Finding His Cause - II

Nick stepped out of the car, his eyes scanning the scene before him. As more police cars arrived, the urgency in the air was palpable. The call had reached his partner, who relayed the message for Nick to reach the crime scene without delay. The urgency in his partner's voice was a rarity, grabbing Nick's attention.

His partner informed him that they had discovered the building engulfed in flames in the morning, prompting their precinct's involvement. The revelation surprised almost everyone at the office. This was no ordinary location—it was a notorious hub, one of the key establishments utilized by the city's second most infamous drug trafficking families. Disguised as a meat processing factory, it served as a front for their illicit operations, shrouding their illegal activities in a cloak of legitimacy.

Nick had only heard from other people that the commissioner had tried multiple times to take them down but had failed every time. It was thought that it was either due to them being fairly connected with people up the ladder or they had a mole, but they could never gather evidence for either accusation. So their base being attacked was always going to be a major event.

Approaching the building, Nick took a moment to assess its exterior. Despite the lack of legitimate business activities, the structure appeared surprisingly well-maintained. The signs of the fire were evident, but they didn't stand out prominently. It seemed that the blaze had remained mostly contained within the interior of the building, explaining why no one had noticed until there was enough smoke filling up the vicinity of it. At night such a big building being lit up by fire should have been easily spotted otherwise.

His nose picked up the scent of charred meat as he got closer, which surprised him. The reports he had received indicated that this particular warehouse had never been used to house animals, dead or alive. So the presence of such a distinct odor, mingled with something else, piqued his interest. It didn't resemble a regular barbeque smell, and there was an underlying quality that seemed out of place.

Stepping inside, Nick was taken aback by the sheer size of the building. It felt unnaturally huge, amplified by its emptiness. As he ventured further, the scent of burnt meat intensified, becoming difficult to ignore. Realizing the need to shield himself from the overpowering odor, he pulled out a cloth and covered his nose.

Within the warehouse, he noticed a flurry of activity. Dozens of forensics personnel were carefully removing and cataloging burnt animal carcasses, a sight that seemed unusual in both volume and frequency.

Spotting his partner engaged in conversation with someone, Nick joined them to gather more information. As he listened, he caught a snippet of their conversation mentioning bodies. Surprised, he looked around, but there were no visible signs of human remains. Instead, the interior of the warehouse appeared like any other dilapidated building, worn down and in need of serious demolition.

The concrete pillars were crumbling, and the steel beams supporting the structure appeared to be bent out of shape in multiple spots. It was as if someone had taken a wrecking ball to the entire building, leaving behind a scene of destruction. Even the floor bore the marks of damage, with holes scattered around as if something had violently impacted it.

Nick was sure there could be even more damage but it was hard to judge as the whole place was covered in partial animal carcasses subjected to burns of various degrees. It seemed that the warehouse had actually been used for processing animals, but the hasty and chaotic state of the scene suggested that something had gone wrong. He thought that it might be because of the fire that had broken out. He asked his partner when he finished his conversation with the other officer.

"You said this was a serious gang war but it just looks like an accident." He gestured to the floor littered with burnt flesh and bones. "Were there no bodies found?"

His partner's expression turned serious as he considered the scene before them. After a moment of contemplation, he responded, his tone carrying a sense of gravity.

"Actually... you should see it for yourself. It's hard to explain. Come on, follow me," his partner said, signaling for Nick to accompany him further into the warehouse. As they ventured deeper, Nick could feel the smell getting stronger and now it took on a familiar stench- that of a deceased body, one that had been rotting in warm temperatures for a while.

Nick's eyes widened in disbelief as he took in the unimaginable sight before him. His mind struggled to comprehend the sheer horror that lay sprawled across the warehouse floor. He questioned his own sanity, his gaze shifting to his partner in search of confirmation. The nod of acknowledgment from his partner only deepened the sense of shock etched onto Nick's face.

Spread out across the warehouse floor were piles upon piles of lifeless bodies, stretching as far as the eye could see. It was like a nightmarish mass grave, the sheer scale of death sending chills down Nick's spine. The floor itself was drenched in blood, an eerie red carpet that bore witness to unimaginable violence.

It dawned on Nick with a sickening realization that the charred meat scent he had been detecting was the sickening odor of human flesh. The brutality on display surpassed anything he had witnessed before, even in his experience with the aftermath of extreme violence.

Memories of past crime scenes flooded his mind, including the recent case involving the torture and murder of a woman, where her own son was the primary suspect. But this... this was an entirely different level of savagery. It resembled scenes from war-torn regions, where violence had ravaged entire populations. The sight was enough to turn Nick's stomach, and he could feel the bile rising in his throat. He quickly covered his mouth, desperately trying to suppress the urge to vomit, hoping to maintain his composure in the face of such unimaginable horror.

"You might want to let it out if you need to," his partner suggested, his voice filled with understanding. "I threw up when I first saw this. It's a lot to take in."

Nick nodded gratefully, his stomach churning at the gruesome sight before him. He couldn't deny the urge to retch, and he covered his mouth, trying to suppress it. Taking a moment to compose himself, he finally found his voice amidst the horror.

"What the hell happened here?" Nick managed to utter, his words quivering with disbelief. "How did we miss something of this magnitude until now?"

His partner's expression mirrored his shock. "That's what's baffling. According to the forensics team, these killings occurred just minutes before the fire broke out last night."

Nick's eyes widened in astonishment. "Last night? So this is recent? But who could have done this? Which rival gang is responsible?"

"That's the eerie part," his partner replied, his brow furrowing in deep thought. "There are no clear signs pointing to any specific gang. It's as if the culprits wanted to erase all traces, and the fire was a part of their cover-up."

Nick's gaze swept across the macabre scene, his eyes landing on the mutilated bodies strewn about. The grisly condition of the corpses was chilling. Limbs torn apart, torsos severed, and heads scattered haphazardly. It was a scene of pure carnage, a deliberate act to ensure no trace of life remained.

Pointing to a particularly brutalized body being carefully bagged, his partner shared another disturbing detail. "Take a look at this one. His spine was ripped out while he was still breathing."

Nick recoiled in shock, a shiver coursing through his body. "Did they use some kind of machinery to do this?"

His partner shook his head. "Doesn't seem like it. The amount of force required suggests that the perp could be an incredibly strong individual, capable of doing this without any weapons."

A sense of unease settled over Nick as he tried to imagine the power and brutality possessed by someone who could commit such acts with sheer strength alone. But this wasn't the end, the horrors seem to continue with each new body they examined.

There was a particular section of the floor he observed was a gruesome amalgamation of melted, burnt flesh, emitting a sickening odor that burned his eyes and made him gag, even through the cloth covering his mouth.

The forensic expert carefully explained the initial analysis, painting a brutal scenario that sent chills down Nick's spine. Amidst the mound of flesh, they found a relatively intact body, seemingly used as a makeshift weapon to bludgeon the other victims. The sheer force of the blows had shattered their bodies into unrecognizable pieces, which had then fused together due to the intense heat of the subsequent fire.

As they surveyed the scene further, the forensic team pointed out numerous instances where bodies were jammed together, almost fused, due to the sheer force and friction generated by the impact of one colliding with another. It was a haunting display of twisted human wreckage, reminiscent of conjoined twins forever bound in the excruciating grip of death.

The people dealing out the massacre seemed to have been amateurs as they had used a lot more force than necessary, or maybe it was just an act of revenge. As he continued his observations, he came across one particularly disturbing scene, a body being gruesomely torn in half, the sheer force of the assault ripping the victim apart from the neck down. The intestines and other internal organs had spilled out as the victim's face had been frozen in terror, a haunting reminder of the unimaginable pain he had endured in his final moments.

Nick suddenly lost his balance as he stepped on something more slippery than the rest of the floor. He was told to be careful and as he looked down, he discovered the cause—a spent shell from a large caliber rifle. It was then that he finally noticed the abundance of similar 'debris' scattered across the entire floor. Thousands of empty shells littered the area, revealing that the destruction he had witnessed was not the result of neglect over time, but rather a testament to the hail of bullets that had rained down upon it.

Confusion gripped Nick's mind as he thought more about it.

"There were obviously a lot of guns fired here, but why are there no bullet wounds on any of these people?" He asked his partner.

"Can't say for sure but it seems like all of these are from the same group." His partner explained his theory.

"So...the people who did this didn't suffer a single casualty? How is that even possible?"

"Well, we still have to check every body but the evidence does point in that direction."

"How many have we recovered?"

"Last time I heard, it was 74."

Nick breathed in sharply. "Then there must be hundreds of them." He paused as he thought of something. "Is that the entire gang?"

"At least most of it, yeah."

As they continued their discussion, their attention was suddenly snatched by a group nearby, their faces etched with shock as they stared up at the ceiling. Intrigued, Nick and his partner couldn't resist the urge to find out what had brought their work to a halt.

As Nick reached the scene, a sticky sensation clung to his shoes, hinting at a pool of congealed blood beneath him. He lifted his gaze, his eyes widening in disbelief at the sight that unfolded above.

The ceiling had transformed into a haunting display — bodies were plastered to it like flies caught in a fatal swat, held in place by various railings and supports. Yet, it was as if an adhesive force held them in place, creating a scene of horror that defied reason.

"How?... Did they use a crane to do that?" His partner voiced the question that lingered in everyone's minds.

"It looked like they were thrown and it has to be really fast. I don't know if any machine can do that." one of the personnel replied, their voice tinged with disbelief.

After a while, Nick and his partner left the personnel to discuss the logistics of bringing the bodies down. As they walked away, Nick couldn't help but break the silence.

"You think it's some new player in town trying to eliminate the competition?" he asked, noticing his partner's lingering silence.

His partner stayed lost in thought for a moment before finally responding, "Could be, but the way they did it... it feels personal, unnecessarily brutal."

Nick nodded, considering their observations. "They did screw over lots of people but who could gather so many for revenge?"

His partner fell silent again, clearly deep in thought. Sensing his partner's contemplation, Nick prodded him further. "What are you thinking?"

His partner hesitated before sharing his theory, sounding uncertain even as he spoke. "What if... it's not a group, but a single person behind all this?"

Nick couldn't help but let out a half-laugh, half-nervous chuckle. "You're suggesting some kind of superhuman psychopath?"

His partner nodded, trying to explain his line of thought. "Think about it. No gunshot wounds on the bodies, yet this place looks like a warzone. And if it was a rival gang, they'd definitely want to send a message after causing so much chaos."

Nick fell silent, mulling over their conversation. He didn't want to accept the possibility of a single person capable of such extreme violence. It was too terrifying to contemplate. Suddenly, his thoughts drifted to a previous case involving three bodies found in a state that would fit seamlessly with the scene they now faced. Back then, it was dismissed as an animal attack, but what if there was a connection?

As he thought of the implications of it being true, he felt that something truly evil was on the brink of engulfing the world.