Case:Black - 7. Chapter 7

Alamogordo, NM
August 20, 2005

"Look, I know you weren't really ready to talk to me, but I have to tell you what has been going on. Just listen to me ..." the voice on the phone said.

Sal Rossa sighed at his cell phone. The clock by his bed read two oh-three am and he had a crazy woman on the phone.

"Jessie. How nice to hear from you. What gave you the idea that I didn't want to talk to you. Not taking your calls, ducking your voice mails or actually hiding from you?"

Now it was Jessie's turn to sigh. "Oh come on Sal. We've known each other too long."

"It's what you are saying girl. It's crazy. It is just like what the Army said in their press release: a gas was accidentally released that causes confusion and hallucinations."

"You are a smart enough reporter to know a cover story when you see one."

Rossa said, "I have to admit that it is a little convenient. But what you are saying. It just sounds so crazy. Look humor me. Tell me the story again."

Jessie cleared her throat and said, "Yesterday morning at about three am, the paramedics brought us a psyche case. He was fighting and biting and appeared to be seriously injured. We put a bite mask on him and put him on a restraint table. He had some kind of seizure and flat-lined. We called a code blue. We gave him direct cardiac adrenalin and shocked him at least a dozen time. We pronounced him dead at 3:25. The only ID we found on him were dog-tags. We called our contact at the White Sands Missile Range per established protocol."

"We got busy with a car crash. Bunch of kids. Nothing serious but cuts, bruises and a broken arm. We had just cleared it when this corpse started going ape shit."

Sal said, "This is the guy you pronounced right?"

"Yeah. Dead. Stone cold, dead as a post dead. No heartbeat, no respiration. Nothing. Starts growling and thrashing around under the sheet. If he hadn't been restrained, he would have gotten up."

Sal said, "This is where we have a problem with your story. Corpses don't get up."

"No shit Sherlock. This is where it gets weird. We figured that we had made a mistake and pronounced him too early. It happens. We went back to work on him but got no vital signs. No heartbeat, no blood pressure. We gave him enough Valium and Atavan to put an elephant on his ass and he was still fighting us. No. That not right. He was fighting to get at us."

"That's when the Army showed up, shut down the ER and came up with that bogus cover story. They gave everybody vague threats and discouraged us from talking to the press."

Sal paused for a moment and said, "That's one hell of a story but I've got nothing solid. What can I take to my editor?"

Jessie said, "You remember the paramedic from last night?"

Sal said, "Yeah."

"He was bitten. He… he’s here now and he is in the same shape as the guy from last night. On top of that, he bit his wife and kids and they are in isolation with high fever and we've got seven more bite related cases. Dr. Lawrence just pushed the panic button and called the CDC and I don't mind telling you I'm scared shitless."

Sal’s cell phone went dead and a recording started: This conversation has been terminated for reasons of National Security. It repeated itself and his phone went completely dead.