Evolution

CHAPTER 8 PART 2 | last words

Daniel pushed the end call button and frowned. "Well, that puts a spanner in the works."

He peered out the window and surveyed the immediate area. The area was a hive of activity as people gravitated to and from the sky bridge that connected the parking garage to the hospital.

"We don't have enough time to steal a funeral services van and get back here in time."

Daniel checked his watch. According to Parker, they had less than an hour before the CDC turned up to claim the bodies. While visiting a live patient in a hospital wasn't unusual, removing a dead one from a morgue was. Especially when they didn't have the cloak of darkness to hide under.

"Any bright ideas?" he asked Murphy.

"None that comes to mind."

Daniel opened the car door. "We'd better find out just how much of a problem we have."

After a lifetime of not being in a hospital, he'd managed to visit two in one day.

Based on Parker's investigation they had positively identified one of the victims as a Werewolf. The others, due to their transient lives and unknown backgrounds, were a little harder to pinpoint. With no conclusive proof either way, they'd need to narrow it down in some other way.

Daniel and Murphy strode across the sky bridge and into the main hospital building. As with the one in Des Moines, it was a flurry of activity and had the same stench about it.

"What do you think the council will say once that video hits mainstream media?" Murphy asked as they entered the empty lift.

Daniel pushed the sub-basement button. In addition to informing them of the limited time they had to get the bodies out of the hospital morgue, Parker had also stumbled on at least three YouTube videos that had gone viral and was about to be picked up by a network affiliated news station. Someone had managed to get footage of the Lycan's on their phone. Their only consolation was that it was grainy and unfocused. Even better, it had been uploaded as 'Bigfoot Returns'. However, with the news channel treating it as a story, it was giving the image credibility. Something that could spell trouble.

As expected, once they reached the lower basement, the number of people diminished exponentially. The morgue, tucked away in the bowels of the hospital was usually bereft of visitors. Today was no different, and they managed to reach it without being stopped. Even if they had, their F.B.I credentials would have given them ample passage if the nurse at St Luke's was anything to go by.

Once they were in, the room looked like any of its kind. A stainless steel bank of thick refrigerator doors lined one of the walls. The body fridges were three high and at least twelve long. Hospitals were rare for him, however, morgues were a different story.

"What numbers did she say?" asked Murphy.

Daniel checked his phone "John Casey is in 212. Parker's confirmed he's one of us."

Murphy scanned the plaques on the front of the doors, opened one and pulled out a long draw. A body draped in a white sheet took up the majority of the tray which could have passed for an oversized commercial baking dish. Resting on top of the body was a large paper bag which contained the dead man's personal effects. Murphy pulled back the sheet and unzipped the gray body bag.

As soon as it was open, Murphy's face scrunched in distaste. "The poor sod."

The body had already started to decompose. This, coupled with the odor from the poison laden open wounds made by the Lycan, made the morgue feel a little too claustrophobic.