* Beep * Beep * Beep* blares a bedside alarm with the numbers 5:30 piercing through the dark of the room with its green luminescence.
A lone figure shifts idly on top a bed, wrapped tightly in blankets as his head pushes deeper into the pillows. As if knowing the silent protest the alarm seemingly grew even louder, shrilling directly into the mans head.
An arm darts out of the covers and silences the alarm, the figure finally rising up to glare accusingly at the device that had ruined his slumber, the dial now reading 5:32.
Realizing that it would now be futile to try going back to sleep now, he elected to rub the sand out of his eyes and elect rather to begin his morning routine. Going through the standard morning of grooming, brushing and preparing a quick breakfast composing of a single cup of coffee that had been sitting in the carafe for an an unknown amount of time and a stale bagel.
Grimacing as he drank the putrid sludge, thick globs of coagulated coffee dripping their concentrated caffeine remains into his system and shoved the bagel into his mouth.
The clock now read 6:24, his shift began in 36 minutes but he lived a short walk away from the ZPD base so he still leisurely put on his uniform. Deciding to leave the top button on his lapel undone as a change of pace, he fastens the gear tightly to his body. Weapon holstered and collar lined with 4 stars that glinted in the dim light of the room as the rising sun shone in.
After some time he decided to leave his apartment and walked past a small mirror he had left in the living room. He wasn't sure why he still had this thing as he had removed all the other mirrors in the place – including tearing down the one in the bathroom which the landlord to this day harps on him about. Briefing a glance he saw the face that others saw and one that only he saw. To others he was a firm and stoic figure, with aging features developing such as the rings under his eyes indicating his late hours and difficulty sleeping.
But he could see the things no one else could, the way that the skin around his lips curved down from the years of scowling. The way the stars on his collar held worn edges from the fanatical polishing and re-polishing. The yellowing teeth from the endless gallons of coffee he had imbibed over his years and the hard glint his eyes held. Revealing so much of his personality and yet not revealing anything of his inner thoughts – his emotions having been hardened years ago.
Moving his gaze from the mirror he went left the run down hovel of his apartment and trekked the few blocks to the department. The few animals that were in his way either avoided him or stated warm greetings as he returned brief courtesies.
Reaching the department an hour before everyone else, as usual, he went over to his office to gather materials for the daily assignments and to begin the necessary paperwork for the cases he was about to hand out and before he knew it he could hear the tell-tale shuffling of animals into the building. The light shaking of the building as the larger mammals stepped to the daily meeting room. Finalizing what he had to do he went to the room as well.
As his figure entered the room the wild antics and chatter suddenly died down, the combination of his imposing figure and the crews admiration and respect for the chief quieted them down to listen.
When he jumped up to the adjusted podium, Chief Wilde began to delegate everyone's duties.
_
Just a quick little introduction into the story. Story is loosely based on Mead's comic series of the Judy is Dead series. Some things will be changed of course for creative purposes but I did like the idea of Chief Wilde and will explore that in this story. Let me know what you think as this is the first work I've done.
In terms of chapter lengths I'll most likely experiment. This was ~600 works but I'm not against a few thousand per chapter. Depends on what the overall perception is. I might just have a few chapters have varying lengths that way everyone can tell me what they think about their favorite chapter length.