The Azrael (Book 4): Tricon

by Gagnon, Jesse

  “You can trust me with this Jimmy. François will not fail you or the girl.” The level of confidence in his voice and demeanor brought comfort to Jimmy.

  “I believe you Frankie. That girl in there needs your protection. Keep her mind distracted from the drama with her friends. But most importantly, keep her safe.” Jimmy instructed as close and personal as he could to help drive home the point.

  François may have been a model and a womanizer but all of that had been a front for his real job. He was an assassin for the Veil long before the Azrael outbreak. His skills in killing was an art form very few had ever witnessed. Yet, he maintained his guise even within the organization that he works. He was Mr. Fukashima’s secret weapon against all threats externally and internally.

  François Leon Messier was born in Troyes, France. He was raised there until the age of twelve when Hitori Fukashima assassinated his parents. Hitori was hired by an underground organization linked to the Yakuza. The Intel concerning the kill order had been tampered with causing the young François to be orphaned. A money-laundering stockbroker, attempting to eliminate the competition that threatened his own financial success, switched the targets.

  Marc Messier, François father, founded a gaming company that rivaled popular brand gaming companies. He produced the first successful disc based system in the mid-eighties. Instant recognition among the gaming system developers painted a target on Mr. Messier’s back. Shareholders placed a higher stock value on Graphique, Mr. Messier’s company, than the other dominant companies in the field. Mr. Fukashima learned this change a day after the assassination when the client denied payment due to the intended target’s living status. He then carried out the actual hit, killing a sleezebag that led a human trafficking ring. He financed and organized the kidnapping, enslaving and shipping of young Japanese girls to China. Before Mr. Fukashima could track down the stockbroker, the Yakuza already captured, tortured and disposed his body in the Sea of Japan in several pieces. Feeling partially responsible for François’ orphan status, he adopted and trained him to be an assassin. Once he reached eighteen years old, François was sent to live back in France where he lived his life as a spy for the Japanese government. After ten years, the Veil of the Five Daggers was established, privatizing the business of spies in Japan. Mr. Fukashima and Mr. Moromoto, another retired assassin that worked for the Yakuza, founded it. Once the Azrael outbreak reached Japan, Mr. Fukashima claimed sole responsibility of the organization when Mr. Moromoto met his end to a large herd of Azrael.

  To help mask the Veil’s financial success, Mr. Fukashima established a pharmaceutical company that created vaccines for illnesses revealed in third world countries. This company later changed their focus to the Azrael virus once it infected the world. After a near death encounter with an Azrael group that interrupted an assassination attempt, François was transported back to the Veil. Once he arrived, it was determined that the only way to save his life would be to infect him with a modified version of the virus. It contained a controlling substance administered once a day to help maintain his humanity. The amount of knowledge gained on the capabilities of the Azrael was largely acquired during the months following François’ transformation from human to an enhanced assassin. Four more candidates were selected and evolved using the virus to become the face of the Veil of the Five Daggers. Although the actual number of assassins was unknown, hundreds were on the books. Formerly, the Veil was just another criminal organization, but due to the harsh realities that infected humanity, it had evolved becoming one of the last remaining defenses of humanity.

  Chapter 9

  Karla and Vladomir’s Failure

  Randall, Bear and Harry returned with fat belies after a successful hunt. The night was young, yet all three were exhausted from the battle they encountered defending their kill from a pack of wolves. Harry actually lost two fingers in the midst of the last attack. Harry also got to eat wolf for the first time as well.

  An eerie silence brought alarms to Randall as he approached the Alpha’s hideout. Where was Vladomir? He would not be sleeping. It was far too early in the night for that. Harry hurried ahead following a familiar scent. He stopped a hundred yards away from Randall and inspected a pole that had been driven into the ground recently. He turned towards Randall and shook his head. He and Bear hurried over to Harry and observed what he was inspecting. Vladomir’s head was speared through like a kebob and remained six feet above ground with his eyes open. Despite knowing that he was a half breed that could function like a normal human, in death he appeared Azrael.

  Bear suddenly released a deep grumbling grown and pushed past Harry and Randall. He moved as a maddened gorilla headed towards an enemy. The other two followed, wondering what set off a usually calm and chill friend. In the distance, hobbling towards the two, Karla was towing a body behind her. Her left leg was broken at the shin and her foot was dragging on the ground in an unorthodox position. The three met up with her and noticed that Red was the other body. His neck was broken and his head dangled below the body being held by muscle and skin tissue. His left arm was missing and both legs were cut off at the lower part of the thigh by something sharp. Both of them were covered in bullet wounds, which disfigured and brought about massive blood loss. Bear scooped up Karla and cradled her in his massive arms like a baby. Randall tossed Red’s body over his shoulder and they carried them to a safe location nearby.

  After gesturing with Karla for a few hours, it was discovered that the Alpha arrived at the Paul Simon safe house. It caught Red off guard, pushing him off the roof of the cafeteria. His body landed near an internal guard shack. Startled, the guards shot several rounds into his body as he struggled to get up. He managed to escape the bullet barrage but activated a mine and was catapulted twenty yards away. That was when he lost his arm. His legs struck a sharpened snowplow shovel that was in front of one of the buses cleaving them off instantly.

  Karla struggled to attack the Alpha to keep it from causing another outbreak. She tackled him off the roof and they both fell violently crushing the guard shack and the two guards inside. That’s when Karla broke her shin. The Alpha stood up quickly and barreled into the main lobby of the female dorm. Dozens were inside, caught off guard from the sudden breach of the infrastructure. Karla watched as all of them were infected with the virus. Before it moved upstairs, it looked into Karla’s eyes and smiled.

  Karla struggled to her feet and attempted to retrieve Red’s body in case there was a chance that he would survive. Before she could escape, a roving group of heavily armed humans arrived and shot at her. She was pinned down at the buses with several gunshot wounds. She would not have escaped had a mob of Azrael from deep within the city not arrived drawn to the unsuppressed gunfire. In less than thirty seconds, the entire group were bitten into and thrown into violent seizures as the virus took total control over their bodies.

  Karla managed to cross the railroad tracks that were north of the parking lot. Tall grass and trees hid her from the second wave of humans that arrived minutes later mowing down the new batch of Azrael. Before she was completely beyond eyeshot of the humans, she noticed two people exiting the top of one of the buildings using some zip line. As she dragged Red’s body, she wondered what their fate would be.

  Randall sat on the roof of his building scanning the streets beyond for movement. He knew the Alpha wouldn’t return now. It was too smart for that. He heard Karla breathing with a heavy rasp in the room below. The sound of air escaping her lungs gradually dissipated as the virus kick started her body to repair itself. Red was in far worse shape than Karla. The body was bridging gaps in torn tissue and repairing broken bones in the neck. However, days of hunting effectively were over for him. True, his body would adapt and figure out a way to be functional but the ability to grow back limbs was one gift the Azrael did not possess. It was the end for Red and they all knew it.

  The night had matured inspiring a yawn from Randall. It was time to lock him up. He walked inside and Har
ry was standing in his way, holding something. He handed Randall a mobile device that pinged every few seconds. It took him a minute to figure out what it was displaying. A glowing dot crossed lines that were labeled as street names. It was tracking something. He glanced up at Harry with a puzzled face. Harry gestured their sign for Vladomir, a knife hand with the fingers separated between the ring finger and the middle finger forming a ‘v’. He must have planted the device before he died.

  Randall noticed the battery indicator in the top right corner blinking. It needed to be charged. If they left now would they have time to track the Alpha before the battery died? His answer came sooner than he hoped when the device shut down. He tried to turn it back on but a graphic flashed indicating the battery was too low to operate. Inopportunely, Karla’s condition hindered any immediate transit plans. Bear would not have left her and Randall needed them both to defeat the Alpha and its herd. Besides, this was his family now. He needed to protect them. He reflected upon Brooke in that moment and it saddened him. Eventually, he succumbed to a deep sleep.

  Chapter 10

  Monster

  About two weeks ago, Savanna was moved to isolation and had remained there ever since. Word of a complete personnel transfer had been mentioned before she relocated there. It was a hard pill to swallow. Relocating that many people would be a logistics nightmare. Left alone to her thoughts and bored out of her wits, Savanna found herself with cabin fever. She often argued with the voice on a day-to-day basis. There were no windows in her room and her sense of time had become blurred. She had numerous bruises on her body from regular visits by male guards. She had fought off all attempts of sexual encounters, yet the fight within her was waning. She didn’t know how much fight she had left in her.

  Savanna lay in her bed staring at the ceiling. A red light in the corner provided the only light in the room. It was for the alarm system. She stared at it until her eyes crossed. It had been a long day of nothing. The only memorable moments in the day were meal times.

  Strobing lights yanked her from her reflections. She refocused on the red light. It was blinking in two second intervals. This was new. What was going on? Distant alarms buzzed beyond her door. In the small porthole in the door at eye level, she noticed the guards running towards the gates that separated her cellblock from the others.

  “What’s going on out there?” She hollered. There was no response.

  “Hey, anyone there?” She asked and again was met with silence.

  More guards than she believed existed hurried towards the gates. Fear and confusion decorated their faces. Maybe there was somebody coming to rescue her? Was it John? She hurried to the porthole to see down the hall. Her breath was fogging up the window and she struggled to see even on her tippy toes.

  Suddenly, gunshots were fired outside. It was the first time she heard that sound since she had been there. Muted screams and footsteps danced outside her door. She struggled to see what it was. Then she heard it, clear as day.

  “Azrael!” A man shouted from behind the door.

  It was happening again. This was not a rescue. Since all prisoners in her cellblock were immune or carriers, they were just caged entrées for the Azrael. The same men that hurried towards the gate were seen fleeing in the opposite direction. One of the slower guards was caught and flung against her door with a loud thud. She flinched, released a brief yelp, and backed away from the door. A face blocked out the porthole and an Azrael’s eye scanned the room. Savanna stood still, frozen in fear as the doorknob turned. This was the end. Another scream next door caught its attention and it disappeared from view. After a few seconds, it looked back inside almost looking through Savanna. She saw the glass mist as it sniffed the air. Another scream even further down the hall pulled its attention away and it darted down towards it. The door slowly creeped open from the vacuum of the ventilation within her room. She shook like a leaf in the breeze awaiting a painful death.

  At that moment, the power extinguished causing the ceiling fan in her room to slow to a stop. After ten seconds, backup power lit everything red. Countless Azrael bodies flooded past the door drawn to screams and the smell of the living. She needed to hide her scent. A green plant normally grown in the shade sat in a pot of soil near her bed. She carefully moved towards it and dug her hands into the soil. She wiped her whole body in the brown dirt. She kept a vigilant eye on the door and waited. There was nowhere to hide. The bathroom did not have a door nor did the glass stand up shower provide any real cover. The Azrael bodies continued to pour down the hall like rats fleeing imminent death. Where did they all come from? One of them brushed the door with its shoulder or arm causing it to open halfway. A sudden waft of Azrael funk pushed through the room and nearly suffocated Savanna in its rot. She backed up to the furthest corner from the door, sat with her knees in front of her and her arms wrapped around them. She observed over her kneecaps wide-eyed through dirt-caked strands of blonde hair. She noticed something strange about the Azrael. All of them were naked. She continued to examine each body and wondered why all of them were nude. They pushed on the one in front of them as if they were merely obstacles in their way of the next meal. Their bodies appeared muddy and some slipped as they stepped on the linoleum floor in the hallway. Not only were they muddy and naked but they appeared starving. Their limbs were nearly all bone while their bellies were fat from malnutrition. Where the fuck did they all come from?

  Eventually the mob trickled down and all that followed behind were the extremely weakened, injured or young Azrael. She watched as the last of them hobbled by in a step, step, and slide cadence. She waited.

  Step, step slide

  Step, step slide

  Step, step slide

  It slowly faded into the distance.

  Step, step slide

  Step, step slide

  Step, step slide

  The aroma lingered. She had never smelled anything more rotten in her entire life. Her stomach turned. The peach cobbler came to mind and exited out of her mouth along with pieces of tuna. The chunks left behind in her throat caused her to retch once more. The acidic taste of stomach acid mixed with the last meal unfavorably. It dropped off her lips and connected with the chunky puddle by a strand of saliva. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve and noticed a figure in the doorway gawking at her. She brought her chin up to see what would end her on that day. A small child stood there. Its breathing was quick and it snarled as it found her. It was barely three years old. As it approached, its sex was noticeable. It was a little girl. It wobbled towards her with unnatural speed releasing a croaky hiss. Its little body lunged at her and Savanna grabbed her by the arms as it made an effort to bite her. The mud made it slippery and it was difficult to hold still. It grunted and growled. Its noise progressively became louder. She had to stop this or the other, more powerful Azrael, would find her too.

  Savanna finally got a good grip as most of the mud wiped off and pulled it towards her. She turned its feeble body away from her and leaned the back of its head against her chest. Savanna pulled its chin closed with her left hand while holding her arms down with her right. She pinned its legs with her inner thighs. It growled and snarled in response. She had to do this. She had to do this to survive.

  Small grumbles and sounds only recognizable from a toddler escaped its tiny lungs. It struggled. She had to do it. She didn’t want to but it was the only way that she’d survive. She napped its head hard once. It flinched but continued to fight. She did it again even harder. Still it fought. She attempted with even more ferocity the next time and it popped as the body fell limp. Knowing that it could come back from even worse injuries she dug her nails into its tiny neck and ripped out the throat. She clawed and scraped until it barely held on by a few strands. She stood up placed her foot on its chest and yanked the head from its body snapping the spine at the neck.

  Savanna stood there holding its tiny skull drenched in putrid Azrael blood. She turned the head to inspect its face. It appeared at peace a
nd its eyes were half closed. A tiny sliver of gray eyes escaped its eyelids. Why would anyone want to bring a child into this world? Could she look the mother of that child in the face after doing that to her little girl? Wait, she was an Azrael, not a human. It was a monster...or was she the monster? She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror on the wall near the bathroom. She was the monster, a terrible and hideous creature. That poor child didn’t stand a chance. She fell to her knees and wept harder than ever before. She could care less if the Azrael heard her. She was an abomination and yearned to be found. Internally at war with her emotions and actions, she was prepared to leave the world and its cruelty. Savanna had surrendered to grief and had given up all hope.

  Unfortunately, death did not come for Savanna nor did anything at all. She was left alone in a world without hope. She placed the head on top of the twitching body and said a silent prayer for the little girl’s soul. The stench of the place had become familiar and after a bit, it didn’t bother her anymore. A tote bag hung from her bedpost and she stuffed it with anything useful she could find. She brought a few more outfits to change into along with toiletries. She dared not wipe her body off. She needed to reek of death. Savanna left her prison cell and exited the way the horde of Azrael came.

  Chapter 11

  Laura Flynn

  The sound of a heartbeat monitor greeted Laura Flynn. The last thing she could remember was being surrounded by talking Azrael. She must have dreamt that. Azrael don’t speak. Pain in her two shoulders just above the breastplate caught her attention. She rubbed at the wounds and felt bandages covering them. They were itching but she couldn’t reach them. To her right an IV stood with a bag of fluid half consumed. She had neither an idea where she was nor how she arrived there. It was dark outside and most of the lights were out throughout the place. She noticed the yellow of the moon in the corner of the window that was not covered by the curtain. She located the nurse assistance button and pressed it. Shortly after, an elderly woman entered with a clipboard lit by a candle in her other hand.