The Terror That Came To Amber

Chapter 2

Amber Alberta Canada, October 21st 2020 9:00 AM

While Francis Callahan was making his way home from the Clinic after his encounter, Sheriff Ben Aster was making his morning patrol after buying a couple sausage and egg wraps and a coffee for breakfast, the take out bag sat in the empty passenger seat next to the sheriff. Ben pulled his crown vic police cruiser into the 'gas up.' where he stepped out of the car and went inside for gas. The clerk was an old bald man with glasses. "Morning Ben." said Bob Leonard with a wave from behind the counter. "Good morning Bob." said the Sheriff, taking a sip of coffee. "What'll it be, sheriff?" asked the elderly store clerk. "Thirty dollars on pump two, and a pack of pall malls. "Sure thing Ben." the old man pushed up his glasses punching in the buttons on the register as the sheriff passed him the money. "Say, Bob, I've got a question for you," "shoot sheriff." said old Bob with a smile. "Are there a lot of coyotes or bears in the woods around town?" "oh yes indeed. None this time of year in terms of bears but coyotes are mean bastards all year round. Gotta be careful with pets and young kids especially when playing out near the woods." "thanks Bob." the sheriff said, grabbing his smokes off the counter and walking towards the glass door with a yellow sign saying 'push' balanced on the metal cage around the glass door and pushed it open stepping out into the cool morning air. Across the street a couple waved at the sheriff as he made his way back to his car. Trent Duset and his wife, Julie Cassidy were crossing the street towards the gas station while the sheriff pumped his gas. "Morning sheriff. "Trent said, his wife waved with a smile as the sheriff waved back and the two walked inside to be greeted by Bob. Ben finished pumping his gas and closed the gas cover.

When he looked up he saw a man dressed as a jogger sprinting very fast across the street. He didn't even check for vehicles before darting through the intersection.The sheriff initially thought nothing of it and got back in his car, turned the ignition and continued his slow patrol. That morning mostly consisted of waving at folks on their commute and yelling at two well known troublemakers, Stan Howard, and Eric skipping school before dropping them back off at school. After being booed by several other students as he left the school, as was a custom here. The sheriff left the building laughing at the kids nonviolent tradition of booing the police for bringing back their friends caught ditching class. When the sheriff got back in his car he noticed the radio trying to contact him. "Sheriff Ben Aster reporting over." "Sheriff, we have a call on dispatch, your presence is requested at Bradley memorial hospital. A patient woke up and is claiming to have been assaulted last night, another man recently showed up and is backing up his story." "Roger that, i'll follow up asap, over and out." "Copy that." the female voice said before fading into static. It was around noon when the sheriff arrived at the hospital. A four story brick building with a couple broken windows. The outside appearance was due to unfortunate budget cuts laying off the maintenance crew. The sheriff walked past a doctor with bags under his eyes and blood all over his scrubs having a cigarette near the entranceway. The doctor had sweaty black hair brushed back and nodded as a substitute wave which the sheriff returned before stepping inside the grim looking building where dim bulbs flickered and an accountant typed out paperwork behind her wide wooden desk across from the entrance.

The sheriff approached the receptionist. A tired looking redhead woman in her early thirties with glasses and blue eyes. She had a nametag which read Cathy. "Hello, Cathy" said Ben with a smile which disappeared when the receptionist responded. "What can I do for you?" not quite scowling. "I'm here to see Claude Williams. I got a call about him being brought in, claiming to have been assaulted last night." "Yes, he was, the report here says he was brought here from the west end medicentre on the other side of Amber between eight and ten Am this morning. He's in room four O two." her expression became less hostile but definitely not more social. "Thank you, the sheriff said. Walking past the elevator which had a red sign saying "Warning, due to power surges, the hospital elevator is reserved for staff only!" and made his way up the staircase catching his breath as he made his way up the dark grey stairwell which echoed after each step. When he stepped out onto the fourth floor he was reacquainted with the flickering dim light bulbs. The sheriff took a few steps into the hallway, and pushed open the door to room four O two. Inside, the man named Claude Williams was laying in a hospital bed, a patch of his curly brown hair poking through the bandages wrapped around his chest, head, nose, one of his eyes and his right arm held out straight on a metal splint. The rest of him was beneath a clean wool blanket. The sun tried and failed to shine through the beige blinds which were closed and cast a sort of brown glow from the window. All Ben could see of Claude, was his mouth which was shut. Claude opened a green eye and looked at the sheriff. The sheriff shut the door behind him which closed with a soft click. That's when the sheriff noticed the dog. A rottweiler with similarly wrapped bandages rose on shaky legs. "Easy." Claude said weakly, turning his head to the dog. "Down." he said as the dog laid back down next to the bed. "Hello Claude." there was a brief pause as Claude turned his head from the dog, back to the sheriff. "Hello Sheriff." Claude said, sounding dazed. The sheriff suspected they had him on quite a bit of morphine for his wounds.