The Darkest Days (Death & Decay Book 0.5) by R. L. Blalock

Day 1
2:13 pm
    Officer Wyatt Ward wearily trudged away from the
busy fast-food restaurant back to his patrol car. Even slouched as
he was, Wyatt was a tall man with a lean but toned build. The day
had been brutally busy and his twelve-hour shift was only halfway
over. The lunch break had eased away some of the stress but not all
of it. In Cottleville, a miniscule suburb of the greater St. Louis
area, the days were usually filled with minor traffic
violations.
    But not today.
    The calls had not been abnormal, but today had
been different. Tense. People were argumentative and combative.
Even those who had called for assistance of some sort seemed
unwilling to cooperate.
    The sun had already started its descent from
high in the sky as Wyatt dropped into the driver’s seat of his
squad car. For a moment, he simply relaxed against the cloth
seating, his eyes closed in an attempt to shut out the world and
allow the anxiety to drain away.
    After a moment, he reluctantly opened one eye to
glance at the clock. His hands combed across the closely cropped,
caramel-colored stubble on his head in a futile attempt to brush
away the last of the stress. Though his head was covered in short
stubble, his face was smooth and clean. A few more minutes were
left before he had to report back to dispatch.
    He deftly found the cellphone attached to his
duty belt, which accompanied the polyester, navy-blue uniform he
wore. The dark blue of the uniform gave his usually misty gray eyes
a tint of blue.
    Like he did every day, Wyatt pulled out his
phone to call Sarah.
    “Hello.” A groggy voice answered after a few
rings.
    “Hi, hon. Did I wake you?”
    “Yeah. I was just taking a little nap while Ben
is asleep. It’s alright though. I like your calls.” Wyatt smiled.
He liked talking with Sarah on his lunches. Sometimes just the
sound of her voice was enough to ease a stressful day. “How’s the
day been?”
    He sighed. “Busy. Nothing major, just a lot of
little calls.”
    “Just be safe out there.” She said that phrase
every time he left and every time he called.
    “I will.” The exchange was always the same, but
if the few words helped reassure her, he was glad to say them. “How
has your day been?”
    “Good. Ben has been running around like a wild
child. I think we’ll go play outside when he wakes up. Hopefully
that will tire him out for tonight.” The three-year-old toddler
with untamable chestnut hair had a seemingly endless supply of
energy. His ear-piercing shrieks would precede him as he ran from
one room to the next through the house. Despite Ben’s boundless
energy, he was a fairly easy child and always happy. Only the
occasional tantrum disrupted his otherwise happy mood.
    “I’m sure he’ll love that.”
    “Let’s just hope I can get him to come back
inside for dinner.” Her laugh trickled through the phone.
    “Speaking of dinner, do you think your parents
could watch Ben for a couple hours on Thursday? I thought maybe we
could go out.” It had been far too long since they had done
anything without Ben.
    “I’ll ask but I don’t think they’ll have a
problem with it. Where do you want to go?”
    “I figured we could go someplace nice. Someplace
we usually wouldn’t go with Ben.” Their outings always revolved
around the family. When they went out, they went somewhere they
could all go and easily be accommodated. He and Sarah rarely
thought about this as a problem. They loved spending time together
as a family.
    “Oh! Let’s go to that Italian restaurant with
the amazing tiramisu!”
    “Sounds good to me!” Sarah’s sudden fervor for
the creamy dessert brought a smile to his face.
    “I’m going to let you go. I think I hear Ben
stirring. I love you!”
    “I love you too. See you tonight.” With that, he
deposited his cell phone in the cup holder.
    “Dispatch.” He spoke into the radio transmitter
wired to his car radio. “This is four three one. I’m back in my
car.”
    “Clear, four three