War of the Worlds, Chapter 10
By Lucky_Ladybug
"Norman Briggs?" Jack repeated, confused. "Why did he send for the FBI? I didn't know you guys had time to chase dead guys and aliens."
"Well, we're from a special branch of the FBI that investigates cases involving the paranormal and the supernatural," Mulder replied.
Suddenly Norman appeared. When he saw the agents, he looked very much relieved. "Oh, are you from the Federal Bureau of Investigation?" he asked.
Scully nodded. "Yes, we are."
"Oh good! I'm Norman Briggs. If you good people would just step into my office, we have much to discuss." Quickly Norman led Mulder and Scully down the hall.
"Well, this is an interesting turn of events, to say the least," Jack commented.
"It sure is," Mr. Smith agreed softly.
Amanda picked up a few stray brooms and mops. "Well, something is definitely amiss here, dead man or not."
"You can say that again," Jack said, assisting her. "Why was the guy running? What was he so afraid of?"
"Well, waking up and finding yourself on a slab in a pathology lab would be pretty unsettling," Amanda replied.
Unseen to the doctors and Mr. Smith, Andrew conversed with two women.
"I don't understand, Tess," he was saying. "Is Mr. Montel really dead? And if he is, why didn't I know about it?"
"Actually, Angel Boy, I'm not so sure about Mr. Montel myself," the woman called Tess replied. "All I know is that we're here to stop an alien invasion."
"An alien invasion?" the other woman, Monica, repeated in her Irish lilt.
"Yes, baby." Tess paused. "But the aliens are not the only force at work here," she continued slowly. She let Andrew and Monica contemplate what that meant.
******
Ellie looked up when Amanda and Jack entered the pathology lab.
"Oh, Dr. Bentley!" the medical student exclaimed, "I'm so glad you're back. Mr. Montel was here again!"
"He was??" Jack and Amanda said at the same time. "What did he do?"
"He went all through the files, like he was looking for something," Ellie replied. "I came in to find this man throwing them everywhere! I called and asked him what he was doing and then he turned around and . . . and I saw it was *him!*" Ellie's voice trembled. "Then he slammed the drawer shut and ran out the door. I noticed he had a file in hand." She paused. "I . . . I guess I should've gone after him, but . . . Well, I was too afraid."
"It's alright, Ellie," Amanda consoled her. "You were right not to chase him. He's a very dangerous man!"
"Did you happen to see whose file he had?" Jack broke in. "Was it his own?"
Ellie shook her head. "No. No, it wasn't his. I went through all the files and the only one that turned up missing was Mr. Calvarucci's."
"Well, that's certainly odd," Amanda said. "Mr. Calvarucci was brought in several months back."
Suddenly Jesse peeked in, looking frazzled. "Hey, there's some weird guy running down the hall in a sheet from the lab!" he announced.
"Which way did he go?" Jack asked.
"Into the elevator, heading for fourth," Jesse replied.
Amanda headed out of the lab. "Come on, Jack, let's go find him!" she said resolutely.
******
"Mark, this guy is slippery!" Jack declared. He, Amanda, Jesse, and Mark were in the latter's office discussing the strange case of Mr. Montel. "Amanda and I chased him for two more hours, unsuccessfully."
Mark shook his head. "This is bad. He's disrupting the entire hospital!"
"What about Norman's FBI agents?" Jesse asked. "Have they had any luck?"
"Mr. Montel seems to stay out of their sight completely," Amanda replied.
"What did Mr. Montel supposedly die from?" Mark asked.
Amanda sighed. "He was brought in by a couple of medical students. They claimed they'd found him behind a shack, and he was most assuredly dead."
"They took it upon themselves to bring him here, instead of calling an ambulance?" Jesse said in disbelief.
Amanda shrugged. "They're third-year medical students, training to be paramedics. I guess they figured now was a good time to practice their skills. Anyway, I examined Mr. Montel and I confirmed that he was dead. I hadn't had a chance to actually perform the autopsy yet and before I could . . ."
"He skipped out," Jack finished.
Amanda nodded. "Exactly."
Mark leaned back in his chair. "This is all very puzzling. I would like to track down those medical students and question them about Mr. Montel."
"Alex might know them," Jesse suggested. "They might be in his class."
"True," Mark said. He turned to Amanda. "Did you happen to catch their names?"
Amanda paused to think. "Well, now that I think of it, they seemed rather reluctant to give their names. They were in a hurry to get Mr. Montel to my lab and then they hurried off. But I could describe them to Alex," she hurried on.
Mark smiled. "Alright, let's go find him!"
******
This certainly was strange, what was happening to Community General, Jack thought to himself as he finished up his rounds. Aliens, supernatural beings, dead bodies running around the hospital. . . . If word about these things got out, no one would want to leave their loved ones at CG.
Jack shook his head, remembering the reporter who had carefully manipulated him into saying what she wanted him to say. She had woven what he had said to create a scandalous story and plop Mark (and CG) right in the middle of it. If there were any more of those creepy reporters around, no telling what they'd do with the knowledge that a supposedly dead body was terrorizing the hospital and that no one could catch it.
He passed Norman's office. The door was open, yet things were strangely quiet. Curious, Jack peered in.
"Hello? Norman?"
An eerily ice cold breeze swept through the room. Jack ventured in, wondering if someone had forgot to turn off the air conditioner when the weather outside had suddenly turned near-freezing.
"Mr. Briggs?"
Suddenly a blueish-white light came straight at Jack, then vanished right in front of him.
"What the . . ." Jack wondered if maybe it was some dirty trick someone was pulling. He cautiously took a step forward. "Hey, this isn't funny!" he declared. "Whoever you are, come out here this minute and face the music!"
Suddenly something struck him hard on the back of his head. Stars exploded before Jack's eyes that rivaled any Looney Tunes cartoon. His last coherent thought was, If this is a trick, they've taken it too far.
By Lucky_Ladybug
"Norman Briggs?" Jack repeated, confused. "Why did he send for the FBI? I didn't know you guys had time to chase dead guys and aliens."
"Well, we're from a special branch of the FBI that investigates cases involving the paranormal and the supernatural," Mulder replied.
Suddenly Norman appeared. When he saw the agents, he looked very much relieved. "Oh, are you from the Federal Bureau of Investigation?" he asked.
Scully nodded. "Yes, we are."
"Oh good! I'm Norman Briggs. If you good people would just step into my office, we have much to discuss." Quickly Norman led Mulder and Scully down the hall.
"Well, this is an interesting turn of events, to say the least," Jack commented.
"It sure is," Mr. Smith agreed softly.
Amanda picked up a few stray brooms and mops. "Well, something is definitely amiss here, dead man or not."
"You can say that again," Jack said, assisting her. "Why was the guy running? What was he so afraid of?"
"Well, waking up and finding yourself on a slab in a pathology lab would be pretty unsettling," Amanda replied.
Unseen to the doctors and Mr. Smith, Andrew conversed with two women.
"I don't understand, Tess," he was saying. "Is Mr. Montel really dead? And if he is, why didn't I know about it?"
"Actually, Angel Boy, I'm not so sure about Mr. Montel myself," the woman called Tess replied. "All I know is that we're here to stop an alien invasion."
"An alien invasion?" the other woman, Monica, repeated in her Irish lilt.
"Yes, baby." Tess paused. "But the aliens are not the only force at work here," she continued slowly. She let Andrew and Monica contemplate what that meant.
******
Ellie looked up when Amanda and Jack entered the pathology lab.
"Oh, Dr. Bentley!" the medical student exclaimed, "I'm so glad you're back. Mr. Montel was here again!"
"He was??" Jack and Amanda said at the same time. "What did he do?"
"He went all through the files, like he was looking for something," Ellie replied. "I came in to find this man throwing them everywhere! I called and asked him what he was doing and then he turned around and . . . and I saw it was *him!*" Ellie's voice trembled. "Then he slammed the drawer shut and ran out the door. I noticed he had a file in hand." She paused. "I . . . I guess I should've gone after him, but . . . Well, I was too afraid."
"It's alright, Ellie," Amanda consoled her. "You were right not to chase him. He's a very dangerous man!"
"Did you happen to see whose file he had?" Jack broke in. "Was it his own?"
Ellie shook her head. "No. No, it wasn't his. I went through all the files and the only one that turned up missing was Mr. Calvarucci's."
"Well, that's certainly odd," Amanda said. "Mr. Calvarucci was brought in several months back."
Suddenly Jesse peeked in, looking frazzled. "Hey, there's some weird guy running down the hall in a sheet from the lab!" he announced.
"Which way did he go?" Jack asked.
"Into the elevator, heading for fourth," Jesse replied.
Amanda headed out of the lab. "Come on, Jack, let's go find him!" she said resolutely.
******
"Mark, this guy is slippery!" Jack declared. He, Amanda, Jesse, and Mark were in the latter's office discussing the strange case of Mr. Montel. "Amanda and I chased him for two more hours, unsuccessfully."
Mark shook his head. "This is bad. He's disrupting the entire hospital!"
"What about Norman's FBI agents?" Jesse asked. "Have they had any luck?"
"Mr. Montel seems to stay out of their sight completely," Amanda replied.
"What did Mr. Montel supposedly die from?" Mark asked.
Amanda sighed. "He was brought in by a couple of medical students. They claimed they'd found him behind a shack, and he was most assuredly dead."
"They took it upon themselves to bring him here, instead of calling an ambulance?" Jesse said in disbelief.
Amanda shrugged. "They're third-year medical students, training to be paramedics. I guess they figured now was a good time to practice their skills. Anyway, I examined Mr. Montel and I confirmed that he was dead. I hadn't had a chance to actually perform the autopsy yet and before I could . . ."
"He skipped out," Jack finished.
Amanda nodded. "Exactly."
Mark leaned back in his chair. "This is all very puzzling. I would like to track down those medical students and question them about Mr. Montel."
"Alex might know them," Jesse suggested. "They might be in his class."
"True," Mark said. He turned to Amanda. "Did you happen to catch their names?"
Amanda paused to think. "Well, now that I think of it, they seemed rather reluctant to give their names. They were in a hurry to get Mr. Montel to my lab and then they hurried off. But I could describe them to Alex," she hurried on.
Mark smiled. "Alright, let's go find him!"
******
This certainly was strange, what was happening to Community General, Jack thought to himself as he finished up his rounds. Aliens, supernatural beings, dead bodies running around the hospital. . . . If word about these things got out, no one would want to leave their loved ones at CG.
Jack shook his head, remembering the reporter who had carefully manipulated him into saying what she wanted him to say. She had woven what he had said to create a scandalous story and plop Mark (and CG) right in the middle of it. If there were any more of those creepy reporters around, no telling what they'd do with the knowledge that a supposedly dead body was terrorizing the hospital and that no one could catch it.
He passed Norman's office. The door was open, yet things were strangely quiet. Curious, Jack peered in.
"Hello? Norman?"
An eerily ice cold breeze swept through the room. Jack ventured in, wondering if someone had forgot to turn off the air conditioner when the weather outside had suddenly turned near-freezing.
"Mr. Briggs?"
Suddenly a blueish-white light came straight at Jack, then vanished right in front of him.
"What the . . ." Jack wondered if maybe it was some dirty trick someone was pulling. He cautiously took a step forward. "Hey, this isn't funny!" he declared. "Whoever you are, come out here this minute and face the music!"
Suddenly something struck him hard on the back of his head. Stars exploded before Jack's eyes that rivaled any Looney Tunes cartoon. His last coherent thought was, If this is a trick, they've taken it too far.