The Never Ending Quest For Sanity

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 17

There were signs that the world was going mad daily, the most evident the absence of humanity--empathy, as it was most commonly known.  The evolution of the tolerance that society would display was mutated over time, the attitudes adapting to the introduction of hardships that, often, would change the nature of those who were on the receiving end of said hardships.  Technology was partially to blame, for with such innovations came more stress, the irony of the most efficient means to supposedly aid in the difficulty of maintaining a business or everyday life yielding more stress as well as more anxiety.

Could there have been a more evident sign as would come this night?  A full moon was transforming the moods of all who fell under the shadow of the clouds that were forming, the psychological forecast calling for a disaster on a level that would have annihilated society as a whole had it been manifested in the physical rather than the mental.

Soon, there would be insanity unlike the world had ever seen, the casualties mostly the souls that would bear the scars of the events that would transpire, sparing no one.

The night was reaching mid-status for Officer Treadwell, who was patrolling the most crime-ridden area of St. Paul.  It was a small area famous for the abundance of transients that would break into abandoned buildings, resulting in a game of hiding and go seek with the law enforcement that would often seek, yet never find (in most cases).  

As he parked his SUV in the parking lot of an abandoned factory, there was no mystery that he would soon encounter the usual suspects that came and went on a regular basis.  However, all Hell was about to break loose, the efforts of the law enforcement rather futile this night.  

Calls began to come in over the radio in such abundance that they didn’t know how to handle all of them, let alone be in several places at once.  

Shootings, suicides, burglaries, stolen vehicles, home invasions--the list would continue with such a magnitude that had many veteran officers scratching their heads, unsure what would happen next.  There were arrests that were made that caused the jails to overflowing at alarming rates and several officers were injured or worse, the victims of the insanity that crept over the land, changing the nature of mankind completely.

As the sirens pierced the silence and the lights from the patrol cars responding to calls cut through the horizon, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Hell was full and the demons had migrated north to escape the overpopulation.  As the next 24 hours painfully crept by like a slow drain on the mentality of a stressed psyche, there was no denying that life had just changed.  

The chaos would continue, a curfew put into effect, but the governor knew already it was pointless as those who were under such an order would not honor such a command.  It was like the riots were now commonplace, explosions accompanying the night like a shadow accompanies an object that is under the light of the sun.

Life was not sacred and life was only going to get worse before it became better.