The Azrael (Book 4): Tricon

by Gagnon, Jesse

  “Sharp girl! No, I’m kind of a special case. I’ll explain later.”

  “Okay, by the way my name’s Samantha, Samantha Hernandez. You can call me Sam.” She reached out to shake Giselle’s hand. Giselle received it with a smile.

  “Nice to meet you Sam. You know my name already. This is Toko and Jason.”

  Toko and Jason both waved at her. She smiled and waved back.

  “So, what drove you to go through all of that to reach us?” Giselle nodded towards the Azrael corpses.

  “A dose of reality.” The girl smiled.

  “So, the blood finally failed you, huh?” Giselle asked while wiping some off with her left index finger and sniffed it.

  “I think I rubbed dead human blood on me instead of Azrael blood. It smelled rancid enough, I thought.”

  “Smells like human blood to me. But you’re right, it is pretty ripe.” She agreed and flicked it off her fingers.

  “Let us continue this conversation in the house. I’m sure the young lady would like a hot bath.” Toko insisted.

  “You have one of those! Or is this a joke?”

  “No joke Sam. Water is being pulled from the stream and a generator powered by the stream heats up the water and sends it there through the hot pipes. It’s just hot enough by the time it reaches the house.”

  “That’s amazing. Yes, I would love that.”

  They all headed for the house and locked all of the doors. Sam drew unwanted attention from the chained Azrael and she hid behind Giselle.

  Giselle drew Samantha a bath as she did her brother. She laid out a variety of shampoos, conditioners and soaps beside the bath along with fresh towels. Samantha’s eyes lit up when she saw them. She sampled each scent and chose the coconut shampoo and conditioner. All of the bars of soap smelled the same to her so she just grabbed the largest used one.

  Giselle stepped outside.

  “Can you stay?” Samantha asked.

  “Excuse me?” Giselle’s eyes widened. Again, she thought.

  “I…” Sam paused. “Just want to talk to you about girl stuff.” She stammered.

  “Why? Are you bleeding down there?” Giselle shut the door and answered in a whisper with concern.

  “No, no nothing about that. I know how to take care of that.”

  “You do? So, you have pads and a safe way to dispose of them without drawing Azrael. They can smell menstruation and dirty pads for miles you know.”

  “That’s disturbing. No, I’m fine with that. It’s just…” She hesitated for a moment. “You said that your senses were enhanced. Does that cause your, uh, you know, to feel that way too?”

  “My what? Oh, no. No, no, no, no we’re not having this conversation.” Giselle reached for the door handle.

  “I’ve had sex before Giselle. I’m not a little girl. I’m nineteen.”

  “Bullshit!” Giselle blurted and turned the knob.

  “I started driving when this all happened. I even had a few boyfriends.”

  “But you look barely fourteen.” Giselle turned.

  “All the women in my family are like this. My aunt Josie had been mistaken for my sister for years.” She explained. Giselle let go of the doorknob and entertained her question.

  “Well, to answer your question, I would have had to indulge myself in things that I can’t fully enjoy. Also the desires aren’t there as often as before.”

  “Before your change?”

  “Yes, I guess I never really thought about it. I mean, I’ve thought about it but I haven’t actually entertained the idea of doing it.”

  “Do you think the virus diminishes your desires?”

  “In Azrael, it copies itself through the saliva so from what we’ve noticed the Azrael don’t care about that stuff anymore. So, I guess there’s a chance that it affects my desires for it.”

  “But there is someone, right?”

  “Yes, but…”

  “But what?”

  “It’ll never work. I’m like this.” She gestured all of her. “…and he’s just a man, an uninfected man with heavy responsibilities to Chicago. Any chance at that now went out the window when I became this.”

  Giselle bit her lower lip and picked dirt from her fingernails. The mood of the room went south fast. Samantha needed a win. She stripped off her clothes, well; more like peeled them off her and slowly dipped into the tub.

  “Oh, wow. That feels amazing.” She settled into the tub and laid her head back on the wall. Samantha studied Giselle’s body language.

  “You love him, don’t you?”

  “I what? No, he’s just a great guy that’s all. What would you know about that stuff anyway? You’re only nineteen.”

  “I just remember that look. My mother used to look like that when Dad was away on deployment. I could tell she missed him. She had that face.” She nodded towards Giselle. She sank deeper into the tub and closed her eyes.

  “How did you lose them? If you don’t mind me asking? Giselle dragged over a large wicker basket that had the handle torn off. A stack of magazines was piled on top of it and she sat on them.

  “No, I don’t mind. They died when I was eight from a house fire. My aunt took me in and raised me the best that she could.”

  “I’m sorry about that.”

  “Don’t be sorry, Giselle. I’ve come to terms with it and am used to their absence in my life now.”

  “What branch was your father in?”

  “The Navy. Life was good when my dad was home. Not as good when he was gone. I know my mother tried to keep us busy but, you know.”

  “It’s hard on families.”

  “It was ok. It made the time with him that much more important.” Samantha dunked her head into the water and came up spitting and blowing strands of hair out of her face. “...So, what about you?” She asked opening her left eye towards Giselle while the other still had wet hair dangling in front of it.

  “My parents?” Giselle touched her own chest with her right hand.

  “Yes.” She removed the hair from her face with a quick brush of her right hand.

  “They split up when I was young. My mom remarried my stepdad Austin. He was the sheriff of Carrol County.”

  “Small town girl, huh?”

  “There’s one benefit to living in a small rural town. Everyone learns how to shoot.” Giselle explained with a wink.

  “Especially with your dad being a cop.”

  “True.” Giselle was ready to move on to something else, something not about her past. “Do you want me to wash your hair? I don’t mind.”

  “Could you? I haven’t had that in a long time. I used to get my hair washed every time I went to Cindy’s Salon. Talk about relaxing.”

  “I’ve been to Cindy’s! Sort, brunette and kinda chubby?”

  “That’s her. She got real busy that last year before the outbreak. I think it was that cheesy commercial.”

  “It was definitely the cheesy commercial. It was so ridiculous that I had to check it out to see if she was a real person. Those dance moves...” Giselle laughed aloud.

  “Awful!” Samantha joined her with an obnoxious laugh that ended with a snort. Once more, she dunked her hair in the water and pulled it back out spitting the water out.

  “Life was definitely different in those days.” Giselle squeezed shampoo in Samantha’s hair and massaged her scalp.

  “The water tastes funny.” Samantha scowled.

  “It’s the filter. It needs to be cleaned or replaced. It’s better than nothing.”

  Samantha closed her eyes and revealed a large smile. Having her scalp massaged was going to put her to sleep. Giselle enjoyed the girl time and felt normal for once. It reminded her of when she washed her mother’s hair after Austin died. She took it hard and failed to take care of herself as she used to. Giselle forced her out of bed and led her to the tub to be washed. It raised her spirits a bit inspiring her mood to change for the better. It took time, but eventually she got through it.

 
“Mm, the coconut smells amazing.” Samantha spoke still keeping her eyes closed.

  Giselle rinsed off her hair, applied conditioner, and stood up when she was finished. Samantha opened her eyes and displayed a happy grin.

  “Thanks Giselle. I’ll be out in a minute.”

  “Take your time. Don’t forget to rinse out the conditioner.”

  “I won’t.” Samantha cleaned herself with a rag and soap. The water was filthy.

  After the bath, Samantha put on a fresh set of clothes and felt like a new person. She exited smelling her hair. Everyone was amazed at the makeover. Later, they all gathered around the dinner table and shared a hot meal of canned pasta in tomato sauce. The label had been removed. It was a pleasant surprise. Jason ate a squirrel outside and shared the leftovers with the chained Azrael. He walked back in and joined them at the dinner table. He still had gray fur on his face.

  “Uh uh, nope. Not at the dinner table. Jesus Jason, go wash that fur off your face, please.” Giselle instructed while pointing a spoon at him. His expression appeared surprised. He grunted, wiped the fur off his face with his sleeve and smiled big. Gray tufts of fur shot out from between his teeth like grass between tiles of a sidewalk. It drew a good laugh by everyone. Morale was high for a change. Life, although complicated, was better than okay for once.

  Chapter 27

  Into the Trees

  After a few minutes of jogging, François had his answer as to how well their scent had been masked. Movement in the trees on the right side of the road alarmed him. He removed a knife from his bag and readied himself for the encounter. His ribs ached, probably since three bones on the right of his rib cage were broken from the steel rebar piercing through them. One of his lungs was also damaged but had already healed and functioned painfully.

  A group of armed men exited the cover of the woods aiming their assault rifles towards François. He immediately raised his arms up and dropped the knife.

  “Where the fuck you come from?” The largest of the men asked. The others appeared frightened. All of their heartbeats were elevated. François avoided eye contact and hoped the darkness would hide his gray Azrael eyes.

  “The young lady is sick and I am taking her somewhere safe.”

  “Where you from white boy? Not from here, and where the fuck you going?”

  “We were passing through and a couple of Azrael caused us to crash over by the bridge.”

  “What the fuck you lookin’ at? I’m talkin’ to you, nigga. Look at me!”

  François squinted and looked up at them hoping to hide his eyes. They didn’t seem to notice. He doubted that they’ve ever engaged in conversation with an Azrael.

  “It looks to me like you’re heading to that house down the road.” The man pointed his gun in the direction. “What I think you’re doing is bringing that beautiful black princess there to fuck. What you do to her, huh?”

  “Nothing, she is burning up and needs a doctor.”

  “Trey, check her out.” The man turned to one of the men and nodded towards Taliah. Trey hurried over.

  “Back the fuck up Napoleon.” The man continued and aimed his rifle at François’ face. He backed up.

  Trey felt her forehead with the back of his hand and nodded over to the other guy.

  “She’s burnin’ up Lamar.” He grabbed her wrist and timed her pulse with his watch. “Her heartrate is elevated and faint. She needs a doctor, bro” He continued.

  “What the fuck you do to her?”

  “I told you, the car crashed into the water and she’s been like this ever since.” François’ accent thickened as he became frustrated.

  “Why should I believe you?”

  “Because I am telling the truth. Look, the longer you argue with me out here, the longer you place my friend in danger from the sickness and from the other Azrael that I didn’t find after the accident.” François urged.

  “We need to get going Lamar. Fuck this nigga. Fuck this bitch.” Another man pleaded.

  “Shit, alright white boy we’ll escort you back to our crib.” Lamar explained.

  “That house…that is your…?”

  “For now it is. Only reason why I’m helping you is for the girl.” Lamar interrupted and nodded over to Taliah.

  François bent over to pick up his knife.

  “Nope, leave it there. Johnny…” He nodded over to another man. “...pick that shit up and grab his bag.” Lamar smiled. His perfect white teeth seemed to glow in the dark.

  “Got it.” Johnny said after grabbing both. He bumped into François intentionally and sneered at him. François avoided eye contact and attempted to pick up Taliah.

  “We got this. Stay in front of us where we can see you. Don’t worry, if we wanted to take advantage of her we would have killed your ass and done it already. You’re lucky you didn’t run into D-Lo and his boys. Those sick mothafuckers were meant for this world.” Lamar spat on the ground.

  “Which is why we killed those niggas.” Trey added.

  “Fuck those niggas.” Lamar agreed. The others nodded.

  François walked ahead of them and focused on hearing the sounds behind them. Their heartrates were no longer raised. They were comfortable and vulnerable. If he were alone, they would already be dead for pointing their weapons at him. Taliah, she is his responsibility. This was his fault and now she is infected with the virus because of him. After walking a few more minutes, the house came into view.

  “There it is!” Johnny hollered.

  “Shhh, keep your voice down dumbass.” Lamar scowled.

  The smell of Azrael rot lingered in the air as they neared the place. It was faint but François could smell it. It was in the house. He stopped.

  “Fucking move.” Lamar urged in a whisper.

  “There’s one of them inside. I thought this was your place.”

  “It is. I saw it. We’re going to it. It’s my crib.” Lamar sniffed the air. “I don’t smell shit. Stop stalling and move.” He urged.

  “Give me my knife.”

  “Go fuck yourself.” Lamar retorted.

  “You’ve got automatic weapons. What can I do with a knife?” François argued.

  “Exactly, we’ve got automatic weapons. You don’t need your fucking knife.” Lamar poked François in his back with the barrel of his weapon. “Keep moving.”

  He began to walk again. He didn’t want to place Taliah in any unnecessary danger. He didn’t think that they would harm her but he also didn’t want them discharging their weapons unnecessarily drawing the Azrael in. The closer he came to the house the more detail he discovered about the Azrael inside. It was injured. Its breathing was encumbered and its heartrate had almost doubled. Its blood was splashed across the porch and led through the open front door.

  “Lamar, the door’s open. Was it open earlier?” Trey asked.

  “No, no it wasn’t. Maybe this asshole was right.” Lamar dug the end of his rifle into François’ back again.

  “I still can’t have my knife?” François asked under his breath.

  “Are we still doing this? Stop bitchin’ white boy.” Lamar instructed.

  One of the other men dropped his canteen and it fell with a loud clatter on the asphalt. Everyone turned to face him. He reached for his water canteen and his hands were shaking like a leaf on a tree.

  “Why did we bring Maurice?” Johnny angrily whispered to Lamar.

  “He’s gonna get us killed.” Trey added.

  “Sorry bro, it slipped.” Maurice admitted.

  “Just get your shit in order Maurice. I promised your sister I’d look after you. I’d hate to bring her bad news.” Lamar walked over and put his left hand on his shoulder. “Calm down nigga. We’ll be alright.” He whispered.

  François noticed a sudden change in the Azrael’s heartrate and breathing. It heard them. Before François could warn the others it howled loudly. Its raspy voice carried for miles. More were going to come.

  “We should find somewhere else to take
Taliah.” François instructed.

  “Sounds like a good fucking idea to me. So, the girl’s name is Taliah. Wait, you’re telling me this is the Taliah from Chicago?”

  “You’ve heard of her?”

  “You’re damn right we’ve heard of her. We also heard that she was kidnapped not long ago by some assholes.” Trey aimed his rifle at François’ face.

  “I saved her from those assholes. That’s who we were fleeing from.”

  “Bullshit. Do you take me for a fool mothafucker?” Lamar became more hostile.

  “I don’t give a shit if you believe me or not. At the moment, we have an unknown amount of Azrael coming this way from all directions. The longer we argue about this, the worse chance we have at surviving this shit.” François stepped closer to Lamar and glared his eyes at him.

  “The fuck is wrong with your eyes, man?” Lamar backed up and his heartrate almost doubled.

  “Nothing, I am a weapon designed to combat the Azrael using the virus to enhance my senses. I was tasked with protecting Taliah from those that tried to take her. Right now, I am the best chance you have to surviving this. Now give me my fucking knife.” François insisted.

  “Johnny, gi...gi...give the man his knife.” Lamar stammered.

  Johnny tossed him the knife. He caught it with poise, inspected it for damage, and attached the sheath from his bag to his belt.

  “Where are the Bricks? Is it close?” François asked.

  “About two miles through the woods. It’s too dark to go back that way. We’ve been sticking close to the road for better line of sight.” Lamar answered.

  “Why are you out here anyway? You can’t see anything at all. You don’t even have anything hiding your scent.” François said while sniffing the air.

  Lamar sighed and looked at his men.

  “We’ve been lost since it got dark.” He removed the magazine from the rifle. “We’ve got maybe four to six rounds in each magazine. We were hoping to make it through the night in that house. Then…” Lamar paused. “Then we saw your car driving past. I uh…” He stammered. “I hoped that the Azrael blocking the bridge would have been taken care of so we could get back home. I hadn’t planned on you crashing into the fucking river.” Lamar admitted.