WALKING DISASTERS | Jack Thompson

27.

THE SSR WERE CALLED to an unusual crime, arriving at the local movie theatre to find it in a state of chaos. As Sera approached with Jack, Daniel and Peggy, a gentleman turned to them. "You the SSR folks?"

"What the hell happened here, detective?" Jack asked.

"Hell if I know," he replied. "I got forty seven dead, heads bashed in, eyes gouged out. Not a single survivor."

They walked inside and saw the rows of bodies covered by white sheets. Peggy said, "Good Lord."

"It's like some kind of monster got in," the detective said. "Never seen anything like it."

"All this happened inside the theatre?" Daniel asked.

"This way," he said, leading them towards the theatre.

Sera went with him as Peggy and Jack assessed the damage to the bodies. They were still being carried out of the theatre when Daniel and Sera walked in, and the detective said, "Guess you G-men - and women - catch this all the time."

"No," Daniel replied. "No, we sure don't."

As Sera walked down the middle aisle, she saw the chaos left behind. People's personal belongings were scattered on the ground, popcorn strewn across the carpets, blood splattered on every surface. She saw Daniel rush towards an overturned baby stroller and pick it up.

"Daniel, please tell me there isn't-"

"No, there's no baby," he said, before he crouched down slowly and picked something up. Sera moved closer and saw a spray of some kind hit Daniel square in the face, which lead to him coughing awfully loud as he dropped the canister.

"Daniel?" she asked, crouching down behind him. "Sousa?"

He turned to her, and when he locked eyes on her, it was like something had changed in him. He lunged for her, and Sera barely managed to scramble away as Daniel tried to grab her, his hand latching onto her ankle and attempting to drag her towards him. Jack, who had followed shortly after Sera and Daniel, shot past her and grabbed Daniel, who managed to pin Jack to the ground and wrapped his hands around his neck.

"Daniel!" Peggy shouted, trying to pull Daniel off of Jack.

He swung his fist back and clocked Peggy in the face, before a police officer rushed forwards and knocked him unconscious. Sera shifted slowly, wincing as she held a hand against her side.

"Jack?" she asked quietly, watching him sit up. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," he replied, getting to his feet before he helped Sera stand. "What the hell just happened."

She looked past Jack at Daniel, who was being restrained by the police, and then she saw one man going to reach for the canister that Daniel had previously picked up. She pushed past Jack and shouted, "Don't touch that! Nobody is to touch that!"

"Why?" the officer asked, backing away abruptly. "What is it?"

"It's one of my brother's inventions," Sera replied. "And, like most things he creates, it doesn't turn out entirely how he expected."

"You're telling me that thing turned Sousa into a monster?" Jack asked.

"Yes," Sera replied, picking up the blanket from the baby stroller. "We need to get this out of here before it does any more damage."

"Be careful, Stark," Jack said.

She waved him off and covered the device with the blanket, wrapping it up securely to hopefully prevent any more mishaps. When it was securely wrapped in the pink baby blanket, Sera eyed the stroller as the dots connected in her head.