Post by lipglossina on Apr 4, 2013 11:30:49 GMT -5
Something was rotten in the state of Denmark. That is to say, in the town of Denmark.
Denmark, Colorado was a little township nestled on the south bank of the Smoky Hill River, just west of the Kansas border. A two hour drive from anything that could really be considered "civilization," most of the people fared well enough with the small local businesses and occasional trips to the nearest big city. It averaged anywhere from the five to six hundred citizens, depending on the season and the mortality rate.
Actually, the town's mortality rate had been something of a concern for its sheriff as of late. Not only the rate of death, but the manner of death, and the bodies that had been turning up. Men were waship up dead, disemboweled and shredded to pieces save for their hearts and livers.
Sheriff Justine Bell frowned deeply as she looked down at the newest autopsy report to hit her desk. This was the sixth one. She'd seen the body firsthand after a father and son on a fishing trip had discovered it, and the photos stapled to the document really didn't do justice to the grisly mess of that scene. The man had washed up on the river bank not a full day prior, his torso practically picked clean and the meat stripped from his bones.
Justine was doing what she could to keep the people of the town from panicking, but there was no way to keep them from talking, speculating as to the nature of the animal that was literally devouring their friends and neighbors. The night before she'd overheard a group of men at the diner debating over whether it was a mountain lion or a bear. Another man had suggested a pack of wolves was dong it.
She didn't think it was any of those things; the bite marks were all wrong for any of the local wildlife, but that left her with more questions than answers. Whatever it was, she had to figure out soon, or it was only a matter of time before another corpse floated up onto the riverbank.
A knock on her office door snapped Justine from her ruminations. She looked up and gave her deputy a wan smile. "What's up, Travis?"
He returned the smile with a tired one of his own and nodded back towards the waiting room. "There are some men here to see you, sheriff," he said. "About all the recent deaths. They said they're with the government."
Well, that was vague. Justine rubbed her temples and then waved, beckoning. "Show them in, would you?"
Denmark, Colorado was a little township nestled on the south bank of the Smoky Hill River, just west of the Kansas border. A two hour drive from anything that could really be considered "civilization," most of the people fared well enough with the small local businesses and occasional trips to the nearest big city. It averaged anywhere from the five to six hundred citizens, depending on the season and the mortality rate.
Actually, the town's mortality rate had been something of a concern for its sheriff as of late. Not only the rate of death, but the manner of death, and the bodies that had been turning up. Men were waship up dead, disemboweled and shredded to pieces save for their hearts and livers.
Sheriff Justine Bell frowned deeply as she looked down at the newest autopsy report to hit her desk. This was the sixth one. She'd seen the body firsthand after a father and son on a fishing trip had discovered it, and the photos stapled to the document really didn't do justice to the grisly mess of that scene. The man had washed up on the river bank not a full day prior, his torso practically picked clean and the meat stripped from his bones.
Justine was doing what she could to keep the people of the town from panicking, but there was no way to keep them from talking, speculating as to the nature of the animal that was literally devouring their friends and neighbors. The night before she'd overheard a group of men at the diner debating over whether it was a mountain lion or a bear. Another man had suggested a pack of wolves was dong it.
She didn't think it was any of those things; the bite marks were all wrong for any of the local wildlife, but that left her with more questions than answers. Whatever it was, she had to figure out soon, or it was only a matter of time before another corpse floated up onto the riverbank.
A knock on her office door snapped Justine from her ruminations. She looked up and gave her deputy a wan smile. "What's up, Travis?"
He returned the smile with a tired one of his own and nodded back towards the waiting room. "There are some men here to see you, sheriff," he said. "About all the recent deaths. They said they're with the government."
Well, that was vague. Justine rubbed her temples and then waved, beckoning. "Show them in, would you?"
