“Shit, I can smell them already.”
David studied their movements and couldn’t find a weakness in their defenses. They kept a lookout in all directions around them as they travelled and their heartbeats sped as fast as his own. Could they have been like the Russian he encountered earlier? David was smart. He knew better than to engage with unfavorable odds. Even if they weren’t as strong as the Russian, four of them with automatic rifles would be quite a challenge to overcome. As David decided if he would attack the men, they exited the garage.
His body stood tall and moved towards the stairwell. He wanted to go to the roof to see if his herd were, in fact, being drawn into a trap of some sort. On the third floor of the stairwell a woman exited with a rifle on her back while attempting to light a cigarette. To avoid detection, he hid in the shadows above and studied her actions. Her heartbeat throbbed at a normal interval for a human and he could smell the sweetness of her breath as she exhaled. The soap, a familiar vanilla blend, clung to her body from a recent shower along with the fragrance of strawberries from her damp brown hair. David’s head tilted from left to right as he studied her.
“Cynthia? Have you seen her?” A man spoke behind the door she was in front of.
Her heartbeat raced. She flicked the cigarette down the stairs and waved away the smoke in attempts to dissipate the misty haze. She pulled the door open and disappeared inside. Should he follow? What was in there? Could he take them all? He walked over to the door and placed his right ear against it. He listened. He counted at least twenty heartbeats. Most had quick paced heartbeats like his own. He heard a woman’s voice.
“Those things stink. I could smell it in the stairwell.” Cynthia explained.
“Were you smoking again?” A man asked.
“No, I was just…scoping the place out.” She lied.
“Smells like cigarettes. You’ve got to quit those things. It tastes like I’m kissing an ashtray.” The man urged.
“So you don’t want to kiss me no more?” She asked.
David became bored with their conversation and headed up towards the top of the building. He quietly opened the steel door to the roof. The rust in the hinges caused the door to whine as it pushed open. A man turned towards the door.
“I hope you brought coffee bec…” He squinted as David stood in the darkness of the stairwell a few feet within. “Hector?” He asked and his heart raced.
David lunged towards the man and grabbed his neck while knocking his rifle from his hands. The sound of his throat gurgling blood excited David as his fingers dug deep into his flesh. He lifted him off the ground several feet and slammed him on his back sucking the wind out of him. He groaned. David tore out his throat and tossed the grisly meat on the pebbled rooftop. David’s mouth salivated as he awaited the man to die so he could feed. He sniffed the air that escaped the large gash in his neck mere inches away with irresistible delight. The man seized while grasping at his open wound with his hands in horror. His eyes caught David’s and after a tortuous minute of gasping, brought in his last breath. Before David fed on the man, he scanned the rooftop for anyone else. It was quiet. However, the man was expecting company. He dragged the body behind a large AC unit and consumed his flesh to the bone.
The whine of the door to the roof alerted David minutes later. A man entered the rooftop with a hot fresh coffee in each hand. He scanned the area for his friend.
“Greg? I brought coffee.” His Hispanic accent was thick. He walked over to the ledge that faced the Azrael herd below. “Shit, there’s more coming. Mr. Sloan said there would be only a few.” Hector mumbled as he sat down on the ledge with his feet still on the roof. His body was twisted to the left as he looked down. Movements behind him caused him to turn. “What the fuck Greg? I got your coffee…”
His eyes widened in horror as David’s massive body appeared into the light that lit up the roof. He spilled the coffee all over him and reached for his weapon. The tongue in David’s mouth licked the blood around it while brandishing a devilish grin. Before the man could reach his pistol, David knocked him over the side nearly a hundred feet to his death. The Azrael below worked themselves into a frenzy as they fought over pieces of his body.
Men in windows below craned their necks up towards the roof when they heard his screams as he fell. Several flashlights trained towards his position. David kept a low profile and out of view while surveying the other rooftops for curious onlookers. A scratchy voice spoke over a radio behind him. David’s body turned and noticed that it was coming from behind the AC. It must have been Greg’s. He walked over to it casually and yanked it off of the belt of Greg’s bloodied pants. He noticed a chunk of meat still on the hip bone. He lifted the cadaver, brought the flesh to his mouth, and tore it off. The radio came to life once more.
“Greg, is Hector up there with you?” The voice asked with concern.
David swallowed the raw hip meat and massaged a small fatty piece out from between his teeth with his tongue. His thumb pushed in the button and it beeped twice. He removed the button and studied its buttons and knobs. Again the radio chimed in.
“Say again? You cut out.” The voice returned.
David pressed the button again and it beeped twice. He grunted a few times and released the button. There was a brief pause.
“I’m not understanding you. If you can hear me, Cynthia is coming up with a new radio. I told Hector to grab the charged ones. Stay put.” The man urged.
David’s mind raced in many directions. Should he eat this woman too or turn her? The smell of strawberries in her hair caused him to sigh. He wanted to keep her around. Also, there was something vaguely familiar about her but he couldn’t place a finger on it. He positioned his body near the door to the stairs hidden by the shadow of a taller building nearby. She exited the door with a radio in each hand. She activated the button when she didn’t see Greg immediately. David’s radio came alive revealing his location behind her in the shadows.
“Greg?” She asked into the radio. It spoke through it with a scratchy noise within. She couldn’t see him. But heard the radio.
“Greg? This isn’t funny.” She squinted and slowly walked towards the shadow.
David stepped back placing the radio on the pebbled ground in front of him. She entered the shadows cautiously. Her heartbeat elevated and the scent of strawberries made David smile. She activated the button again. It beeped twice and static followed through the radio on the ground in front of her. She saw it lying on the pebbled roof and picked it up. It was covered in something wet and sticky.
“Eww, gross. What’s on this?” She mumbled and brought it into the light. She activated the button and spoke.
“Test…test…what the…” Her voice cut out when she released the button, noticing blood covering it. She dropped it on the ground and searched the area in horror.
“Oh my…God…oh my God…” She whispered and pressed the button on her handheld radio but before she could speak, David knocked it out of her hand. He stood over her shaking body with a wicked Grin. She froze, attempted a scream but nothing could escape but a quiet screech. Her face suddenly appeared confused. She saw something…something recognizable.
“D…D…David? Is that you?” She stammered. “What happened to your face? Your hair?” She studied him closely.
David furrowed his hairless brow and backed up. How does she know him? Why does she know him? Confused, surprised and frustrated all at once, he howled loudly at her. She cowered and yelped in response. David turned, hurried over to the ledge like a maddened gorilla and leapt onto the roof of a building nearby. His body landed clumsily and it rolled into a satellite dish, breaking it into pieces. He glanced up at the roof and noticed Cynthia looking down at him. He banged his fists on the roof, howled once more and disappeared into the darkness.
Cynthia activated her radio on a different and encrypted channel.
“I found David… the hunter. He’s here.” Cynthia spoke.
“He survive
d? Damn, keep your distance. He’s changed. He might not remember you.” The voice responded.
“Sure thing, Mr. Sloan.” Cynthia answered.
The aroma of death carried in the breeze originating behind her. She sniffed the air and followed the smell. Blood on the ground near an AC unit led behind it. She investigated and located the remains of a body. It wore camo and its face was half torn off as the other half flapped in the wind. She removed a flashlight from a pocket on the corpses pants and shined it on its face. It was Greg. She turned around and puked. She was close to this man. He was a single father and his kid often played with her own son. She also knew that Greg wasn’t immune. Why wasn’t David turning them? She switched channels back to the original and articulated a false narrative.
“Found Greg.”
“Was he sleeping again?”
“He’s dead.”
“How? What happened?”
“One of Chicago’s snipers got him. His brains are scattered behind him.”
“Shit. Could you tell what direction he was shot from?”
“I had to come down from there. They almost got me too.” Cynthia turned off her radio. She dragged his corpse to the ledge near the dark alley below. There was a large trash bin about twenty feet long just below that contained a small amount of construction trash debris. Cynthia waited to see if anyone was looking. Once it was clear, she dropped Greg’s cadaver down below. It struck with a thud and a few Azrael broke free from the herd on the main road drawn to the noise and smell of the guts that dangled over the edge of the bin. In minutes there were over a dozen crawling inside and eating the leftover meat on Greg’s bones.
“David…what are you thinking right now?” She murmured to herself and entered the building.
Chapter 6: Jane’s MANipulation
Wearing a sweaty old maintenance uniform found in the laundry room next to the warehouse, Jane scoffed at the body odor that soaked them.
“Did the man shower…ever?” She felt chunks rising up her throat.
“I gave you the woman’s uniform. Looks like…” Justin read the name on the chest pocket. “…Shannon prefers O’natural.” He laughed.
“Can’t I wash them first?” She gestured to the industrial sized washer and dryer in the room.
“If we had time, sure. But we’re kind of infiltrating the place.” He explained.
Jane sniffed the uniform one more time and raised her nose up.
“Nope…I can’t do it. It’s disgusting. Are you sure there’s no clean ones over there?” Jane asked while pointing to a pile of folded uniforms on a shelf nearby.
“These are all men’s uniforms. Besides, the one you’re wearing is the only one in your size.”
“Are you sure?”
“You can try wearing these but I’m sure you’d look ridiculous in them.” Justin removed one from the pile, held it up and imagined it drowning her small frame.
“Damn it.” She located a can of clothing deodorizer and picked it up while reading the label. “This might work.”
She sprayed the uniform as if it were bug spray. She brought in a big breath.
“There. Now I feel light headed.” She admitted.
“If the b.o. didn’t draw attention, the Summer Breeze scent definitely will.” Justin waved his hand attempting to break up the thick aroma in the air.
“Well, I feel better about it.” She smiled and walked over to the door that exited to the hallway.
“I hope this works.” Justin gulped.
Jane walked out first, clinging to the right side of the hallway, and headed down the southern hallway towards a grouping of vending machines. Justin followed behind scanning left and right conspicuously while tucking his uniform blouse in his pants. A guard on patrol, hidden by one of the snack machines, approached. He noticed Justin and Jane exit suspiciously and was heading towards them. He studied Jane up and down and winked. Jane displayed a cordial smile and continued down the hall. When Justin approached, the guard nodded approvingly at him. The guard turned to watch Jane’s butt and spoke.
“Damn, nice one. You’ll have to tell me your secrets.”
Justin wore a confused look, realized what was happening and played along.
“Let’s keep this between us.” Justin gave the guard a fist bump and hurried over to Jane.
“Secret’s good with me.” The guard hollered down the hallway at them. Jane turned around with her eyebrows furrowed and the guard gave her the thumbs up. She paused, looked at Justin’s eyes as he approached and tilted her head.
“Did you tell him we...did the nasty?” Jane whispered with surprise.
“It worked, didn’t it? Play along.” Justin whispered back.
Jane wore a fake smile at the guard and as Justin caught up to her she elbowed him in the side.
“That will never happen between us. You got that?” She whispered sharply. Her eye twitched and she glared at him.
“Your loss boss lady. Look alive.” Justin nodded ahead towards a pair of scientists exiting a room discussing whatever was on the clipboard one of them carried. “They’ll make us. We should go in there.” He whispered while gesturing towards the closest room on the right.
“Nice catch.” Jane quickened her pace and was about to enter the room. Justin noticed the scientists stop walking. One of them searched his pockets for something and turned around.
“Jane wait!” Justin whispered.
She already had her hand on the door and was reaching in her pocket for the keycard that Justin gave her earlier. She froze in response. Quick thinking, she retrieved a small screwdriver instead. It was in the same pocket, left in there by Shannon. She took a knee and squinted as she placed the screwdriver in a screw on the keycard reader of the door. The scientists tilted their heads in confusion but studied her tight frame with desire as she worked on the door. Justin retrieved a piece of paper from his pocket that he jotted down potential rooms to explore from a map in the laundry room. It marked drop off locations for soiled laundry throughout the facility. He pretended to read a work request as he approached Jane.
“Excuse me, uh…” The scientist moved his head around to read her nametag. “…Shannon, uh, what’s going on here?” He continued and finished with a smile when she looked up at him. She managed to unbutton two top buttons with her left hand hidden by her left shoulder as she tinkered with the keycard reader. As she arose to her feet to address the scientists, her cleavage drew their eyes.
“I had a call about a defective keycard reader. I was about to open it up to check it out.” She answered without pause.
“I haven’t had any problems with it ma’am.” The old man with a silver well-groomed beard responded. His eyes averted back and forth between her eyes and breasts. Jane knew she had him and responded with a crooked grin.
“Let me try my card.” The younger man insisted walking over to the door.
His nose twitched as he approached her, smelling the air freshener that barely masked the stench that adorned the armpit stained uniform. However, he struggled to avoid peeping at her breasts in the corner of his eyes. He swiped the card; the door lit green and clicked. He opened it. “See, it works.” He wore a large grin and she scratched her head. Justin pretended to read the room number for the job.
“Isn’t this 1305, Lab 3?” Justin asked adding the room he knew was down the hall on the map.
“It’s 1305 but this is Lab one.” The old man answered.
“Ah, must have put down the wrong Lab number. Shit, my bad Shannon.”
She faked a scowl at Justin and apologized to the scientist.
“I’m sorry sir. I’ll head over to the right lab.” She sighed and nodded for Justin to follow her as she walked uncomfortably close to the scientists.
Jane hoped to leave them with her on their mind more than their bogus work order mix-up. However, in the back of her mind, the reeking odor of the uniform would most assuredly be the lasting impression she’ll leave with them. Regardless, anything to di
vert their thoughts away from the truth was a win.
They headed towards Lab 3 and disappeared around the corner and out of sight of the scientist who waved at her as she rounded the corner. She engaged conversation with Justin once she was out of eyesight of the scientists.
“Nice job there.” She buttoned her blouse up when she noticed Justin distracted by the girls. “Focus, there’s the lab.” She nodded towards the door on their right. She continued her maintenance person ruse and took a knee once more with the screwdriver in hand. She looked through the window of the door revealing the room empty.
Suddenly one of the scientists jogged over from earlier. It was the young one.
“Hey!” He hollered.
“Shit.” Jane whispered to Justin. He turned to face the man.
“We’ve had issues with this keycard reader before. It was fixed from the inside in one of those power panel cabinets.” He panted as he spoke. Jane sighed with relief and screwed up her face studying the door.
“So how am I supposed to get in there then?” She asked.
Before the young man got close, she slipped a bubblegum foil wrapper within the slide from her pocket. He attempted his card and nothing happened. She noticed the foil exposed a bit on top of the reader and grabbed his attention with the girls once more. Somehow she unbuttoned the top two again without both of them noticing. She stood up close to the man and shrugged.
“There’s an override switch at security central.” He retrieved a handheld radio from his pocket and stole another glance at her tits.
“Security Central, this is Wes Stevens at Lab 3.”
“Go for Security Central.” A scratchy man’s voice responded.
“The keycard reader is broke again. Could you override it for me so I can get in?” Wes winked at Jane. She smiled back.
“Affirmative, unlocking now.” They responded, the door clicked and he opened the door.
“Thanks guys.” Wes spoke into the radio.
The Azrael (Book 5): Prisoners Page 4
