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

one.”
    After the dispatcher acknowledged his return to
duty, he pulled out of the parking lot to cruise the streets. Most
of his days were a slow procession of petty calls and minor traffic
violations. While the first half of the day had already been
hectic, the calls were hardly extraordinary.
    He rolled the windows down to let in the warm
afternoon air. The steady hum of traffic and the roar of the wind
as it rushed in the window created calming background noise. As he
came to a stop at a red light, the radio crackled to life, the air
of calm instantly broken.
    “Four two five, there is major accident with
injury at the intersection of Weiss Road and Cottleville Parkway.
Please respond.”
    “Dispatch, this is four two five. Ten
seventy-six.” The return call meant that the responding officer,
Allison Grey, was headed to the scene.
    A few minutes later the radio was alive again.
“Four three one, there was a call about a dead body on the side of
the road at eighty-four Upper Dardenne Farms Drive. Please
respond.” For a split second, Wyatt stared dumbly at the radio as
if it were something strange.
    “Four two five. Ten seventy-six.” He responded
reluctantly to the dispatcher. He turned to cut through a parking
lot and headed towards the call. For the briefest moment, Wyatt had
allowed himself to hope that when he returned from lunch things may
have cooled off, but the fantasy was not to be realized.
    “Four six seven.” Wyatt jumped a bit as the
dispatcher called out again. “A disturbance has been reported at
Francis Howell Central High School…” The calls were getting wilder
by the second. His foot pressed down a bit further on the gas as he
sped towards his call. Not only had the day continued its
unsettling pace, but the calls were also picking up. The department
wouldn’t be able to keep up this pace. Soon they would have to
request help from county.
    As he turned down Upper Dardenne Farms Road, his
eyes cautiously scanned the quiet street. Large, leafy trees and
bushes lined the road, partially obscuring the large front lawns
and single-story houses from view. House number eighty-four was
about midway down the long dead-end road.
    “Dispatch, this is four three one. I’m on
scene.” His car slowed to a roll as he scanned the road for a body
or anything that might appear to be a body to a nervous
passerby.
    “Clear, four three one.”
    The radio cut through the silence. “Four six
seven, there is an officer down at the intersection of Weiss Road
and Cottleville Parkway. Nearby patrols please respond.” The radio
erupted in a flurry of calls; each was carefully controlled, but
collectively it was chaos.
    Grey was the officer who responded to the
accident. She was the department’s newest member, and though she
lacked experience, she was smart and capable. What had happened?
Had a careless driver hit her? He had to go.
    “Dispatch, this is four three one. I’m en route
from Upper Dardenne Road. ETA: three minutes.”
    “Four three one, complete your call. Others are
en route.” Wyatt growled as he clutched the radio.
    He shook his head and focused on the task at
hand. Despite his concerted attempts to concentrate, his mind kept
returning back to Officer Grey. How injured was she? Was she still
alive? He felt useless.
    At the end of the street, he hadn’t seen any
signs that something was amiss. Carefully, he turned around in one
of the driveways and began a slow, steady cruise back down the
street. Shortly before arriving at the address, he parked his car
and strode down the paved sidewalk. As he walked, each step was
deliberate. Though he yearned to move on, to help the others and
find out more about his fallen comrade, he would not allow himself
to be too hasty.
    After a while, with no evidence that anything
malicious had occurred, he turned and crossed the road to walk the
other side. As he neared the house marked eighty-four, dark
splotches on the asphalt caught his attention. With a hand