(5.3) Department 7

Chapter 5, Part 3

Surprisingly, it was only about 15 minutes before I saw the first sign of law enforcement. It was disturbingly fast even, considering that no one I had talked to had been able to reach anyone on their cell phones. We’d tried to use the bus radio, but as it turned out, the driver had had a death grip on it when he was attacked. As a result, the cord had actually snapped in half, rendering it useless.

“The Heroes” must have found this a little odd as well, judging by the way their hands were either wrapped in brass knuckles or fingering the handle of a weapon by the time the lighted vehicle came to a stop. Its windows were tinted, the only indication that there were people in it being the two silhouettes that even I had trouble making out.

I circled around as the two figures began opening their doors, trying to figure out just which agency I was about to deal with. The first to exit was a middle-aged man dressed in a tweed suit. His hair was the kind of salt-and-pepper gray that most men were only able to dream of, his features reminding me of a cross between Harrison Ford and Sean Connery. As he removed himself from the car, he produced a cane and a bowler hat, leaning on the former for support and placing the latter on his head as he scanned the faces of the people standing around the debris.

I followed his gaze, realizing that the only people still standing up were myself and “The Heroes.” Everyone else involved in the crash was either dead, unconscious or otherwise severely injured which would leave one of us to answer why there was a half-eaten corpse lying around.

I was staring at the corpse, trying to figure out if I should take initiative and tell them that he was eaten by things that dissolve when you kill them, or steal the car. Stealing the car was by far the easiest and best option for a person of my background, so I decided to go ahead and give it the ol’ college try. However, as I began to make my way to the driver’s side door, the passenger made her presence known.

“So Benji,” she said to the first man. “What do you think ate the driver?”

Her voice stopped me cold as disbelief started to set in. I tried to get a look at her face, but she was already bent over the corpse, looking it over. Her blonde hair was pulled back into the standard government employee ponytail, and she wore a simple blouse-skirt combo. However, the high cut of the skirt’s slit combined with the way Nerd was staring oh-so-intently at her chest, her clothes were far from “standard goverment” attire.

Benji took a split-second glance at the corpse before his eyes wandered first to the bus, then to the empty streets, oddly glancing at all the places that the creatures fell. I let my senses wander in his direction, thinking that maybe he was using magic to divine what had happened, yet I found no magic in him.

“Looks to me,” He said, returning his gaze to the woman. “Like we have a ghoul attack.”

She turned to look at him, affording me a chance to confirm my suspicions. “Why do you say that?” She asked.

“My dear, I have thirty years of paranormal enforcement under my belt, I think I know a ghoul attack when I see one.” He said, pulling a cellphone out of his jacket pocket. He opened it and smiled as he read something before adding “Also, we have a diviner at HQ who just sent me a text saying that a bus would get attacked by a group of ghouls tonight.”

She threw him a slight smile as she stood and began to address the survivors. “Ladies and gentlemen,” she began. “I regret to inform you that you have all been involved in a supernatural event. My name is Angel and I’m a member of a Paranormal Task Force known as Department 7, and it’s my job to help you through this.”