, are you okay?” the nervous husband whispered.
She had a few cuts and scratches, but this didn’t prevent her from replying. “I’m fine. I just want all this to be over.”
“You hang in there.”
The ex-Bruno shook its head vigorously as if not knowing on which direction to take. The dog could aim for Betty, as she was alone, or it could charge the four men standing in front of it. Sid wasn’t prepared to take the risk on the creature attacking his wife so raised the golf club in an attempt to scare the animal into retreating. The sudden movement by the man of the house increased the dog’s temper and it rotated, facing the men. The slightly baffled and nervous officers removed firearms from their holsters, ready for an attack, but the former pet didn’t seem bothered that it could die. It had a hunger burning deep within its stomach and it needed to feast.
All four men tried forcing it back but the animal swung a paw, attempting to scratch one of them as they neared. One touch from the venomous, razor sharp nails and the virus could spread again.
The vet turned to Sid. “Look, the dog knows you better than it knows us. Get its attention while I insert it with a needle to make it sleep.”
“But Bruno doesn’t like needles,” Sid replied in a sorrowful manner.
The stare he received from the others sent enough daggers through his heart that could lead to a thousand deaths. He knew they weren’t impressed by his recent words. He wasn’t looking forward to doing this task but couldn’t say ‘no’ with Betty scowling at him.
“I’ll try, but the dog doesn’t seem to know who I am at the moment.”
“Just try your best,” the vet said, while removing the needle from his medical bag.
Sid cautiously neared the glaring beast. “Bruno, mate, do you recognise me?”
The dog stopped swinging. Maybe previous brain patterns had woken up the same memories as the other infected victims, allowing Sid’s voice to get through to the dog?
The vet crept up to the side of the animal, but the beast’s eyes followed him. Bruno switched back into zombie mode, flipping around as the vet was about to insert the needle. Carnivorous jaws snapped at the man’s free hand and bloodthirsty teeth bit deep into the fingers, eliminating all of them. The now sobbing vet watched the bloodstained fingers peel away from his reddened hand before plummeting to the ground. The fingerless man screamed as the dog licked blood from its lips. The vet cowardly knelt down, arms covering his head while thoughts of this being the end of his life were sent crashing into his mind.
‘BANG’, ‘BANG’. Two shots were fired. Both bullets flew into the animal’s ribs and stomach. The beast rose off the floor, flipping over like a high-board swimmer somersaulting into the water below before landing next to the crying man. The creature was now covered in blood.
The past few seconds had spooked everyone in the room. The officers watched the beast, seeing if it would rise again, but it didn’t move. The vet unravelled his arms. He stared at the lifeless animal before sluggishly returning to his feet, confusion and shock etched on his face.
Four people now stared at the dripping, fingerless hand, but the vet’s recent cloudy mind had forced him to have a lapse of memory on the missing digits.
“Betty, we need something to tie around his hand - quickly.”
She was slow to react to the words from her husband because she was still staring at the scene. “I’ll get some bandages from the cupboard.”
As blood dripped and eyes gazed at the wound, nobody noticed the dog move slightly. It watched the movements of the people until it had the opportunity to pounce. The officers holstered their guns while the husband helped the vet. Sid was about to manoeuvre the injured man to a chair when the dog leapt off the floor and headed in their direction. Before anyone could do anything about it, the animal barged into them, knocking them over like skittles at a bowling alley. Sid smashed into the table, crashing the wooden object against the wall, but the vet, who somehow was the unluckiest person in that room, landed on his stomach next to the starving fiend.
The nervous officers tried in vain to retrieve their weapons but weren’t quick enough. The crazed beast climbed on top of the crying man’s back as he gave the others one last, frightened look. He didn’t need to say “Help me,” the expression was proof enough. The fully transformed animal opened its mouth, sinking teeth into the back of the petrified man’s, shaking skull. It was a bit like someone biting into an apple. Crunching sounds were heard as teeth entered bone and a scalping-like effect from the sharp canines ripped a piece of the human’s head clean off. The beast turned to face the officers before spitting the unwanted piece out. It had no fear as its head went down again. This time the mouth aimed for the brain. The organ still moved as the animal snapped off chunks, absorbing pieces down the throat like it was sucking jelly from a spoon.
The officers aimed guns again, but the animal just looked at them and carried on eating. It didn’t care what the men were going to do to it, food to this hideously deformed creature was top priority and nothing was going to interrupt its feed.
‘BANG’, ‘BANG’. Two more shots were fired as the dog swallowed more brain tissue. One bullet ripped through the left eye, shooting through the back of the animal’s head, while the other blasted into the neck area, spraying blood. A messed up facial expression could be seen as the ex-pet collapsed beside the dead man.
The nightmare from this household was over. Sid and Betty looked on as flashes from the past few minutes entered their minds.
How did this happen? One minute I had a pet, and the next it was a monster
, Sid thought.
Betty mentioned that there were two children upstairs so one of the officers left the blood-soaked kitchen. He stood at the foot of the stairs and shouted up to let them know that it was safe to come down. Alice and Ben slowly appeared at the top of the landing. They were still feeling petrified because of the noise, but the officer assured them that it was safe. “Are our parents all right?”
“Yes, young lady, they’re fine. Are you both coming down to see them?”
The other officer escorted the married couple from the horror show of a kitchen, and once out, shut the door to prevent the kids from witnessing what was in there. The children came down to an onslaught of comforting hugs from mum and dad.
One officer stayed behind, stopping neighbours from peering into the house, while the other escorted the family to the hospital for a thorough check up.