by DAN MONTY
Abby drank some of the bourbon, holding out her wrist. Carefully, Bo eased the blade towards her wrist, the knife penetrating the skin. Abby yelped in pain taking another hit of Jack. The incision was precise, then Bo gently inserted his finger, quickly pulling out the small device. Abby howled in pain. Bo wrapped her wound with some gauze from his bag and held her close, the tracking chip in his other hand. He was about to destroy it, but Abby stopped him “No!” she said, “If we destroy it he’ll think something is wrong. Put it under the mattress,” she added, and Bo slid the bloody chip under his mattress, giving her the thumbs up. Abby embraced him and she drank a little more bourbon. “Okay, now we need to figure out what to do but we can’t just take him on by ourselves, Bo. We’re gonna need help.” Bo sighed. “Abby we might have no choice but to accept we are going to have to do this on our own. We don’t have anyone else!” he said. Abby however, was forming a plan in her mind. It was risky. Maybe even flat out crazy, but if it could be done it just might work. “Maybe we can turn this all on its head," she said.
10
Level X was actually called building X.
It wasn’t a very popular place, with almost no one hanging around, except for a single security guard who watched a movie on a portable DVD player at his desk. He ate a doughnut and laughed at a funny scene, not even noticing as Bo and Abby walked through the opening Abby had escaped from.
They entered the building, walking down the long corridor where the mounted cocoons were, Abby motioning for Bo to be quiet, holding a finger over her lips. “Alright, alright, alright," he said in his Texan accent, brushing some hair out of his eyes with his fingers. Abby pointed to the cocoons, and Bo peeked inside one, recoiling in horror. “Abby, are you sure you wanna do this? I mean, I’m thinking they might not want to be too cooperative... ” he said, his voice trailing off. “Give me your knife," she said, and Bo handed it to her.
She cut into the rubbery cocoon, stretching it open with her fingers. A man’s body with one arm fell out. His right arm was replaced with a monstrous claw, his head however, was the head of a hammerhead shark. The creature had gills, but also had lungs, and a large dorsal fin gracing his back. “Holy hell it’s a Sharkman!” Bo said, stepping back as the snarling creature climbed to its feet. It regarded Bo with disgust, punching him to the ground.
Bo sat up quickly to avoid another blow, but Abby stood between, them, her eyes glowing. The Sharkman looked at her, and blinked his eyes. Abby held out a hand, and Bo cautioned her. “Abby? What are you doing?” he asked, but Abby ignored him allowing the massive creature to take her hand. Abby looked at the Sharkman and smiled. “We’re here to help you," she said, “... but you need to help us.” Bo watched in amazement, as this creature was understanding her, and it nodded in reply. “Okay, one down," she said.
Nearly two hours later, Abby had gathered all of the mutant humanoids from the cocoons - and they had agreed to help them break into the facility. The best part of it was the plan.
She had given all of them names, but only six would be going with them. The hammerhead guy was called Hammer and he had a blueish skin. He and Abby seemed to have quickly developed a connected friendship.
There was Tiger, who had a tiger shark head, and a unique yellow shimmer to his grey body. He too looked humanoid except for his obvious shark head and dorsal fin.
Squishy was an octopus faced creature with eight tentacles instead of arms, but the legs of a human. He spoke fluently like the others, but had a bit of a problem with dribbling black ink constantly as he did. Squishy was very smart though, in many ways like a scientist.
Crusto had an armoured red humanoid body. Basically he looked like as big crustacean with a small humanoid head. He also had two big arms, that had claws for hands. He couldn’t talk much, Abby explaining to Bo that he was grumpy.
Picasso was a six foot turtle, complete with flippers and a rock-hard shell. Abby had named him Picasso after the famous artist, and she had also loved Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as a kid, so she wanted him to be named after an artist, like they had been, despite the fact he really wasn’t like them at all.
The last member of their little tribe was a killer whale with humanoid arms and legs named Orca. Bo studied this motley crew of mutants, and Abby smiled at him, approaching him as the mutants talked amongst themselves. “Now we have a team," she said; Bo shaking his head in disbelief. “There is no way I would have believed any of this unless I’d seen it!” he said, “Who are they all? Or who were they?” he asked. Abby looked into his eyes, “Let’s just say, we’re not the first group that was invited to this island. There have been many others, Bo. Men, and women... with families. Children. Their lives were taken from them when they came to this island,” Abby said. She wasn’t afraid anymore, in fact all things considered she was relieved she at least could morph back into human form when not in the water.
Hans Strucker had taken innocent people and made them into monsters from the depths. But she suspected he’d never count on them staging a revolution... and that was exactly what she had in mind. “You want to fight this guy?” Bo asked and Abby faced him with a defiant glance. “No,” she said. “I want to go to war. I want to burn that facility to the ground!” she exclaimed. Bo looked into her eyes. There was no doubting it, this girl was serious. They would need weapons, need to train, and most of all they were going to need one hell of a plan.
They didn’t return to the resort, instead they went into the jungle. Abby led the whole team with Bo deep into the jungle, across the mountains, and into a massive cave that was at the very foot of a mountain.
Abby inspected the inside of the cave. It was dark, and the wind blowing over the mouth of the cave created howling noises that gave her chills. There was a massive pool at the far end of the cave which she dove into... her mermaid form navigating the deep tunnels easily. She swam further and further through the tunnels at the bottom of the pool, allowing the current to guide her.
The tunnel opened out into the deep blue of the sea and she made mental notes of nearby landmarks, the nearest of which was to her satisfaction the lowest point of what must have been the foundations of the facility. Abby looked out into the sea, her eyes glowing bright, increasing her vision. The facility was lit up like a Christmas tree and Abby smiled. She looked up, seeing two great whites high above her. Potentially, they could be a problem... but maybe not. After all, Abby had a couple of sharks of her own if worse came to worse. She swam around, her reconnaissance complete - and swam back through the tunnel the way she had come in.
“We can set this cave up good," said Hammer, talking to Bo as they looked around the cave. “We make some spears, fashion us some traps... no problem!” he went on in a deep, masculine voice. Something told Bo he had been in the military. Squishy walked around, his face virtually expressionless due to an exceptionally small mouth. “We need equipment! Computers if we can get them! I can build us a lab, maybe other stuff as well. I need gear though!” Squishy was definitely a smart guy. In his past life he had worked as a computer hacker for the department of defence and he had been paid to create viruses to target hackers. If anyone could bug a computer system, it was Squishy. He was good with two hands – but with eight tentacles, he'd be unstoppable.
Orca and Picasso were sitting around trying to build a fire. Ironically, Picasso had been an artist in his former life... in a matter of speaking anyway. He drew comics for an independent comic company before his life went to hell and he turned to drugs before becoming a chef. He had an English accent and smoked cigarettes like they were going out of style. Orca hadn’t really said much yet, but sure was great at building a fire. Crusto was the grumpy one, so he mostly whined in his weird little voice. “I’m freaking starving!” Crusto said angrily. Tiger turning to him with a voice like a black rapper, “Yo, would ya cool it, dog? We all hungry. Shit, I’m a shark and I can wait! So can your crusty ass!” he said. Picasso rolled his massive eyes. “You lot are a bunch of whiney bitches! There a
re plenty of fish in the sea! Go get some and I’ll cook it for ya!” Tiger strode over to him and barked, “Why don’t you get some, turtle boy?” he demanded. Picasso gulped, his head ducking in his shell slightly so his voice echoed. “Well, I’m a bloody turtle, ain’t I? Got no bloody hands! I got flippers, ya see?” he flapped his pathetic flippers and Tiger rolled his eyes to white. “Then what good are you?” he asked, and Picasso looked sad. “I can cook! I mean, I might need some practise using these things but I can do it!” he offered. Tiger walked past him and spat, “Fine! But you dumbasses better come up with a plan while I’m gone!” he said, leaving the cave to go hunting.
Abby leapt out of the pool, landing on the ground. Her legs began to appear even faster than they had before. She walked over to Bo and pulled him close. “The facility is down there. At the very bottom. They’ll never see us coming,” she said, and Bo understood instantly what she was saying. “You want to attack from the outside. It’s risky. You’ll flood the whole facility!” he remarked, but Abby only smiled.
“It’s a great fucking plan,” he replied - and they kissed. Hammer stood over them and shook his head. “Alright, break it up you two. We got work to do. Squishy needs computers, we need food and I need help to make traps and weapons. Question is, where you wanna start?” he asked, and Abby was in complete agreement. “There’s two big sharks out there. One of them looks huge!” she said. Orca spoke up finally. “That’s Scar and Rachel. They’re aggressive as fuck, but Hammer and Tiger can deal with them easy enough.” Bo wasn’t completely convinced, but Orca sounded like he knew what he was doing. “Okay. So we hit the foundations from the outside. How much force you think it’s gonna take to crumble that glass?” he asked. Hammer spoke first, “I’m thinking a lot. That glass is thick. Really thick. Good thing is, a normal shark 20 feet long wouldn’t put a crack in it. But I can!” he said, and Bo looked confused. “How’s that?” he asked, and Hammer grinned under his massive hammer head. “I know where to get some explosives!” he said. “I was making them when I tried to escape this island. I got them stored real good in the jungle. I get those explosives, we stick ‘em to the glass and boom! Hans’ tower of terror goes bye-bye!”
Picasso stuck his head out of his shell and said, “I like this guy! I’m just saying, mate! You’re a fucking madman!”. Hammer regarded the turtle man with a wink and Bo shook his head, “Wait! We might have friends in there! We blow that place up, they could die... “ he said, and Orca butted in, “Buddy, I don’t know if you’ve been paying any attention around here, but if you got friends in there, they ain’t coming out! Shit, they’re probably dead already, and if they’re not? This is the best way we can get them out. It’s risky as hell, and those foundations will likely crumble but it’s the only way we’re getting in that building! So we either blow it sky high, or we... “ and, Abby sighed saying “... go through the front door. Either way we could die.”
Bo thought both ideas were crazy, but it gave him an idea. “Alright, how about I go through the front door, distract Hans, and the guards, maybe find our guys and you guys blow the glass when I give the signal? Shit it’s worth a try!” he said and Hammer rubbed his blue chin thinking all of this over. “Like a heist movie! That’s not bad. Alright, but grab Hans, and your friends, and run your ass off. If he tricks you, if you fuck up even once, you could die in there... “ he warned - but Bo showed no fear. “Good," Abby said. “Bo distracts the people inside, we take care of the sharks, blow the glass, and then we get out of here!” she went on.
It was a pretty solid plan, Bo thought. Hopefully it would actually work. “What do you guys want me and Squish’ to do?” Picasso asked and Abby smiled. “You two find a way to clean this place up a bit. Squishy? We’ll find you some computers,” she said. Everyone agreed, and Hammer flexed his muscles. “Alright then! I’m going to the get us some explosives! Save me some food, or I’m eating the chef!” he said as he marched from the cave.
Picasso gulped, nervously ducking in his shell again. Bo noticed and winked at him. “Dude! He’s kidding!” He insisted, but Hammer called back, “No I’m not!” in a gruff voice.
Tiger walked past Hammer, a weird smirk on his face. “Fuck yeah boy! Daddy caught him a mako!” he said, a small mako shark around his shoulders. “What? Y-you caught a shark?” Hammer asked, and Tiger grinned, “Hey man, don’t be giving me none of that cannibal crap. I’m a man-shark, not a motherfuckin' shark! Besides, this bad boy's gonna cook up good! Ain’t you ever had no flake? Damn! You’ll be thanking me later, homeboy!”
Hammer laughed, heading off into the jungle. He was once a military man named Bobby Reynolds, 257th platoon. He was stationed in Haiti, not too far from Jamaica, and he’d been on a mission to lead a task force to eliminate a drug cartel. He was shot in the leg and went down hard, almost died of blood loss too but Bobby was a fighter. He’d always been a fighter. He’d washed up on the island and received medical attention after his men were killed. All except two, he was the only other survivor.
It had been a slaughter, and the men had tried to escape on a boat, but the boat was hit and the only other guy on the boat had been taken by a shark. A thresher shark had ripped this man in half, giving him time to swim to shore.
Haunted by nightmares, he had eventually woken up in a room, where he could hear the sounds of others around him being experimented on. He’d never forget. He’d never forgive. Bobby had died that day, and now he was Hammer. He didn’t understand why so many people were being experimented on, but it had filled him with rage, and a thirst for revenge. But that mermaid girl? Abby, Bo had called her... she had a look in her eyes. He just knew she would help him. So he would help her. It was that simple.
He trekked through the trees; searching... hunting... he had put the explosives in a secret place when he had broken out of the facility the first time stealing the bombs from a storage room on his way out. When he was sure he couldn’t run from them when they came for him, he had buried the bombs and marked the site with a large rock. He just had to get his boundaries. Had to retrace his steps, but he would find them. Had to. The whole damn operation depended on it.
11
Connor opened his eyes in a well lit operating theatre. There was a song playing that he’d heard somewhere before but he couldn’t place it. Those lyrics!
If you’re fond of sand dunes and salty air...
Quaint little villages here and there...
The song was so lovely and relaxing, and yet for some reason it was creeping him out.
His mouth was dry, his body numb, and it wasn’t long before he realised he was strapped to an operating table. What the fuck? He asked himself, not being able to fully comprehend the gravity of his situation. There was a stainless steel table beside the operating table but what bothered him about that was the crude collection of medical instruments on it. A scalpel, a small electrical saw, a knife, and bone saw... the truth is he felt sick to his stomach when he saw those. A grim reality was setting in and he wondered if he could black out all of this imagery just by focussing on the music. The song came to an end and automatically repeated over again.
A faint whistling to the tune could be heard coming from somewhere else, and suddenly the doors swung open, a man in a bloody white apron wearing a face mask over his mouth and a medical cap covering his hair strode into the room. He whistled along to the song in perfect time, not missing a single beat.
He wore latex gloves and walked to the side of Connor’s operating table, slipping into a hospital gown as he whistled. “H-hey man, where am I?” Connor asked but there was only whistling that escaped this doctor’s lips. “Hey! Hey I’m talking to you, man! Where the fuck am I? What is this place?” Connor demanded angrily, but still there was no response.
The man reached for a scalpel, holding it in his hands. “Hey! What the fuck man? What are you doing with that?” Connor pleaded, his demands dissolving to begs. The man moved with the scalpel, edging it closer to Connor’s neck, cutting into
the flesh like a piece of fruit.
Connor screamed, his vision becoming blurry as a million panicking thoughts raced cruelly through his mind. The agony! Oh God! The feel of the blade penetrating his skin, no anaesthetics to numb the nerves was intolerable. His life flashed before his eyes and ss the wicked doctor made a final cut, Connor howled in agony. “AAAGGHHH!! I’M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU! I’M GONNA KILL YOU!” he screamed, hateful eyes cast upon the nasty doctor.
The doctor removed his face mask and Hans smiled, “No, you’re not Connor. And I’m most certainly not going to kill you, but I am going to make you better than you have ever been in your pathetic life. I’m going to make you special, Connor. I’m going to give you something God never could, and when I have completed my masterpiece... you will thank me. You will kiss the very boots I walk with, and do you know why, Connor? Because you want to be better. So, you’re welcome. My gift, to you," he said, covering his mouth again. “Enjoy the music. You’ll be hearing a lot of it. This is my favourite song,” he added, and the song droned on as Hans fired up the small electrical saw, cutting into Connor as blood spattered Hans' white apron. The song was faint over the noise of the saw cutting through bone, but as Connor screamed helplessly, he tried like hell to hear it.
◇◇◇◇
Abigale and Bo watched in awe as Tiger, Orca, Picasso, Crusto and Squishy stood around the fire, the mako shark remains cooking on a man-made spit over the flames. It smelled incredible, the meat cooking beautifully as Tiger rotated the shark on the spit.
