“Yeah, Mitch Levens. As you can see I put all that information on the two citations that you just signed.” an obviously annoyed voice explained to the severely overweight driver of the red pickup truck.

Red and blue emergency lights bounced off the truck, emitting from the white SUV pulled up behind it. The dirt on the empty road had finally settled, little drops of rain settled down whatever dust had previously been kicked up. Mitch pulled the clipboard out through the window, taking a few steps back from the driver side window. The tan on brown color of his uniform almost making him stick out like a sore thumb when so close to an opposite color like red.

“Ticketing me for driving on a ‘closed’ road, why don’t you get a real fucking job.” the obese driver muttered in a grease laden tone. But before Mitch could even raise his finger to say something, the man had floored it and gone on his merry way. As dust was kicked up, he would cough and spew spit all while turning away. “Asshole…” trailing off in a muttered breath as he began making his way back to the SUV pulled up along the road. With one hand, he was brushing his goatee in a hopeless attempt to clear the dirt from it, his other hand was busy throwing the metal clipboard through the rolled down window and onto the passenger seat.

“Everything out here just turns to shit.” another muttered grunt would slip through his parted lips. His comment being directed to the vehicle, mud and dirt caked all over it the white paint. A long brown stripe stretched across the side of the SUV, only broken up by lettering on the door that read ‘RANGER’ and on the back where it stated, ‘BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT’.

Finally, Mitch had pulled the driver side door open and hopped in. His heavy duty belt caused a simple groan as he sat down and pulled the door shut. Keys and other metallic work tools clanking together as he adjusted himself, all while reaching over to turn the emergency lights off and take the vehicle out of park. No sooner had he pulled onto the non-existent road, “Romeo twelve, you on the air?” came through on his radio. It was the familiar voice of Juanita, the BLM Dispatcher.

With a heavy sigh, Mitch reached for the radio mic that was clipped to what he affectionately called the ‘squawker’. Depressing the key on the side of the mic, “Romeo twelve.” There was the usual silence, waiting for a response as he just drove down the now isolated road. The only sound to break up the silence was the subtle rain drops gently thudding against the windshield and the automated sound of windshield wipers knocking them away.

“Romeo twelve, see the man for an unknown trouble at marker eight, hiking trail.” Juanita crackled through in that thick hispanic accent. It was clear that there was no more information to be given, unknown trouble calls were far more routine when working out in isolated areas then some might imagine. “Twelve responding, show me code three.” Mitch muttered before returning the mic back to it’s home on the side of the radio. As he spun his vehicle around in a u-turn, kicking up rocks and dirt, he would flip the emergency lights and sirens on as he sped down the road.

The remainder of his trip was spent in a familiar silence. Every so often that radio would liven up but it was that same silence, even though a siren was cutting through the air, it all blended in to him. The entire trip was a good ten minutes before he passed the initial marker for the trail that he had been directed to. It was no sooner had he passed the marker that he came to a screeching stop on the dirt road, a frantic looking man covered in what appeared to be blood was waving his hands around along side the initial entry to the trail. Pulling up just before him, Mitch would turn the siren off and push the driver side door open.

“He just went crazy, I thought he was sick or something and then the piece of shit bit me on the damn shoulder!” the man said when Mitch approached. Reaching into his back pocket, Mitch would retrieve and put on a pair of black gloves before nearing the man with his hands extended out as if to say; ‘calm down’.

“Woah, just relax. Who bit you, where is he?” Mitch inquired, jutting a finger out towards the ground to indicate the man should just stand where he is at. “He is not far from here, he was shambling around and groaning, I am telling you….the guy is fucking nuts” the victim bellowed. “There are other people on the trail, I don’t know if he is going to attack them as well.” the man added. With a heavy sigh, Mitch would reach up and grab the radio mic that was pulled up and clipped to the shoulder of his uniform. “Twelve to Dispatch, roll me Cal Fire. I need an RA at my location for an injured male, bite wound to the shoulder. Requesting an additional unit for a back.” Once Mitch reported in to dispatch, Juanita would respond accordingly and start rolling what he needed.

“Sir, sit down on this rock right here, I am going to be right back. I got an ambulance coming.” Gesturing towards a large rock that was wide enough and high enough for the man to sit. With a few sighs of and grunts of pain, the man would simply resign himself to slouching on the rock. But Mitch, he was not staying idle and instead would begin making his way down the pathway until he heard a loud scream that sounded like it came from a woman. It was obvious that the information he had gotten was correct, there were others on the trail and it would only cause him to break out into a run down the trail.

Blood, a lot of it. The sound of flesh being torn, the gurgling sound of a woman crying out in pain. But above all else, the sound of chewing and devouring, there was a lot to take in when Mitch turn on the trail to find a man kneeling over a woman with his back turned to him. From what he could see, his face was buried against her own and meaty chunks were being pulled from various areas of the womans face. Her body gave way to struggle, kicking her legs out and her arms flailing but it was no use.

“Federal Officer, get away from her!” Mitch bellowed out in an order, removing his side arm from the holster that it once sat dormant in. There was nothing, no response, no turning to heed his warning. The man continued to enjoy the feast of the womans face and her pleas had stopped, save for the gurgles. With his weapon drawn and aimed at the back of the man, he could see a spray of gor fill the air as his head tore back upwards.

‘Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop’

Mitch fired five rounds quickly, his finger depressing the trigger and sending bullets tearing into the mans back. The sound cracked in the air, the subtle rain had been falling all afternoon continued as if trying to drown out the sound of his gunshots with their thuds against the earth. With his weapon still at the ready, he would move towards the now slumped over body of the attacker. He could hear groans coming from him, even before he got near the man and as he got closer, it was the victims disposition that would send his stomach into a knot.

If her head had not been attached to the rest of her body, he would have no idea what he was looking at. The nose was completely gone, lips torn off, chunks of her cheek missing. Even an eye was gone, her lifeless body simply on display with her attacker slouched over nearby. Upon closing in to secure the man he shot, Mitch would pause to take a deep breath and it was in those few seconds that the man he had just pumped five rounds into, would start moving and sluggishly turn to face him.

Raising his weapon again, Mitch’s whole face turned white. He could literally feel the color drain from his cheeks when the attacker turned to face him and hanging from the corner of his mouth was the destroyed eye of his female victim. The man began to get up, almost looking like he would teeter over at any moment. “I will shoot you again, get on the ground. Do it now!” ordering, even though his initial disbelief of how the man was alive after that was beginning to kick in.

There was again, no response. No care for being shot, no sign that the bullets or injury even impacted the man. His blood stained face was now looking right at Mitch, fully erect on two legs and hobbling towards him. There would be no additional orders, Mitch would shoot twice more at the center of mass, directing two bullets towards the chest of the shuffling attacker. It did nothing but cause his body to jerk violently to the side. Finally, a final round was fired and it landed right between the attackers eyes and it was as if the lights finally went out.

‘Thud’

The body fell to the ground, there was nothing. Finally there was nothing left to fear, the suspect had since been taken care of but one of the two victims was unable to get away. Pushing his weapon back into the holster, he would move over to the now lifeless corpse and go to lean over it. A gloved hand reaching around the back of his duty belt to remove a pair of handcuffs, they would be used to secure his hands behind his back after being flipped onto his stomach. There was such a foul stench on the man, it was nearly enough to make Mitch vomit over his corpse.

“Twelve to dispatch. Shots fired, one suspect down and one additional down.” Mitch uttered into his radio mic almost breathlessly. The sound of sirens in the background could be heard during the delay in response from dispatch.

“Romeo fourteen, show me on scene with Cal Fire medical. Break, Twelve are you alright?” The familiar voice of his best friend and co-worker, Mason came in over the radio. But before he could respond to Mason, dispatch finally came back over the radio.

“All available units, I say again, all available units please respond on an expedite to mile area thirteen. Officer down and is requesting help” Juanita’s voice sounded tense as she pushed her traffic through over the radio. But her voice would not be forgotten as she pushed through even more traffic almost seconds later, “Need additional units to assist Game Wardens who are dealing with several out of control subjects, ED likely”.

“Romeo six, I got like eight guys heading over to me and are looking sick. Non-responsive, can I get an additional and Cal Fire to my location.” a co-workers voice came in.

The sound of yelling could be heard from back up the trail, followed by a series of gunshots. “Fourteen to twelve, I got shots fired. Your victim started attacking us, trying to bite everyone. I need you back up here now!” Mason said in a transmission.

“What the fuck is going on….” the trailing voice of Mitch muttered out to no one. More gunshots were heard as Mitch removed his weapon once more and began running towards where his victim was last sitting on a rock.