Samuel Tarik's Story

An alarm blared incessantly, noise drowning out the peaceful thoughts of pseudo-sleep. Jerking upright, he smashed his hand onto the small electronic peace, cutting out the noise violently. He never did understand why he kept the thing despite all the pains it caused. Swiveling so that his legs hung off the side of the bed, he threw the covers back, neglecting to fix their state. Looking at the vibrant red numbers on the clock's display, he saw it was 5:00 a.m. Perfect, he thought, just enough time to make a damned bagel and get out of here. Groaning as he stretched out the soreness that had settled in his body after going to the gym last night, he dressed quickly yet immaculately, finding time to quickly polish his medals and cuffs before donning his police uniform.

Looking at himself in the mirror, he smiled. The suit fit him, as if Samuel was born to be an enforcer of the law. A handsomely dressed one at that. A badge rested on his shoulder, identifying him as a Sergeant Major of the Aurora Police Department. Despite being offered promotion to captain, Samuel had declined the offer, believing he could do more good out in the streets than in a cubicle.

Looking down at the watch on his wrist, an expensive affair passed down through his family since his grandfather gave it to Samuel's own father. Seeing the time, he bolted to the microwave where a slightly steaming bagel rested, grabbing it before securing his service weapon, a Heckler&Koch HK45, a weapon he had spent a long time procuring. Hopping into his police cruiser, he began dashing through the fairly empty streets. It just wouldn't do to be late.

---

"Secure the bastard!" Samuel yelled at the three officers wrangling with Jared. Blood dripped from his face and his arm seemed to be broken, a vacant look in his eyes. Despite the apparent unawareness, he struggled viciously against the officers attempting to restrain him. Lashing out, one of the men cursed as his hand was bitten by the boy, drawing blood.

Unhooking his tazer, Samuel shot Jared, causing him to spasm as thousands of volts coursed through his body. Slumping, handcuffs quickly secured his hands while a rag was tied around the boys mouth to prevent him from biting anyone else. Samuel grimaced as he removed the pins of the tazer, stuffing them in the cartridge until he could rearm it later. Jared had been reported wandering around the streets, seemingly in a craze. With nothing else to do, several police units had come to the location where he had last been seen. Following a girl's scream, they found him in Victoria's room and quickly took him away.

Watching as Jared was shoved into the back of one of the cruisers, Samuel shuddered as he looked into Jared's eyes. A cold, blank stare gazed back at him, crazed. Jumping into his own cruiser, he made his way back home. By that time, it was already 9:00 p.m. Forgoing a serious dinner, he heated up left-overs from yesterday before setting to work on paperwork. There was always paperwork. At least it took his mind off of what had happened at the apartment complex.

Samuel's eyes opened, vision blurred as his mind adjusted to a wakeful state. Groaning, he picked his head off the desk which he had been working at. Looking down, he saw a pile of police reports. Slightly damaged police reports, but that was no matter. He also had a splitting migraine. I haven't had one of these in a while, he thought. Memories of yesterday came crashing back and he shuddered. He had seen people on drugs quite often when he was in Indianapolis and Chicago, the effects they had on the person. Never had he seen something like that.

Walking around the house, he prepared himself for the day at the police station. Same old uniform, same old gun. Not much changed his routine. Picking up his phone, he saw that there were five missed calls from Jack, the officer who had been bitten by Jared. Brows furrowed in concern as he redialed. Jack would never call so many times if it wasn't an emergency. The line rang for a few seconds before being picked up.

"Oh, hey Samuel. I already checked in with the station. Won't be coming in today," a raspy voice came through. That was definitely not how he was supposed to sound.

"What happened, man? Bad case of the flu?" Samuel responded.

"Don't think so. My hand is pretty bad, black and purple, leaking pus. The hell was that kid on?"

"No idea. I'll check at the station and get back to you. Take care man." Hanging up, Samuel pondered the situation. It was certainly strange that Jack's hand had deteriorated in condition so quickly. He didn't know of any diseases that could do that to someone. Taking out his phone again, he sent Jack a message to go to the hospital. He didn't expect a response and none he got. Poor guy was probably asleep again. Strolling out to his police cruiser, he hopped in and made his way to the station.

---

Dropping off his gun at the armory, Samuel headed over to the cells. Standing outside was one of the newer officers, one whose name Samuel had not yet remembered. He was guarding Jared who currently appeared to be in some catatonic state. Skin was an ashen gray, certainly not a normal color.

"Did a doctor come to check him out?" asked Samuel. Was Jared's current condition related to Jack's? He thought so, but he was no doctor.

"Yeah. Came in late yesterday, checked him out. His vitals indicated some sort of deep sleep or coma, almost as if he was dead. Must have been some strong stuff he was snorting."

Shaking his head, Samuel kept peering at the body. A hand twitched but so briefly that he discarded it as imagination. About to head to his office, an announcement came over the PA system.

"All available officers, please report to the Freeman Medical Center. We have a 10-34 in progress, reported deaths. all available..." The message kept looping as the office suddenly burst into action. Police officers rushed to retrieve their weapons before heading to their vehicles. Samuel was one of the first out. As far as he knew, there had never been a riot in Aurora. Certainly strange that it would happen now.

As he arrived, he saw that there were already many police cars there. A cordon was being established around the area, the force waiting for the SWAT team to arrive. Officers were guiding screaming people out of the building, some bleeding, a few with bite marks that looked strangely human.

The SWAT team arrived, the unit quickly moving into the building with supporting officers. There were still dozens trapped inside the building, if not a few hundred. Pushing through, Samuel followed the team as they made their way through the building. Floor by floor, the area was cleared. Medical personnel were told to stay in the building if they had emergencies to take care of, otherwise they were to vacate the premises.

By this point, there were about a dozen police officers plus the SWAT team clearing the building. Hearing a scream, Samuel rushed with another member to find a woman cornered by a man.

"Put your hands up! I said put your hands up!" the other man yelled shrilly, panicking. Samuel was about to say the same thing, and then noticed his neck. Part of it was missing. It was as if something had bitten off part of his throat. Stunned, Samuel steeled his resolve and fired two shots into the 'man'. Horror seized him as the man simply turned around and began to walk their way. Crazed eyes gazed out, similar to Jared's the night before.

Backing away, he made to run but tripped over a discarded wheelchair. Falling, he saw the other officer was already fleeing from the scene. Turning back towards the man, he aimed his pistol and squeezed off another two shots. One struck his already destroyed throat, the other entered his skull. Dropping a few feet from Samuel, the body ceased to move. The woman was sobbing heavily in the corner, rocking back and forth. Getting up slowly, he made his way to the woman and picked her up. He made his way out of the building as other officers streamed in, depositing the woman with the rest of the civilians. Whatever else would happen in his life, he would always remember today.

Leaving the women with an attending officer, he made his way to the Chief of Police, a portly man that took his job as seriously as one could take it. Bellowing orders, Chief Emmanuel Rodriguez caught sight of Samuel out of the corner of his eye. Waving a hand, Rodriguez yelled, "Samuel, get over here man!"

Jogging over quickly, Samuel replaced the gun in its holster and saluted. Rodriguez moved his hand dismissively, not one to believe in formalities when there was work to be done. Bringing him closer to be heard over the sirens, screaming, and gunshots from inside the building, he announced, "We still got lots a people in there, Sam. Who knows how many are dead and injured, its impossible to tell from the blood covering most of the civilians. You have some on you as well, you all right man?"

Samuel nodded. "Blood isn't mine. Splattered on me from some bastard trying to attack a woman. Wouldn't listen to my commands. Bullets to the chest and throat didn't put him down. Any idea what these 'things' are, chief?"

Shaking his head in assent, he responded, "Some strange virus popped up a few weeks ago in some remote area. Been spreading like wild fire. Apparently causes those infected to go crazy or something, not affected by pain or exhaustion. We tried to keep it out, but looks like that failed for us. Didn't work great for anyone I've heard about. We need you to help direct people out. There's some CIA scientist in there, not sure if she's out of the building. A woman, about five foot four, five five. Make sure she's alive." Commands finished to Samuel, he strode away barking orders to civilians and emergency personnel alike, striving to make some sort of organization out of this chaos.

Taking his gun out again, he made his way back towards the building, pushing through the throng in panic. There were hundreds of people in the hospital, all scared. Whatever was happening, it was bad. Waving his pistol over the crowd did nothing to thin their press, making his advance towards the building a crawl. Keeping an eye out for a woman such as was described to him, he eventually found the CIA agent.

Bulling through, he eventually reached her side. Keeping his pistol low, he raised his badge and flashed the Sergeant's rank at her. "Ma'am, I'm Sergeant Samuel Tarik. I'm here to make sure you stay alive for the duration of the incident. Is there anywhere you need to get to?"

As Joanna was running for the front door, still hoarded with people, all of whom were covered in blood, she stopped herself. All of those people have no doubt been attacked and bitten by one of those things, the virus spreads through contact with the blood and there was no way in hell, Joanna was going to run through them. Joanna noticed a large black man, covered in blood, stalking towards her, a gun in hand and a badge flashing, before he spoke up. "For a minute there I thought you were one of those things." She responded, with a relieved sigh. "Do you know if any of the other agents made it?" She asked him as she started to walk back towards an office, she looked back at him and sighed. "The virus spreads through contact with blood, much like HIV, and I'm not walking through a horde of people who may be infected and become one of those things at any moment, once we're outside seal the building, put it on lockdown." Joanna said it coldly, but it hurt her to say that, locking hundreds of people in a building to die was not something she was particularly proud of, but it would contain the threat for awhile.

Once in an office, Joanna quickly locked the door and barricaded it with the desk. Joanna turned to the giant and answered his earlier question, "I'm sure you're aware I'm a CIA scientist and I specialise in the field of Virology, I was sent her with 3 others to investigate the virus, 2 were sent to your men, they were to alert the CIA incase of an outbreak because Richard and myself would no doubt be dead or infected, yet here I am. Either way, this information needs to get to the CIA and the CDC so research for a cure can begin. So get me somewhere with working internet, or even a carrier pigeon." She told him, revealing the USB stick.

She approached the window and looked outside, there was a good number of people outside, all covered in blood except for some of the police men responding to the incident. She pushed the window as far open as she could, she would get out with little effort but the big man, there might be a bit of effort. Remembering her previous statement, she turned round to the policeman behind her. "Do you have any open wounds, like scratches, cuts, torn skin? Or did any of that blood get in your mouth?"

Samuel nodded as Joanna quickly explained the nature of the virus, how it was transmitted. If the infection was spread by something as simple as blood, then a majority of the people that had been in the hospital were now infected. Whether or not that would induce them to become crazed was something else to be seen. An event Samuel wished to avoid. Shouts and gunfire blared from his radio, screams of anguish and terror as units inside the building attempted to deal with the ever-growing horde of infected. Running over to Chief Rodriguez, he quickly explained what Joanna had said.

"Emmanuel, we need to establish a cordon around the hospital as quickly as is possible. Whoever is left inside, tell them to get out. We need to keep the infection from spreading and that will be more easily accomplished from the outside of the building. Find someone to move the civies to a quarantine area, some are most likely infected and liable to turn any minute," he shouted over the pandemonium. It was not proper for him to give orders to the Chief of Police but now was not a time for formality. Formality would simply get them killed.

Rodriguez nodded, agreeing with Samuel's analysis. "I'll get that sorted out. Make sure the CIA chick stays alive, she apparently knows something important about the virus. Take care man." Saluting Samuel, he turned back towards the building and began to organize the scattered officers into a ring, covering all points of exit in case infected began spilling out of the building.

Jogging back to Joanna, he followed her as they went into an office. Helping push a desk into position, he listened grimly to the reports coming from the officers inside the building. The SWAT team had advanced quickly, ending up surrounded. Nothing had been heard from them for the past three minutes and many were beginning to assume all were KIA. Few officers were still inside the building, most on the first floor directing the traffic and attempting to subdue any infected. It was failing. There just weren't enough of them.

As Joanna explained her needs, he nodded and looked out the window as she pushed it open. He could spot his police cruiser nearby, remarkably undamaged considering the situation. "The police station has a generator so even if power goes out for the rest of the town, we'll still have internet access there. Might be trouble on the way, but there are still a few holding the fort. If the infection breaks out of the hospital, we'll need more people to stop the flood that's going to arrive. Hell, public buildings are going to be crowded, a death trap. We might need to lock others out, as much as it goes against what I believe."

Eying the small opening suspiciously, he jerked around as a thump sounded against the door followed by frantic scrabbling. A scream sounded and the sound of running feet receded followed by the sound of...something. Shaking his head, he turned back towards her as she asked her question. "No, no injuries on me. All the blood is from everyone else. I don't believe any entered my mouth or eyes. Now let's get out of here." Lowering his shoulder, he ran at the open window. Jumping, his body scraped by the frame, tearing parts of his uniform but leaving him uninjured. Drawing his gun, he took up a guard position as Joanna followed.

Striding quickly to the car, he unlocked the vehicle and hopped in, opening the passenger door for Joanna. Grief filled him as he saw people panicking, figures lying on the ground while others attacked each other. Officers were firing wildly, trying to kill the infected. It wouldn't last. Uncertain, he quickly put the cruiser into reverse and spun away, heading towards the police station.

Sitting silent for a few moments, Samuel muttered, "Is there any way we can stop this?"