The Azrael (Book 4): Tricon

by Gagnon, Jesse

  Once they were clear from the tree in the road, the driver pressed the accelerator to the floor. Unfortunately, they were not moving as fast as he wanted. The Azrael horde was almost surrounding the vehicle’s front quarter and was moving faster than the van. They were seconds from fully surrounding it.

  Charles McConnell, the driver, gave a troubled look to Patrick. He looked down at the emergency brake and back up at Patrick. Patrick nodded at him knowing that this was the only choice.

  “Hold on everyone. We’re going to try to turn around quickly.” Patrick explained.

  Charles released the gas, pulled the emergency brake and turned the wheel hard to the left sending all Azrael to their right under the van or off the road. It came dangerously close to tipping but quick actions by Charles countered the weight with precise counter turns to the steering wheel. He stomped down on the accelerator once more driving over a dozen Azrael that tried to stop the vehicle. Heavy-duty tires with run-flat capabilities took the beating from the Azrael bodies without pause. A constant rumble of something wedged in the wheel well caused the van to shake and pull to the right. After several more revolutions, the van leaned to the left as its back right tire cleared the debris. In the rear view mirror, a young Azrael’s body flung behind the van. It was still moving.

  “Is everyone okay?” Patrick asked behind him.

  Charles was still white knuckled as he held the steering wheel with a death grip. He was exhaling a deep breath every few seconds attempting to slow his heart rate.

  “You doin’ alright Charlie?” Patrick asked perceiving his friend’s state. Charles nodded.

  “I’m good Pat. I’m good.” He answered a few moments later.

  “Great driving Charlie.” Patrick added.

  “Thanks man. I thought for sure we were gonna tip over.” Charles admitted.

  A road junction ahead provided a detour back to Chicago that would bypass the massive mob of Azrael. Charlie turned down the street and activated the high beams. It was a one-lane road in both directions that travelled through a business district. The problem with the detour was that they couldn’t maintain a fast speed due to abandoned vehicles in the road or large items left in the street from failed lootings of retail stores.

  “Keep an eye out for small groups.” Patrick instructed.

  Both Janice and Stan were wide-awake and scanning the streets for any threats. A pack of dogs was eating a moving Azrael body. A large mangy mixed breed kept a good hold of its throat while the others fed. Janice wondered if it was human for a moment. When it bit the leg of another feeding dog, she knew that it wasn’t.

  As the van rounded a blind corner, Charles quickly deactivated the headlights and slowed to a crawl until eventually stopping. Concerned with their sudden stop Janice asked in a whisper.

  “What’s wrong?” She asked while pulling herself towards the front seat.

  Charles appeared as if he had just seen a ghost. He held the steering wheel tightly again and just stared into the darkness. He shook his head.

  “They’re everywhere, man...fucking everywhere.” He mumbled to himself.

  Patrick studied the landscape closely searching for somewhere to hold up for the night, since a massive herd of Azrael may surround them.

  “Do you think they saw us?” Janice whispered.

  “I don’t think so. Charles back up slowly until we’re out of sight of them. We’ll try another way.” Patrick spoke softly.

  Charles agreed and slowly backed up. He made an attempt to turn around when he was out of eyesight. He triggered the low beams and about a fifty filled up the road about a hundred yards from where they came.

  “Fuck, they followed us.” Charles blurted. “We’ve got to make a run for it.” He urged. His eyes were wild.

  “Can’t we just take our chances in here?” Stan suggested.

  “We might be okay for a bit but eventually they will open this van up like an axe to a can of peas.” Patrick whispered.

  “Shit.” Stan mumbled to himself.

  “See that white building behind that gas station?” Patrick asked while pointing at it.

  “The vet?” Janice asked.

  “Yup. We could hide out there for the night. It’s in a recess between those other two buildings. There’s a higher chance of survival with that one.” Patrick admitted.

  “I see your point. Stan, think you can do this?” Janice stared into his eyes.

  “Do I have a choice?” He asked.

  “I’m afraid not kid.” Patrick confessed.

  Stan gulped hard and gazed at the building with concern. He took in a few deep breaths.

  “Let’s do it.” He admitted.

  “Alright then, stay close and tread lightly. If they see us, run like hell.” Patrick explained while climbing to the back of the van. He decided to use those doors since the sliding side doors made too much noise, especially with the added weight of the armor. He carefully opened them and climbed out. They had a direct shot to the vet with only a small window that the Azrael could see them.

  “Hurry out.” He whispered and assisted each of them as they exited out the back of the van. “Follow.” He aimed his index and middle finger at both of his eyes from his right hand and then pointed towards where the Azrael were. He then brought his index finger to his lip shushing them. They all nodded.

  Patrick lightly jogged towards the veterinarian hospital without incident. Once he reached the door, he had to use a lock pick to open the front door. Stan spun to look at the Azrael up the road. He assumed they saw them and hurried his steps clumsily. He tripped over a sprinkler head and collided into an empty green trashcan that was next to the door.

  “Shit!” Patrick blurted. “Get in quick.” He instructed as the door clicked open.

  Charles pushed inside and Janice ran over to help Stan get up. Stan stumbled to his feet and ran inside behind Charles. Janice turned to go inside and an arm grabbed her shoulder pulling her on her back causing the thumb guard of her holster to release her pistol into the grass.

  “Aaah!” She screamed.

  Patrick saw three more coming and seized the opportunity to save Janice. He still loved her despite what happened before. He tackled the Azrael that snatched her and tried to grab the others as the one he tackled was biting into him.

  “Run!” He yelled and released a bloodcurdling cry as the others bit into his throat.

  She stood up and sprinted into the building. Charles shut the door and locked it. It was constructed out of steel and would take punishment. The sounds of the Azrael eating Patrick stopped after a few more seconds as the virus took root. Seconds later, banging on the door startled the group. It was dark inside and they hadn’t even had time to clear it before deciding that it was safe. Janice had tears streaming down her face and she struggled to hide her sniffles behind the chaotic banging behind the door.

  “We should...try to put something in front of this door just in case.” Janice wrestled with her words as she continued to mourn but needed to take charge of the situation before it grew out of hand.

  “You got a flashlight?” Stan asked while attempting to see. “I can’t see anything.” He continued.

  A distant odor of decay, shit, and piss was coming from another room. It immediately assaulted their senses as they moved through the room blinded.

  “Wish I did, kid.” Charles admitted while placing his hands in front of him in attempts to find a wall.

  “It definitely stinks in here. Shit, it smells worse all of a sudden.” Stan admitted.

  Janice instinctively reached for her weapon and noticed it missing.

  “Shit!” She griped. She reached into her backpack. “I got a light in my bag. Just let me...” Janice activated the light. It lit up the room revealing a small empty room near the door. Sounds of several small footsteps of animals were heard in the back room. “You hear that?” Janice asked and shined the light towards the source.

  Growling followed from countless dogs as they slowly s
tepped forward into the light. They were starving and their ribs were showing. Blood caked their fur as they licked whatever they had been eating from their snouts.

  “Easy boy, easy.” Charles spoke first being the closest to them.

  He slowly brought his hand towards his pistol. Unfortunately, he only had time to discharge one shot towards the closest dog before the rest of the mangy dogs charged overwhelming him in vicious bites. They tore him apart violently while the Azrael banged on the doors outside. The scent of the Azrael wafted into the room and the sound of their footsteps could be heard from the back room. She noticed them coming and struggled to knock the dogs away with the flashlight since she had dropped her own pistol. After a few strikes, the flashlight extinguished. She grabbed Stan’s hand and pulled him into the room that she spotted earlier near the entrance. He tumbled to the ground. As she attempted to close the door, a massive jaw of a dog lunged into the crack biting her arm. It held its grip and wrenched back and forth.

  “Fuck!” She hollered.

  Stan’s hand grazed something on the ground nearby, stood up and ran towards the sounds of the growling with it. He felt her in front of the door struggling. He moved his hands towards the snarling animal until he found its mangy head writhing back and forth. He swung the abrasive object at its head several times until it yelped and pulled back. Janice instinctively shut the door. She felt around for a locking mechanism and activated the button that was in the knob with a trembling hand, locking the door. She slid down the smooth metal door and sat down with her back to it. The sounds of yelps, Azrael grunts and barking were a garbled ambiance behind her. Janice brought her left mangled arm into her chest and felt blood pouring out of it. If she didn’t do something then she could bleed out.

  “Stan...Stan, could you...” She whispered.

  “Can I what?” He whispered back.

  “Find me something to clean my arm and wrap it up.” She finished.

  “I...I’ll try. I can’t see anything.” He admitted.

  “Here, take this. Not sure if it still works, but it might.” Janice struck Stan’s left shoulder with the flashlight in her right hand. He took it from her and tried to activate it. It came on with one try, blinding Stan. He aimed it away from him at the wall.

  “Must have hit the off button when I hit the dogs.” Janice assumed.

  The room they were in had a bunch of cages framing all sides of the walls. It must have been where they stored the pets until their owners arrived. Fortunately, all cages were empty. Unfortunately, other than piss soaked blankets, dog shit, bloody bones, and fur nothing else was in the room. Stan shined the flashlight on the weapon in his other hand. It was a gnawed up bone. He dropped it. After surveying further, it came from a corpse of a large dog that most likely had been eaten by the other dogs.

  “Christ, there’s nothing.” He mumbled.

  “Here...take this.” Janice pulled off her shirt, revealing just a bloody tan bra underneath. “Wrap it around my arm tightly. I’ll...clean it later.” She finished.

  He took her shirt, wrapped her arm tightly and used his belt to keep it on tight.

  “What now?”

  “Well...is there a window on the door?” She asked.

  He shined the flashlight on it. It revealed a window but blood caked the outside of it.

  “Yes, but can’t see through it. It’s covered in blood.”

  “Shit!” She spat. “Well, we rest. Turn off the flashlight. Save the batteries. We’ll see if it’s quiet in a few hours. Lean against the door too.” She instructed. He sat down next to her and she snuggled into him. He wrapped his arms around her and they fell asleep soon after.

  Chapter 31

  Brickstone Apartments

  In an apartment on the fourth floor of the Brickstone apartment complex, once assigned to those on welfare, now housed people from all financial situations before the outbreak. However, since African-Americans that lived in the south suburbs mostly occupied the community, François stuck out like a flashlight in the dark. He sat next to Taliah in a reclining chair as she lay on a couch nearby. Trey placed a cold rag on her forehead and was taking her blood pressure. She still remained unresponsive to all attempts to wake her.

  “She’s burning up man. Are you sure there’s nothing else wrong with her?” Trey asked François while discovering an elevated blood pressure reading as well.

  François pulled her right eyelid up and inspected her eyes for any change. Her beautiful brown eye remained with no indication of becoming milky white. Although, the process took several days for François to acquire the Azrael eyes, indications of the change should have been showing by then. She did bypass the necrosis event, not unlike Giselle Johnson did a few months ago. Yet, she didn’t carry any immunity to the virus nor did she receive a receiving agent like Giselle did. The only unique thing about her was the HIV virus and her unwavering resolve.

  “Hey, Frenchy, what else is wrong with her?” Trey asked again.

  “I don’t know. She’s been like this since the accident. Do you think there was something in the water?” He lied trying to sound convincing.

  “You were in it too. How come you aren’t all fucked up from it?” Johnny asked.

  François just gave him a blank stare. His creepy eyes were his answer.

  “Okay, this is how things operate here in our home. First, we get some God damned food for our guests!” He turned his neck towards the kitchen. “Andrea where’s my fucking water?” Lamar asked.

  “Chill out nigga. It’s right here.” Andrea gestured to a plastic cup of ice water on the coffee table next to them. “Got some noodles cookin’ on the stove. Chicken or beef?” She asked François dangling each package in front of him.

  “Chicken please. Merci Andrea.”

  “Ooh, a man with manners. You’re welcome, Sweetheart.” She scowled at Lamar. “Ungrateful ass.” She headed for the kitchen.

  “Anyway, second since we have invited you into our home you are now obligated to tell the fucking truth. What the hell’s wrong with Taliah? This ain’t no head trauma bullshit. Trey worked EMT for the fire station for four years.”

  “I seen some fucked up shit. This one dude dropped his bike and his face was like...”

  “Aight Trey. I got this.” Lamar patted his chest and mean mugged Trey.

  “Whateva nigga, that shit was in my head for days. That’s all I’m sayin’.”

  “Why would you think that François, eh, I lied to you?” He asked.

  “Let’s keep it one hundred. Let me start with the fact that Andrea is my baby mamma and we’ve broken up like three times.”

  “Five ya lyin ass nigga!” She hollered from the other room.

  “Five. I forgot about the other two, don’t mean I’m lyin.” He hollered back.

  “I believe you Lamar but...”

  “Why are we doin’ this?” Lamar hit his hands with every syllable indicating his seriousness as he interrupted François. “Tell me why Taliah Banks is in this condition.” He continued.

  “That’s Taliah Banks? The chick from the city? Samantha said she heard she was some uppity bitch livin’ in some fancy apartment. She also said she heard that she got snatched up by somebody.” Andrea was spreading gossip as she continued to heat up the noodles in the other room.

  “Bitch, just stay in the kitchen. No one needs to hear yo’ ignorant ass.”

  “Fuck you. I ain’t no bitch. You the bitch. Why we still livin’ in the Bricks you broke ass nigga?” Andrea argued. François noticed that Andrea was also clapping her hands with each syllable of the last sentence. Shit was getting real.

  “Aight...whateva, Andrea.” Lamar waved her away.

  “She’s infected.” François snuck in the truth. He believed they missed it over the arguments.

  “She’s what?” Trey backed away from her.

  “I must have been drowning in the river. She pulled me to the bank and gave me CPR. I’m still me...but...I’m contagious through the saliva.�
�� François admitted. Lamar slid the cup of water away from François. “When I awoke after she saved me, she was afflicted with seizures. Shortly after, she was like this.” François gestured to her current state.

  “But she’s not one of them. How is she infected?” Lamar asked.

  “I have no idea what’s going on with her. She’s showing no signs of a typical Azrael infection other than the fever and high blood pressure.” François admitted.

  “But you’re not the typical Azrael.”

  “At first, I showed signs of the typical infection but these right here...” François retrieved one of the bottles of the serum from his bag and showed them.” ...keep me from ending up like them.”

  “Did you give her one of those?” Trey asked.

  “No, no I didn’t. I don’t want to risk causing her to be dependent on the daily serum like myself. I’m not entirely sure she needs them. So, why risk it?”

  “You take that shit daily?” Trey asked.

  “Oui, it’s the only thing keeping me human.”

  “What if you forget to take it?” Lamar asked.

  “If I miss it even once by five hours or so then I’m an Azrael permanently.” François said while holding the serum in his hand.

  “What if I took one of those?” Trey asked.

  “Then you’d be sick for a day at least and if you didn’t take another you’d end up Azrael.”

  “Shit.” Trey mumbled.

  “So what’s your plan? What does she need?” Lamar asked.

  “She needs a doctor that is familiar with the virus. The sooner the better.”

  “In the morning we’ll give you a ride to wherever you need to go.”

  “With what?” Johnny asked.

  “With Ju Ju’s car.”