by Mark Tufo
seen, he was plummeting to the ground. What had happened to me, to my family? It was
then I realized I was in a cell. For just the briefest of moments I imagined that
it was padded and everything that had happened that early December day last year was
the result of some psychosis. I’d finally snapped and had been living a nightmare
of zombies and vampires ever since. Typical Talbot shit, though. Why couldn’t I get
lost in a world of Hooters girls and unicorns? Nope, I had to go right for the shit
storm. When I realized I wasn’t in a straightjacket, holding on desperately to crayons,
I got up to further inspect where I was.
“Hey, Mike,” I heard off to my right. I whipped my head so fast it took the blinding
white headache a second or two to catch up, but when it did, it took twice that long
to be able to focus on the person in the cell next to mine.
“Wags?” I fairly sobbed. “Is that you?” I moved quickly to the heavy iron bars that
separated us. I stuck my hand out and wrapped it around Dennis’ head. “It’s so good
to see you, man. Have you seen the rest of my family?”
“No, I don’t know where they are...they don’t let me get out much.”
I wasn’t feeling all peachy-keen, but if they’d wanted us dead, they had ample opportunity
to have done so. “How’s your family?” I asked. His hangdog expression said everything.
“I’m sorry, man.” I quickly moved on. “What are you doing here? Were you ‘rescued’
too?” I asked with the air quotes. “They don’t even know me and they already stuck
me in jail. I mean, sure, once they get to know me, they’d probably figure out this
is where I belong, but not yet. I should at least get the benefit of the doubt.”
“My only crime is hitchhiking,” he told me.
“Huh?”
“I was on my way up to Ron’s when my car broke down. I flagged down this old bitch
in a semi. One look at her and I knew I should have just walked away. I was desperate,
though.”
My worry over my family’s safety began to compound on itself as I waited for him to
give me an answer I already knew.
“The lady is one of the craziest, meanest snakes I’d ever come across,” he continued.
“Yeah, that would be Deneaux,” I said.
He paused for a moment as he raced to catch up to how I knew.
“Makes sense,” he said. “Is what she said about your family and Paul true?” he asked.
When he realized that I had no way of knowing what she’d said, he added, “That they’re
all dead.”
“We’ve taken some losses,” I said, not wanting to go into detail. They were all still
too fresh.
“Paul?” he asked.
I nodded. “And I don’t know how yet, but I know that bitch had something to do with
it. I was going to beat it out of her, but she slipped through my hands and right
into the arms of the enemy. She pulled a Benedict Arnold when she thought she could
shake a better deal. If it’s not for the betterment of Vivian Deneaux, don’t expect
any help.”
“Wish I’d read that pamphlet before I got in the truck.” Dennis replied.
“Maybe they should have had a film in our Health class back in school. Right after
the Birds-and-the-Bees flick, they could have had one entitled Deneaux and Deception.”
“Or maybe Vicious Vivian: How to avoid a deadly strike.”
“I like that one. Do you know anything about this place?” I asked.
“Not much. I know it’s a military base of some kind. I’ve heard some of the guards
say something about the Demesne Group, but that means nothing to me. How about you?”
I shrugged my shoulders; it meant nothing to me either.
“That’s really it. Deneaux comes down once a day; I think just to torment me. She
talks a lot without really saying all that much. I get the feeling she’s somewhat
afraid here, but by the way the guards act around her, I think they’re the ones who
are scared.”
“Naw, she must have power here, that’s why the grunts are afraid. It’s at the higher
echelons where the shit is getting a little stickier. I wonder if she knows I’m here?
I’d love to wrap my hands around her scrawny little wrinkly neck.”
“Tell us how you really feel,” Dennis said with a crooked smile.
“How long have I been here?” I asked, my pounding head once again making its presence
known.
“Five…six hours maybe. They said you’d be out until tomorrow when they dropped you
off.”
“I’m glad you didn’t try to take advantage of me.”
“Bars were in the way.”
“What is going on here? Makes absolutely no sense,” I said. Just then, we heard the
distinctive sound of a heavy lock being opened and the clanging of a metal door as
it opened wide and struck something.
“You smell fried chicken?” Dennis asked me.
And I did. “Porkchop?” I asked when the poultry-wielding boy stepped in front of my
cell.
“Want some?” he asked, sticking his hand out about halfway, looking more like he hoped
I would refuse his generous offer.
“No, it’s alright--I haven’t eaten in about two days,” I told him. “What are you doing
here? Where’s…Doc! Oh my God, it is so good to see you.” I came up quickly to the
bars. Porkchop backed up just in case it was a ruse for me to grab the chicken.
“Michael,” he answered coolly as he approached. “Where’s Tomas?” Doc asked in that
same grave manner.
“Not here,” I answered, trying to understand what was going on.
“You were with him?” It was phrased as a question, but that he already knew the answer
was not in doubt.
“I was.”
“Could you have killed him?”
“Probably not,” I told him in all sincerity. Anything short of a second coming wouldn’t
kill him, I figured.
“He killed my family,” Doc said with vacant eyes.
“I’m sorry, Doc. I loved them as well,” I said, reaching out gently. My hand brushed
against his arm before he backed up and out of reach, sticking his forearm out to
block Porkchop from me as well.
“What are you now, Michael?” the doctor once again asked a question he already knew
the answer to.
“What the hell does that mean?” Dennis asked.
“How many families have you killed, Michael?” the doc asked me.
“Mike, what’s he talking about?” Dennis asked again.
“Mister, have some chicken,” Porkchop said, sticking a half-eaten wing through Dennis’
bars. It was clear this conversation was upsetting him.
“So it is true; you both do know each other. What a strange little world we find ourselves
in,” Doc said. “So much of what comes out of her mouth is a falsehood that it’s difficult
pulling the slivers of truth from the myriad of lies.”
“Is that why I’m in this cell? Because she knows I’m here? Is she somehow running
this place? What is this place? Where is my family? BT?” I was rapid-firing questions
at him, none of which he seemed to want to answer…at least at first.
The doc smiled a little. “No, she doesn’t know you’re here. I do hope I’m around when
she finds out, though. Seems she has a deep-rooted hatred for you.”
“I did nothing but repeatedly
save that old bitter bitch’s life. Let us out of here,
Doc, let me get to my family.”
“Your family is fine. Apparently you’re a better guardian than I am, Michael. Somehow
you were able to kill Eliza where I failed.”
“Technically it was Tracy,” I said.
“Who’d Tracy kill?” Dennis asked. “The vampire chick?”
“You going to eat that?” Porkchop asked Dennis who was now holding a piece of chicken
that he had seemingly forgotten about or never realized was there in the first place.
“I watched my whole family die. Butchered like farm animals really, and that traveling
partner of yours drank them all.”
“Mike, what the fuck?” Dennis asked. “That shit about the vampires Deneaux was telling
me, that was real? I thought she was full of shit or at least a butt-load of Vicodin.”
“I’m sorry, Doc, I truly am. But that doesn’t change the fact that you need to get
me out of here. I’ve got to get to my family and BT needs help,” I said, ignoring
Dennis.
“BT is dead,” the doc said, looking hard at me.
I staggered away from the bars as if I’d been punched in the solar plexus from the
very man…nay, the friend that had died. My world was spinning, I watched as Porkchop
looked up to the doc and then to me.
“The giant man?” Porkchop asked. “He’s okay. He was asking about you, Mr. Talbot,”
Porkchop said.
“What?” I asked, my eyes filled with salty tears.
“Hurts, doesn’t it, Michael, when you realize that people you care for are dead. That
small sample you just had is what I feel every waking moment. It never ceases, I see
their accusation each and every time Eliza slices their throats…their cries of betrayal
as I sit there, impotent to do anything. She made me watch as the blood flowed out
of them. As their light of life left them, it left me as well, I’m an empty well inside.”
The Doc said.
“You’re right, Doc, I can’t imagine the pain you’re going through. And maybe I’m selfish,
because I never want to have to go through what you’ve been through,” I said, truly
empathizing with the man.
“Lawrence is responding well to the drugs. He was my first human trial. We weren’t
quite ready for that stage, but it didn’t appear he was going to wait,” Doc said,
slipping from destroyed married man and father into the successful doctor persona.
If changing between the two roles is what kept him sane and operational, who the hell
was I to say anything.
“Is he cured?” I asked, hoping.
“Not yet, but I believe that with aggressive treatment, he will be. I believe it will
take a combination of drugs and radiation. Your grandfather made that intuitive leap
almost a hundred years ago. The key is to hit them hard and fast or the virus adapts
surprisingly well.”
“And Justin?” I asked, swallowing hard.
“We should be weeks away from human test trials and I did not want to endanger him
unless it becomes absolutely necessary, like it was with Lawrence.”
“What about the shots that you were giving him?”
“I’m afraid those may have done more harm than good,” he said. “The parasitic virus
that now runs through him will be surprisingly immune to a lot of what we will attempt.”
“Is there a chance?” I asked.
“There is…but it’s significantly less than BT’s.”
“Thank you, Doc.” I rested my head against the bars, letting the new information soak
in. When I opened my eyes, Doc was staring intently at me.
“I’ve been working on a way to kill Tomas,” he said, matter-of-factly. And with those
last unsettling words to me, he turned. “Come on Porkchop, it’s time for your lessons.”
“I’ll tell Henry you said hi,” Porkchop whispered loudly to me.
“Thank you,” I nearly sobbed.
“Mike, any chance you want to tell me what’s going on?” Dennis asked.
“Not-fucking-really,” I answered. “Sorry, man. Alright, here’s the short version.
Zombie apocalypse starts. This crazy zombie-slash-vampire chick decides I’m at the
top of her shit list. Her half-vampire brother Tomas, with Ryan Seacrest as his spirit
guide decides he’s going to do his best to protect us. We end up on this roof fighting
for our lives and it comes down to Tomas, infecting me with vampire blood so that
I can beat down this über-asshole named Durgan. Yada, yada, yada, I lose my soul,
win the fight. Huge battle with Eliza and her minions, which we win, and now I’m on
a quest to get my friend BT who was bitten and Justin who was scratched cured somehow.”
Dennis’ eyes were huge. “Dude, did you just ‘yada, yada, yada’ me with the zombie
apocalypse?”
“Dude, listen, I know there’s enough holes in that story you could fly a plane through.
I promise if we get out of this I’ll relate the whole thing. Plus I have a bunch of
journals you can read. Just don’t let Tracy see them. Right now, though, I’ve got
to figure a way out of here.”
Dennis’ eyes were still huge, and now his mouth had dropped.
“You’re going to start drooling soon,” I told him.
Once again we heard the door open down at the end of the hall. I pulled back from
the bars and deeper into the dark cell. I could smell the smoke from here. I retreated
even deeper into my cell.
“Hello, Dennis,” Mrs. Deneaux said in that oh-so-familiar raspy voice. “I brought
you something.” She placed a small flask on the floor and pushed it through the bottom
of the bars.
Dennis turned towards her, his earlier facial expression not changing all that much.
“What’s the matter with you?” Mrs. Deneaux asked, a large swirl of smog around her
head. “I can be nice from time to time.”
“Oh, I doubt it,” I said, coming forward. I’ve got to admit it was extremely satisfying
watching her stagger back, although the bitch recovered faster than humping rabbits.
“Michael? It’s so good to see you,” she said before spinning and quickly retreating.
“I’m going to take your cigarettes,” I yelled down at her.
Bitch got spunk, had to admit that. She flipped me off.
***
Vivian entered Dixon’s office. “Why did you not tell me you had apprehended Michael
Talbot?” she demanded, interrupting the conversation between Dixon and Captain Najarian
“That will be all, Captain,” Dixon said. “Vivian, so good to see you.”
“Cut the shit, Dixon. What is he doing here, and why wasn’t I told?”
“Vivian, it was a military operation. There was no need for you to know. And as for
the reason why he is here, think about it, Viv. The man possesses the opportunity
for immortality within the confines of his blood and body.”
“He’s not going to just give it to you, Dixon.”
“Oh but he has. The lab is already working with the five vials they pulled from him
while he was knocked out.”
“Then kill him, Dixon. Kill him if you already have what you need.”
