Embrace The Madness Ch. 01

Chapter 1

The Hidden Corruption

Day 1

Nearly a year had past since Kaleb had made his decision to return to his home town of Columbus, along with his only daughter and although the city didn't exactly provide him with any sort of excitement, he was still content with the decision. After staying with his sister and her small family for the first four months or so, he had managed to score a fairly cheap three-bedroom house with a two-car garage.

Living within the central Columbus area did have it's disadvantages however, as the sound of sirens and gunshots weren't exactly unheard of during the very late hours of the night. Sitting outside on his front porch, giving a wave over toward his neighbor who was out doing the same, he pulled one of the menthol cigarettes from his pocket. Smoking the last cigarette of the evening, he heard a sudden series of shots echoing off the houses around his own.

From far off in the distance, between the echoing shots being fired, he was able to recognize two different tones of screams. Several more shots were fired before everything went silent. Quickly reaching for his phone, he began to dial 911, making his report about the location of shots being fired. Hanging up the phone once he was done, he was just finishing up his cigarette before heading inside and to bed for the evening.

Kaleb awoke only a few short hours later, the blaring scream of his alarm clock was doing its job of disturbing him of his current dream state. Rolling over just enough to reach out for his alarm clock, he pushed down the 'snooze' button and rolled back over hoping to get back into his current dream. His cat had other plans however, picking Kaleb's movements as a good time to climb into the window she pushed the curtain aside just as Kaleb began to roll away from his alarm clock and directly into the ray of morning sunlight.

"Yes Gwenyvire I'm awake, thank you!" He said to the small kitten, who was sitting in the window meowing back at him.

Giving a slight groan as he yawned, he could faintly hear the annoying caw coming from his neighbor's rooster from down the street. Unable to do anything about that issue he slowly sat up and swung his legs over the edge of his waterbed. Eight-forty a.m. and his alarm clock wasted no time beginning the soft 'beep' that gradually got louder over time. Making sure this time to turn the alarm completely off, he slowly stood and moved toward his closet pulling a pair of blue jeans from one of the hangers.

Finally making his way around the corner of his room, he could begin to hear the faint sound of giggling coming from the living room. Quickly pulling open the backdoor, catching the male pit-bulls attention who began barreling through the kitchen and out into the backyard. Shutting the back door once the dog was outside, he began moving about the kitchen getting their morning started.

By the late morning hours the humidity had already began to make the mid summer afternoon unbearable. Even with the two larger shop fans, in either corner of the garage, turned on in hopes of blowing some of the excess heat back outside, the afternoon was just simply hot. Kaleb was currently tucked away between the breeze of the two fans, working on finishing touches of the Harley-Davidson Roadster.

"Hey Kaleb!" He heard his name being hollared from across the street. Taking a moment away from the motorcycle, he stepped around the corner noticing his neighbor, Zach, making his way up his driveway.

"Did you hear the gunshots this morning too?" Zach asked, wasting no time with conversation as the two of them stepped inside the garage. Kaleb had quickly gone back to work on the Harley, wanting to have it on the road by as late as tomorrow. Zach was currently packing a bowl of weed and after his half of the green, was passing the glass bowl off to Kaleb, before slowly exhaling the puff of blueish-grey smoke.

"I did actually." Kaleb replied, taking a moment away from his work so he could take the bowl as it was offered to him and took his hit. "All I could make out however was a female got attacked, and then the two males began fighting, before the last set of gunshots." He finished saying as he passed the bowl back to Zach.

The two of them remained silent for a while, as Zach began shuffling through his I-phone for some music. Continuing to pass the bowl back and forth until it burnt out, Kaleb soon found himself singing along to some older Drowning Pool. As Kaleb kept his attention on the motorcycle in front of him, Zach was currently tapping out the remaining ashes from the glass bowl, as the sudden clap of flip-flops caught their attention.

"K.C. are you still out here? I heard your tools." came the soft, nearly mesmeric vocals of his next door neighbor as she came closer to the garage.

"Yeah, I'm out here." he replied once Zach had stuffed the bowl into his pocket. Inside he couldn't have been happier however as she seemed to have come over at the most perfect of times.

What caught both Zach and Kaleb's attention next was something nearly mesmerizing. As Layla stepped around the corner of the garage, her golden frame was barely covered by a pair of black daisy-dukes jeans and a thin bikini top. Quickly pulling his attention away from the firm, perky C-cup swells of her chest, he noticed the radiant shine of blonde hair had been pulled into tight pig-tails.

"What can I do for you Layla?" Kaleb finally asked as he finished the adjustments on the rear brake.

"Daddy!! I'm wetting Woki out." The three of them heard from the back of the house before the deep snarling barks were heard heading closer to the garage, before the sudden snag had caused the brown and white brindle, red-nose pit-bull to quickly yelp.

"Could you do me a favor and look under my car when you have some free time?" she asked, just side-stepping Zach as he began making his way back toward his house.

"That depends on if I can get a favor from you." Kaleb replied with a bit of a grin.

"Oh? What is it you need of me?" she asked now moving closer toward the motorcycle.

"I need someone to watch Karmen while I run down the street to the parts store. If I could get you to do that for me, then as soon as I get back I can give your car a good shake-down."

Sounded like a fair enough agreement, besides it wasn't the first time she had been asked to watch his daughter. "I think I can agree to that, but you aren't going to charge me on a diagnoses fee right."

"No, in fact I'm open to suggestions on payment options if need be." He said, giving her something to think about as he exited the garage and began making his way down the street toward AutoMax.

A little more than half way into his walk to the store, he was tossing the cigarette butt aside, unaware of the current string of chaos and violence happening only a few miles from his own home. Making it to the store fairly quickly, he wandered through the aisles, picking up the needed items and headed to the cash register. After cashing out Kaleb pulled open the large, heavy glass door and stepped back out into the fairly warmer weather.

Making his way back down the street the way he had come, the sudden sound of tires screeching to a stop had him turning his attention over his shoulder, but being unable to see anything, he continued his way toward his house. Again his attention was turned behind him, as he soon heard the sound of sirens, heading toward where he had heard the squealing tires and could only assume it to of been an accident.

The thought of doubling back and seeing what had happened had crossed his mind, but with everything he still had to do, he simply continued on his way back to his house. Only a few blocks from his house and he could begin to feel the vibrating of his phone against his right leg. Stopping long enough to set the two bags down in the grass, he pulled his phone from his pocket and quickly read over the text message.

Quickly sending a reply of his own he was dropping his phone back into his pocket and after grabbing the plastic bags, continued on his way his house. Nearing his neighbor's home first, he offered both Zach and Alexis -- who had been the first to notice him as she was explaining her half day to Zach -- a friendly wave as he walked by. From the back yard, as he made his way up the driveway, he could hear both Karmen and Layla playing 'picnic tea party'.

"So what exactly is it doing?" Kaleb finally spoke up and asked as he came closer upon the girls' picnic.

"It squeaks and wobbles, really bad in the steering wheel, whenever I turn the wheel." She said looking away from her snack. "My boyfriend said it could be my ball joints, but he doesn't know much about cars."

"That doesn't sound like ball joints. What it does sound like however, is either tie-rods or the u-joints in your steering column."

"What would you charge me to have either of those done?"

"Without knowing for certain which of the problem it is, safely I could say between two- hundred to four-hundred in just my labor. Now if you would like, while we still have plenty of daylight, we can all run next door and I can take a look for certain." Kaleb was finally setting the bags from Auto Zone inside the garage.

Putting their pit-bull, Loki, back inside the house, the three of them quickly ventured next door. Kaleb wasted no time having her pop the hood of the Chevy Malibu, and almost as soon as she had he saw her problem. The upper and lower u-joints within the column were pretty badly rusted, and as he had he turn the wheel he could see where the added give made for some very wobbly handling.

"So... how bad is it?" She asked after shutting off the engine and standing beside so she could see where he was pointing as he explained the parts to her.

"It's about three-hundred and fifty dollars bad to be honest. Those u-joints are pretty shot and quite truthfully, I'm surprised they haven't snapped yet." Kaleb replied as he close the hood of the car.

"When do you think you could get on it?" Curious to know if she had time to talk with her mother.

"Provided you don't mind Karmen playing in the backyard, I can get on it as early as tomorrow." He said noticing the darker rain clouds beginning to roll in above the city.

"Let me check accounts and see what I can do and I will get back to you within an hour or so. Either way, tomorrow sounds like a strong possibility."

"Sounds good, then we'll plan for tomorrow mid-morning." They both quickly agreed on before going their separate ways.

Kaleb stood where he was for a while admiring the way Layla danced those curves, while her shorts did very little to help subdue the imagination, around the corner and finally out of sight. Finally feeling a slight tug against his arm, both he and his daughter headed back toward their home and up the driveway leading to the garage. Letting Karmen stay in the backyard to play, Kaleb was turning his attention once again to the Harley-Davidson and began filling, checking and topping off all the fluids.

By the late afternoon Kaleb was finally finishing the last touches on his motorcycle, now all he had left to do was check it. Turning the key didn't give him the satisfaction he had been hoping for, at least not at first crank. Giving the motor a moment or two, he tried again and even with a little bit of a sputter the engine came alive. Leaving the motor running, he began to look over the hoses and connections and once he was satisfied that nothing was leaking, he shut the engine off and began heading inside.

"Come on Karmen, it's time to come in." he hollered as he held the door open. "Besides, it looks like it might start raining."

"But... I wike the rain." Karmen replied.

"I know you do, but we don't need you getting sick, so let's get it inside." He replied, this time with a little more demand in the tone, which had his daughter quickly heading inside.

Kaleb and Karmen were soon sitting on the couch, with Loki lying comfortably on the floor beneath Karmen's feet, as the clouds continued to darken the horizon. Soon the sudden thunder clap was heard echoing throughout the walls of the house as Kaleb began flipping through the endless channels that satellite had to offer. A sudden 'happening now' news report quickly catching his attention.

"...after a serious riot occurred around the downtown and campus area earlier today." The two of them heard as Kaleb quickly turned on the television, catching the sudden news report. "Local authorities are still not commenting on the cause of the riot, but still, they strongly advise everyone to stay away from the surrounding areas while they continue to resolve..." the reporter was saying before Kaleb was surfing the T.V. stations once again.

As Kaleb continued to watch the news report, Karmen was just rounding the corner into her own bedroom when the two of them heard the sound of knocking coming from the front door. Standing from his seat rather quickly he pulled the door open and was quickly staring into those deep sapphire blue orbs. Of course that hadn't been the only thing to catch his attention, quickly noticing that those normally soft golden locks of hers were slightly damp from the sudden rainstorm.

Stepping slightly to the side he allowed her to enter inside before shutting the door behind her. Finally making his way toward the bathroom, he quickly peeked around the corner into his daughter's room noticing she was asleep, grabbing a towel from out of the cabinet and headed back into the living room.

"So after looking over my bank account, I have a small problem." she finally started saying as she took the towel once it had been offered and began trying to dry herself off.

"You don't have the three-hundred and fifty just sitting back in the account." Kaleb was quickly commenting, cutting into her sentence as though he already knew the problem.

"Exactly. I have enough to cover the parts and still get throw the week but I don't have enough, at least right now, to cover the full labor too." Again she replied, this time with a bit of sigh as she handed the towel back to Kaleb and took a seat against the leather sofa.

Taking the towel back once she was finished with it, he tossed it into the bathroom and let it simply fall to the floor in front of the sink. Finally turning around once again, he began making his way toward the leather sofa as well and took a seat on the cushion beside her. As the two of them continued discussing other options, so she wasn't having to break her account, the two of them were quickly turning their attention toward the television as an emergency warning scrolled over the screen.

"This is not a test... All citizens within the surrounding areas of downtown Columbus are to remain indoors until further notice. Again... citizens within the University district; Short North, campus and Linden areas are to remain indoors until further notice. This is not a test."

* * * * *

Around the downtown area the situation only seemed to worsen as the day continued to progress forward. The infection seemed to have spread much faster then expected as it started quietly moving through the sick, weak and the homeless. Still local authorities worked tirelessly, in hopes of containing and controlling the problem as more and more calls were coming in, soon over crowding the local hospitals within the areas.

As local police continued to work at minimizing the chaos from around the fair grounds, Dwayne was currently maneuvering through many of the crowds. It was hard enough to imagine how loud it could be, but with all the carnival rides and games as well as the hundreds of conversations going on all around him, it made thinking difficult. Off in the distance the sound of sudden gunfire had quickly torn his attention away from one of the carnival games.

Again gunfire was heard, coming from another direction of the fair and then again. Okay, that had been one too many shots from around the fair to make him want to stay any longer. Unfortunately he didn't seem to be the only person that thought that way. As the sounds of gunfire continued to ring out around the fair grounds, it wasn't long before the Columbus police force were being overwhelmed with numbers.

S.W.A.T and other riot trained officials were soon stepping in to intervene with the situation, which only added to the already growing waves of panic and riots and soon many were looking for the quickest way out. Being apart of the crowds that were leaving was exactly easy with the panicked state that many of them were in, but still he kept pace as best as possible as he moved past one of the small 'lost and found' stations.

"... yeah man, he just... bit me." Dwayne happened to hear as he made his way past the giant yellow booth. Turning his attention as he walked past, noticing one of the on guard officers currently holding a cloth over his wrist.

The sounds of screams and gunshots continued to echo around the fair grounds, which only cause Dwayne to quicken his pace a bit more. He wasn't sure what was going on, or if he even wanted to know. What he did know however, was he didn't want to be anywhere near the fair grounds any longer. Finally making it toward the entrance of the fair, he began quickly making his way down seventeenth avenue.

Along the time of his walk, Dwayne had noticed that not only had parts of seventeenth had been blocked off -- which was to be expected do to the fair -- but several other side roads, that normally remained usable, had also been blocked off by 'road closed' signs. Off in the distance as he continued on his way, he had noticed the darker clouds beginning to roll in from the south, followed by to low, deep rumbling growl of thunder.

Doing his best to speed his pace a little more, knowing he wasn't going to be getting home before the rain began to fall and the still distant sounds of screams and gunfire just barely over ringing the thunderstorm, he was all to soon stepping under the canopy of a local bar as the rain finally began to release from the clouds above. Stepping inside the dimly lit area, he was soon finding himself a seat at the bar, as he pulled his phone from his pocket.

Noticing the missed calls from Layla, he began calling her back as the bartender finally made her way toward his seat. Four rings and then sent to voicemail had him hanging up the phone as he turned his attention toward the bartender. Taking a moment to decide on something to drink, or maybe he was just keeping her there so he could stare down the open cleavage of her chest, he finally gave her an order and turned his attention toward television set in the corner.

Looking around the interior structure of the bar, it really wasn't to surprising to see it fairly empty. The television wasn't really catching his attention -- some football game that he really didn't show any interest in -- he turned his attention once again to his phone and tried Layla's number once again. And again her phone rang until the voicemail picked up, which at that time he was ending the call and putting his phone inside his pocket.

Now certain she was ignoring -- or as the alochol had been working to convince him -- cheating on him, he continued to throw back drinks and tip the waitress -- who was becoming sexier with every drink.-- before turning his attention toward the television once again. He could tell he was hammered, he was getting loud when something went wrong in the game. Suddenly the game was being interrupted by a breaking news report.

"We have new details on an event we brought you earlier in the broadcast, we'd like to return you now to Donna and the events currently unfolding down around 17th Avenue. Donna!?" The news reporter was saying.