“What Dear?”
“You going to ask him about the wolves?” She whispered into her ear.
“What about the wolves?” Jimmy asked.
Grace appeared surprised that he heard her.
“I don’t want to bother him with that now.” Norma shook her head and headed upstairs with slow and calculated steps.
“The wolves that you said chased you yesterday have been circling this diner for the past few months. Every time that we try to leave, they show up. I don’t want to waste bullets on them. We were hoping that the zombies would arrive and distract them. Then we saw you staggering towards us like one of those things. We thought for sure that you were going to fight the wolves but you were running from them and hid from my shot. Zombies don’t do that. Do they?” Grace admitted.
“No, they don’t hide from gunshots.”
“Good.”
“Well, not the normal ones.” He mumbled to himself.
“What was that?”
“Nothing. Was just thinking. So, you want me to kill those wolves?”
“Or buy us some time so we can get to the truck around back.”
“You seem like you got a good handle on this place. It’s isolated and you can see all enemies a hundred yards out. Plus, it seems you got a bunch of food.” Jimmy gestured to the meal on the plate.
“Well…”
“Well, what?”
“That’s the rest of it. We figured that since you were here, you could help us get out of here. We haven’t eaten like this in months.” Grace admitted.
“That seems foolish.”
“Hope does that to you.” Grace forced a smile.
“Why would you assume that I could or would help you?”
“Because we helped you and that’s as good as currency these days. And you’ve got those eyes like the zombies.” Grace explained.
“You figured that I could kill them because I look like the zombies?”
“I guess. I don’t know. We were hoping the best. You were so beaten up but seemed to still have your shit together.” She turned to Bryson. “Don’t you go saying what I’m saying.”
“I won’t momma.”
“Go help your grandmother.”
“But mom…”
“No buts. Go on now.” She pointed to the stairs.
“Yes ma’am.” Bryson conceded and walked up the steps with his head hung low. Once she heard Bryson’s steps enter the bedroom upstairs she continued.
“I can…uh…offer more than food if that’s what it takes.” Grace resituated her blouse revealing more cleavage and wore an obligatory smile.
“That won’t be necessary.” Jimmy dismissed the idea.
“Oh, thank God for that.” She relaxed.
“Am I that ugly?” Jimmy grimaced.
“No…no it’s not that. Well, you haven’t got the prettiest face with all the scarring and stuff.” She pointed to her own face in places where Jimmy had scars. “I just don’t think I could actually do something like that.”
“But you’d do what you had to for your boy?”
She nodded.
“You were right earlier.” He gestured towards her plate.
“About what?”
“My saliva is contagious. It would most assuredly get you infected if you ate after me. It would take a bit but it would happen.”
“Why did you ask for silverware then?”
“Figured you had a method to disinfect it. I didn’t know how bad you guys were actually living.”
“We’re not living horribly. We’re just running low on stuff.”
“Like food, water, and hygiene items?”
“Exactly!” She agreed. She instinctively sniffed the air next to her to see if she smelled bad. When she couldn’t smell anything over Jimmy’s stench she beamed.
Jimmy stood up and stretched. His odor intensified as he released whatever funk he had trapped beneath his ass. She hid beneath the collar of her shirt once more. He retrieved his bag from another booth. Some of the items were out on the seat. He wiped them off the seat and into his bag.
“We were just looking for anything useful. It’s a different world. I’m sorry about that.” Grace admitted while quickly escaping her collar when he turned towards her.
“It’s okay. I’d have done the same thing.” He smiled and donned the backpack.
“Don’t tell my mom what I asked you.”
“I won’t. It shouldn’t take long to clean up. I’ll be down in a little bit and we’ll talk about the wolves.” Jimmy walked upstairs. He appeared lost when he arrived at the top of the stairs.
“In here young man.” Norma urged Jimmy to the back room when she saw him. She handed him shampoo and a bar of soap when he entered. Bryson gave him a large navy blue towel. Clothes were hanging over a chair near the bed and a tub was full of steaming water in the bathroom.
“I appreciate your hospitality ma’am.” Jimmy entered the bathroom and shut the door.
“Come on now Bryson. Let’s give the man some privacy.” Norma led Bryson out the room, shut the door and they descended the stairs.
Chapter 15: One Step Ahead
Pulling the paper from the porthole window of Lab 3, Jane’s eyes danced back and forth down the hallway. Satisfied, she nodded over to Justin to reactivate the lock on the door. The LED above the door handle lit green once more.
“We’re in business. Good job Justin, you didn’t get shocked.”
“Wait? I could have been shocked?” His face grew pale.
“But you didn’t. So we’re good. You wouldn’t have felt it anyway. You would have just died instantly.”
“I what?”
“Forget about it and get over here. Did you die? No.”
“But…”
“Opening the door in 5, 4, 3, 2…” Jane counted and turned the handle on a silent 1.
Jane exited the door with a folder that she found in the room and pretended to study information on it just in case the security team at the monitors were studying the screen intently. She leafed through a few pages and turned to Justin.
“You coming?” She mumbled like a ventriloquist hoping that the cameras didn’t notice her lips moving.
He walked out and his eyes danced around suspiciously. His body language appeared nervous.
“Relax. We’ve got this.”
“You’ve got something to look at and something in your hands. I don’t know what to do with my hands.” He uncomfortably placed his hands on his hips hooking the belt loops with his thumbs.
Jane removed a screwdriver from her pocket and handed it to him.
“Close the door, pretend like you’re screwing in screws, and then nod your head like you are satisfied with it.” She whispered.
He did as she instructed except he added a thumbs up at the camera. Fucking Christ, he’s gonna get them caught, she thought. She elbowed him, smiled at the camera and added a nod.
“Okay, let’s get to Mario.” She mumbled.
“He should be right around the corner.” Justin instructed.
Jane removed a smartphone from her pocket. It was in the top drawer next to the computer. She didn’t have to input a password and just uploaded a map of the facility on it before she logged out of the NIOX software.
“Right, room 1313.”
She powered down the device and placed it in her pocket. They rounded the corner and noticed the door to the health center was shut. She used her keycard and the door LED blinked red.
“Shit. I don’t have access in there.” She spat and immediately felt nervous as two cameras followed their actions. She could hear one of the cameras zoom in. “Fuck, I think we’re caught.”
“What do we do?” Justin asked with alarm.
Jane opened the folder she was holding, leafed through a few more pages and shook her head. She pointed to the number above the door and then back to the paper. Justin looked down at the paper and shook his head.
“Back to Lab 3?” She asked trying t
o keep her lips from moving.
“Do you still have the keycard we found in the laundry room?” He whispered.
“Dammit, I left it in the computer I was logged into. We’re locked out.”
“Now what?” Justin panicked. His eyes glanced up at the camera watching them. He quickly darted them back when he realized what he was doing.
“Let’s go get Simon then.”
“Sure, the elevators are just down the hall on the right.”
“I’ll take a look at the map.” Jane said.
She removed the phone from her pocket and began to casually walk around the corner. She heard footsteps behind exiting the warehouse doors behind them. She quickened her pace and darted around the corner. Justin quickly followed. They were discovered.
“What now?” He asked.
“Simon’s on the fifth floor in room 5310.” She read out loud.
“Hey, wait!” A voice hollered down the hallway. It sounded familiar. Jane slowed.
“Did that sound like…?”
Mario rounded the corner with a limp.
“Mario!” Justin beamed.
“Jesus Christ, Mario. I thought we were discovered.”
“I saw you on the cameras. So I hurried over to you before you did something stupid…again.”
“All of the people in that room, did you…?”
“Kill them?” Mario interrupted.
“You killed them?” Justin scoffed.
“No I didn’t kill them. I asked them a few questions…with this.” Mario pulled out a knife.
“You thug! How did that work?” She asked.
“Well, one of those assholes pissed themselves after I stabbed a guard in the throat that roved into the room. After that, the others gave out information faster than I could remember. I also snagged this from the guard I killed.”
Mario removed a M4 assault rifle with a night vision scope from his back that had a suppressor attached to it.
“Jackpot!” Justin exclaimed.
“It’s got a full mag too.” Mario beamed.
“What did you do with the security team when you were done?” Justin asked a question Jane was wondering as well. She studied his reaction to the question inquisitively.
“Duct taped their mouths and tied them to their chairs. I was finishing up with the last one when I saw you guys leaving one of the rooms. Justin had this confused look on his face. I figured out who you were when you stopped by the medical room. I zoomed in and verified it was you, Jane. After that, well here we are.”
“What about the people that took care of you in the medical room?”
“Don’t worry about them. By the way, I know where Simon is…
“Room 5310.”
“Room 5310.” Mario spoke at the same time as Jane.
“Jinx.” Justin added.
Mario and Jane sighed at Justin.
“I gathered a bit more information from them about Taliah, Savanna, John and the scope of their experiments.”
“They know Taliah’s…”
“Pregnant.”
“Pregnant.” Jane spoke at the same time as Mario again.
“We’ve got to stop doing this. How do you know? Did you know before?” Mario asked.
“No, I typed in the keyword Taliah while I was downloading all of their files. Several documents populated and I skimmed through them all. Apparently, she’s at The Veil of the Five Daggers underground facility with some French guy named…shit I can’t remember.”
“So, they know where she is. Was there anything in there about a team being sent to retrieve her?”
“No, I didn’t see anything about that…oh François. That’s the name.”
“François, huh. Never heard of the guy.”
“What were they saying about Savanna and John?” Jane swiped the keycard and pushed the up button on the elevator.
“They caught them at some other offsite establishment nearby. Said they sent John in to get some medical supplies. They must be using Savanna as leverage.” Mario speculated.
“So, after we get Simon, what’s our next move?” Justin asked.
“I’m not sure yet. I’ll present the information to Simon and see what he wants to do. He knows more about the Veil than any of us do.” Mario suggested.
“Sounds good.” The elevator dinged. “Shall we?” Jane waved a hand inside as the elevator doors opened.
“Let’s go get him.” Mario spoke.
He entered the elevator. The other two followed him inside. As the doors opened to the fifth floor, Mario kept his rifle hidden behind Jane and Justin. There were two guards posted outside Simon’s room immediately giving away his position. They were alarmed to see the two. Mario crouched behind them.
“You don’t have access up here. “ One of the guards reached for his radio. Mario quickly broke through and placed a shot in each of their skulls before a word could be passed over the radio. Pock marks in the wall behind their heads wore their brains.
“Jesus Christ Mario! You could have at least warned us you were going to do that!” Jane scowled. She felt sick to her stomach.
“Didn’t have time. Move! We need to get Simon, now.”
“Why? What’s the rush?” Justin asked.
“See that watch the guy’s wearing?”
“The smart watch?” Justin asked.
“It’s got a pulse detector. Sends an alarm when there is no pulse.”
“How the hell do you know that?” Jane asked.
“Noticed one of the other guards messing with theirs when they were escorting me to the medical room. I’ve seen private security forces using those things overseas. Right now, there’s an alarm going off somewhere.”
“The security room?”
“If I was a betting man, I’d guess it goes to an internal server at the heart of this structure.”
“How much time do you think we have?” Jane asked.
“Hard to say, twenty minutes at the most.”
“Then quit talking and let’s get Simon out now.” Jane urged.
Mario removed a keycard from one of the guards and swiped it across the door. It blinked red twice. He tried the other guard’s card and it did the same. They used all the other keycards with the same result.
“Fuck! What do we do now?” Jane asked in frustration.
“I don’t know. Can you hack it?” He asked Jane.
“No way to open the panels. This is different than the others.”
The elevators dinged and before Mario could aim his rifle at them, an elevator full of guards in full SWAT body armor had their rifles trained at them. He was outgunned. He placed the weapon on the ground and slowly put his hands up.
“Check mate.” Mario mumbled.
An older gentleman exited between the guards clapping slowly.
“Well done Juan or should I say Mario Cortez? It looks like Danielle’s intel is spot on as usual. It’s a pity that she’s dead. I can’t thank her for this priceless moment.” The old man grumbled. He had a thick British accent.
“Dr. Kolovski?”
“Very well informed it seems. Unfortunately, this is the end of your heroic attempts. Actually, we have plenty of space for each of you up here, except you my dear.” Dr. Kolovski gestured towards Dr. Barnett. “It seems that I’m short a scientist to continue my research.”
“I won’t do anything for you.” She grimaced.
Dr. Kolovski wore a devilish grin.
“That’s what they all say.” He sighed. “Make it happen.”
Dr. Kolovski reentered the elevator while the guards exited placing restraints on all three. Just before the doors closed, he spoke.
“Taliah will be ours soon. But first, we’ll acquire a Miss Giselle Johnson.”
His image was replaced by a reflection of their defeated faces on the metallic elevator doors.
Jane looked into Mario’s eyes. They were distant and troubled. The guards slammed the stock of their weapons at both Mario and Justin’s skulls rende
ring them unconscious. They were dragged to individual holding cells and locked up. Jane glanced up into the guard’s eyes. They were gray like Giselle’s. What the hell was going on? Before she could gather the strength to fight, another guard stuck a needle into her neck sending her into a deep slumber.
Chapter 16: Kids in Cages
Within a pet store, locked inside a kennel designed for large canines, Steven fidgeted on the floor in the fetal position wrapped in a thin blanket. Two cages over, Ethan sat with his knees to his chest and both arms wrapped tightly around them. Fifteen minutes earlier, he was pulled from his sleep by a warm wet sensation in his pants. Ethan sat in his own piss rocking back and forth. He was extremely thirsty and lethargic.
“Can’t get comfortable.” Steven barked.
“At least you got a blanket.”
“This thing?” Steven sat up, dragged his butt over to the edge of the kennel and leaned his back against the fence. “I can feel my breath as I blow through it. This thing is garbage.” He continued.
“I don’t hear the zombies out there anymore.” Ethan noticed.
“Me too. Hey, you’re not looking too hot. You need that insulin thing again?”
“Probably, but it doesn’t matter. We’re going to die in here.”
“No we’re not. We’re going to get out of here.” Steven continued to stay positive.
“How?” Ethan asked but kept his gaze miles away.
“I think I can…” Steven looked up towards the locking mechanism on his cage. He snaked his left arm through one of the holes in the chain link fence, snagged the locking latch with his fingertips, and attempted to pull with no success. On his second attempt, he added his right arm just above to get some leverage. A few seconds later, the door swung open and he fell out onto the concrete floor below. “Crap!” He whispered.
“Shit! Are you okay?” Ethan asked when he noticed Steven’s skull slap the hard floor after his arms slipped back through the fence.
“I’m fine. Wasn’t expecting my arms to pull out so easily.”
Steven rubbed at a knot on his head. He felt blood and brought his hand down quickly to see how much. It was only a little bit and he sighed with relief.
“Hurry up, get me out too.” Ethan crawled over to the door with a renewed spirit.
The Azrael (Book 5): Prisoners Page 10
