Samantha observed Jason as he moved to the music compelled by the chaos in it. She contemplated playing something a bit more peaceful to see if that would trigger a different response. She found Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’, one of her favorite classical tunes, and played it. Jason’s body loosened up and he swayed to the rhythm of the music. He grunted and shuffled around in a calming stupor.
Samantha wondered if it would work on the regular ones and brought her music to the window. Immediately, Jason reverted to the crazed animal and returned to attacking the door. She dangled the headphones outside the window near the others chained to the lawnmower. Nothing changed in their behavior. She cranked up the volume and they noticed her. They growled, moaned and attempted to get at her in a violent way. Samantha pulled her headphones up and back into the room. She slid the window down, closing it. The growls and moans subsided a minute later after she was already lying beneath her sheets on the floor. She jotted down what she saw.
Satisfied with her little experiment, Samantha placed both earbuds in her ears and fell asleep on her back listening to a compilation of classical music.
Chapter 35
The Fog
Face down on a pillow, John was in a deep coma like sleep. The door to the room creaked open slowly as Savanna peaked inside, hoping that John was awake. She had been anxious to get going since the others left the night before. She stayed in bed with John until he fell asleep. She snuck off for some late night snacks and to pack for the scavenger run. A pickup truck from the 90’s had been well maintained by the Highwaymen that occupied the safe house they were in. She filled the tank with ethanol fuel due to its fuel modification by Jose Gonzalez, the Highwayman in charge of the ethanol modification program. She placed two full five-gallon fuel jugs in the back seat just in case. A backpack with three days’ worth of food and water for the two of them was packed in the back seat as well. She had hot coffee and oatmeal downstairs cooling on the kitchen table for John. She walked in and whispered to him.
“John! I’ve got breakfast downstairs.” He didn’t budge. “John!” She spoke louder.
He sat up quickly. His eyes were heavy and he had drool stuck to his face. John smacked his lips and attempted to focus his vision. He squinted at Savanna.
“What time is it, Babe?” He asked while closing the eye closest to the sunlight coming through the window. He followed with a massive yawn. She yawned in reaction.
“Six-thirty...”She looked at her watch. “...four.”
“Why so early?” John turned and studied his pillow. A wet spot where his drooling face rested turned the moist spot off-white.
“I couldn’t sleep, not while they’re out there.” Savanna walked over to the window and scanned the landscape outside. Over the past few hours, it had begun to rain. The sound of raindrops hitting the window and a distant rumbling of thunder was like a quiet drum preparing for war.
“They’ll be fine without us. We got our own shit to do. Let me piss and I’ll meet you downstairs.”
John wore a wry grin and staggered towards the bathroom. She kissed him on his cheek before he went inside. Her overly perky attitude was quite possibly driven by massive amounts of coffee. She quickly descended the stairs and sat at the table. She couldn’t sit still and fidgeted in her chair as she sipped her coffee at the table. The steam from both bowls of oatmeal warmed her cheeks while the brown sugar and vanilla extract aroma wafted throughout the room. She wore a satisfying smile as her eyes closed, taking in the illusion of normalcy. John located the bag of brown sugar and vanilla extract in a supply closet near the cafeteria when they were last at Tricon. Although, most supplies were taken and shared amongst everyone, the brown sugar and vanilla extract was John’s personal gift to Savanna. He kept it from the others and gave it to her when they were alone in their room.
The sound of heavy footsteps traversed through the upstairs after sounds of water rushing through the plumbing lines that ran down the walls near the downstairs bathroom. Savanna opened her eyes and watched as John stepped down the stairs. She studied his reaction to the oatmeal in the air. He nodded his head with a large smile, revealing a few missing teeth among his sparkling white teeth.
“That smells fucking awesome!” He beamed.
“I know, right. Thanks to you.” Savanna gestured to the ingredients on the kitchen counter.
“I just saw it and knew that you would love it. Forget the fact that I had to stab a guy for it.” John wore a devilish grin.
“You didn’t?” Savanna scowled.
“Why? Those pieces of shit held you prisoner, Savanna. Fuck those guys.” John gave an invisible man the middle finger.
“But...they weren’t horrible people. They never actually, well they tried...but...”
“They tried what? What did those pricks do? Did they touch you?” John became furious and the white of his knuckles glowed through his tightly wound up fists.
“Nothing happened. I promise.” She gazed deep into his eyes. They were maddened by his rage. She watched as they slowly returned to normal. “John, sit down and eat something. I got you coffee too.” She finished.
“I would have killed if you were hurt.” John sat down and took a sip of the coffee. It burned his upper lip and he recoiled slightly. He went in for another sip more carefully and then put it down.
“So, you didn’t kill anyone for the sugar and vanilla?” Savanna twisted her nose while narrowing her eyes.
“For sugar and vanilla, you think I’m that cold?” John dug his spoon into the oatmeal and stirred it in a daze.
“No, I didn’t but I know what you would do for me.” She lowered her chin and looked up into his eyes while he studied a thick glob of sticky oatmeal stuck to his spoon. She tried to get his attention with her eyes. Once his dark brown eyes met hers, she continued. “You’ve got to be careful John. They told me about your trip to Douglas Park, alone.” Savanna spoke softly and shook her head. “You could have died, John. Your life is worth more than that...especially to me.” She studied his reaction with concern.
“It was stupid, I know. But you needed me, Babe.” John brought his gaze back to his bowl.
“You’re right. Look at me John.” She instructed and he looked up into her eyes. They were glassy. He was moments from crying and she knew it. She recognized that he didn’t want her seeing him like that, showing weakness. “I do need you. I need you to live. You can’t keep doing reckless shit like that. It might not matter to you but your life matters to me.” She continued while scooting her chair closer to John and ran her fingers through his dark brown hair. His eyes danced from left to right, fighting a saddened fear of losing Savanna.
“I can’t lose you again. I want a future for us. I want kids.” He paused and shook his head. “Not right now but when the world is safer for those little shits.” He admitted as a rogue tear from his right eye escaped down his cheek. He felt it coming and could have stopped it but he didn’t want to. She deserved it.
“And we will John. But until then we need to make sound decisions so we can make it to that point, like eating our breakfast.” Savanna held both of her hands around his face and she wiped away his tear with a brush of her left thumb. She kissed him on the lips softly and pulled away. “Eat John.” She demanded while motioning to his bowl with her eyes. John shoveled a large scoop of sticky oatmeal into his mouth.
“Yes, ma’am. Think I might eat another bowl before we leave.” John admitted, dampened by a glob of warm soggy oats that stretched out from his tongue to the roof of his mouth.
“Good, I have a whole potful of it on the stove over there.” She directed at it with her spoon. “I was hoping you would want more. I started off with too much sugar.”
“There’s no such thing.” John turned his neck over towards the pot on the stove.
The two enjoyed a hearty breakfast before sharing a warm shower that helped to propel their day into the right direction. An hour later, they had the truck fully packed and were slow
ly rolling out of the gravel driveway. John was driving while Savanna verified that both of their pistols were well oiled and all magazines were filled. She screwed suppressors on each weapon to verify the threads were unhindered by debris. Satisfied with the result, she removed the accessory and holstered a pistol on each gun belt.
“I’ve got a good feeling about this run.”
Savanna forced a smile hoping to inspire a warm feeling about the mission. She actually felt a knot in her side and a lingering worry about everything. She didn’t want to spread the negative vibe to John so she lied.
“At least someone feels good about this. I’m just not feeling it today.” John confessed, wearing every emotion on his sleeve in lucid colors.
The rain subsided and the visibility became low as they drove into a thick layer of fog. John slowed his movements forward while squinting at the road that disappeared into the white abyss about ten feet in front of them.
“Can those things see through fog?” John worried
“Maybe, I’m not really sure.” A figure appeared in the fog right in front of them. “John, watch out!” She hollered.
“Fucking shit!” John blurted while turning the wheel taking them off the road to dodge whatever was wandering in it. They both turned back to see what it was.
“Did you see what it was, John?” Savanna asked with her left hand on his shoulder. She turned back around. “John, stop! Stop!” She urged.
He quickly faced forward and slammed on the brakes. The truck vibrated intensely and skidded about thirty feet before stopping. A massive car pileup littered the upcoming intersecting road. Blinking lights broke through the fog giving them an indicator of the threat before it was too late. There was no way through or around it. They had to turn around.
“Maybe the road we crossed a few minutes ago leads into town.” John speculated while reading a map that was folded underneath the visor above his head.
“We should get moving John. That thing is still out there and there could be more.” Savanna suggested as she scanned the area for movement.
“Just tryin’ to get my bearings. Here, see if that road here...” He pointed to the street they passed earlier on the map. “...will take us into town.” He continued.
“Okay, give it to me. Just keep driving, John. Keep driving.” She urged with concern in her voice.
“I’m moving, I’m moving. How about that good feeling?” He turned to her. She scowled at him.
“Fuck off.” Savanna retorted and studied their surroundings instead of the map. She turned around in her seat and squinted out each window with a grimace.
John accelerated towards where they came. A female figure appeared to the left of them, alone. It was completely nude, covered in mud and appeared anorexic.
“You see that?” She whispered as if it would hear her and followed it with her eyes until it disappeared into the fog.
“Yup, it’s by itself and looked like one of the ones we saw back at...” John paused and inspected Savanna. She lost all of the color in her face. She was staring ahead. “...what’s wrong?”
“John...” She spoke softly while pointing ahead. “Don’t stop...” She insisted.
A massive herd of naked Azrael in the same condition as the lone female Azrael littered the roadway. In seconds, John struck the first one at fifteen miles an hour.
“Damn it.” John shouted as he pressed on the gas with the hope that they would break through eventually.
Dozens of frail bodies ricocheted off the bumper. A few were brought over and struck the windshield creating a massive spider web crack across it. Both side mirrors were broken off, the truck bounced and shook as the tires drove over countless bodies. They appeared more surprised than aggressive. John prayed that the truck remained intact. The bodies suddenly became smaller but the end was still out of sight.
“Are those...children?” Savanna asked identifying the new speed bumps that were being driven over.
“Don’t look, Savanna. Read the God damned map. Take us off this fucking road.” John instructed.
The truck suddenly shook intensely as something or someone was caught in the front right wheel well. After a few seconds, it cleared with a loud thud. Savanna was in tears. John was white knuckled as he held the wheel firmly.
“There it is...” John pointed. “...the road, should we go down it?” He asked.
“Or go where?” She asked in frustration.
“Back to the safe house. Try again when the weather clears?” He inquired.
“We’ve come this far. Wouldn’t want to lure them back to the safe house anyway. Turn John, turn.” She instructed.
John plowed through about thirty more young Azrael before the turn was available. Once they travelled along the offshoot for about a mile, the Azrael horde diminished to a few every ten feet. After ten miles, there were no more sightings of them. Unfortunately, the fog persisted as they travelled deeper into town.
“Keep an eye out for more of those fuckers.” John instructed as he carefully weaved around debris and abandoned vehicles in the road.
The odor of the mangled pieces of flesh still stuck to the grill of the truck, settled in all cracks and corners within the hood and was sucked into the vehicles ventilation. Savanna shut all of the vents in an attempt to diminish the smell. They hadn’t noticed it earlier as much when their adrenaline was pumping and their hearts were racing.
“Well, we learned that those fuckfaces can’t see through the fog. I guess that’s somethin’.” He wore a half grin as he tried to soothe Savanna.
“You’re right, John. They didn’t see us...not at all.” She agreed, removed a journal from her pack and wrote down the information. Her hand was still shaking, but she managed to write down the information with decent penmanship.
“How many do you think we drove...?”
“John, not now. I don’t want to think about it.” Savanna interrupted and turned away to peer through her door window.
The face of the little Azrael girl that she mutilated with her hands back at the Tricon facility returned to her mind. All of those young Azrael were once living, breathing children that spent most of their time daydreaming of a future, daydreaming that they were superheroes or pretending to be princesses. The awful reality of the world sickened her heart further as she deliberated over it.
“Look, over there.” John nodded his head towards a large building when Savanna turned to face him. The fog cleared up and a large shopping supercenter, that once sold everything from food to electronics, stood at the top of a massive hill.
“There’s no way that there’s anything left in there.” Savanna admitted while shaking her head.
“Never know ‘till you try. Hell, the outbreak could have happened sooner than they expected and didn’t get a chance to loot the place.”
“I doubt it. If anything, that place is a death trap waiting for stupid people like us to fall into it.” Savanna explained with disdain.
“What happened to that good feeling you had earlier?” John asked.
Without looking away from John’s eyes, she pointed at a piece of an Azrael’s scalp that flapped in the wind being held by long brown hair strands in the grill of the truck.
“That’s what’s left of it blowing in the fucking wind you insensitive prick.”
“Hey, I’m not going in that place with a negative attitude. That gets people dead faster than a one legged chicken in a foxhole. Where else can we find supplies in that quantity? Look at the size of that place. I’m positive it put any local stores in the area out of business, especially with the town being so small.” John speculated.
“I’m not going in there, John.” Savanna stood firm on the subject.
“Fine, we’re turnin’ around then. Maybe there’s somethin’ else on the main strip.” John made a U-turn heading back into the fog. “Back into the clouds.” He added.
“Thanks, John.”
Savana released an audible sigh and continued her search through h
er side window. A small grouping of buildings on the main road appeared in bad shape. A convenience store on the corner had all windows broken into and the place appeared severely water damaged.
“Don’t look like much.” John admitted.
“You’re right but maybe there...” Something was headed straight for them. It was massive. It was an Alpha. “...John don’t drive through that one!” She continued.
“Babe, I’m turnin’ around. Hold tight.” John quickly turned the truck and drove back up the hill towards the supercenter.
“Where you goin’ John?” Savanna asked.
“Away from them.”
John gestured towards the rearview mirror with his eyes. She looked into it and noticed three more massive Azrael along with hundreds of faint figures in the fog behind them. She scanned through the back window and was met with the reality of their situation. They were trapped between that deathtrap on top of the hill and an angry massive herd of Azrael.
“We’re fucked John.” She mumbled.
“Sit tight Angel lips and get our gear ready.” John smiled with a concerned look but appeared happy that he was with her. “‘Till the end, Babe. I’m here.” He finished with a wink.
“We’ll be fine. Save that wink for when it’s time.” Savanna sat up and attached her gun belt around her waist while clasping the clasps around her right leg.
“Lean forward.” She instructed to John and she wrapped his gun belt around his waist and leg. She made sure the bale was over his weapon while shaking it to make sure it was a firm fit. “You’re good.” She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. His stubble tickled her nose and scraped her lips like sandpaper. She liked it.
“You get your knife?”
“What knife?” She asked with confusion.
“It was a gift sent to us by...shit, I don’t remember.” John reached in the back seat for a package. It was addressed to John and Savanna.
The Azrael (Book 4): Tricon Page 22
