Agents Universe

This occurs a few weeks after
All In a Day’s Work

11:55 Piotr_Kruschev: I look over at the puny little greasy man with a sneer of contempt on my gorilla-like face. I towered over the little grease spot by at least a foot and a half. You could fit two of him inside of me with room to spare.

The look of sheer primal terror as he faced off against my 142 kilos of unbelievably massive muscles brought a surge of tingling pleasure to my balls, as it always did. My gaze was harder than steel as it bore into him like a drill. To finish off the display of intimidation, i flexed slightly, twitching my shoulders and pecs, causing my thick steel-cabled muscles to swell up with vascular, brute power. The little grease spot actually started twitching in his boots.

I snarled at him, "Listen up Ronnie, I don't want your fucking excuses. The Syndicate sent me to your little town because you local fuckwits don't have enough balls between the lot of you to make one good man. I expect results, not excuses. If some poor fuck goes psycho, you fucking kill him. Put his body in a fucking meat grinder to keep the heat off. If the dealers start getting cold feet, then give me their names. I'll be able to change their tune." I smiled. I was good at making fuckers change their tune.

My enormous size and strength provided me all kinds of extremely creative approaches to causing pain. Grown men would often piss their pants just at the sight of me bearing down on them. "Make a list, and send it to me. I'll pay them a little personal visit."

Ronnie started to stutter, "Yyyeess.. Piotr. Okay, okay big man. We'll do it your way."

"Fucking right we will. Now get out." He turned, relieved to be done and nearly ran out of the room. Fucking little weasel. One of these days I'd rip him limb from limb. But he was useful in his own way. He was smart, street wise, and had plenty of contacts. When I first arrived a month ago from New York, he assumed like most people that I was big on muscles but light on brains. He learned very quickly how wrong he was. Now, he was appropriately terrified.

No one expected a man as big as I was to move so fast. But I worked hard. My muscle wasn't just for fucking show, ever since the day those fucking New York pigs killed my dad, I'd focused on making my body into a weapon.

I was already genetically gifted, blessed with top Ukrainian genes, and my Father's death lit a fire inside me that would not be extinguished. I threw myself into my training, packing on muscle and size at an astonishing rate. I'd reached a freaking 143 kilos of solid muscle and my full height of 6'6" at 19. I kept myself limber, and built up my endurance and speed to match my enormous power. I could kill a man with my fists or feet just as easily as my gun. I was a crack shot. By the time I was 20 years old, I was already deeply embedded in the Russian Mob, at the right hand of the Man himself.

I missed New York, and even though London was a fucking shithole, taking this job for the Syndicate was a massive break for me. And it came at exactly the right time. I'd gained quite a reputation as a cop killer back in NYC, and the pigs there had dialed up the heat to max. Fucking cunts, the lot of 'em. But I needed to let the heat die down a bit before I could resume my favorite hobby, and the Syndicate had offered to smuggle me over to London if I'd help whip the locals into line.

Seemed like a win win to me. It was more fucking moola than I'd seen in my whole life, and it gave me an entire new perspective on opportunities. In the Syndicate, I could rise even faster and go further than I could in the Russian Mob back home. It was time to start thinking big. Sky was the fucking limit. Power, money, and victims were coming my way.

10:01 PC_Wayne_Lewis: I nodded, "C'mon Aaron, let's go. I found this little cafe not far from Covent Garden. They do these smashing lunch specials."

I was trying to build up my savings account, and was always on the hunt for a good deal. Even though leaving Tye had been exactly what I needed, it had been hard on the bank account. Even working for CO19, the salary wasn't anything to write home about, and it didn't go far in London. I was always looking for ways to save a bob or two.

The morning had been fairly quiet, and we'd just finished responding to a call about a suspicious individual that the paranoid shopkeepers had assumed was a terrorist. The Syndicate assault on Thames House still had people jumpy, even after all this time. But in the end, it had turned out to be a drunken homeless man. We'd given them address of a shelter, and sent him on his way.

As I slid into the drivers seat of our patrol vehicle, I double checked the center compartment, where our Sig Sauer SG516 semi-automatic rifles were securely locked away. Satisfied, I adjusted my cap, and turned to give Aaron a grin.

"I'm starting to get pretty damn hungry." I wasn't a big man, lean, fit, tightly muscled, but wiry, with one of those metabolisms that burned up the calories like there was no tomorrow. I got very grumpy when meals were late.

The cafe wasn't far, but in London traffic, the 8 blocks would likely take us at least 15 minutes. I took a brief moment to admire Aaron. He was, undoubtedly, one of the best looking men on the force, and certainly the best-looking partner I'd ever had. The events surrounding the assault on Thames House had bonded us, along with his former boyfriend, Officer Jason Frank, who had been visiting at the time.

I'd never in my wildest imaginings thought I'd fuck around with my partner, it just wasn't professional. There was too much risk of things getting weird. But they hadn't. We'd managed to keep our private lives and our professional lives separated. Aaron was a good cop. One of the best I'd ever had the privilege of serving with. And in bed..... fuck.

But though we'd stayed close mates after my breakup with Tye, Thames House, and the two incredible threesomes I'd had with him and Jason, we hadn't fucked again. Yet. It's not that I didn't want to. I fucking did. But... it still felt a bit weird to me. But I would have pushed past that, except that it didn't feel right somehow, not after Aaron and Jason had broken up.

We'd had several nights out in the pub together since then, and he'd even crashed in my flat a few times, and me in his, but we hadn't fucked. We'd kissed though. Fuck Aaron was a good kisser. But I was determined that next time, I'd take the first step. We both enjoyed sex too much, and each other's company, to keep from facing the issue.

Casually, as we navigated traffic, I asked Aaron, "Have you heard from Jason lately? How's he getting on? Oh, and by the by, was wondering if you wanted to meet up tonight after work?"

12:55 PC_Aaron_Mitchell: I look over at Wayne. "God help me if you get hungry, having to be trapped in the same car as you." I put my head back on the passenger seat chair, taking the weight off of my body armour as I looked out of the window.

"I chatted to him last night. He was off work so it was his day time, he was telling me about all the stuff happening in New York. I was telling him about the crazies over here. Was good fun. He said hi by the way."

"God I miss New York Pizza though, he had a pizza place on his block." I still loved Jason, that much as obvious. It was purely distance that caused our problems.

"If we make it that far with this traffic, today, or there is no explosions from your stomach or buildings.. yeah I'd love that."

"But there is just so many crazies right now, everyone sees terrorists everywhere after last month. Then again, I was watching the news with Jace last night when the SAS were storming a bank in Coventry. I'm a bit confused why the SAS were there, don't they have firearms officers in Coventry."

10:01 PC_Wayne_Lewis: As we wended our way through the traffic, my stomach let out and audible grumble as if to underscore Aaron's comment. I blushed slightly.

"I could murder a pizza, that's for sure. Glad to hear he is doing well." I still remembered with great fondness the fight he had with Aaron in his flat... and the incredible fuck session that followed.

"C'mon, we haven't had any explosions since .. Thames House. And most of the crazies are in peoples paranoid imaginations, like this morning. But yeah, I saw that piece on the news about Coventry as well." I weaved in and out of traffic to pull ahead a few more feet, as I shrugged. "But hell Aaron, It's not like London, it's Coventry, the back end of beyond. They probably have like what, one or two firearms in the whole town?" It was clear that to me, anyplace that wasn't London was the back end of beyond, an untamed wilderness where they probably hadn't even discovered fire yet, let alone pizza.

Finally, I managed to find a parking spot about half a block away. I sigh with relief and hunger, reaching out to the radio, "Dispatch, 2412 Mitchell and 1871 Lewis on Code 4." Finally, it was time for lunch.

As I get out of the squad car, I double check that the locker is secure for our firearms in the middle of the vehicle, then swing out, grunting slightly as I adjust my body armor. A family is walking by as I step out onto the pavement, and a little boy looks up at me with a look of awe on his face. I grin at him, and tip my hat just slightly.

I head into the small cafe with Aaron at my side, and walk up to the counter, to order their lunch special, I turn to Aaron, "Here's a deal for you mate, I'll buy your lunch if you meet me at the pub tonight after duty and get the first round?"

12:55 PC_Aaron_Mitchell: "Coventry is next to fucking Birmingham, Wayne, it's not like a small Island in the middle of nowhere. They could have gotten firearms from Birmingham, or ... let me explain... there are these things we have now Wayne called... Mot-or-ways..." I say sarcastically. "Five of us in a van could drive up the M1 straight to Birmingham... in a couple of hours."

"You understand that the M25 isn't the end of the world, right."

I smile as I head into the cafe. "Sure... you get the cheap one, and I'll get the first round." I shake my head, but obviously joking. "Assuming in the next 6 hours in a car with you I don't want to throttle you for your lack of geography... how the fuck did you get to be an advanced driver when you don't understand that motorways exist."

I head over to a table and sit down looking out of the window. "I didn't like the SAS coming in to do my job in the para's.. and I don't like it now."

10:01 PC_Wayne_Lewis: I ordered two specials, a roll and a cup of soup with a drink. I get a fried egg roll, some tomato soup, and a can of pepsi on my tray as I pay for the food. "Motorways are a myth perpetrated by the same group of whack jobs that think there is more to the world than London." I say it with a totally straight face, but can't hold it in any longer, cracking a goofy smile as I walk over to a small booth.

I start to bite into my roll, the lovely taste of fried egg, butter, and soft white bread beginning to appease my stomach. I follow Aaron's gaze out the window, listening to his comment with interest. "A few weeks back, when you pulled the squad car off to the side of the road to greet that monster American behemoth, weren't some of the lads with them SAS? But besides, the SAS didn't come in to do your job... they came in to do the job for those poor sods up in Coventry. CO19 doesn't need the SAS to hold our hands."

I look out the window again, taking another bite as I frown at some poor bastard stumbling down the street outside a Tesco Metro.

15:13 Jason_Poole: Oh man... the last few hours have been ... Bliss. Total fucking magic bliss. I want more... more of that sweet, sweet B. It's like having an orgasm non stop... Like it's christmas morning all the time.. Like there aren't no fucking plod to harrass you... no shitty little flat with a bitch girlfriend waiting to start a row. Just christmas morning all the time.

I'm stumbling down the street, not even aware of who I'm bumping into. I look up at a red and white sign... It keeps dancing a happy jig... but I'm patient. I think it's what I wanted... it is isn't it? It says... "T ... E .. S .. C .. O". Right Tescococo. cocoa. That's right. I want chocolate.

I take a step towards the door, when suddenly, the sign explodes into a million fragments, and all the people around me turn to slavering Aliens... HOLY FUCK.. FUCK FUCK... I start to shake, and I piss myself without realizing. I whimper in terror... Then, a few of the Aliens, great big fucking cunts with rows of sharp, pointy teeth all designed to rip your flesh off the bone, their skin all green and slimy, start to gather around me. One of them reaches out a hand for me.. I won't. I FUCKING WILL NOT be eaten by Aliens. WILL FUCKING NOT. I scream at the top of my lungs.

12:55 PC_Aaron_Mitchell: I shake my head. "One said he was a Royal Marine, the other just said 'army'... but the SAS never say they're in the SAS to outsiders. Here's a clue Wayne, someone tells you that they're in the SAS they aren't. The SAS don't go around telling people they're in the SAS. Someone says they are, they're lying."

"And his name is David, not behemoth, we're friends from when I was in Afghanistan with him. He's a good guy, he's a US Ranger." I wasn't mentioning he was the one who also rescued me from the syndicate.. I don't like mentioning that, or remembering it.

"They may have been, but there is no way of knowing."

"And I know it's Coventry... but I mean.. people see the SAS doing that, and it's like... well... can't they come down to London... can't they protect Downing Street, can't they fucking patrol the centre of town. They're big heroes and I don't like them coming in to do a job I can do."

"Not being in the army, you wouldn't know, but the SAS are both the best trained, best funded and get all the good stuff... and they come in fuck up your week for a bit, and then go away again like some sort of saviour. Fuckers."

"To be fair... some of the ex army cops have thought they were better than regular cops having been in the army, I'm not one of them, it's a completely different job, even if both contain guns.. the police food is better and the chance of getting bombed is significantly less in the police, although non zero."

"Although there is a higher chance of me being on social media than when I was in the army.. people take a lot more pictures of cops on the beat."

10:01 PC_Wayne_Lewis: I watch the poor sod across the street stop and start to shiver violently, but in a moment, my eyes are drawn back to Aaron as he begins to share some of his insight into the military. I'm finding it fascinating.

I've always been a bit fascinated with Aaron's background as a Para. He's really humble about it, but I've worked with him long enough to realize what a total badass he is when he wants to be, thanks to that background. I'm no slouch, but Aaron can go to another level at times. "So the SAS come in like some kind of superhero squad, save the day, than swoop out again, and deny that they are in the SAS to anyone who asks? Seems a bit whacky to me."

I nod, taking another bite of my sandwich. "I've met a few ex army cops, and they tend to be, in my experience, either humble and low-key, like your fine self, Aaron, or arrogant assholes. I think in London at least, the chance of getting bombed for us police is probably slightly higher than being in the military, given recent events."

I choke a bit on my coke, looking at Aaron, "Why on earth would you WANT to be on social media?" Along with my love of all things London, I have this wierd ... distaste for social media. I don't pretend to be consistent, since being a Londoner these days almost requires being comfortable with social media.

Then, suddenly, the poor sod across the street in front of Tesco's lets out an absolutely ear-splitting scream. Even across the street in the cafe, it's shockingly loud.

15:13 Jason_Poole: I scream, "FUCKING FUCKING ALLIENS.. NOT GONNA GET FUCKING TORN APART.. FUCK YOU. FUCK YOU ALL!" I leap on the Alien reaching out to eat me, and drive them down to the ground, screaming, cursing, crying with rage and fear, I smash my fists down over and over into their face, wanting, needing, desperately needing to smash out those sharp teeth. More Aliens are starting to surround me now, and I flail out with my fists and feet, tackling a second Alien and tackling them into a shimmering, glistening slimy wall. There is a sound like glass shattering.

12:55 PC_Aaron_Mitchell: "Hey.. I didn't say I WANTED to be on Social Media... but I'm happy for people to take pictures and stuff. I have a facebook account, and sometimes I watch TikTok's.. there is a hashtag coptok on it, lots of cops from around the world."

"I haven't yet done a tiktok dance, or indeed posted.. I just watch it, it's that or the pub, and frankly I don't want to damage my liver that much."

I look out of the window. "God... can that guy have a rest, I swear to god, if I have to leave my lunch to go and arrest some afternoon day drinker I'm not going to be happy, that is an afternoon of paperwork I don't want."

Then he starts beating someone up, and then he tackles someone through the Tesco window. "Oh fucking mother of god," I grab my radio. "2412 Mitchell to Dispatch. We have a IC1 male, assaulting people outside of Tesco Metro on Covent Garden, show myself and 1871 attending."

I shout over to the cafe owner. "Can you bag these please... we'll be back in a few to pick them up," as I headed out of the door.

10:01 PC_Wayne_Lewis: I look interested, "coptok? Seriously.... you can show me at the pub tonight." Then, I turn to watch the fracas across the street.

Suddenly, it turns savagely violent, the window in front of the Tesco Metro shatters as the whack job tackles someone through it. Grimly, I shoot up to my feet as Aaron notified dispatch. I was out the door before him, legging across the street.

Already, I could see one man down lying on the pavement, his face a bloody mess.

15:13 Jason_Poole: The green slimy wall shatters into shards as the Alien beneath me roars and struggles, lifting it's head to bite my head off with it's teeth. I SCREAM again, reach down and grab a jagged shard of slimy Alien wall. I lift it up and stab down, filled with rage and hatred for these fucking man-eating aliens. The jagged edge of the shard sinks into the throat of the screaming alien, and green goo fountains up from the wound, getting all over me. I think I'm going to be sick. I stand up, and turn into a dark cave, maybe I can hide from the Aliens there.

I run deeper into the cave, that shimmered and wavered in the dim light. Something is in my way, a low wall, I push through it, and there is a crunching sound as pieces of the wall scatter across the floor of the cave. Ahead of me there is another Alien, but this one turns and runs. That's right. "THAT'S RIGHT YOU FUCKING BASTARDS! I AM GOING TO HUNT YOU ALL DOWN AND CUT YOUR FUCKING ALIEN HEADS OFF!! LET'S SEE YOU EAT MY FACE WITHOUT YOUR FUCKING HEADS!" I scream out.

12:55 PC_Aaron_Mitchell: I go to my radio and activate it. “2412. We need an ambulance at Covent Garden. We’ve got at least one injured. Attacker is an IC1 male possible additional casualties. Attacker has gone into Tesco’s.”

“No guns sighted. Unknown if he has additional weapons such as knives. Seems to be acting crazy and shouting about aliens. Lewis entering Tesco’s in pursuit.”

I cross the road still talking. “Need backup to secure the scene.”

“WAYNE,” I shout out. “You want to deal with Casualties or the attacker?” Irrespective of anything he was still the senior partner here and I was still his probationer.

10:01 PC_Wayne_Lewis: As I leg it across the street, traffic starts to come to a halt as the motorists gape at the scene unfolding in front of them. I reach the first victim, and with a quick glance I move on. His face is bloodied and he's unconscious, but I could tell that he was breathing. But....

Just on the other side of the shattered window, a woman was laid out on her back, and her neck was gushing blood from a jagged wound. Instantly I moved into position, as Aaron's shouted question reached me. I replied, with a crisp, no-nonsense shout, "Take the attacker while I try to save this woman." She could have been my mum... cut down in the middle of a fucking Tesco's... Even now I could hear shouts about aliens and cutting off heads coming from down one of the aisles.

A small display shelf for bars of chocolate had been knocked over, scattering everywhere. But I was now totally focused on trying to save this woman.
Quickly, I pulled out a handkerchief from my pocket and tried to stem the blood from the savage wound on her neck, probing to find the artery and apply pressure to keep her life blood from spilling out before the ambulance arrived.

15:13 Jason_Poole: I run down a long, dim tunnel, chasing after the fleeing Alien, the strange, unearthly walls filled with odd lumps and bumps. Nothing was recognizable... everything was so strange. Terror and rage burned in my throat. My only hope now was to fight... to kill.. to keep them from eating my face.. Suddenly, there next to me, was a pile of what looked like tridents? For a moment I thought it might have been a garden rake.. but no, nothing so mundane would be here in this Alien place. It was a trident. The first thing that was vaguely recognizable on this strange, alien world. A weapon. Finally, a fucking WEAPON!!

I seized it, held it aloft. I started to glow with a pure, white light. It was a sign... I was the bane of all Aliens... I run down the tunnel, and there, in a corner the Alien I was chasing turned, and opened it's mouth, displaying it's hideous rows of flesh-rending teeth. It screamed at me, ready to attack. With a roar of triumph, I swung my new weapon at it with all my might.

12:55 PC_Aaron_Mitchell: I step over the glass, crushing it under my boots, heading into the building.

I grab the nearest shop assistant. "Get the management, get everyone out of here, understand, go and do it. GO!" I was very good at delivering orders. Unfortunately I couldn't just shoot this guy, that would make life easier, but I could taser them at least.

I headed further into the store, and the guy was threatening someone with a garden rake, for fucks sake, crazy people in London just seem to multiply.

"OI!" I shout loudly. "POLICE.. DROP THE WEAPON." I pull out my baton and extend it looking at him. "PLACE THE WEAPON ON THE GROUND."

10:01 PC_Wayne_Lewis: On the edge of my awareness, I hear Aaron shouting at the staff, and the further sounds of him confronting the nutjob. But my focus is on the woman bleeding out in front of me. As I desperately keep the pressure on her artery, I check her pulse. It's faltering. She's bleeding out, despite everything I can do. I mumble, "Where the fuck is that ambulance?"

15:13 Jason_Poole: My heroic blow with my destined weapon struck true, and the Alien let out a hideous shriek of fury. "TAKE THAT YOU ALIEN SCUM!!" I lifted my weapon, preparing to knock the head clean off the hideous flesh-eating monstrosity, when I suddenly heard a strange Alien roar behind me. I whirled, my eyes wide to take in the visage of a new kind of Alien. This Alien moved with a deadly purpose. I realized all at once my folly.

These other Aliens had been workers, but this one was a warrior Alien. Bred to kill. Bred to serve the Overlord. I felt the sick terror, the certainty of death clench my heart, but I would not let it eat me. WOULD NOT. He's holding something in his slimy claw, something menacing, something deadly. A laser weapon. That's what it must be. He wants to cook my flesh with his Alien laser before he eats me.

NO. I WILL NOT END UP IN THE GUTS OF SOME SLIMY FUCKING ALIEN SCUM. Panic grips me, and I hurl my beloved weapon like a spear, throwing it straight and true, hoping to skewer the hideous Alien warrior. But I don't stick around to find out. I turn, and run, around the corner. Into an ice cave... waves of chill frost assault me from both sides. This is it... THIS MUST BE IT. This is the Alien nursery, where they keep their precious eggs... those large oval shaped white blobs.... They must be eggs!! I grab one off the shelf and hurl it to the floor of the icy cavern. It shatters, and spatters a sickening white goo. For the briefest moment, it reminds me of a jug of milk.. but what would a jug of milk be doing in an Alien egg cavern? I will destroy them all. EVERY ONE OF THEM.

12:55 PC_Aaron_Mitchell: I stepped backward out of the way of the garden tool, it wasn't exactly the most aerodynamic thing in the world. "Aliens, what the actual fuck." Fine the guy was probably drugged out of his mind.

I go to the radio. "2412 In pursuit of the suspect, need a second ambulance inside, more injured, suspect is talking nonsense, reminiscent of people on PCP or other drugs."

I leg it down the aisle and into the chilled section and he was throwing milk all over the place.

I run down the aisle, and put my foot down before the pile of milk, skidding towards the suspect, and then slamming my baton into his legs on the slippery floor. "GET DOWN ON THE GROUND AND PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD."

10:01 PC_Wayne_Lewis: Grimly, as I fight to keep the woman from bleeding out, I can hear screams and shouts from deeper in the store. The staff start to stream out past me, but I barely notice them. My hands are covered in blood now, and despite everything I can do, I'm losing her. The neck wound is too deep. I feel her pulse stop. CPR would be pointless. Grimly, I radio in to dispatch, "1871 attempted to save the life of a bystander, but was unable to prevent her from bleeding out."

I stand up, no time to consider the life that has just been lost. Now, I need to help Aaron make sure that psychotic bastard doesn't kill anymore. I can hear the cry of "DIE ALIEN SCUM!!" echoing down the aisle.

15:13 Jason_Poole: I work as quickly as I can, destroying Alien egg after egg, but to my dismay, the Alien warrior suddenly turns the corner of the chilly, icy cave. He looks ... enraged. Probably because I'm killing their hideous young before they can hatch and burrow into innocent people.

He is fast, and he has strange powers, as he seems to glide over the top of spilled Alien egg goo. He's solid black, menacing, and covered in dark, poisonous slime. He has even more teeth than the other Aliens.

He slashes at my leg with his savage claw, and I scream in terror and pain as I collapse to the floor, getting the hideous white goo all over me. It is fight or flight.. There is nowhere to run. I have to fight. My mind fills with hot fire and I scrabble on the slippery floor, my leg thrumming in pain, but I brace my feet against the wall, reach into the icy space beside me, and grab for anything that might be a weapon. My fingers clutch something hard and cold, I pull it out. For a brief moment, I'm reminded of happier times... of eating ice cream in the summer, and me mum spraying whipped topping on top of it from a can that felt like this one. This alien device is very much like that, and with a roar, I leap on the Alien warrior. One final fight. To the death. As I press the trigger, a spray of thick, slimy, corrosive Alien goo sprays out right into the Alien Warrior's face. I scream out, "DIE ALIEN SCUM!" Kicking and punching out with my other fist and my feet on the slick floor of the icy cavern, desperate to melt his face off, desperate to kill him before he kills me.

11:08 PC_Aaron_Mitchell: I've been called a lot of things as a police officer, other different things as a soldier, but at no point ... so far .. in my career have I been called Alien scum and then had squirty cream placed in my face.

It's a unique situation.

He then punches me in the face, before he slips on the milk and slams to the floor, a similar thing happening to me and now I'm covered in squirty cream AND milk.

This was not the lunch I had expected to have today.

This person hadn't even punched very hard, he was a drug addict having a very strange reaction to something he'd taken, that was obvious. Or he was a mental patient having escaped from somewhere. Less likely, but possible. But he'd still injured people and I wasn't here to make judgement calls about how right or wrong or what capacity he was in, it was to just help people be safe.

I roll over to one side, and grab the man's hand roughly pulling it behind his back and getting my handcuffs out. "You do not have to say anything but it may harm your defense if you do not mention something when questioned that you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence”.

15:13 Jason_Poole: His scaly, slimy hide must be resistant to the acidic goo I sprayed in his face, as my fist bounces off his roaring alien face, then I slip and fall on the Alien egg guts littering the floor. I'm desperate with rage and fear.

I scramble, have to find a weapon... have to kill him. Don't want to have my face bitten off by those teeth. So many teeth... so very sharp. I have to get away, but that Alien Warrior is too fast, too strong... It grabs me with one slimy claw, wrenching my arm back. He's going to bite my arm off at the shoulder... I know it.

I'm trapped on my face, in a puddle of Alien Egg guts with the Alien behind me... Any second his teeth will start ripping chunks out of my flesh. I start to cry in terror, and I piss myself. He roars at me, in some strange Alien tongue, and I lift my head, whimpering, "Don't bite my face off... PLEASE ... don't bite my face off... I don't want to be eaten alive..."

I thrash with one last desperate surge of strength, kicking bucking, reaching out with one hand grabbing for anything, I have to get free!!!

10:01 PC_Wayne_Lewis: Finally, I hear sirens outside as an ambulance pulls up.

I still felt slightly sick inside at having been helpless to save that woman, my hands were still wet with her blood. But there was no time to dwell on that now. I had a job to do.

I race around the corner, reaching down to my tactical belt, drawing my baton, ready for anything. Or at least I thought I was. I wasn't ready for the sight of Aaron covered in squirty cream wrestling with a nutjob in a puddle of milk.

I grab the corner of the chiller, stopping myself from running headlong into the spreading puddle of milk at the last second, exclaiming in surprise, "What the fuck??"

I dart forward, managing to keep my balance somehow, and drop down on top of the flailing, blubbering nutjob's other arm, starting to wrestle it behind his back as he babbled about being eaten. I looked over at Aaron. And if we weren't in the middle of subduing a suspect, I would have laughed out loud at the squirty cream dripping down his face.

12:07 PC_Aaron_Mitchell: I look up at Wayne. "Join the police, they said... Use your army training they said... Join firearms they said... Use your army training they said."

"At no fucking point was this part of the recruitment video."

I slap the handcuffs on the guy. "You're not going to be fucking eaten, although you did fucking ruin my lunch." I slowly get up to my feet before slipping on some extra thick cream again. "And I need to go back to the station for a shower."

"You take a picture. I kill you. I can kill you. I know a dozen ways to kill you."

I get to my feet pulling the guy up and started to head outside, half dragging him and half escorting him to the ambulance outside. I call over one of the paramedics. "This guy is on something, can you give him a scan before we take him to the station to make sure he's not going to die in the car with us."

10:01 PC_Wayne_Lewis: I hold the suspect down as Aaron cuffs him, then I turn to him, and with a completely straight face, I poke my finger at his face, catching a dab of squirty cream. I pop the finger in my mouth, nodding. I did enjoy squirty cream.

"There were lots of things that they never tell you in the recruitment videos. I've dealt with my share of druggies before, but this was ... extreme."

Surreptitiously, as Aaron is fighting to regain his balance after slipping on the mess, I take a quick picture of him with my phone, just pulling it out of my pocket, catching his face in profile. I mean... this opportunity would never come again. He never even saw me.

I smiled to myself, then helped him with the suspect, making our way back through the mess of the store, chocolate bars littering the floor, and of course, the corpse of the woman the nutjob had stabbed in the neck, being surrounded by paramedics. I feel that sense of helplessness rush back.

Time to worry about that later. That was going to generated a shit ton of paperwork. I averted my eyes from the bloody mess. "He stabbed that poor woman in the neck. She was dead before I could save her. What the fuck is WRONG with him?" There was a white-hot rage barely suppressed beneath my words as we reached the ambulance.

15:13 Paramedic_Trevor_Black: I rush over as one of the CO-19 officers calls over to me. I do a double take as he's all over... whippy cream??? But immediately, I turn my attention to the man the two officers are holding between them.

I grunt at him. He's trembling violently, and his eyes are dilated.. I reach out one hand, and feel the pulse on the side of his trembling neck. I immediately feel my guts clench. I knew the signs... it was another one.

"Fuck ... he's the third one today. It's just like what happened a few years back... when that new drug hit the streets. Causing users to go psycho. Not again.. He won't die... but you'll have to keep him cuffed on the way back to the station." I looked deeply troubled. I was involved on the frontlines the first time this happened, before MI6 got involved and rooted out the source of the new drug. And now... it was back.

12:56 PC_Aaron_Mitchell: I listen to the paramedic and nodded and turned to Wayne and pushed him back slightly. "Hey... back off from shouting at him. He's cuffed, arrested and he's under the effect of drugs. He didn't know what he was doing."

"Yeah he shouldn't be taking drugs, but you can't fucking shout at him for fucking being under the influence, right. Doesn't fucking help anyone Wayne."

I turn back to the paramedic. "Just let it out of his system? Anything that can help."

I am apparently a lot more lenient with normal people than I am with random terrorists.

"We need to get him into a cell and do the fucking paperwork on this. Okay.. and you need to cool down, partner."

10:01 PC_Wayne_Lewis: I looked over at Aaron as he pushed me back. I was as taken aback by the anger in his tone as he clearly was by my frustration.

He hadn't been there trying to save that woman as she died because some whacked out stranger knifed her in the neck with a shard of broken glass.

But I hold my tongue, and don't respond to Aaron. He's right about one thing, this isn't the time or place to vent or argue about whether or not he was responsible for his actions.

I take a deep breath, nod at him once, then focus on the paramedic.

15:13 Paramedic_Trevor_Black: I watch the exchange between the two officers, but keep my peace. None of my business. I've seen the kind of havoc this drug causes.

He asks me if anything can help. I shake my head. "If it's what I think it is... and he's showing all the signs of it, then it's a psychotic break caused by a street drug called 'B'. It hit the city a few years back, not sure if you guys were around then, and caused all kinds of havoc, poor sods on the drug would randomly suffer a total psychotic break, going on a murdering rampage. Finally, there was some big government operation to take out the source. But now... looks like it's coming back. He's not the first new case I've seen. I still have nightmares about some of the shit I saw the first time."

13:43 PC_Aaron_Mitchell: "I was in Afghanistan a few years ago, I wasn't around for about 15 months. But this is... yeah... shite... Thanks Trevor."

I take the guy and head him back to the car and lock him into the back of the car, shoving him inside and heading to the back of the car and taking off my body armour and placing it in the boot since that was covered in dairy products.

"Lets get back to the nick so we can drop him off and I can have a fucking shower."

10:01 PC_Wayne_Lewis: "I wasn't in the police force then, but I do remember it being all over the news."

I follow Aaron back to the car, and then make my way to the driver's seat. I'm starting to come down off the adrenaline, and my hands are shaking just a bit. I take another deep breath, get centered again, then I wait for Aaron to make his way around to the passenger side of the car.

"Right. Let's get you to a shower before you start going sour on me." I grin at him. I check our weapons locker out of habit, then pull away from the scene, weaving through the traffic.

I glance at my hands, and realize they are still bloodstained. Then, I remember... "Fuck.. we left our lunch back at the cafe." Not that I was hungry anymore.

In the back of the car the guy is still muttering about Aliens and being experimented on. I shake my head.

Then the radio squawks at us. "Dispatch, calling 2412 Mitchell and 1871 Lewis, what is your status? Are you available to respond to a public disturbance about five blocks from your current position?"

I look over at Aaron. Fuck. Another call? He handles communication with dispatch while I'm driving.

14:28 PC_Aaron_Mitchell: "2412. We've got a suspect from the Covent Garden attack in the vehicle. We can but we're going to need backup for transport in case of additional detainees."

I sigh. "There goes my fucking shower."

"You need one as well... you're covered in blood," which to be honest actually worried Aaron less, he's seen a lot worse.

"It's like they don't realise we're a firearms unit and deal with bigger problems than the response officers." Which considering that Aaron had been response less than 6 months ago, he was already being fairly elitist about his unit, which was very on brand for a soldier.

I go back to the radio and press the button. "Show us as responding, then if you can kindly not give us anything, I would like to get a new uniform after the last one.. oh yeah and get lunch."

10:01 PC_Wayne_Lewis: I frown over at Aaron, shaking my head. I've been on CO19 long enough to know that dispatch doesn't casually ask us to respond to something like a public disturbance.

"They must be overloaded if they are asking us to respond to a public disturbance.."

Dispatch responded to Aaron, "Acknowledged. " Their voice sounded just a bit harried, and they cut off even more abruptly than normal.

I look down at the address popping up on my display, and put on our blues and twos, making my way through the traffic. Luckily it wasn't far.

With the constant babble from our back seat guest, I pulled up outside a seedy looking pub. I could hear shouts and screams coming from inside, along with the sound of glass shattering. I looked over at Aaron. "This is going to be one of those days, partner. I wonder how long before you start to smell like an overturned milk float left in the sun too long?"

Then, I pop open the door, make sure the car is locked to keep our suspect safe, and head into the bar.

10:50 Ronald_DeFoe: Davey was dead right about this new drug man.. it was fucking aces... Total fucking aces... like it turned the entire fucking world rose colored. With unicorns. Everywhere. It put a smile on my face that lasted all goddamn day.

I decided to make my way down to the pub and thank him for hooking me up with this new shit. I entered the pub, and there was Davey sitting on his favorite stool. I sidled up next to him, a big grin on my face. He turned to look at me, his eyes going a bit drunk.

I reached down and grabbed my knife. With a smile the entire time, I slid the blade into his fat belly, and sliced. The blood that poured out was bright red, blood and other stuff. He was obviously overjoyed by my thanks.

One thing that was now completely, absolutely crystal clear was how beautiful blood was. Everyone appreciated it, I'm sure. I mean, how could they not? They wanted this ... they needed this. I was giving them a gift that only I could give. Look at Davey.... he was crying with delight, and making sounds of sheer delight at my gift. Now, who else wanted my gift?

I raised my knife, dripping his beautiful blood as he fell off the stool. People were screaming in sheer and total excitement. They all wanted some. I walked toward them. A few of them scrambled over each other in excitement to receive my gift. One of them, Ron I think his name was, tripped over a stool, and fell on his face. He was a big muscled bloke, not as big as me, but a big man nonetheless. I was on him in an instant, and drove the blade down between his shoulder blades, feeling it sink into his muscled back. Ahhh.. what a delightful feeling.

Something crashed over my head, I turned, my eyes a bit bleary to stare at the barkeep. He was holding the broken end of a beer bottle... A trickle of my own blood ran down my face. I tasted it... and suddenly everything went white. I lost track of time as I slashed out with my blade. It was a jumble of joyous crashes and slashes and screams, the delightful sound of glass breaking.

Then, I turn as two officers enter the bar. I smile at them. "Welcome Officers. Did you come because you wanted my gift? I'll gladly bestow my blessing upon you." I raise the dripping blade, and walk towards them.

15:53 PC_Aaron_Mitchell: I actually have to blink at this situation. Today is certainly a fucking weird day. "Yes Wayne, this is a fucking wierd day."

Then a babbling guy starts to head towards me with a knife, I pull my baton out and extend it looking at him. "Put the knife down, sir." Sometimes I don't like being polite to these guys, but there are training packages that you have to do that explains how important being nice is to these people.

I just wanted to punch them, but I'm not allowed.

Now we have a second babbling guy, and I'm really starting to think that there was some sort of drug problem happening in London right now, and that didn't sit well with me for multiple reasons. A lot of former soldiers turn to drugs or drink after they leave the army.

And stuff like this where the drug is causing craziness, I tend to blame the drug more than the person taking it, especially where it makes them do something they wouldn't normally do.

"Sir... just put the knife down." I look at Wayne. "Get an ambulance, there's injured in here." Turning back to the guy I put my baton in front of me. "I don't want to hurt you, just put the knife down."

10:01 PC_Wayne_Lewis: We enter the bar, and I scan the interior. My first thought is that this exceeds what I would normally classify as a public disturbance. There is a lot of blood, broken glass and bleeding bodies littering the floor.

And the man who is all smiles holding the knife dripping blood... babbling about some kind of gift. I get a shiver down my spine. I nod at Aaron, thinking briefly that I'd feel a lot better with my assault rifle. But that doesn't happen casually.

I keep a close eye on the knife wielding man, raising my radio and calling dispatch, "Dispatch, 1871 Lewis requesting an ambulance at our location. Multiple casualties, stab wounds."

This is a fucking weird day. I had a very bad feeling about this. This was not your common drunkenness... I thought back to what the Paramedic had said.

10:50 Ronald_DeFoe: I smiled wide at the officer. He was a friendly looking chap. Not as big as I was, but quite the unit, all told.

He was well deserving of my gift. Polite too. He spoke, but for some reason, I couldn't make out his words. But I got the tone. His voice was calm and reassuring. He really wanted my gift! His partner too. His partner was a small man. I could probably drive my blade through his body and out his back in one stroke. He'd like that. I'm sure he would.

The bigger Officer holds out his baton, as if to welcome me forward. Then, another trickle of my blood from my head wound ran into my mouth, and I tasted it. It was ... glorious. Everything went white again.

I surged forward with an explosion of power, my heavy body moving suddenly with the grace of a ballet dancer, remembering my training from better days... when I was in the Army... everything was so much simpler then. So orderly. And no one minded a bit of blood.. Not in Afghanistan.

My blade whirred in a rapid circle, trying to keep him off balance. He would take my gift... He would. I darted high with the blade to draw away his baton, then dropped it low, seeking to plunge it into his guts. "Take my gift Officer..."

16:56 PC_Aaron_Mitchell: "Wayne... go and look after the people inside," I say as I step away from the man with the knife holding my baton out to draw his attention. I know Wayne lost the last person he was looking after, but I was the better person to deal with a knife wielding idiot as my training was significantly more in depth at this than Wayne's.

I step back, drawing the guy further away from the people. "Look, sir, I don't want to hurt you," but then he literally threw himself forward barely giving me time to react at all, as he stabbed at my stomach. I manage to move to one side so it goes through the side of my jacket rather than anything else, but there is a line of blood seeping out from the shirt underneath.

And this is what you get for taking off an assault vest because it's covered in milk and cream. Fuck that hurt.

I too reacted instantly, bringing my fist back and just punching him in the face before putting my hand down and grabbing his wrist and twisting it so that the knife was no longer facing me, but that's when I saw the army tattoos on the right arm as I looked at him.

"Hey... look at me... you're ex army as well... look at me man... so was I... look... we don't stab our own... do we... you just need to calm down."

10:01 PC_Wayne_Lewis: I focus on the reply from dispatch, "Acknowledged. Ambulance service is strained at the moment, can't give you an ETA yet."

I frowned. This was not good. Then, as I release the button on my radio, I hear Aaron's directive. That was crazy. You don't turn your back on your partner when he's facing a knife wielding nut job.

Suddenly, the man exploded into violence, moving with a cat like grace and crazy speed. I can't follow the action, but at the end Aaron is bleeding, with a gash across his waist, and he's holding the man's wrist. A thought flashes through my mind, even as I'm on the move. "OH FUCK.. He left his milk-soaked body armor in the back of the car..."

10:50 Ronald_DeFoe: We danced... such a dance... and at the end of our little twirl I had gifted him.. but it was such a small gift, nothing more than a scratch really. He surely would want more. My face explodes in pain, such sweet pain. He had gifted me! He was so kind... so generous.

I looked at him with a smile, then realized he had my wrist in a vise-like grip. Ahhh.. so sweet, his strength, the pain. I followed his eyes as they went to my bicep..... to the tatoos from my army days.

He spoke... and I strained to listen.. it was hard... but he said something... something... about army... he was army ... was he in the Army? Was he one of my mates? Come back from the dead? Risen again to come to me in my hour of need? I looked at him and gasped as I stared into his eyes.

The knife dropped from my hand, landing with a clatter on the floor. Suddenly I traveled back in my mind.. back to Afghanistan.. that village.. The women, the men, the children... my mates.. the firefight... the villagers caught in the crossfire.. there was so much blood. My chest seizes up and suddenly I start to scream. "THERE WAS SO MUCH BLOOD... MY MATES.. SO MUCH BLOOD..." I fall to my knees, hitting my head over and over with my fist to make the memory go away. Then... I spy the knife... I know how to make the memory go away. To make the blood stop... I can gift myself.. my free hand scrambles for the blade, and I grab the handle, desperately turning the dripping tip towards my own torso.. I will gift myself.

10:01 PC_Wayne_Lewis: I carefully maneuver around behind the knife wielder, then I dart forward, about to rap him smartly on the side of his head, when he suddenly drops the knife and falls to his knees screaming and sobbing. I abort my strike. Aaron has this. But he and I will have a talk later. I do not turn my back on my partner when he's in a fight.

I exchange a quick glance with him, then re-holster my baton, and turn to see what I can do for the moaning wounded.

23:11 PC_Aaron_Mitchell: I don’t have time to deal with anything else right now as I go down to my knees. Soldiers suffering PTSD is high on the list of things which I care a lot about. And this one is having those and whatever this drug is doing.

I put my hands on him as he starts crying. “It’s okay. Can you hear me now. I was Staff Sergeant Aaron Mitchell. 2 PARA Regiment.”

“It’s just the drugs okay. You’ve taken something and it’s affecting you. I know all about blood. I’ve been there. Two tours of Afghanistan. It’s okay. We can get you help.”

But he grabs the knife and it’s in his hand before I notice what he’s doing and go to protect myself. But he’s turning it on himself and I leap forward grabbing the blade of the knife. It cuts into my gloves causing a few drops of my blood onto it. But I’m keeping the knife out of his body. I close my fist around the blade and I can feel it slightly cutting through my hand despite the gloves but this is about saving his life now.

He’s not sure where he is. I’m sure of it. “Drop the knife. That’s an order. You’re a good soldier. You obey orders. Drop it.”

10:01 PC_Wayne_Lewis: I'm really getting sick of the sight of blood.. There is even more blood this time than the Tesco's. I focus on attempting to triage the wounded. I count five casualties. Two of them are minor, but three of them are deadly serious. Oh fuck... this is bad.

Tersely, I call dispatch again. "Dispatch, 1871 Lewis. We are going to have three more fatalities unless we get an Ambulance soon."

I drop down near the closest casualty, a large man with a slice across his guts. Oh fuck me... There was so much blood... And the look in his eyes, the utter terror, it ripped at me.

Give me a shoot out, give me a fight, that's a piece of cake compared to trying to save the life of someone with his guts sliced open. Desperate, I take off my tactical belt, empty my equipment and try to improvise some kind of tourniquet for that savage slice. But I was pretty sure... I was going to lose him. And there were still two others bleeding out not far. Today was not a good day.

10:50 Ronald_DeFoe: I hear a voice... somewhere... far away, calling out to me. A ... Sergeant... right... this was my Sergeant. But wasn't he dead? Back in that village? Didn't I get spattered with his brains and blood when his head exploded?

No? He grabs the knife before I can gift myself with peace... before I can make the sea of blood go away. Why won't it just go away? I try to force the blade in, but he grips it. He wants the gift all for himself? Right... I can understand that. I'm being selfish. He's my mate.

I looked up into his face, my eyes going wide. As I here a voice... An order. I'm a soldier. I obey orders. Have to hold onto something.. I'm fucked anyways. Totally fucked. I don't deserve the gift. I let go of the blade, my eye catching the blood leaking from his gloved hand.

Suddenly, like a rubber band snapping, I feel a sharp dagger of clarity pierce my mind. I scream then... in horror.. looking once around the pub, seeing the bodies... Davey... the others. I look at my hands, then up at the officer, my eyes wide with a sickening horror. "Why.. didn't you ... let me.. kill myself?" I gasp out in between agonized sobs of total despair.

11:51 PC_Aaron_Mitchell: I take a deep breath and kick the knife away, the blood line on my hand giving me a dull pain as I look at him. "Two reasons. First... You're a former soldier... You don't kill yourself, that's the cowards way out. Secondly... you need to be arrested. And you need to get some care. You weren't in control."

I switch off my camera for a second as I look at him. "Remember... ask for a lawyer. Those drugs.. you weren't yourself... okay..." I turn my camera back on as I pull out my handcuffs and carefully put them on him. "You do not have to say anything but it may harm your defense if you do not mention something when questioned that you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence."

I turn and head inside leaving him cuffed by the door, the knife safely out of his reach and his arms behind his back. "Wayne... which one can I help with." But I see the one with his guts open. "Seen... push both sides together and press as hard as you can, and stay there... got an Idea..."

I look over at the landlord. "Toolbox... where?"

He looks at me and I head over and slap him out of his confusion and to make him concentrate. "WHERE?" He points out the back behind the bar and I follow it and into a grimy room with chairs and broken tables and I rummage through it to grab a tool box and brought it outside and knelt down next to Wayne.

I pull out a tube of superglue. "The paramedics are not going to like this, but we're going to try and save his life so they can fuck off. Push both sides together," I say as I start putting superglue on the wound. "Old army trick."

12:43 Piotr_Kruschev: I grunt, my arm flexing harder than cabled steel as I lift the shitty little fucker off his feet, my massive hand grabbing the front of his leather jacket.

I hold him dangling there in the air with ease, my eyes turning harder that daggers as I stare into his face. He was a fucking hard man, and he returned my stare. His hand darted down to his waist grabbing a knife, raising it to stab my arm. But my other fist lashed out, faster than a viper, and harder than a sledgehammer, drilling my knuckles into his liver. He gasped and dropped the blade, quivering and convulsing in agony.

I snarl as I drive him backwards, smashing him against the grimy, greasy brick wall of the back alley. "You try something like that again Charly, and I'll rip your fucking nuts off with my bare hands and make you eat them before you fucking bleed to death. Now. LISTEN. I don't fucking care if a few wasters have gone psycho. Not my fucking problem. Not your fucking problem. Your fucking problem is meeting the target. Don't give me any fucking bullshit about getting cold feet, or you'll have dead feet. Are we fucking clear?"

I get right in his face, clench my fist as though I'm gonna fucking bash his face in right there. He stutters, and the hard confidence drains out of his features, replaced by abject terror. "OOOkkkayyy.. Fuck Just put me down... I'll meet the target... "

I grin, and drop him, in a puddle of muddy water like a sack of garbage. I reach down, all friendly like, and smooth out the collar of his leather jacket. "A pleasure doing business with you Charly. Let's hope I don't have to pay you another visit... which I will if you don't meet your target."

I turn, and leave him in a puddle of water... and... by the smell, his own piss. I grinned. I loved making hard men piss their pants. My phone rang... I answered, it was Ronnie. "Hey Piotr... Shit is really fucking hitting the fan. Junkies all over the city are going psycho. It's all over the news." I sigh. "No shit sherlock. That's part of the plan. Weed out the weak. The Syndicate dudes said to expect about 10% of the addicts to go psycho, but for the rest, it's totally harmless. Gives them the cleanest high they've ever had. They'll want more. They'll fucking knife their granny to get the cash for more. "

Then Ronnie blabbered some more. "But Piotr... we tried this.. and last time they got MI6 involved and all kinds of shit. They came in all mob-handed on us."

I sighed. "Don't you fucking remember anything I tell you, you little piece of shit? The big fellas in the Syndicate have pulled off something big to distract MI6. It's just gonna be the local pigs. They ain't nothing to worry about. We can handle them. Fuck, most of 'em don't even carry guns. We got plenty. And, even the ones that do have to fucking fill out so much paper work before they are allowed, we'll be outta danger. Relax. I got this covered. Just fucking do what I tell you. The dosh from the drug we're pushing is letting us hire a whole bunch of fucking street trash. We give 'em guns, and they'll jump at the chance to get back at the pigs. It will be a fucking cake walk. All planned out."

10:01 PC_Wayne_Lewis: Grimly, I fight to keep the edges of the gut wound pressed together, despite the loud shriek coming from the suspect Aaron is dealing with. Aaron's voice calls out, and I nod, grimly. That's what I've been doing.

But I think I'm losing him.. Fuck... I'm a highly trained firearms officer... I'm not a medic. Where is that ambulance?? It should have been here by now.

Aaron returns with superglue. I look at him, sparing some energy for a grin. "I'll remember that next time your guts are spilling out..." I trail off, noticing the blood on his uniform and his hand, remembering his wounds. "Hey, Aaron, are you okay?" I ask with concern.

Finally, I hear the familiar and welcome bleating of an ambulance pull up outside. I haven't even had a chance to check on the other two casualties.

What a fucking shitty day.

13:24 PC_Aaron_Mitchell: "I'm fine..." I say. "A cut hand and a slightly cut side is not exactly the worst day I've had. This falls highly under the 'not in the worst 50%'."

"The suspect is handcuffed outside. It's the same drug I think as the Tesco's guy. It's doing something to their heads." I help Aaron keep the two sides together after I've finished supergluing it.

Afterwards I click my radio. "Hare and Rabbit pub update - numerous small casualties, three heavy casualties, suspect in custody, but we're going to need to drop both of them off back at the station before any more calls, Dispatch..."

"This is going to be a heavy paperwork evening."

"When the ambulance guy gets here, I'll talk to the guy we've arrested outside, I may be able to get him to tell us what's going on."

10:01 PC_Wayne_Lewis: I nod at Aaron. "That's what the paramedic was going on about. Some new drug. I remember the news a few years back, just before I entered training, about something like this."

Then, I reach up and put my hand on his shoulder. "I saw how you handled that man. That was fine work Aaron. You have a real gift for policing."

I listen as Dispatch responds, "Acknowledged. Don't be all day about it. We need you back on duty as soon as." Their voice sounded a bit harried, then they cut off.

We hold on for a while longer, keeping the man's wound glued, as the paramedics scramble into the pub, zeroing in on the wounded. There is a grunt off to one side, where two paramedics surround a big muscled guy with a savage knife wound in his back. They shake their heads, and move on to the next victim, who is still alive apparently. Then, they take over from me, with a curt nod.

I stand up, turning my back on the bloody mess, as Aaron heads outside.

10:50 Ronald_DeFoe: After the officer cuffs me I just sit there, falling into a black despair. I can't believe what I did... I can't believe it. I can feel the fog on the edge of my mind, wanting to take over... wanting me to "gift" people again... the blood... not the blood... just like Afghanistan. All over.

All over again. I cry softly. My life was already fucked before. Now, there isn't even a hope. I'll rot in prison for the rest of my life.

He walks over to me, and leads me outside, and I respond woodenly, feeling that thick fog wanting to take over again.. A part of me almost wants to let go. Anything to escape this... hell my life has become. Davey... I knifed Davey.. I knifed him.

16:36 PC_Aaron_Mitchell: "That's fine, can you write those exact words on my probation review when you write it please," I smile. "I'll go and talk to this guy and then take him to the car - lets get back to the station, and if you book them in I'll have my shower, then I'll get the car refueled while you get changed so we can head back out."

I turn and head back outside and kneel down next to the guy. "Right, I'm going to take you to the station to get you booked in. Looks like one dead guy in there, we saved the other two."

"But you weren't in your right frame of mind... right... Remember that. You're going to stand trial, but remember you weren't in the full frame of mind."

"How long you been out of the army, what regiment were you in?"

10:50 Ronald_DeFoe: I look up, my eyes were haunted as I kneel on the pavement outside the Hare and Rabbit. I heard him speaking to me... one of my mates, dead... by my own hand, the other two. I wondered... if Davey lived.

He sold me the drug... but I didn't blame him. It was my own fucking fault. Not his. I look into the Officer's eyes, then down at my bloody hands. I remembered the frenzy... the 'gifting'. I still felt the fog of it wanting to take over again. But all I had to do was think of my dead sergeant in Afghanistan... and the desire to go back to that bloody place retreated.

I realized that he had asked me a question.

"My fault... I took the B... I took it.. Davey didn't shove it down my throat. My fault.. Dead... they dead now."

I focus hard, trying to hold on to my sanity. "I've been out about 3 years now.. Was in the Royal Anglian Regiment. Is Davey... did I .. .kill him?" I feel sick now.
18:30 PC_Aaron_Mitchell: "I don't know which is which... the one with the stomach wound, he'll just about live. Was that your friend, is he ex-army as well?"

"Look... you took it, but you didn't know what it was going to do. I saw the look in your face. You weren't in your right mind. Now you are allowed a lawyer, a public defender, they can get one for you."

"Right.. Royal Anglian... Good guys... right... concentrate on that. Just concentrate on that... not whatever shit you were trying to pull."

"Do you know what it was you took?"
08:54 Piotr_Kruschev: 10:50 Ronald_DeFoe: I struggle to focus on the sound of the Officer's voice. It's steady, calming, reassuring somehow. Giving me just a brief respite from the hell my life has become.

If I can focus on his words... I don't even need to picture my dead sergeant to keep the fog at bay.

"Yeah... him.. I.. yeah. No, Davey's not ex-army... not him... but he's been a good mate to me... helped me ... hooked me up with ... stuff ... to help me forget."

I hear the officer's words about a lawyer and a public defender... but they wash over me. As far as I'm concerned, I deserve whatever happens to me. I take his advice though, and concentrate on what it was like to be in the Royal Anglian Regiment... before that village.. Orderly... we had each other's back. We were there for each other. Just like this Officer was here for me now.

I look up at him as he asks a question.. "Yeah. It's called B... it's a new drug, so I'm told. Davey hooked me up with it. He called me though... this morning. He sounded worried.. wanted to check up on me. Said something wasn't right with it. I said I'd meet him at the pub. But I'd already taken some... and well..." We all know what happened then.

10:01 PC_Wayne_Lewis: I head out of the pub, followed closely by one of the paramedics. The rest of the team were stretching out the survivors.

I walked over to Aaron where he was talking with the suspect. I listened to the last bit of the conversation, then interrupted. "Aaron, the paramedic here wants to check out the suspect."

I look down at the cuffed man. He looked like a beaten dog. But he seemed to have lost that crazed look in his eye. The paramedic stepped forward, and checked him out. Then he looked puzzled, and took me and Aaron aside. "Yeah, he's got all the signs all right, but you say he came out of his psychosis? That's really rare. Usually, once they break they stay broken. At least, they did last time London was hit with this shit. Don't lose track of this one. I'm pretty sure the boffins will want to check him out."

09:47 PC_Aaron_Mitchell: I look over at the paramedic. "He's a former soldier, it takes a lot more than a drug like that to break through that."

I believed soldiers can do anything, if they tried. It's not always the case, but it's rather an idealistic view of everything.

"I used to be in the forces as well, I was just getting him to concentrate on that. But if the guy that was selling him the drugs, if he's the one whose life that Wayne saved, then he's the one that the detectives are going to want to speak to. Especially if he knew something."

"So I'll look after this one, but you need to look after Mister Superglue. His name is Davey by the way."

I turn to Aaron. "Got a bit of a problem, I don't think we should have this guy and wack job crazy guy in the same car on the way back. I've managed to keep him sane. But being around the other guy may send him back into the ... whatever..."

It's also very rare for me to look after a suspect at all, or even care like this.

Published: 2021-10-31, viewed 50 times.