Surviving the Night - Condemned Criminal Origins Fan-Fiction part 1

2:00 AM; everything is dark and not a soul outside the sleeping street as I drove by in my cruiser at a moderate speed; anticipating a sudden attack. I am NYPD Officer John Gunnar, a mercenary in the past and having seen action in the Middle East and parts of North Africa, I was still expecting to be hit by an RPG-7 rocket or sniper fire from out of nowhere. My SIG Sauer P226 handgun sat nervously in my holster; as I scanned the road ahead.

Suddenly, my radio screamed, "ALL UNITS WE HAVE A 261A (attempted rape) AT COLDEN STREET, REQUEST IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE!" I grabbed the receiver eagerly, "Roger that, Unit 3 responding, en route to Colden; ETA - 10 minutes." A rush of adrenaline hit me like a truck as I picked up speed towards the address given; I am very passionate about fighting rapists, to me, these are the worst kinds of criminals since they take innocence and target those who can't fight back.

In my final mercenary days while providing security for a VIP visiting some Pakistani politician in the country's capital; one of his (the politician's) servants has raped one of the hospitality staff girls; it happened under my nose as I stood guard. I abandoned my post, tailed him to a quiet place, broke his face till he had no teeth, dragged him to the building's roof, stuffed a frag grenade into his pants and sent him flying from all 10 storeys of the government building we guarded.

Luckily, no one cared enough to prosecute me and the worst I got is 3 months confinement for abandoning post without intent. I left with a clean record afterwards; you know what they say about not looking a gift horse in the mouth, right? So I went to civilian life and became a police officer thanks to a friend of mine who was a serjeant with the department thanks to a good word he put out to the deputy chief.

When I arrived on the scene, I noticed another cruiser parked outside a derelict building; the driver was outside next to what looked like the victim. I parked my cruiser and went to the people; walking slowly, I saw the other officer was questioning the victim. "What's the situation?" I asked as I looked at the victim while trying to scan the surrounding environment for possible danger. I suddenly felt something nearby, as if being watched. "She barely made it, I got here in time, scared the perp away" the officer replied, "victim's in shock so she can barely talk but I did see where the assailant ran."

I took my chest radio and contacted the dispatcher; "Dispatch, unit 3 and 2 on-scene, 261A averted, victim 10-45A (good condition) with minor shock, requesting transport at Colden St."
"10-4 unit 3" the dispatcher replied. I turned back to the officer, "The suspect may still be nearby.." I started but suddenly, a chorus of terrified screams and animal-like growls shook the air; both of us unholstered our handguns and took aim at the possible direction of the sound. I took my radio again, "DISPATCH, 10-0 (caution) AT COLDEN, MULTIPLE SUSPECTS IN THE AREA, POSSIBLE 10-200 (drugs involved) UNIT 3, UNIT 2 IN PURSUIT; REQUEST BACKUP!"

"10-4 unit 3" the dispatcher replied, "Officers are on their way, ETA - driving time."

"Stay with her!" I ordered the officer as I started towards the direction with my gun still aimed "await backup and when it starts flying, radio a SWAT team"

"Roger" he complied as he covered the victim and led her inside the cruiser to keep out of harm's way.

The growls flew through the air again, this time the scared screams didn't appear; I ran towards the location anticipating a gang of knife-wielding savages as I saw in my mercenary days when our squad was attacked by machete-wielding fanatics hyped up on battle stimulant; taking a submachine gun clip to the chest and surviving. I switched on the tactical light on my P226; its brightness could blind an attacker, and charged into the dark; "NYPD GET DOWN OR I'LL PUT YOU DOWN!" I ordered as I threw my words blind-fire; not really assessing my situation.

I came face-to-face with a whole gang; 5 men looking more like apes with excess facial hair, enraged red eyes and sharp fangs; they brandished pipes, butcher knives and rebars. I saw a variety of things in my mercenary days but this felt strange for some reason; I felt like I came toe-to-toe with sentient apes rather than overly aggressive psychotics. I shifted my aim between the 5 when they made a move. "Police, drop your weapons and get down on the ground!" I ordered. One of them suddenly emitted an aggressive growl akin to a gorilla defending its pod and charged at me waving his butcher knife; as he leapt I pulled the trigger on-reflex; the savage flew back and fell motionless; it was a headshot.

I adjusted my aim back to the group only to see them all stare at me and collectively roar at me; I paced back as they started to shuffle towards me waving their weapons. They all suddenly jumped towards me, I fired off one shot and downed one but the other 3 overwhelmed me with one swinging his rebar and knocking my gun out of my hand with his friends tackling me to the ground. They were going to rip me apart; they grabbed and tore off my tactical belt where my nightstick and taser were; one went for my neck, baring his teeth. I collected my strength and forced the 3 off with my hands and legs. I quickly got up, went for the closest one, grabbed him by the shoulders and started punching him; punches turned to knees to the gut and finished with a hip toss and wrist-snap; all done quickly. I still had 2 attackers to deal with.

"Come on!" I taunted them "come get me!"

Both savages resorted to scare tactics, very animal-like behaviour, both snarled and thumped at their chests while hitting the ground with the rebars they held. I had to be on offence, I thought to myself before they both attack me. Completing the thought, I charged towards the closest one, going for his weapon so I could subdue him in a straight armbar takedown; I succeeded since the savage did not expect that. I turned around and the other savage was retreating; he bolted towards the dark alley where the face-off started. I knocked out the one I subdued with an elbow to the back of the head.

Standing up, I eyed around looking for my tactical belt and gun; having located it I looked at my handiwork; 4 savages; 2 dead, 2 subdued and 1 escaped. I felt around for my chest radio; it still worked after the fight; "Dispatch, unit 3 reporting 2 417s (person with a knife) DOA, 2 suspects in custody and 1 10-29 (subject wanted) escaped; requesting transport on arrested suspects." I did not await for confirmation, coughed and spoke "Initiating pursuit on 10-29, over."

I caught sight of the last savage and gave chase; "HOLD IT!" I shouted as he began running faster and on all-fours. My attention was on him, to the extent that I didn't realise where I was after running after him for some time; I stopped and looked around; I wasn't on a town street anymore. It was pitch black and I could hear the wind howling around me; as if saying something. I could be going crazy or is my brain playing with me; "Go away!" I heard in my ears. Unholstering my gun and switching on the tactical light, I aimed in front and moved carefully towards where I think the savage was.

I ran so hard trying to catch the suspect I ran out of the town altogether, there was no streets, buildings or even any kind of life around. Walking on, I caught sight of a silhouette that resembled a big cage usually found in a zoo; I ran towards it. The structure came into focus and it was indeed a zoo which was abandoned for 20+ years; creaky cages and mouldy walls with shattered glass windows, heaps of trash and derelict machinery.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps in the distance, like shuffling barefoot and dragging something along; I hid behind a ruined ticket counter, switching off my weapon light. The sight was horrifying when it came into focus; I saw my suspect and 2 others like him but bigger and they were dragging along what looked like a dead body. They did not use words and instead, were communicating with each other using grunts and growls. I guess standard police procedures were out since they wouldn't understand me anyway so, gathering all my guts into a knot, I jumped out and took aim at the bigger savage; letting loose 4 rounds; all hit him in the chest.

As the giant fell, I also fired a round into my suspect's forehead; I left the idea of arresting him. He also fell with a loud thud to the concrete floor. I paused in front of my kills as I checked my ammo; didn't even consider radioing dispatch. As I turned around to leave the scene, I came face-to-faces with what appeared to be 100 eyes in the darkness of the night; they were all read with rage and were coming closer to me.