When the sun shone on the town again, its residents were oblivious to the events of the previous night. The gunfire, reminiscent of a battlefield, had frightened them into remaining indoors all night, too scared to even open their doors. When they finally ventured outside the next day, the streets seemed ordinary, with no unusual signs of the prior night's chaos.
However, inside the police station, no one was smiling. Six bodies lay in the morgue, and the town's police officers, except for those out on patrol, were unusually quiet.
Of the six deceased, only one was a town police officer; the rest were state troopers. This saddened Captain Jimmy, especially since a large number of officers had already gathered - reinforcements called the night before. But when they arrived, the battle was over.
The bodies were riddled with bullet holes yet remained intact. It appeared as though they absorbed the bullets' energy as their bodies didn't show the same damage as an average person would. This was evident in their mostly preserved state, except for vulnerable areas like the eyes.
"I can't believe their bodies remain this intact after such violent assault!" FBI agents Bell Jensen and Edgar Page finally arrived at the morgue and examined the six bodies. The sight of the bullet-riddled bodies could easily cause those with trypophobia to faint. However, these two agents, who had missed the previous night's conflict, were not affected. They were merely in disbelief.
"You guys shot so many bullets into your colleagues - well, former colleagues," Edgar Page joked.
"Sir, it wasn't our intention. You saw the footage from last night, all evidence points to one grave truth - zombies. This is an undeniable fact that we need to face," a frustrated Captain Jimmy said.
The two suit-clad agents seemingly cold and indifferent towards their deceased colleagues irked him.
"I apologize for my earlier remarks, buddy," Edgar Page said, "but...the events in the video are too bizarre. We need to study them thoroughly. I'll report to the FBI headquarters. I promise...Bell, will you do the same?" He asked Bell Jensen, who was furrowing his brows.
"Of course, why not?" a headache-ridden Bell Jensen replied.
The case had taken a significant turn - zombies really did exist. Witnessing a video filmed by an unknown officer and examining the bullet-ridden bodies made it impossible to deny the reality.
Soon, the small town was swarming with law enforcement, including senior FBI agents. The video that Bell Jensen sent to the FBI's Texas headquarters garnered enough attention. It was life mirroring the "Resident Evil" franchise, and no one dared to take it lightly.
"We've got a lot of people here, including top biologists, physicists, chemists, and even archaeologists..." Deputy Sheriff Patton said to Sheriff Louise as they discussed the sudden influx of experts in their office. The case was out of their hands now - the FBI had completely taken over.
"Why would we need archaeologists?" Patton complained.
"Listen, Patton, all we need to do right now is our job. Joseph has gone back, but we still have to find Jason; that's our priority. Let those folks handle the rest," Sheriff Louise said, "Once we find Jason, we can prevent this crisis because...I have a feeling that a greater disaster is awaiting us."
"I understand...and then there's the woman in the red dress and Luke Prescott."
After their discussion, they dispatched search parties for Jason. He hadn't returned all night, which worried Sheriff Louise. Joseph had explicitly mentioned that Jason could kill many zombies with a sword he drew, but that had already vanished.
It was a one-time use tool, not reusable. This meant that if the woman in the red dress or Luke Prescott showed up, it would be a disaster - even more severe than the previous night.
"Why in hell haven't we figured out how these damn six men transformed?" Bell Jensen complained to a coroner. "Sir, there are already 1.7 million known species in the world, but we have no idea what this species is. In other words...the tissue in these bodies is not entirely human anymore. Mutation has occurred." A forensic officer said, furrowing his brows, "After all, even the known species only account for a quarter of all species on Earth."
"So, we have no idea what caused these mutations, right?" Edgar Paige couldn't help but interject, "How are we going to deal with these creatures?"
The forensic officer shook his head, "We can't say for sure at the moment. We need to analyze their DNA to find a solution. Apart from that, I can't think of anything better." He spread his hands, signifying his helplessness, "The best equipment is at the University of California, Los Angeles branch--"
"No, we can't wait that long--" Bell Jensen shook his head, frowning.
"But there's no other choice!" the forensic officer shrugged, implying his own frustration, "This is the best option. If I were you, I'd get to work on this immediately to prevent things from getting out of hand. After all...I've never encountered such mutations before in my life...I may not come across such bizarre things again, but I've encountered them now...and maybe I will in the future, this is just the beginning..."
Bell Jensen didn't reply, but slowly left the morgue. After some thought, he pulled out his phone and dialed Sheriff Louise. "Hey, it's me, Sheriff Louise. Yeah, it's me. I wanted to ask you...where is this Jason you mentioned? I'd like to have a word with him... Okay, let me know when you have news." He hung up after speaking. The response on the other end was disappointing.
Where was Jason? What was he doing? No one knew.
On this account, Joseph made a call to Mr. Kote. After all, both he and Mr. Kote had received generous gifts from Jason, which had saved his life.
"The world...has truly become complicated." Mr. Kote said heavily after finishing his call with Joseph, then sank deep into the couch.
"Dad, what's going on?" The commotion last night clearly caught the attention of Mr. Kote's family. "Last night...it was as if World War III had broken out. I've never heard such intense gunfire." Elizabeth, setting down her backpack, addressed Mr. Kote.
When returning from school today, the entire town was buzzing about last night's events. The situation was evidently more severe than the town's residents had imagined, as the police had set up roadblocks at the town's entrances and exits, effectively locking the townsfolk in.
"It's zombies--" Mr. Kote said to Elizabeth, "Mr. Joseph Cox has told me about his experiences last night. He was involved, and...it was his involvement that prevented the tragedy from escalating."
"So, Mr. Cox's involvement averted the disaster?" Elizabeth looked incredulously at Mr. Kote. "Dad, I wouldn't think so."
"No, I believe that although he was involved, it was actually Mr. Jason's participation. The small sword Mr. Jason had drawn on his hand was used to kill those zombies." Mr. Kote said, extending his hand, "I have the same one on my hand!"
Elizabeth leaned in and saw indeed a lifelike small sword drawn in the palm of Mr. Kote's hand. She shrugged, seeing nothing surprising about it.
"Where exactly is Mr. Jason?" Mr. Kote, looking towards the distant forest, couldn't help but sigh.
Jason hadn't gone far. As dusk fell last night, the door of the small cabin had opened. Jason stepped out, gently extending a finger, and a bird took flight, heading deep into the forest.
Without a moment's hesitation, he leaped down from the veranda, following the bird into the depths of the forest.