128 (Operation Armageddon: Book 1)

Chapter Five: The Museum Visit | Part 2

He ran up to the group, raising his bloody hands to wail, "She... she's dead...."

"What do you mean? Y-y-you killed that person. Look at all the blood on your hands! And what are you holding? A bloodied bat?" Emma screamed at him.

"I'm sorry, but I have to do this for our sake," Daniel said as he brought the pistol out of his pocket.

Captain Jones panicked, shaking his head and retaliating. "Wait! No, I—"

With a shot in the shoulder, the captain fell to the ground. Blood gushed out of his body rapidly, although the injury wasn't life-threatening. After all, it was just for the purpose of restraining him temporarily. The detectives began to shake in fright, not knowing what to say or do at that point in time.

Matthew started to bite his nails subconsciously, a habit that he had never picked up before. He began to reflect on their experiences in the past three weeks. How could so many of his higher-ups be corrupted, trying to kill other innocent beings? Matthew started to lose pride in being part of the police, which was meant to protect people, not harm them.

Suddenly, the captain began to move again. This time, erratically, with foam sputtering out of his mouth uncontrollably. Following that was some painful groaning and choking. The captain's unusual reflexes got to the detectives quickly, who all started panicking, watching his abnormal movements.

"What is happening to him?" Emma started to cry, not knowing what to make out of the situation.

"It's like he's having some sort of seizure. This isn't normal," Matthew replied.

"Of course, it's not normal!" Daniel exclaimed sarcastically. "What should we do now?"

"We don't do anything! He literally killed someone earlier on!" Emma argued. "Why should we even make an effort to save him if he's going to repay us by murdering us too?"

In the middle of all the bedlam, the captain stopped moving altogether. No more convulsing. No more foaming and choking. No more life. His body just lay on the ground, with no signs of life residing on him. Blood and foam all over his clothes created an unsightly mess that made the detectives feel like throwing up.

All of a sudden, his body began to enlarge, and veins started to course around his skin. It transformed into a different shade of brown, as a faint but noticeable red glow being emitted from his eyes accompanied the transformation. Hair strands turned into thickening fur, which seemed to belong to a wild animal, and fur grew all over his body.

"No... it can't be..." Matthew cried in disbelief, who had wished that he'd never see another beast again.

Captain Jones began to snarl viciously, bringing up newly-grown claws that stuck out of his bony fingers. Getting up, he, or rather it, eyed the detectives as if he were choosing which one to prey on first. Finally, he let out a deafening roar as if he were announcing to the world that he was going to begin his attack on the museum visitors.

"Captain Jones! What's happened to him? This really isn't good!" Daniel cried out loud.

"That isn't him anymore. That's... that's the same creature we found in the police precinct! He seems to have... transformed into one of them!" Megan shrieked.

"We have to run!" Matthew ordered everyone. He noticed other museum visitors nearby, most of whom were gasping and screaming at the horrifying sight. They seemed to realise what was going on in the lobby, and it was visible that they were fleeing too.

Trampling over artefact displays to gain a speed advantage, Captain Jones pursued the detectives mercilessly. The whole lobby was in disarray—a mess worse than the vomit and blood on himself.