"Agh! Ah~ They're crawling under my… Agh!"
"Fire! Fire!… Don't throw the grenade! You idiot!"
Clang!
The final, desperate roar of rage was completely drowned out by an explosion. The shockwave rattled the smoke screen, briefly parting a small section.
In that split-second glimpse, Gordon thought he saw a dark shape twisting violently on the ground, its outline covered by countless wriggling black specks, before the scene was swallowed by thick smoke again.
The gunfire rapidly thinned out, replaced by more heart-wrenching screams and the sound of small, frantic chewing. The screams turned into whimpers, the whimpers into death rattles, and finally, only a profound silence remained.
Then, just as quickly as it had begun, everything subsided. The rustling tide receded into the dark woods, vanishing as if it had never been there.
The smoke drifted slowly away, like a curtain closing on a stage. The cold wind brought the smell of gunpowder and another indescribable metallic, rusty odor.
Gordon slowly straightened up, looking around. Every officer's face was etched with shock and bewilderment. For a moment, no one spoke.
Jay, lying on the ground, looked up at Gordon: "What the hell just happened?"
Gordon thought for a moment, then answered solemnly:
"I don't know."
…
Vzzt!
"Ow… ow… oww…"
Jay sat on the running board of the car, tearing open the Velcro on his armor, lifting his shirt and undershirt to look. A red, circular bruise with purplish edges was clearly visible on his side.
His rational mind told him it was a bruise.
But his brain insisted, I know, press it.
So, he tentatively reached out and pressed down lightly.
"Hiss… oh, oh, ouch…"
His bones were probably fine, but the soft tissue and muscle were definitely badly damaged, though the pain was starting to feel numb now.
In the distance, amidst the frantic flashing of red and blue police lights, sounds of retching were constant. Those were the officers Gordon had sent to examine the bodies; clearly, the sight had exceeded their tolerance threshold.
He glanced at Otis, who was nervously hovering nearby, and subtly gave him a thumbs-up.
"Nice work, but be careful next time. Don't let Gordon catch on," Jay whispered. "That guy's brain is set in concrete."
Otis instantly straightened up, saluting enthusiastically: "Yes, Captain!"
Oh, for Christ's sake… didn't I just tell you to be careful?
Gordon walked back from the main gate, his expression grim. He came over to Jay and asked in a low voice:
"Can you walk?"
"Yeah, I'm good!"
He took Gordon's arm, grimacing as he stood up. The two walked over to where the gunmen had fallen, shining their flashlights on the area.
There were almost no intact bodies on the ground; eyes, throats, and cheek flesh had been mostly stripped away.
Scattered on the ground and in the dead grass were the perforated or shredded corpses of many rats, spread out thick and dense, like a blanket of death covering the wasteland.
"How were there so many rats? And why did they attack Black Mask's men?"
Gordon's flashlight beam swept through the grass; he looked utterly baffled. "This is messed up."
"It must be Arkham's hygiene and the gunmen's personal hygiene… Wait!" Jay suddenly stopped talking nonsense, shining his flashlight over the bodies again. "Jim, look at their faces."
The beams of both flashlights converged. Under the light, the empty, blood-soaked eye sockets and pitted, mangled faces of the gunmen, who had been wearing anti-reflective balaclavas and ski masks, were revealed in gruesome detail.
Jay looked up, meeting Gordon's eyes: "Where are their masks? The rats didn't eat the masks too, did they?"
"They're not Black Mask's men!" Gordon immediately hailed a few officers. "Search them! See if there are any ID clues."
He pulled out his phone, but before he could dial, the police radio in a nearby cruiser suddenly exploded with panicked calls:
"All units! Signal 33! Signal 33! GCPD Headquarters! Repeat, Signal 33 at Headquarters! Officers down! We need backup! Now!"
Everyone present froze for two seconds. Gordon's face instantly went white. He lunged and grabbed the radio.
"This is James Gordon, report your situation details."
"The Evidence Locker! They're attacking the Evidence Locker! We're pinned down in the main building. Brian and Nelson are dead!!"
The desperate shouts, mixed with fierce gunfire, poured out of the radio. "…Several more officers are hit!"
Damn it.
Jay felt a chill shoot from his feet straight to the top of his head. His mind buzzed, and even the searing pain in his abdomen was temporarily suppressed by the sheer shock.
"Gordon, didn't you say you left fifty men there?"
"That's absolutely right! I arranged it myself." Gordon shouted into the radio. "All officers, get back in your cars and return to GCPD Headquarters! Repeat, return to Headquarters immediately!"
"Right, right. If it's right, why can't fifty men hold the place? Did Black Mask bring an entire company of Rangers?"
Jay grabbed his stomach, enduring the pain, and hobbled toward the assault vehicle. "Gordon, get in my car. Wilson, you take a few East Precinct guys and handle this scene. The rest of you, follow me."
"Thank you!" Gordon scrambled into the assault vehicle.
Jay shooed Otis and Albert out to join Wilson, giving a subtle pat to his back pocket.
Then, the E350's engine roared to life, tires gripping the ground, and it shot out of Arkham Asylum's gate first, like an arrow released from a bow.
Cruiser after cruiser flipped on its sirens, the blinding red and blue lights cutting through the night sky, forming a long, winding line speeding toward downtown Gotham.
The chaos just experienced outside Arkham Asylum seemed like nothing more than a brief nightmare, leaving behind only profound silence and the lingering smell of gunpowder and blood in the air.
Wilson watched the convoy speed away, rubbed his hands together, and gave the few remaining East Precinct officers a knowing smile:
"Alright, boys, time for us to get to work. Be quick and clean. I know what the Captain wants. Don't touch the cash, but load all the good gear onto our East Precinct cars!"
The remaining men exchanged glances, then broke into low chuckles. Their laughter was unnervingly loud in the deserted night, startling a raven perched on a nearby treetop.
It cocked its head, watched for a moment, then spread its black wings. Cawing, it circled twice over the death-shrouded ground and flew off into the distance.
——————
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