The Great Chicago Fire- What Really Happened

On Sunday, October 8th, 1871, a fire raged in a ten square kilometer area of Chicago, Illinois for two days, killing hundreds. This tragedy's origin is unknown to this day... or so the government would like you to believe.

The truth is, the fire only lasted for about ten hours, and nobody actually died from the fire itself. What really happened was one of the first documented (in government files, that is) case of a revenant infestation in the United States.

On that eve of October 8th, a minister named Gabriel DeLacroix attacked several of his flock in an evening mass, biting them in the throat and causing other fatal injuries to their persons. DeLacroix had passed away that afternoon after a 'ragged individual' accosted him the night before, and the local constable shot the miscreant in the head. DeLacroix of course did not understand that his fever was a direct cause of the man's bite to his forearm. A deacon of his had taken his place at the mass, and was the first victim of the feeding frenzy.

Hours after the undead man of the cloth had bitten his flock, the group of about twenty undead swarmed the streets of Chicago, attacking people who had still been out and about enjoying the day of rest. Over the next day a local detachment of the army, some of whom barely old enough to have served in the Civil War's ending days, was asked to quell the riot. Half of them fell as well, as it took them far too long to understand that only shots to the brain would stop the ghouls. Some of those who fell in turn attacked their comrades. Of the thirty-two soldiers who volunteered to stop the riot, four survived, and set fire to the bodies to ensure that the "demon within" would never harm another soul.

Then-President Ulysses S. Grant made a secret visit to Chicago after he received word of the incident (the exact date of this visit is unknown). After speaking to officials, Grant ordered that the entire incident be blamed on the fire. Newspapers nationwide would obey this order, and Chicagoans, more willing to believe that than the horrible truth. accepted it as reality as well.

A recently unearthed diary from the national archives notes that Grant believed "the nation must never know, else we end with a war far more horrible" than the one he led the Union into victory of. Interestingly enough, he prophesized the formation of Harvest Team: "Within ten decades, the army shall likely have a force to keep tragedies like Chicago from happening again."

Little did Grant know that it would take an incident whose cover-up was even more astoshining for this to come to pass.

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