Goody, plot. Hope you enjoy.
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Chapter 4: Mimms the Word
Where once was a man's face, there was now a large hole. It was as if someone had taken a gigantic spoon and hollowed out his skull, from the jaw to the forehead.
"Wh-what happened?" I whimpered, backing as close to the truck as I could. "What could've done this?"
The three of us were backing towards the street, when one of the doors burst open.
"Freeze!"
Each of us did exactly that, for in the doorway stood a female in a blue police officer's outfit with a gun pointed at us. With brown hair tied into a ponytail, she was thin and looked about 28 or so. From the look on her face, though, she looked like she'd been through hell.
None of us spoke, though none of us could if we'd wanted to. After what we'd just seen, a police officer popping out of nowhere seemed almost mundane.
Keeping her gun on us, the officer quickly glanced down at the faceless man, then back at us, unflinching. Must take a lot of training to stomach something like that so easily, I thought as she approached.
"Each of you give me your names," she said, glaring at us.
A few moments' stunned silence went by, and we heard her gun clicking.
"Final chance," she warned.
"St-Stephanie!"
"Stephanie what?" growled the cop.
"Hancock! Stephanie Hancock!" she said quickly, cowering under the officer's scrutiny.
"And you?" she said, shifting the gun to me.
"Kuri Fletcher," I said, slowly calming down.
"Todd Garner," he said, not even waiting for the gun to make its way to him. Todd no longer looked scared; more like annoyed.
"Show me your driver's licenses," said the cop. "Right now. No sudden moves, either."
One by one, we dug in our pockets and pulled out wallets, each unfolding them and giving them over. With one hand pointing the gun at us, she studied each license, glancing occasionally at our faces.
"You're all from Ohio?" she said finally. We nodded, and she lowered her gun. "I apologize, then. I had to be sure you weren't... someone else."
"Who else would we be?" I asked suspiciously, pocketing my license.
"Have you seen any other officers in this town?" she asked, ignoring my question.
"We haven't seen anyone in this town," said Todd irritably. "As a matter of fact, you're the first person we've come across, aside from this guy." He pointed at the faceless man on the floor.
The woman looked at the man again, then back at us, apparently arguing with herself whether or not she should say something. I decided to pose the obvious question.
"Sorry, officer, but just what the hell is going on around here?"
Putting her gun away, she took a deep breath.
"My name is Jody Mimms. I came along with a team of officers from the next town over, Brahms. We'd recently dispatched an officer to this town to investigate a drug trafficking problem. However, she hasn't reported back in a few days, so we were sent here to find her. We arrived two days ago, and there's still no sign of her."
"Where's the rest of the squad?" asked Todd.
"We split up into pairs once we saw how deserted the town was, and since there were six pairs of us, we figured we'd make good time covering the town. As it is, I haven't heard from any of them since we split up, and the radio's been going nuts."
"And your partner?" asked Stephanie.
"We were investigating some... strange activity in a hospital over in the Paleville area. The lights went out and we got separated. I tried finding him, but..."
"I'm sure he'll turn up," I said sympathetically, "along with the rest of the squad. They can't just vanish, right?"
Officer Mimms mumbled something and looked at the dead man on the floor.
"What's his story, anyway?" asked Todd.
"No idea," she said shortly. The corner of her mouth twitched slightly.
"Aren't you even curious what happened?" Todd asked incredulously. "I mean, it's not every day you just walk across a guy who's had his face removed!"
He had a pretty good point.
"Look," said Mimms heatedly, "a lot of weird things have been going on ever since I got here. I can't tell you more than that, as I don't have all the answers myself." She started walking towards us, apparently ushering us out. "Now listen to me, all of you. Get yourselves out of this town immediately. I don't want to see you end up like this guy here, got it?"
"But... what about you?" asked Steph, her fright starting to return. "What are you going to do?"
"Did you hear what I said? Get out now!" By this time, she'd backed us into the street. Her hand reached to the inside wall, and as she stepped back inside, the garage door closed.
None of us said anything for a few moments; none of us moved. In my own mind, there was a torrent of questions swirling around, none of which made sense. What was officer Mimms hiding? Did she kill that guy back there? But if so... how? I shuddered slightly at the thought. A moment later, though, I realized it wasn't just the eeriness getting to my skin.
I had started to snow.
Now, normally, I wouldn't care in the least. Lord knows we get plenty of snow in Ohio. But this was July.
I looked over at my friends, and apparently they were as baffled as I was.
"What in God's name is going on here," Todd said softly. "Something is really wrong."
"Right now," said a shivering Stephanie, "I don't want to know. Lets just do what the cop says and get the hell outta here."
No arguments there. We all turned and started walking briskly back the way we'd come. With the combination of the fog and the snow, we could barely see five feet in front of us. Each pant of our breath came out as chilly smoke, signifying the onset of a deep, penetrating coldness.
We turned the corner back onto Neely St., still at a near jog. Stephanie, whose teeth were chattering from the chill, broke the uneasy silence.
"We n-n-never as-sked."
"Asked about what?" said Todd.
"The f-fire truck. What-t-t was w-with that?"
I almost tripped over my own feet. I'd almost forgotten about that. The lights and sirens were blaring for no apparent reason when we'd arrived. But who turned them on to begin with? The dead man? Perhaps he'd been trying to send out a warning or something, right before his face was...
"Who knows," Todd panted. "I'm more concerned about Mimms. It was obvious she wasn't telling us the whole story."
"She seemed pretty shaken up," I commented. "Maybe she was just scared. In her shoes, I probably would be too, especially after getting separated from everyone else."
Todd grunted, turning his attention to Stephanie, whose lips had started to take on a blue tinge. I had to admit, it was pretty cold, but I guess she wasn't used to being out in it without a sweater or something. After all, we'd come to this place dressed for swimming and sunbathing.
"Stephanie, you ok?" I asked, putting my hand on her shoulder.
"Y-yeah," she half-whispered, "j-just c-c-c-cold."
I walked closer to her and put my arms around her, briskly rubbing her shoulders and arms, and attempted to give her some much needed heat.
"Don't worry, we're not too far from the car. As soon as we get back, there's some warm clothes in the-"
"What the--!" cried Todd.
He'd stopped walking and stood gaping at something ahead. We stopped and looked as well.
The street, where the subway-like corridor once was, just stopped. It was as if we'd come to the edge of the world; one more step, and you'd drop off into foggy nothingness.
How this was possible, none of us could fathom. The terrifying truth, however, soon became apparent. This was the only way back to the car. We were stranded.
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Chapter 4: Mimms the Word
Where once was a man's face, there was now a large hole. It was as if someone had taken a gigantic spoon and hollowed out his skull, from the jaw to the forehead.
"Wh-what happened?" I whimpered, backing as close to the truck as I could. "What could've done this?"
The three of us were backing towards the street, when one of the doors burst open.
"Freeze!"
Each of us did exactly that, for in the doorway stood a female in a blue police officer's outfit with a gun pointed at us. With brown hair tied into a ponytail, she was thin and looked about 28 or so. From the look on her face, though, she looked like she'd been through hell.
None of us spoke, though none of us could if we'd wanted to. After what we'd just seen, a police officer popping out of nowhere seemed almost mundane.
Keeping her gun on us, the officer quickly glanced down at the faceless man, then back at us, unflinching. Must take a lot of training to stomach something like that so easily, I thought as she approached.
"Each of you give me your names," she said, glaring at us.
A few moments' stunned silence went by, and we heard her gun clicking.
"Final chance," she warned.
"St-Stephanie!"
"Stephanie what?" growled the cop.
"Hancock! Stephanie Hancock!" she said quickly, cowering under the officer's scrutiny.
"And you?" she said, shifting the gun to me.
"Kuri Fletcher," I said, slowly calming down.
"Todd Garner," he said, not even waiting for the gun to make its way to him. Todd no longer looked scared; more like annoyed.
"Show me your driver's licenses," said the cop. "Right now. No sudden moves, either."
One by one, we dug in our pockets and pulled out wallets, each unfolding them and giving them over. With one hand pointing the gun at us, she studied each license, glancing occasionally at our faces.
"You're all from Ohio?" she said finally. We nodded, and she lowered her gun. "I apologize, then. I had to be sure you weren't... someone else."
"Who else would we be?" I asked suspiciously, pocketing my license.
"Have you seen any other officers in this town?" she asked, ignoring my question.
"We haven't seen anyone in this town," said Todd irritably. "As a matter of fact, you're the first person we've come across, aside from this guy." He pointed at the faceless man on the floor.
The woman looked at the man again, then back at us, apparently arguing with herself whether or not she should say something. I decided to pose the obvious question.
"Sorry, officer, but just what the hell is going on around here?"
Putting her gun away, she took a deep breath.
"My name is Jody Mimms. I came along with a team of officers from the next town over, Brahms. We'd recently dispatched an officer to this town to investigate a drug trafficking problem. However, she hasn't reported back in a few days, so we were sent here to find her. We arrived two days ago, and there's still no sign of her."
"Where's the rest of the squad?" asked Todd.
"We split up into pairs once we saw how deserted the town was, and since there were six pairs of us, we figured we'd make good time covering the town. As it is, I haven't heard from any of them since we split up, and the radio's been going nuts."
"And your partner?" asked Stephanie.
"We were investigating some... strange activity in a hospital over in the Paleville area. The lights went out and we got separated. I tried finding him, but..."
"I'm sure he'll turn up," I said sympathetically, "along with the rest of the squad. They can't just vanish, right?"
Officer Mimms mumbled something and looked at the dead man on the floor.
"What's his story, anyway?" asked Todd.
"No idea," she said shortly. The corner of her mouth twitched slightly.
"Aren't you even curious what happened?" Todd asked incredulously. "I mean, it's not every day you just walk across a guy who's had his face removed!"
He had a pretty good point.
"Look," said Mimms heatedly, "a lot of weird things have been going on ever since I got here. I can't tell you more than that, as I don't have all the answers myself." She started walking towards us, apparently ushering us out. "Now listen to me, all of you. Get yourselves out of this town immediately. I don't want to see you end up like this guy here, got it?"
"But... what about you?" asked Steph, her fright starting to return. "What are you going to do?"
"Did you hear what I said? Get out now!" By this time, she'd backed us into the street. Her hand reached to the inside wall, and as she stepped back inside, the garage door closed.
None of us said anything for a few moments; none of us moved. In my own mind, there was a torrent of questions swirling around, none of which made sense. What was officer Mimms hiding? Did she kill that guy back there? But if so... how? I shuddered slightly at the thought. A moment later, though, I realized it wasn't just the eeriness getting to my skin.
I had started to snow.
Now, normally, I wouldn't care in the least. Lord knows we get plenty of snow in Ohio. But this was July.
I looked over at my friends, and apparently they were as baffled as I was.
"What in God's name is going on here," Todd said softly. "Something is really wrong."
"Right now," said a shivering Stephanie, "I don't want to know. Lets just do what the cop says and get the hell outta here."
No arguments there. We all turned and started walking briskly back the way we'd come. With the combination of the fog and the snow, we could barely see five feet in front of us. Each pant of our breath came out as chilly smoke, signifying the onset of a deep, penetrating coldness.
We turned the corner back onto Neely St., still at a near jog. Stephanie, whose teeth were chattering from the chill, broke the uneasy silence.
"We n-n-never as-sked."
"Asked about what?" said Todd.
"The f-fire truck. What-t-t was w-with that?"
I almost tripped over my own feet. I'd almost forgotten about that. The lights and sirens were blaring for no apparent reason when we'd arrived. But who turned them on to begin with? The dead man? Perhaps he'd been trying to send out a warning or something, right before his face was...
"Who knows," Todd panted. "I'm more concerned about Mimms. It was obvious she wasn't telling us the whole story."
"She seemed pretty shaken up," I commented. "Maybe she was just scared. In her shoes, I probably would be too, especially after getting separated from everyone else."
Todd grunted, turning his attention to Stephanie, whose lips had started to take on a blue tinge. I had to admit, it was pretty cold, but I guess she wasn't used to being out in it without a sweater or something. After all, we'd come to this place dressed for swimming and sunbathing.
"Stephanie, you ok?" I asked, putting my hand on her shoulder.
"Y-yeah," she half-whispered, "j-just c-c-c-cold."
I walked closer to her and put my arms around her, briskly rubbing her shoulders and arms, and attempted to give her some much needed heat.
"Don't worry, we're not too far from the car. As soon as we get back, there's some warm clothes in the-"
"What the--!" cried Todd.
He'd stopped walking and stood gaping at something ahead. We stopped and looked as well.
The street, where the subway-like corridor once was, just stopped. It was as if we'd come to the edge of the world; one more step, and you'd drop off into foggy nothingness.
How this was possible, none of us could fathom. The terrifying truth, however, soon became apparent. This was the only way back to the car. We were stranded.