WTF Over

Posted on Sun May 7th, 2023 @ 12:19pm by Hale Stratton [Major, United States Army] & Alonzo Blazevic & Vienna Quinn & René Rouen & Civilian Father Dominic Stephens & Ethan Thompson
Edited on on Sun May 7th, 2023 @ 8:24pm

2,969 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Bangor or Bust
Location: Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church
Timeline: 26-AUG 2010 - 06:20 a.m.

Upstairs

Is she alone in there," Hale asked while Andy approached the door and picked up the hammer they'd used to nail the board into place.

Father Dominic shook his head. "Her teacher, Mrs. Turner, is in there. She is the group leader for a number of the students downstairs."

"Best you get downstairs now, Father," Andy said, turning back toward the priest. "And get everyone away from the front door too. Give us a clear path out, alright?"

Father Dominic gave a single nod before going down the stairs to the atrium area.

While Andy pried off the 2x4, Hale readied himself in front of the door, weapon drawn. The two of them had learned a lot over the last few hours; neither one of them was under any illusion about what they would find when the door opened. The end stage of this virus was something out of nightmares, something that was dangerous. A threat.

Andy opened the door and stepped back, so that he was beside Hale, and the two of them were visited by the horrific image of a teenage girl, on her knees, over the body of an older woman, her pale white hands holding entrails up to her mouth. She turned, sighting a fresher meal, and rose to her feet. Hale fired without hesitation and she crumbled to lay beside the woman she had killed.

Andy called it in and dispatch told them that there was a van in the area who would come for the bodies. While he took care of that, Hale went downstairs to talk to the priest.

Downstairs

Vienna was standing looking perturbed as she watched the comings and goings. The amount of blood that had looked under the door upstairs wasn’t a good sign, question is whose was it? “What’s going on up there René? Someone in that room is badly hurt!”

René took Vienna's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "No need to worry. Police are here and...", he heard sirens approaching, "...paramedics will be here in just another minute."

Vienna nodded. “What if the news stories are right? What if Madison...” she didn’t say it out of fear that Madison was no longer the Madison they knew.

Father Dominic came down the stairs and gestured for the two teenagers to go into the main hall. "Police want this area cleared for the paramedics. I will join you all as soon as the paramedics head up stairs."

Vienna nodded and looked at René motioning them towards the main hall. “I guess we’d best head this way.”

René followed Vienna into the main hall. It was crowded now that all the girls were downstairs. "I'm going to go help out in the kitchen for a bit. You could check on the people in here. Make sure everyone is OK."

“I guess” Vienna nodded. Truth be told she wanted to remain glued to René’s side, it was where she felt the safest. She just didn’t want to appear that she was hogging all René’s attention.

René was halfway to the kitchen when the shots rang out. Everyone in the hall seemed to freeze in bewilderment for a moment. Then shouts of panic sounded off. René turned and fought his way through the crowd to Vienna. He pulled her along the wall and away from the panicked crowd. He looked her over quickly to see if she was injured. "Are you okay mon cher?"

Vienna was still reeling from the sound of the shot, as she snapped out of it she looked at René in bewilderment. “I...yes, I’m okay. Was that...?” She didn’t say the words not wanting to really know the answer.

René was visibly relieved to see Vienna wasn't hurt in the commotion, so much so, he hugged her close for a moment. "Dieu merci!" He held her for a full ten count before realizing his behavior might not appear appropriate. He released her, blushing profusely. "As long as you are okay." He glanced about the hall as people rushed back and forth. "People are going to get hurt if we don't stop this."

Vienna nodded, before hugging René. “Thank you for caring René.” She smiled as she let him go again. “What are we supposed to do? We can’t stop a virus!” She looked around. “René I want to go home! I need to know my family are alright.”

René nodded reassuringly. It was that moment he made a decision. He was going to get Vienna home to her family...or die trying. "Find Jordan and Courtney. Gather as many of the others up as you can. I will be back in two minutes." He said no more before darting off into the crowd.

Vienna nodded as she watched René go, before going to find Jordan and Courtney, as well as the others. She caught up with the two of them as she made her way through the crowd.

“Jordan, Courtney...” Vienna offered a brief smile. “René wanted me to find you, and for us to gather the others.”

Jordan and Courtney both looked at Vienna with slightly jealous expressions. Jordan, despite their current situation, still thought there was a chance for Homecoming to happen. He wanted to convince Vienna to still go with him. Courtney was of the mindset that she wanted to teach René and Vienna a lesson. Courtney always got what she wanted and nobody should try and get in her way. Jordan finally nodded. "I'll get the sports guys. Courtney, you get the girls on the Cheer Squad. Vienna, everyone else." He glanced about. "Vienna, why don't you start with Ethan."

Vienna nodded, making her way across to Ethan she offered a friendly smile. “Ethan, would you like to come and join us? René wants everyone gathered together, I think he has an idea.”

Ethan nodded. Smiles seemed beyond him at this point. Not too long ago, being this close to her was a cross between a fantasy and a dream, but now, looking at her, it all seemed gone. Blasted away the night his parents ... were murdered. The ground burned and salted by just the idea that any sane adult could think he had done that. "Sure," he said. "I'll be right there."

[Short While Later]

At the sound of weapons' fire, Ethan, who had been getting up the nerve to approach the teens now grouping together, moved closer to the reporter. His heart felt like it was slamming against his ribcage as his mind traveled right back to the night he found his parents and his eyes went wide.

There was one thing about reporters and journalists. They tended to be the type that didn't run away from action and usually against better judgment. Alonzo's first instinct was to investigate what was going on, but Ethan's weight against him had caused him to realize he had a more important job. He had to protect Ethan.

Alonzo's leather jacket concealed more than his somewhat scrawny physique. It also concealed the Ruger LCR combat revolver that he carried with him. He was not afraid to use it if it meant protecting Ethan and the others.

When it quieted, Ethan excused himself and moved over to the where the teens were grouped.

Base of the Stairs

The priest hadn't followed orders, no surprise there. Instead, Hale found him waiting at the bottom of the stairs. "Van will be here in a few minutes," he said, in a soft voice, "but the danger is passed."

Father Dominic had an expression that was equal parts anger and confusion. He held his fists clenched as he stared at the soldier. "What in God's name did you do?!"

"This virus, Father," Hale said quietly, "Isn't like anything you've seen before. For one thing, its always fatal. No one survives once they've contracted it but that's not the hard part. Once they're dead, they ... look, there's no easy way to say this .. they come back, Father. And when they do, they're aggressive, violent, and ..."

"... hungry," Andy finished. He jerked his head in the direction of the room upstairs. "I'm guessing your student died, came back, and killed her teacher. When we opened the door, she came for us and we had to ... stop her."

Father Dominic shook his head in disbelief. "That's...not possible. The dead don't just come to life and attack people. God would not allow it."

"Not the first time we've seen it Father," Hale said. "Been dealing with this since yesterday. But if you need to be sure, you're welcome to go upstairs and take a look yourself." He gestured toward the staircase. "As I said, Its safe up there now."

Father Dominic shook his head, "Not right now. I need to check on the people in the main hall. You probably terrified the kids with all your shooting." He went through the doors to the main hall and shouted for everyone to calm down and find a seat. "A Millinocket police officer and a sergeant with the US Army are here. They will explain to all of you what just happened." He turned to the two men visible through the open door. "Go ahead. Tell all of them what you just told me."

Andy stepped forward and gestured for the priest to come out of the hall. "Father, if I could speak to you for minute ... out here ..." He gestured to where he and Hale stood, his expression more serious than before if that were even possible. "Please."

Father Dominic gestured for the room to quiet down. It took a moment or two, but once the crowd calmed, he joined Andy and Hale back in the atrium. "Very well, convince me." He gestured to the stairs.

Hale made sure the door to the hall was closed before following Andy and the priest back up the stairs. The EMTs, grim-faced behind their masks, were getting ready to put the bodies into bags when Andy told them to hold up a minute so that priest could look.

The teacher had died screaming with her entrails spilled out across the floor. Madison lay on her back, trails of blood running down her chin and onto her clothes, her hands were stained with blood and bits of flesh, and her blue eyes were filmed over as she stared sightlessly upward.

"Bodies just don't decompose this fast, Father," Andy said as he stood beside the door, ready to step in if the priest did something unexpected. "It's not an easy thing to wrap your head around, I get that, and Hale and me, well, we've been dealing with this for hours now, all over town. No way you'd have known it, of course, but the bites are always fatal though time of death varies a bit as does the time they ... come back. But once they do, they attack ... which is probably what happened to your teacher."

Father Dominic looked at the carnage wrought supposedly by the teenage girl. He paled as he snatched a waste basket and emptied the contents of his stomach. He gasped loudly trying to catch his breath when he noticed movement at the door.

René had moved quickly and quietly to the second floor. If he was to get Vienna home to her parents safely, it would be best to know what he was up against. He had not expected to find what he saw now. "POUR L'AMOUR DU CIEL!" He stood in the doorway looking from the bodies of the dead to the living. "Did...Madison do this to Madame Turner?"

Andy sighed as he turned toward the teenager; the EMTs were already working to get the bodies covered up as quickly as possible. He had two of his own. The words 'stay put' had never worked with them, why had he thought it would work now? Welcome to the end of your childhood, he thought as he put one arm around the shaken tennager and drew him off to one side. "Yes," he said softly. "But if it helps any, I don't think she really knew what she was doing."

René looked at the police officer. There had been rumors in France of strange attacks. Most had been dispelled officially by the French government. "Was it the fever that drove Madison insanely feral to do...," he gestured at Mrs. Turner's body, "...that?"

"You shouldn't be up here, son," Andy said to the teenager. "Best you go back downstairs for now." He stooped over the priest for a moment and spoke low enough that Rene couldn't hear. "You're in change here, Father. It's up to you what you tell them but if things don't turn around, those kids are facing the end of their childhood. Maybe, you being a priest and all, you can find a gentler way to ease them into all of this ... rather than just ripping the band-aid off the way you intended to before."

René moved to Father Dominic and helped him to his feet. They would be in the way at the moment and he felt it best to return downstairs to fill in the other Bangor High School students of what he had been told and what little he'd overheard. "Excusez-moi. I will take Father Dominic downstairs for the time being.

Father Dominic still clutched the waste basket, but was at least upright and mobile for the moment. He gave René an appreciative nod as he was led out of the room. "Thank you or merci young man."

The threat or danger seemed to have ended from Alonzo could tell. There was at least one gunshot that rang out and conversations between the priest and the other two, and now they all had gone back up the stairs which was only arousing more suspicion and curiosity from the journalist who instructed Ethan to stay downstairs.

Alonzo, however, sought to get answers and ideally get a look at what had happened. He ascended the stairs but before he could reach the room he was met with a living breathing human obstacle. Doubt any press credentials are going to work he thought. "Care to give your side of what happened?"

With Andy handling the teenager and the priest hunched over a wastebasket, Hale was left to handle the new arrival. "Not a secret," he said as he gestured toward the corridor to their left. "I'll answer your questions but we need to clear a path so that the EMTs can get the bodies out of here."

Alonzo scoffed. "Sounds more like the medical examiners office, but personally, I'd burn them. No offense." The journalist like Ethan was a bit of a horror fan and there were a lot dots out in the world right now that if you were bold enough to connect them, the image the came to life or rather re-life was not one Alonzo cared to dance around. "You shot them in the head at least. I hope?"

Hale nodded as he leaned against the wall, for once his military bearing deserting him. "Had to," he said quietly. "Everyone is helping as they can. The coroner's office is swamped but I think that's the plan. Burn the bodies." The corner of his mouth ticked upward in a sort of half smile, one lacked with a wealth of emotions he held back. "If only to make room for the new ones coming in."

The journalist wanted to say something about Ethan but he knew better than disclose his source. "You hear about the mauling in Bangor a few days ago? Two adults, parents killed. Looked like Bears got them in their living room only their son was missing the teeth marks and DNA was human? I don't think that kid did it, but I think whatever you just took care of isn't an isolated incident and this Virus, it's connected right?"

"It's connected," Hale said. His glance traveled back to the priest and his disbelief. "The virus is 100% lethal. You get it, you die. The weird part is ... that the bodies ... reanimate. I wouldn't call it come back to life, its too ... rudimentary for that. No higher brain function at all. They respond to sound and light, they attack, and they ... well ... they seem to want to eat the living."

"If we were back at my place I'd loan you my copy of Max Brooks' Zombie Survival Guide because what you just said and where my mind has been going reading up on similar cases. I'm getting a whole zombie vibe. Sorry if that sounds weird."

"You and me both," Hale said, chuckling softly. "And to think, I wanted to go see the new zombie movie just out in Bangor." He leaned in conspiratorially. "I'm thinking I'd get a good seat in the theater what with everything that's been going on."

"People are weird," Alonzo said. "They would probably flock to the theaters right now if they could for a Zombie flick. What worries me is actually this whole reanimated thing. Can you say cult worshiping the reanimated because I can see it happening."

"Okay," Hale answered with a mock shudder, "that's a notion I didn't need in my head tonight."

[Meanwhile Back With the Teens]

Alonzo had gone upstairs to investigate because, well, that's what reporters did and Ethan, having gathered his courage together, approached the group of teens.

Vienna offered a friendly smile as Ethan joined in with everyone else. “I didn’t get chance to say, I’m sorry for what happened to your parents.”

"Thanks," Ethan said as he jammed his hands into his pockets, shoulders hunched slightly. "I can't believe their gone."

 

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