Original Blood Read online

  Original Blood

  Steve Greene

  Life’s last breath in battle reigns

  Though otherwise, the heart’s proclaim

  Alas, our ties, they come undone

  Like autumn leaves fall one by one

  ~Phinneas K. Ledge

  Chapter 1

  Attacking at dawn is not just a cliché line from old war movies. In fact, a dawn assault gives the attacker a distinct tactical advantage. The night is darkest before the dawn and the early morning hours are always the toughest time for sleep deprived guards to stay awake. Now, with dawn creeping up over the horizon, Charlie Cutter was fighting his own battle to stay awake.

  He was so tired; his vision was blurry. His eyelids drooped and finally, he gave in to the all-encompassing fatigue that draped over him. He heard the patrol car’s radio chirp but it was a quiet echo from a far-off place. He knew he should wake up. If someone caught him snoozing, he’d be in trouble. He wanted to wake up. His mind was alert enough, but his body wouldn’t respond to commands. He heard his partner, Al Vasquez, answer the call and felt a nudge from Al’s elbow. Charlie’s chin slipped off the fist he had had it resting on and his eyes snapped open.

  Al chuckled. “Still not used to third shift yet, hey Homes?”

  Charlie smiled and wiped a line of spittle from the side of his mouth with the back of his fist. “Sorry. Just dozing.”

  “Yeah, no kidding. I noticed. So, you want it?”

  Charlie’s head was still foggy. “Huh? Want what?”

  “Ho ho! You were out, weren’t you?” Al hollered. “Your favorite little dispatcher is calling around for Sarge. You’re first up for overtime this morning. You want it?”

  He didn’t. He was exhausted. The last thing he wanted to do was sit in a patrol car for another four hours. “Aw, man! That means I’m first up to get forced if no one wants it. Who’d I be riding with?”

  Al smirked. “Who do you think?”

  Charlie understood. Al could mean no one else but Jeff Gerke. Gerke was a crusty, old, ex-marine who hated everyone. Consequently, everyone hated him right back, not that he cared. It was always like pulling teeth to get anyone to work with him. “You don’t want it, do you?” Charlie asked Al.

  “No, sorry, Bro. I promised David I’d play Madden with him this morning when I got home.”

  Charlie sighed. “Might as well stay, then. I’m sure I’d get forced anyway.”

  Al nodded. “Two-fifteen to dispatch.” Al called over the radio and then waited for a response.

  “Dispatch, go two-fifteen.”

  To Charlie, Al said, “Man! Even her voice is perky. I bet she’s a spark plug in bed, man!”

  Charlie smiled and smacked Al in the shoulder. “Careful, Hombre. You’re a married man. What would Serena think?”

  “I’m a faithful man, Homes. But it doesn’t hurt to live vicariously through a good friend once in a while. You need to ask her out, Bro. Seriously. I hear she’s got it bad for you.”

  “What? No way.” Charlie didn’t believe Al. Women like Denise, the dispatcher in question, weren’t usually interested in run-of-the-mill patrol officers. Rumor had it that she and Lieutenant Johnson had a little fling going on the side.

  “Yeah. Meredith told me Denise’s cheeks get all red every time you talk to her.”

  Charlie just shook his head. But he caught himself thinking, maybe. Maybe he would ask her out if he ran into her back at the station. It couldn’t hurt to try.

  “Go ahead two-fifteen.” Denise’s voice came over the radio again, slightly annoyed this time at having had to call again for a response.

  “Dispatch, two-fifteen.” Al said. “Officer Cutter would be more than happy to stay over this fine morning.” Al had a huge grin on his face as he spoke. “As long as you let him take you to dinner sometime.”

  “What?” Charlie asked. “What the hell, man! What are we, in high school?”

  “Shush! I’m hookin’ you up, Bro!” Al said, covering the mike as though it was a telephone and he didn’t want Denise to hear.

  Her response was impressively quick. “Tell Officer Cutter that I’d be happy to let him take me to dinner if he can pull his balls out of your purse and ask me himself.”

  “Oh, snap!” Al yelled. “She schooled you, Bro!” He started laughing.

  “Holy crap! I can’t believe you just did that! I’m going to be the laughing stock of the department!” Charlie yelled, but Al was laughing so hard he barely heard Charlie.

  Al laughed and banged on the steering wheel in front of him. His laugh was infectious and after a brief moment of quiet fury, Charlie found himself laughing as well. Al went on. “Oh man! Serena is gonna flip when I tell her this one.” His laughing slowed to a mild giggle and he used one thumb to wipe a mock tear from the corner of his eye. “I suppose we should get you back to the station so you can touch base with your best buddy, Mr. Gerke.” He said, still smiling.

  Charlie smiled back. Al, his wife Serena, and their seven-year-old son, David had grown into the closest thing Charlie had to a family since his father died. Serena doted over him like he was her little brother and David called him Uncle Charlie. He had to admit that when he was with them, he felt like he belonged for the first time since he left the Army. “Yeah, let’s go see how Mr. Sunshine is doing this morning.”

  Al put the patrol car in gear and rolled out onto the street, threading his way back to the department. By the time they pulled into the parking lot at the District Three police Department, the sun was almost above the horizon and Charlie was beginning to wake up fully. They saw Denise getting into her car, almost ready to leave. When she saw Al and Charlie pull into the parking lot, she smiled and made a ‘hang loose’ sign, extending her thumb and pinky finger. Then she put her thumb to her ear, forming a pseudo telephone and mouthed the words “call me”. Charlie smiled and nodded as they drove past.

  When they were safely out of sight of Denise, Al yelled. “Booyah! I told you I was hookin’ you up, Bro! I told you!”

  “Alright, Mr. Matchmaker, I’ll give you a little credit on that one… maybe.”

  “Maybe, nothin’. She’s smokin’ hot, likes you, and now you’re going to take her out. And it’s all thanks to lil ole me. That one’s in the bank and collecting interest, my man.”

  “We’ll see. We’ll see.” Charlie smiled and glanced in the side view mirror to watch Denise’s car pull away from the police station. If he had known it was the last time he would see her, he might’ve handled the opportunity differently. But hind sight, as they say, is always twenty-twenty. How was he supposed to know that the world was about to experience drastic changes? How was he supposed to know the terrible things that would happen to Al Vasquez and his family? The human race was teetering on the precipice of hell and not one of them knew what was coming. Sure, some may have had a feeling or a vision of some sort, but no one really knew just how bad, how horrific the world was about to become.

  Al drove Charlie to where Gerke was waiting impatiently in his squad car. Charlie bid Al a quick goodbye, got out of his car, and entered Gerke’s. Gerke was as cranky as ever. Charlie gave him a ‘good morning’ but Gerke just grunted back. They drove around for a while in silence, Gerke checking all of his usual hotspots for illicit activity.

  Finally, a call came in for them to check out a barking dog complaint. “Slow morning.” Charlie said. But again, Gerke only grunted. Charlie thought maybe the guy was shaving his hair a little too close to the scalp these days. They pulled up behind a big pick up truck with a bumper sticker of the Marine motto, Semper Fidelis, on the back. Gerke pulled up along side the truck and gave a nod to the driver as he passed. Must save all of his niceties for his fellow Marines. Charlie thought. Then he thought he
would throw Gerke a bone.

  “You know, I was tasked to a Marine Recon unit for a few months in Afghanistan.” Charlie said.

  “Oh yeah?” Gerke sounded almost mildly interested. “You see combat with ‘em?”

  “A little.” Charlie was being modest. He had only seen a little combat with the Marines, but he had seen a lot with his other units. He took two tours in Iraq with his Ranger unit. Then took two more tours in Afghanistan with Army Special Forces. His last two years in the Army, he spent with Delta Force. He had been an integral member of one of the most elite anti-terrorist groups in the world. That is, until an AK-47 round found itself imbedded deep in his hip bone. The round had gone in just three inches to the left of a certain part of his male anatomy and wedged itself in so tight, the doctors said the surgery would be too invasive to try. He was left with a twenty-percent disability from the military, a painful click in his left hip, and an offer to stay on as a civilian advisor to the black ops sector of the United States Army. He didn’t handle the transition well and fell into a deep depression. The Army shrink told him it was Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but he knew what it really was. His friends were still out there fighting the good fight, and though he felt he could still do the job, the Army felt differently. It had been almost three years since he had left the Army for good and taken up a position with the Milwaukee Police Department.

  “Just ‘cause you saw a little combat with Marines, don’t make you a Marine.” Gerke said. “You ain’t a Marine? You ain’t shit.”

  Charlie didn’t quite know what to say to that. He wasn’t about to get in a pissing contest with the old coot. He wasn’t going to change the old codger’s mind by arguing. So instead he just said, “Yeah, okay.” trying to relay as much annoyance as he could without egging Gerke on. It was really something he didn’t want to dwell on. He loved being in the Army. He was proud of what he had done in the Army, well, most of it. But the way he was pushed out was still a sore spot for him and something he didn’t talk about very often.

  “We’re here.” Gerke said.

  Charlie looked out his window at the modest, two-story bungalow. All the houses down the street looked nearly identical to one another aside from a few minor nuances. This one had a screened in porch. Others had just a stoop in front. There were a few slight variations in color, but most stuck to white or the mild earth tones that had become so popular as of late. The houses were all built so close together, you could barely squeeze a normal size adult between them. “I’ll go talk to them. You can wait here.” Charlie said and hopped out of the car, eager to get away from Officer Friendly. “Man, what a dick.” He mumbled to himself as he walked up the steps and opened the screen door to the porch. He could still hear the dog barking from time to time. It sounded like it was coming from the back yard. He stepped into the screen porch and knocked on the front door. A few seconds went by, no answer. He knocked again and waited. Still no response. A third time, he knocked and then rang the doorbell which started the dog barking again. He moved to the front windows and tried to peek in but all the shades had been drawn.

  Charlie walked back to the patrol car, shrugging his shoulders. He got back in on the passenger side, “I guess we go around and try the back door.”

  The houses on the block had an alley entrance that lead to garages and gates to their backyards. Gerke edged the patrol car down the alley. The alley was nice for the home owners in that it created a private driveway of sorts. It was rare that anyone but the homeowners drove through. But the low traffic volume also created a bit of a safe haven for drug pushers and criminals. “You feel that?” Gerke asked.

  Charlie wasn’t ashamed to admit that he knew exactly what Gerke was talking about. He had felt it, too. “Yeah, feels like an ambush.”

  Gerke continued until they reached the rear of the house with the barking dog. “Be on your toes, kid.” He grumbled at Charlie.

  They both exited the patrol car, Charlie, flipping the quick release lever on his holster and resting his hand on the butt of his forty-caliber Smith & Wesson. The house had a six-foot-high privacy fence around the entire back yard that made everything but the top of the house invisible. The gate to the fence was cracked open slightly. The two officers approached it cautiously.

  Gerke slowly reached for the gate handle, but the door suddenly slammed shut with such ferocity that the entire length of the fence shook. Both officers drew their weapons and trained them on the gate. “This is the police!” Gerke yelled. “We’re just here to talk to you about your dog!” He was answered with another slam into the gate that rattled the hinges. The two officers backed up and took up a tactical position behind the squad car.

  The gate shook again as something smashed into it a third time. This time, the boards near the bottom bulged outward, like an inflating pustule ready to burst. Then a fourth crash into the gate. The boards swelled a bit more. On the fifth crash, the door ripped open, sending splinters of wood flying everywhere and letting loose a squeal from at least one rusty nail pulled from its moorings.

  Standing in the wake of the destroyed fence gate was the biggest dog Charlie had ever seen in his life. Its rust colored coat was mottled with scrapes and cuts. It had a big black muzzle with hazel eyes buried deep under folds of skin and a big studded leather collar like it came straight from the junkyard. It stood at least three feet high at the shoulders and probably pushed the two-hundred-pound mark.

  “Oh, good! You found it!” A shrill voice came from behind them. Both officers, already on edge, jumped a little at the sound, although neither one would admit it.

  Charlie kept his gun trained on the dog while Gerke rotated slightly, still keeping the huge animal in his periphery, to talk to the woman who had emerged from the house behind them. “You know this animal, Ma’am?” Gerke asked her.

  “Yeah, that’s the Kendricks’ dog. It’s dumb as a box of rocks and it’s been barking since five this morning. I couldn’t take it anymore, so I called you guys.” She answered.

  “Is this dog dangerous, Ma’am?” Gerke asked.

  “No.” She said. “It’ll prob’ly lick you to death, is all.”

  As if on cue, the big dog cocked its head inquisitively at Charlie and began wagging its tail. Charlie let out a long breath that he didn’t realize he had been holding and holstered his weapon. He stepped out from behind the police car and walked towards the dog, patting the air in front of him and whispering to the animal. “Good boy. Good boy. Don’t eat me, good boy.”

  “Cutter!” Gerke whispered as urgently as he could. “What are you doing? Get back behind the vehicle!”

  “It’s alright Gerke. We’re alright.” He said without breaking eye contact with the dog. He wasn’t sure if he was talking to Gerke or the dog at that point, he just wanted to smooth over the situation. Charlie tapped his thigh and let out a “C’mere boy.” And the dog left its post at the fence and trotted happily over to Charlie. “Jeez, Gerke, you should see this. It looks like this thing’s been in a tangle with something big.” Charlie thought for a minute and then looked up at the destroyed gate. “Or maybe just a fence.”

  “Well, put your new buddy in the back seat of the squad and let’s go have a talk with the Kendricks.” Gerke holstered his weapon and walked through the fence gate and up to the Kendricks’ house while Charlie loaded the dog into the backseat of the police car.

  On his way to catch up with Gerke, Charlie heard his radio squelch. It was Gerke calling dispatch to send backup. He quickened his pace and when he caught up to Gerke, he had already drawn his weapon again. As he stepped up next to Gerke at the back door of the house, he could see that Gerke had the door open and was scanning inside with his flashlight. The interior of the house was black as pitch, but where Gerke’s flashlight shone, it was easy to see the blood-spattered walls.

  Gerke leaned over to whisper to Charlie as he came up. “Take the squad around to the front of the house and cover the front door. I’m going in.”

  “
Gerke, we need to wait for backup. LT will have our asses if….”

  Gerke cut him off. “Just do it, soldier. I got this!” He said, making the soldier as much of a dig as he could.

  Charlie set his jaw, determined not to get in an argument with the guy, and stormed off towards the police car, mumbling, “Dammit, Gerke. You’re going to get both of us fired, you ass!” He jumped into the police car and sped out of the alley and back to the front of the house. He jumped out of the car and ran up to the front door just as Gerke was opening it from the inside and waving him in.

  Charlie drew his weapon again and followed Gerke into the dark house. They left the front door open and it gave them a little extra light. Charlie could see the walls. My God, the walls! He had seen some terrible stuff in his time, but this was gut-wrenching to look at. There was blood everywhere. Smeared, bloody handprints decorated the entire room. But not as though a victim had struggled. They were dabbed on like someone sponge painting a room. Charlie felt the bile creep up in his throat and choked it back down. What sort of monster could do something like this? He thought.

  Gerke opened one of the blinds and allowed even more light to enter the small front room. There were two small leather couches, both had cushions ripped open and stuffing littering the floor. A flat screen television lay on the floor with a large hole in the center. “Doesn’t look like a robbery.” Gerke said. “They wrecked all the good stuff. And left plenty of fingerprints, by the look of it.” Gerke added, indicating the hand printed walls.

  The ceiling creaked and they both looked up - another creak. Someone was walking around upstairs. Gerke raised one eyebrow at Charlie and pointed up. Charlie nodded and followed Gerke down the hall near the rear of the house towards a set of stairs. Once on the stairs, though, Charlie was nearly blind. Any chance he had of seeing in this blackness had been ruined by opening the blinds and letting all the light into the front room. His night vision was adjusting but ever so slowly. They were almost to the top of the stairs when his eyes finally adjusted enough to see the dark figure lurking at the top of the stairs just a few feet in front of Gerke. “Police! Don’t move!” He yelled, but the figure had already barreled into Gerke and Gerke was tumbling backwards into him.