"The Smell"
I know crappy title. Anyway just let me know what you think.
The smell was putrid. It was like someone had left a pound of beef in a 120 degree sweat box. Barely up the first 2 flights of stairs that distinct odor was overpowering. Even with our masks on the stench was almost enough to drive us back to the safety our of trucks. Many of the neighbors had abandoned their living quarters until we could clean up whoever or whatever was left in that apartment.
We arrived at the 3rd floor, the building was quite rundown and the sun shown through many cracks and windows. Baking whatever was unfortunate enough to be in the building. Which had neither fans nor air conditioning. I knew the smell would only get worse once we stepped over the threshold to a new found hell. The four of us made eye contact and nodded before entering.
Sun quickly filled the gap between the now opening door. Like a band aid we knew the quicker we got in the less it would hurt. I was always told that the smell of a rotting corpse would be a smell you’d never forget, but this was so much more then I had anticipated. Busting through the door I expected to see a rotting corpse right there in front of me and blood splattering the walls. To my somewhat appeasement I saw neither. However, the smell still lingered.
We split up, 2 teams of 2. Myself and Adam went to check out the obvious places around the tight quartered apartment. Bathroom. Nothing. Well except for the cockroaches in the shower. By now the adrenaline was pumping. I really expected to enter the bedroom and find the body of some crack whore, or maybe if I was lucky I’d get to see some mass murder scene. All that was in the bedroom was a bed with some needles. At least I knew a drug addict did inhabit this place at one point.
Figuring we had the wrong apartment, which you could never be sure the stench was everywhere. Adam and I were about to get the other two and take a breather when the screams of an 8 year old girl echoed throughout the home. Quickly we rushed to the kitchen area to find one of the most shocking scenes I’ve ever been a part of. Considering I’ve seen semi-trucks sandwich sedans. Pipes impale unsuspecting drivers. You name I’ve probably thrown up while seeing it. So when I say this is the most shocking thing I’ve ever seen…it must have been rather serious.
Blood covered the linoleum floors. The smell is impossible at this point to describe in words. Just take my word for it that it was horrendous! Quickly we realized there was no one in the house, and that the bone chilling screams came from just outside the house where a friendly game of hide and seek was taking place. If only I could be out there with this mess behind me. The innocence of a kid.
We all were startled to hear someone else behind, quickly turning around our eyes met those of an elderly gentleman about 70 years old. He was carrying a sack of freshly cut portions of beef when he asked us “What in Sam hill” we were doing snooping around his house. When we told him that there was blood on his floor, and the smell was obviously that of a dead being he quickly laughed it off. He took us back into his kitchen and opened up a makeshift locker…a meat locker. A rotting meat locker to be more precise.
The smell was putrid. It was like someone had left a pound of beef in a 120 degree sweat box. Barely up the first 2 flights of stairs that distinct odor was overpowering. Even with our masks on the stench was almost enough to drive us back to the safety our of trucks. Many of the neighbors had abandoned their living quarters until we could clean up whoever or whatever was left in that apartment.
We arrived at the 3rd floor, the building was quite rundown and the sun shown through many cracks and windows. Baking whatever was unfortunate enough to be in the building. Which had neither fans nor air conditioning. I knew the smell would only get worse once we stepped over the threshold to a new found hell. The four of us made eye contact and nodded before entering.
Sun quickly filled the gap between the now opening door. Like a band aid we knew the quicker we got in the less it would hurt. I was always told that the smell of a rotting corpse would be a smell you’d never forget, but this was so much more then I had anticipated. Busting through the door I expected to see a rotting corpse right there in front of me and blood splattering the walls. To my somewhat appeasement I saw neither. However, the smell still lingered.
We split up, 2 teams of 2. Myself and Adam went to check out the obvious places around the tight quartered apartment. Bathroom. Nothing. Well except for the cockroaches in the shower. By now the adrenaline was pumping. I really expected to enter the bedroom and find the body of some crack whore, or maybe if I was lucky I’d get to see some mass murder scene. All that was in the bedroom was a bed with some needles. At least I knew a drug addict did inhabit this place at one point.
Figuring we had the wrong apartment, which you could never be sure the stench was everywhere. Adam and I were about to get the other two and take a breather when the screams of an 8 year old girl echoed throughout the home. Quickly we rushed to the kitchen area to find one of the most shocking scenes I’ve ever been a part of. Considering I’ve seen semi-trucks sandwich sedans. Pipes impale unsuspecting drivers. You name I’ve probably thrown up while seeing it. So when I say this is the most shocking thing I’ve ever seen…it must have been rather serious.
Blood covered the linoleum floors. The smell is impossible at this point to describe in words. Just take my word for it that it was horrendous! Quickly we realized there was no one in the house, and that the bone chilling screams came from just outside the house where a friendly game of hide and seek was taking place. If only I could be out there with this mess behind me. The innocence of a kid.
We all were startled to hear someone else behind, quickly turning around our eyes met those of an elderly gentleman about 70 years old. He was carrying a sack of freshly cut portions of beef when he asked us “What in Sam hill” we were doing snooping around his house. When we told him that there was blood on his floor, and the smell was obviously that of a dead being he quickly laughed it off. He took us back into his kitchen and opened up a makeshift locker…a meat locker. A rotting meat locker to be more precise.
posted by Dave at 6:24 PM
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