'Is there anyone else in there?' the deputy asked. 'Anybody alive?' He looked like he might be sick.
'10-6, 10-6,' the trooper insisted, asking them to stand by. 'I see six, maybe more males'it's very dark, they're approaching my position.'
Clarkstiffened. He squeezed his keys until the pain made him wince. 'Get your man out of there now,' he demanded.
The deputy waved at him is dismissal. 'SWAT Two, are they armed?'
'SWAT Two here, negative' 10-6, okay, okay, one of them tried to grab me''
The radio crackled with silence. Vikram put a hand onClark 's shoulder and he realized he'd been about to jump up and run inside. He let out a deep breath and then sucked in a new one when the door of the hospital slammed open.
'Fuck, fuck, fuuucckkk!' SWAT Two screamed as he came barreling out, the severed human leg clutched in one hand. The trooper dashed to cover as the doors slid open again and three badly wounded men came staggering out.
Blood covered one's face. Another wore no shirt andClark could see he'd been disemboweled. The third's left arm dangled at his side, the skin flayed off down to the elbow. They made no sound at all as they limped toward the fleeing SWAT trooper. They didn't even look up when the deputy demanded that they halt.
A firearm went off very close toClark 's head and he instinctively ducked. When he looked again the three injured men were spinning in place, the dark craters of bullet wounds tearing open their flesh. 'Hold your fire!'Clark shouted but the deputy bellowed over him, demanding that the SWAT team fire at will. 'What are you doing?'Clark demanded. 'Those men are unarmed! They need medical attention!'
The deputy set his mouth in a hard line. He studiedClark 's face for a moment, then turned away to spit on the ground. 'I have had just about enough of this shit,' he said. 'I don't care if they've got rabies or ebola or what the fuck ever'six of my men are in that hospital right now and who knows how many civilians and I know just one thing. This. Ends. Here.' He pointed at the ground to emphasize his point.
Clarkshook his head sadly. This was where it would truly begin.
In the red and blue light the three men jittered and danced as the SWAT team, their eyes vacant as they tried to walk forward through the hail of gunfire.Clark knew that look. It was the same one he'd seen at ADX-Florence.
Monster Nation
Chapter Twelve
'He was just leaning against the ' standing there, he looked kind of confused and every once in a while he would knock on the door. With his fists, you know, maybe he was trying to break it open but' he wasn't my husband, not anymore' I didn't know what to do!' [Caller on the 'Buzz Linklee Show', 1290 AM KKAR,Omaha , 3/19/05]
On the snowy roof of the Skye house Dick sipped at his coffee and tried the police again on his cell phone. When that didn't work he tried his office, and finally his sister inMontana . No signal, not even a bar. It had been that way since the first time he'd tried but he couldn't seem to just put the phone away.
'Remember,' Bleu said. 'You have to go for the head. The brain, sure. Otherwise they don't so much as feel it.'
They had some moonlight, which was good, and plenty of guns, also good, and they were up on the roof and had pulled the ladder up behind them which was the best idea ever as far as Dick was concerned. It was also freezing cold and they couldn't go down until all of the climbers were dispatched. Bleu had a leg of mutton on a string that she dangled over the edge of the roof. Fishing for dead people.
The thought made Dick laugh and he wiped at his face as he chuckled, rubbing away the paste of dried saliva there. His mouth had dried out like a piece of jerky. 'Gnugh,' he moaned as he scratched at his leathery tongue. She stared at him and he realized he was being inappropriate. 'Sorry,' he mumbled.
He wasn't doing so well with the fear.