“She was bit? By what?” He looked towards Samantha resting in the other room and stretched his neck to get a good look at her. She was sleeping peacefully. He shrugged, returned to his cooking.
“An Azrael. It was my fault. I didn’t protect her.” She spoke in a daze still staring out the window.
“She is sweating a bit, but she doesn’t smell like one of them. I think she is fine. Maybe she’s immune.” He suggested and continued to stir the pasta.
“She’s not immune, Toko. I used the serum...it was the only thing I could think to do.”
“You used what?” He stopped stirring and gave her a troubled look.
“The serum. I injected it into her neck.” She mimed the action on her own neck.
“That’s not how that works. This is a level two serum. She needs a level five. It’s too concentrated of a dose. What...what are her symptoms?” He asked while exiting the kitchen.
“She’s had an elevated heartrate and a fever.”
Giselle joined him back in the living room area. She lowered herself to her knees. She immediately felt a knot in her stomach. Toko knelt next to Samantha, held her wrist and used his wristwatch to time Samantha’s heartrate. She had a fever and her heartrate was now about 180 bpm.
“It’s too high.”
“Her temperature?”
“No, her heartrate. It shouldn’t be this high, not yet.”
“Is there anything we can do?” Giselle became even more worried.
“Hope.”
“Hope?”
“Hai, hope that her heart is strong enough to handle this intensity this early on. The high temperature is normal and her eyes...” He lifted her left eyelid. “...are still human. Maybe, in a week they will be like ours. However, with this dose it may come sooner.” Toko speculated.
Footsteps hurrying upstairs from the basement startled Toko and Giselle. Jason entered the room in haste and his face was full of worry. Giselle and Toko placed the safety back on their pistols.
“She hasn’t’ changed yet, Jason.” Giselle said.
Jason sighed and sat on the bottom of the steps that ascended to the upstairs.
“We’re going to need more serum. I can dilute a few bottles for Samantha but I’m still going to need at least five more for myself. Has it been this quiet for a while?” Toko asked.
“Since about two last night.” Giselle estimated.
“I can head to the Veil and be back in two days. I can leave you with a week supply of the serum. If I dilute them, it should last throughout her entire transformation. I’ll bring back some level four serum doses for her training. She’ll need lots of training.” Toko admitted.
“That sounds better than what I thought.” Giselle admitted.
“Just keep her temperature down and monitor her heartrate every hour. Anything above 200 bpm and she’ll need another dose to keep it down. However, your supply is limited and the serum is poison to her liver in this state.”
“Got it. Anything else?”
“If you still have faith, pray.” Toko admitted.
“I can do that.”
“I should be back before she gets worse.”
“Worse?”
“Do not worry. Deal with her current condition. I will return soon, Miss Giselle.”
“If she gets worse before you get back?”
“Use that.” Toko gestured towards a pile of rags.
Giselle thought he meant his katana that was lying next to them.
“Kill her?”
“No, Miss Giselle, do not kill the girl. The rags, you may have to clean up uncontrollable bowel movements.”
“Oh, okay. Whew, I thought you meant...”
“If the serum doesn’t’ take, then you might have to.”
“It doesn’t work sometimes?”
“It is something about the uterus and its incompatibility with the virus. It attempts to flush out the contaminated cells with white blood cells. However, in doing so, it is spreading the virus to even more cells. This oversaturation of Azrael cells stimulates the mitochondria within the cells to encourage cell death due to the overabundance of infected white blood cells.”
“Which can cause the necrosis effect?”
“Hai.”
“So, does she have a chance?”
“Hai, she passed the first stage of the transformation within the first ten minutes the serum was introduced to her bloodstream.”
“That’s when her heart stopped.” Giselle admitted.
“It did? And it came back like this?”
“Yes.”
“Interesting. Biology isn’t an exact science it seems. I’ll let the Veil know her symptoms. I am sure she will be fine, Miss Giselle.” He sighed. “I must go.”
Toko kissed Giselle on the forehead and walked over to the front door. Jason smiled at Giselle and gave her the thumbs up. She rolled her eyes at Jason and returned her attention on Samantha. Toko paused and listened beyond the walls with his eyes closed. He smelled the air that seeped through the cracks of the door. He nodded, removed the objects from in front of it and exited with haste. Jason hurried over and replaced the objects in front of the door. He sat on the couch. Its tacky floral pattern clashed with his Hawaiian shirt. It inspired a chuckle from Giselle, knowing that in life Jason would never be caught dead in a Hawaiian shirt. Maybe if he were in Hawaii, she thought. And yet, he seems at peace with himself. She thought about what Toko said.
“Mitochondria...?” Giselle pondered out loud.
She remembered the object as being part of the cell but couldn’t imagine that one tiny component could determine life or death. She hoped the best for Samantha and snuggled next to her. She rested on her left side bracing her head with her left hand as her left elbow held it up. Her right hand brushed through Samantha’s hair. Strands of long brown hair slipped between her fingers. She didn’t want this for Samantha. She thought of the importance of her immunity and hoped that the Veil will figure something out with the serum by studying it.
Chapter 4: The Diner
The uneven balance in Jimmy’s legs caused his movements to appear unnatural as he walked. He could still feel the serum working throughout his immune system and activating a strenuous healing process throughout his body. His face still stung as nerve endings were being restored. He glanced behind him and searched for the wolves that he scared off earlier. It made him cringe at the thought of what happened when he opened his eyes that morning.
Jimmy awoke to a pack of wolves eating his body. Most nerve endings were damaged from the day before and hadn’t repaired to trigger pain as they bit into him. His sudden movements startled them since they thought that he was a lifeless corpse. In response, the beasts strengthened their bites into his flesh, growled ferociously and brandished their fangs with obvious intentions. There were five of them tearing away and consuming the regenerated meat that had restored overnight. Adrenaline coursed throughout his body and he found the will to fight off the wolves. His legs tingled as he moved them since the nerve endings had barely taken root and he kicked at two of them gnawing on his bleeding left foot. He searched for his pistol with his right hand and found it while frantically digging through the leaves that concealed it. He aimed it at the wolf awkwardly with his offhand as it gnawed on his now mangled left ear. The sound of its tongue licking up the blood and the pressure from it pulling flesh away horrified him the most. He discharged his pistol at its skull. It whined briefly in response and collapsed on top of him. The others fled from the sound not before tearing off pieces as they ran off. Jimmy pushed the beast off him and struggled to his feet. The ringing noise from the gunshot disoriented his equilibrium and the torn muscle tissue made movement taxing. His left arm had recovered the most throughout the regenerating process, since it was the closest appendage to his heart. Throbbing pain from the previous injury along with recent bite wounds caused his left eye to twitch. He fled the woods and hobbled towards the road to escape the trees that hid his attackers.
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A little after an hour into the trek, Jimmy’s pain receptors began to overwhelm his focus. He could hear his heartbeat racing and his vision narrowed to a small window surrounded by darkness. He was heading for the underground facility on foot but knew in his current condition he would not survive the travel.
Dusk was fast approaching and Jimmy knew that he needed to take the serum before his body completely shut down on him. However, he needed to find somewhere safe before administering it. The serum will place his body in a similar shutdown status but will aid in the healing process where as if he failed to inject the serum before he collapsed, then he will most assuredly wake up as an Azrael. He damned his luck and wondered what he was doing wrong in the world to deserve his long string of misfortune. A distant howl behind him from the wolves caused him to turn in response. There were no movements registering in his ever closing field of vision. He turned and quickened his step making his hobble more prominent. As if by some miracle, an abandoned diner on the left side of the road revealed itself over the horizon. He blinked several times and shook his head to see if it was, in fact, really there. To his surprise, it remained there and slowly increased in detail as he approached.
“Thank you.’ He whispered under his breath.
Howls returned behind him and they seemed closer. Jimmy turned once more and movements on the horizon behind him were moving in fast. The wolves were returning to finish him off. He turned back and sprinted. His steps faltered once he stepped off the paved road and entered the gravel parking lot of the Diner. He could hear their breathing quicken as they increased their pace.
A gunshot echoed across the landscape and struck near his feet. It caused him to stumble and fall hard in the gravel. He searched for the danger, crawled to his feet, and hid behind a minivan that was parked in the parking lot. The wolves slowed their pursuit while studying the source of gunfire with caution. They lowered their posture and proceeded forward.
“Inside! Hurry.” A woman’s voice yelled. When Jimmy didn’t move, she continued. “I won’t shoot ya, I promise.” She admitted.
He vaulted over the hood of the van and ran towards the door. A young boy, about twelve, held the door open.
“Come on man.” The boy urged. Jimmy stumbled in and helped the boy close and lock the door behind him.
“Thank you.” Jimmy mumbled while out of breath. His hands were on his knees and he panted.
“You stink, Sir.” The boy caught a whiff of Jimmy as he stood next to him. He noticed his condition. “Mom, he’s bleeding.”
Jimmy backed up slowly when the woman aimed her rifle at him.
“What’s wrong with you? Don’t you know not to come running at a place you’ve never been before? That’s how you end up shot.” She scolded.
Jimmy glanced through the blinds of the window at the nearest table. The wolves were gone. Where did they go?
“Is there a back entrance?”
“Yes, hey, you didn’t answer my question.” She raised her voice.
“What question?”
“Why were you running here?” She asked and his smell caught her nose. She hid behind the collar of her shirt. “Jesus, you smell awful.”
“Wolves. Wolves were chasing me. Can they get in through the back?” He continued.
“No, it’s shut and locked. What’s with the smell. You smell like...one of those zombies.” She asked still aiming her rifle at him.
Jimmy relaxed and sank into a nearby booth attached to a table. He sighed and searched through his bag that laid on the booth seat next to him.
“It’s been a rough few days ma’am. I’d like to answer all of your questions but I’ve lost a lot of blood and...” He removed the serum and a syringe from his bag. “...my body is dying. I need to...”
The woman walked over and swatted the serum and needle from his hands.
“Drugs are not the answer, sir. You need...shit.” She brought her hands over her mouth. The dim blue light from outside revealed the scabbing, scars and layers of blood on Jimmy’s face. “What happened to you?”
Moments later his eyes were revealed. She hurried over to her son and brought him behind the counter.
“I’m not a monster.” He raised both hands. He could hear her heartrate elevate.
“Your eyes! You’ve got those eyes!” She pointed with her rifle that now aimed at his face. “You’re gonna turn into one of them. That’s how it starts.” She continued in a panic.
Suddenly, her rifle discharged accidentally, startling her and tearing a chunk of wood off the table Jimmy was sitting at. It caused him to quickly raise his hands.
“I promise I’ll explain in the morning.” Jimmy slowly lowered his hands and removed another syringe and another bottle of the serum from his bag. He inserted the needle inside the bottle and filled the syringe.
“Again? What’s your deal?” She asked while shaking her head.
“This is medicine for me.” He stuck it into his neck, pushed in its contents, and removed the empty syringe. He folded his arms on the table and laid his head on top of them. He looked at the woman.
“Why should I trust what you say is true?” She asked, still aiming the rifle at him.
“Have you ever seen one of those things talk before?”
“I haven’t but it doesn’t mean they can’t. It’s not like I’ve tried to have a conversation with something trying to eat me.” She spoke with sarcasm.
“I suppose not.” Jimmy broke into a smile. He immediately began to feel light headed and his vision blurred. “My body needs to rest or I’ll die...” Jimmy closed his eyes.
The woman gestured to her son to take Jimmy’s bag. The boy walked over, snatched the bag and turned to run away.
“Don’t take my medicine...” Jimmy brought his head up and opened his eyes but a sliver. “It could kill you.” He finished.
The boy froze for a moment and then hurried over to his mother with the bag once the man’s eyes closed again.
“I...I got it.” He stammered. His heart raced and he studied Jimmy intently.
“Good job, Bryson. Now, I want you to stay away from him. Okay?”
He nodded.
“I don’t know the man so I don’t trust the man.” She continued with troubled eyes.
“He’s in pretty bad shape, Momma. Do you think grandma could fix him up?” He asked nodding upstairs.
“In the morning I’ll ask her. She needs her sleep. You should go up there too and see if my rifle startled her awake. I’ll keep a lookout down here.” She instructed.
“I’m not gonna leave you alone down here. What if he wakes up and tries to hurt you?” He argued.
“Then he’ll taste old Ben.” She gestured to her rifle.
“Can I sleep down here with you?” He asked and glanced up at her with sad puppy eyes.
“Sure. Go get your pillow and some blankets.” She conceded.
He raced up the steps.
“And keep it down. Your grandmother’s trying to sleep.” She whispered upstairs.
“Unless you woke her up.” He whispered back.
She scowled at him. He lowered his head and took lighter steps as he ascended.
Grace sat down two tables away from Jimmy with a close eye on his actions. The gradual darkening of the place caused him to appear as a menacing dark figure on the table. There was something creepy about it and with his sudden appearance. It was enough to keep her wide awake. Bryson came downstairs dragging his blanket behind him along with his pillow. He lounged across from her in the booth seat wrapping himself up in the blanket like a cocoon.
“Goodnight Mom.” He mumbled.
“Night, Bryson.” She whispered back to him.
Chapter 5: Vanilla and Strawberries
The aroma of death and the sound of gunfire beckoned David towards the large city. His pace quickened in response followed by a mob of several hundred in tow. As he passed through the maze of rusted tractor trailers that littered the highway, the gates to enter
the city were within sight. Several armored Humvees surrounded the gate with men operating the 50 Cal guns. As David noticed them, he slowed his movements forward, grunted several times, and about a hundred fresh turners pushed to the front of the herd. His body howled fiercely motivating the entire herd to attack. Within seconds, the men manning the guns were discharging their mounted weapons towards and through the herd. The sheer numbers of bodies within David’s herd overwhelmed the shooters. The screams, followed by the sudden quiet from their weapons, spoke success to David. His body followed them inside while it wailed throughout the herd urging them to continue their assault within the gates.
The streets were clear of all threats, however, the scent of death carried in the breeze. As they traversed around the tall buildings that darkened the sky, the aroma of living humans caused David to salivate. The herd rushed deeper into the city and the scratchy noise of muffled voices and beeping radios surrounded them from above. Movement of countless men on balcony’s and behind broken windows above challenged his focus.
Something appeared off about the men that moved above him. David paused and crouched, disappearing into the flood of Azrael bodies that funneled towards the scent of the dead, an aroma that they once ignored. However, survival and lack of food beyond the gates caused them to adapt. David slipped into a dark alleyway. He hoped that his body didn’t draw in other Azrael. Fortunately, the desire to feed outweighed the draw to his dominance.
The bricked walls that framed the alley scraped the palm of his right and left hands as he slid them across while traversing through. It tickled the nerve endings in his hands and he wore a crooked smile. A steel door on his right was flush with the wall and as his hand pressed it, the red door pushed in. His body quietly entered the building. The foul stench of trash originated from a blue metal trash bin not twenty feet away within the massive parking garage. Movement of men exiting a stairwell alerted him and his body quickly hid behind a grouping of vehicles between the men. There were four and all of them were armed with automatic rifles and body armor. They headed for the door that he just entered with haste. His body quietly maneuvered out of their line of sight and around the trash bin as they passed by. While passing, one of them spoke.
The Azrael (Book 5): Prisoners Page 3
