Authors: L A Taylor
TWENTY-TWO
Mike received an important phone call from the lab. The testing process was still underway, but already there were signs that the fertilizer sample suffocated all thoughts of any good news. He waited for the final results to be emailed over to the station, but now looked deeply troubled, and the other people in the room noticed it. “Right, I want you two to go to the factory manager’s house.”
“What are we going there for?” Craig replied.
“I want all the fertilizer sacks confiscated from his factory and then I want you to bring him in for questioning.”
The chief popped another headache tablet into his mouth as Doug and Craig left his office again. He then turned to Wayne. “How’s Jason doing?”
“He appears to be okay. His parents are visiting him.” Wayne needed to know what’d been said on the phone to worry Mike so much. “What did the lab say?”
“We may’ve laughed about the fertilizer, but the boys from the lab found some strange shit inside it.” Mike scrunched up his lips before puffing out his cheeks. “I’m waiting for the final results of the test but if Blake’s story is true, then we could well be in serious danger.”
Wayne knew this upset Mike, but couldn’t work out why the fertilizer would be a future problem. “In what way?” he asked.
Mike began to rant about all the possible reasons to why the fertilizer could cause serious problems. Wayne sat and listened to him talk about the bank manager with the garden, fact, his mother woke up because of the fertilizer, fact, the fields at the factory had been sprayed with the stuff, fact, the freaky weather condition that mysteriously washed all the fertilizer away, fact. Even though Mike laid out all the facts, Wayne knew they were just coincidences, or thought he knew.
“I know what you’re saying, but it’s all over now.”
The tension on Mike’s face was close to erupting so whatever he had to say next obviously troubled him a great deal. “Or is it? What would happen if the fertilizer made its way to the cemetery?”
Wayne hadn’t thought of that and didn’t want to think that this could well be the actual event. Mike became very believable with his assumptions so Wayne became horrified and worried. “It couldn’t spread that far,” he replied.
“I don’t know for sure, but I really don’t fancy taking any chances. If we find out this stuff is causing the problem then I want everyone from the holiday village evacuated until further notice.”
“Let’s not be so hasty.”
Not so long ago Wayne was the ‘tell the world’ man, but now he was trying to stop his chief from thinking the same thing. Mike calmed down slightly, but everything he said would be looked into.
Karen opened the front door to two visitors. “Hello officers, can I help you?” she asked, anxious in case they wanted her to identify the bodies of her boss and his wife.
“Is Blake in?” Doug replied.
After her husband’s name was mentioned, all thoughts on her being the intended target faded into the distance.
“Yes he is. Why? What has he done now?”
The officers entered the house and Blake shot up out of his seat when they entered the living room. “All right chaps. What appears to be the problem? Have I upset the chief?” he asked, inwardly worried that they were going to arrest him for making disturbing phone calls.
“We need to confiscate all the fertilizer that you’ve stored,” Craig said.
Blake’s eyes lit up because the conversation became extremely interesting.
“Hold on, are you telling me that my fertilizer’s infected?”
“We don’t know, Mike just told us to see you. He needs a word after we’ve loaded the bags.”
Blake kissed his wife on the cheek, grabbed his coat and began to leave with the other men, but Karen reached out to give him a hug. She was pleased that his theory was at last being investigated. Blake hugged her back, but hoped that she would trust him more when another crazy idea escalated inside his mixed-up head.
The police car pulled up outside the factory gates at 5.30pm, as staff members clocked off for the evening. Todd remained to finish off the daily paperwork. The three men exited the vehicle and walked inside the building.
“Hey, Blake, what are you doing here? I thought you were spending some time with your wife?” Todd shouted, moving closer to the others.
Blake glanced around the area, checking to make sure there wasn’t anybody else hanging about. There wasn’t. He then explained to Todd the situation with the fertilizer. Todd wasn’t sure where this conversation would lead, but never questioned it because the two officers were proof that something wasn’t quite right. Blake wanted to tell him something, but knew he had to keep quiet.
He would find out the reason soon enough
, Blake thought.
“I’ll give you a hand shifting the stock.”
“Cheers mate,” Blake replied.
Craig informed Todd that he mustn’t mention to anyone where the fertilizer had gone to. Todd had no choice but to agree. Whatever went on was way too big for him to be involved in, and if Blake was in on it then he would help.
A large van arrived on the scene as everyone walked over to the storage hut. Craig gave his partner a sorrowful stare as he remembered what’d happened at the Smythes house. Doug sent back a praying gulp before putting on protective gloves. Everyone got busy as soon as the vehicle backed up.
Another twenty minutes flashed by before they were ready to leave the site. Blake shook Todd’s hand, thanking him again before being accompanied to the police station by the officers. Once back at the station, the fertilizer was deposited inside the police storage the warehouse. Blake was then escorted into Mike’s office.
“All right, Blake, we meet again. Take a seat.” Blake hadn’t a clue on what the chief was going to say or do to him. “Why don’t you two go home, get some rest while it’s quiet,” Mike said to the officers. “I’ll keep you informed of the night’s progress as it happens.”
“What about you? You need to rest as well, chief,” Doug said.
Mike gave a, ‘God, if only I could’, smile. “I’ll grab a nap in here when I can. I’ll speak to you soon.”
Both officers turned around and escaped the building. Mike now had Blake at his mercy and was ready with a list of questions.
“Do you know why you’re here?”
“It’s got something to do with the fertilizer that I got from the city.”
“Yes, that’s right.” He did the walking while talking thing again. “I want to know who your contacts are. I need to speak to these people. I’m not overly convinced that the fertilizer is dangerous to the public but I’ve opened an investigation based on what you told me and what’s been found inside the stuff.”
Blake’s curiosity was knocked for six after finding out that the fertilizer did have some strange ingredients inside it, but this wasn’t enough proof to accuse his stock of the murders. “My supplier lives in the city. I’ll phone him and get the number of the scientist who invented the stuff.”
Mike nearly fell over from a slight intake of shock after listening to what the other man said. “Hold it right there.” He pointed a finger at Blake. “Let’s just rewind the conversation a touch. You said some scientist made the fertilizer.”
Blake explained the facts all over again, making sure Mike understood why he’d phoned about the fertilizer, and it wasn’t because it smelt a bit funny. Mike listened to the story of what the fertilizer could do in regards to helping the farming industry, but still wasn’t any wiser on why the stuff could harm the people in this town. “Do you know what ingredients are in it?” the chief kindly asked.
“No, but I’m sure I’ll find out for you.” Blake dialled his supplier while Mike watched closely. After a minute or so of talking, Blake wrote information down onto scrap paper and the phone was replaced. Mike waited to hear the outcome. “I have the number of the laboratory where the stuff was made. The scientist’s name is Mr West.”
Mike’s curiosity overtook him and he seemed very keen to speak to the mystery man. “Go on, what are you waiting for? Get dialling,” he urged Blake.
Blake had done his bit by retrieving the number, so surely it was down to the police to do the rest. He refused to make the call, forcing the chief to take over. Three rings later and a voice responded on the other end. “Good evening, this is Doctor Shane West speaking. How may I help you?”
“Hi there, this is Chief Inspector Mike O’Sullivan. I’m phoning from Clifton Falls Police Department. We’ve a very serious problem down here and I think you can help sort it.”
“I’m sorry, Inspector, but how am I going to help you?”
“I have Blake Taylor with me. He received a delivery of fertilizer the other day and it was tested at your lab. I need to know what you mixed it with?” Mike kept his composure in order during the chat. He’d no idea on what was inside the bags so there was no need for any stress. “And I need to know now.”
The “now” bit did not impress Shane. “Blake, did you say?”
“Yes.”
“If my memory serves me right he did receive a batch of the new stuff. It was delivered straight from the testing site. I’m still waiting to hear from him. I need to know if it works before I make some more to be despatched.”
This guy was something else
, thought Mike.
While Shane focused on his wonderful fertilizer, people close to Mike were dying or had died. He was beginning to feel annoyed, not by what this guy said, but because of what he might’ve made happen. He kept it together, but insisted on a list of all the ingredients inside the fertilizer. He needed it now, and delivered by hand.
“You’re having a laugh, you’re miles away,” the scientist cried out. Those weren’t the words the chief required, but before he could counter attack with his own, the scientist spoke again. “I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll come down when my schedule isn’t so hectic. I’ll try my best to see you tomorrow.”
Mike sensed a challenge emerging and knew he would have to be more demanding to receive the other guy’s attention. It was now time for the threatening approach.
“Listen up buddy. I don’t know you, but I really don’t fucking like you. If you don’t get your arse here tonight then I’ll go to you with my truncheon and stick it where the sun doesn’t shine. Are you hearing me now?” Mike needed to take a well deserved breath before his face turned purple. “We’ve got a major situation developing here and we need your assistance.”
Blake waited for Mike to completely blow his top, but it didn’t get that far. The scientist was definitely put in his place though. He wasn’t expecting this and it vexed him.
“I’ll sort it. See you soon,” Shane whispered back.
The large clock hanging on the wall in Mike’s office had just ticked to 7.45pm when Shane entered the building. George escorted him to the chief. “Thanks, George.”
The old officer responded with a nod of his head and returned to his desk. Mike sensed the newcomer to the room was a bit unsure of what to expect from him, so reassured the other man that he wasn’t going to bite his head off, (like the creatures that’d been around in the past couple of days). He politely asked Shane to sit down, so he did.
“This is Blake, just in case you two haven’t met already.”
Both strangers said their hellos then Shane turned to face the chief again. “Why am I here? And what’s so important that I had to come down right now?”
This was going to be tough for Mike. How could he explain the past couple of days? And also convince the scientist not to walk out of the building? “Calm down. You’ve been asked to assist us in our investigation into what’s inside the fertilizer. We’ve sent some to our lab for tests, but haven’t come up with an answer yet. We know there’s something strange in it though. This is where you come in, as you should know the answer to that one.”
Shane’s reaction to this had him almost laughing, not because this was funny, but because he was very annoyed.
“I’ve driven all the way over here just to tell you the ingredients inside the fertilizer. I could’ve done that over the phone.”
“You’re right, you could’ve, but you wouldn’t have been able to witness the damage that the stuff has caused this town.”
Shane felt guilty about something now,
but what was Mike going on about?
He thought fast for a few seconds before past memories printed pictures into his mind.
“Hold on a minute, has my fertilizer got anything to do with what was on the news earlier?”
“Now you get it. We think some form of chemical inside the stuff caused ultimate chaos in our town, but I don’t know how yet.”
Shane’s brain worked overtime. He was still mad at being forced to drive to this destination, but was now intrigued by this information. “I’m sorry, I really had no idea.” He composed himself before speaking again. “We tested it inside the lab on a small quantity of crops. We placed some bugs that cause infections and also ones that just eat the plants amongst the crops before sprinkling some of the new fertilizer over the top. After a few days we checked on progress. We found that all the bugs had died but the crops had grown a few more inches in height.”
His explanation on what the fertilizer was used for was the same as Blake’s, so Shane never really had a clue just how deadly his experiment could end up to be. The human race could be wiped out by what he’d made.
“I don’t want to know what you did with the stuff, I just need you to tell me what you put in it,” said Mike impatiently.
Mike didn’t want to tell Shane about the zombie breed and he definitely didn’t want anyone else telling him either, so, whatever the man heard from the news was enough for now.
“We used a new substance called Moltovenium, but that’s just a poison to get rid of those bugs.”
Mike jotted down the magic word. “Moltovenium, you say. I’ve never heard of it, but I’d best notify our guys at the lab of the name. They’ll hopefully have an answer for us soon.”
The piece of paper was passed to George for him to make the call.
Mike wasn’t finished with the scientist yet and wanted to show him the effects of the deadly fertilizer. He wasn’t thinking that the stuff might be harmless now. As each minute ticked by, the chances of it being involved grew deep inside his head. “So, Shane, do you really want to know what’s been going on around here?”
Mike hurried the scientist out of his office before the latter had chance to reply to the question. Blake felt ignored. He knew he should’ve gone home ages ago, but the opportunity was now about to arrive. Mike escorted the two men out of the building, thanked Blake for staying then escorted the scientist toward the car park. Shane’s eyes scanned the closeness of the chief as he tried guessing what Mike planned for him. “Where are we going?” he asked, feeling a little fearful.
“You’ll see soon enough. We’re going for a little drive.”
Those words definitely freaked out the new guy.
The time was 8.30pm when Mike’s car stopped outside the hospital again. He led Shane through the building and wasn’t going to stop until reaching the injured man.
“Where are we going?” Shane asked again.
“We’re nearly there, so just be quiet.”
As they entered the area, four people suddenly turned to look at them. This made no sense to Shane whatsoever and he really didn’t want to be there.