The Azrael: Surviving the Outbreak

by Jesse Gagnon

  A strange sound of something familiar exited the house along with a familiar sound, a very familiar sound of someone screaming. It excited him and pulled him harder than the pull to an alpha ever had. He moved forward and listened. The screams continued, but behind that sound strange rhythmic beats thumped and caused the windows of the house to vibrate. It was music. His heartbeat matched the tempo of the beat and he began to drool as the screams continued to stimulate the compulsion to eat. He reached a window that allowed him to see inside and saw nothing. He continued to watch waiting for someone to walk passed. The screams sedated and he watched as two humans exit a room and walked passed naked and holding and kissing each other. Not screams of pain, but lust. He could smell the fluids and pheromones of sex in the air and his stomach growled. He exited the window and began to walk away. However, the long empty field provided not much cover and the man inside saw Randall walking away as Azrael walk and put pants on while grabbing his shotgun.

  Randall heard a small clicking sound and a waft of human skin and turned. A blinding flash and intense pain entered his mind. A primal instinct to attack took over and before he knew it he was on top of the man ripping into his flesh. The taste of the meat satisfied his appetite and he continued to eat. The aroma and taste of the man changed and he ceased his attack. He sat up with a mouthful of neck meat; blood splattered all over his face, looked up and found the woman on the steps horrified. She was wearing a robe that blew open from a breeze that reached Randall soon after. He could smell her sweet sweat and tasted her fear in the air. His body started to excite and began to lunge towards the woman. He fought the urge and pulled back. It strained his mind heavily and he continued to fight the sensation to eat this woman. His heartbeat tripled its speed and his veins throbbed but he remained hovered over the man’s corpse. The draw was enormous and he could feel his mind losing. He finally urged his body to move. He stepped backwards slowly still keeping her gaze. With each step, he had to enforce his will to stop his primal instinct to lunge. He took three full steps away and turned his back to the woman. The man awoke. His eyes grew wild and he twitched. He sat up violently and sniffed the air. Randall continued to walk away with exhausting effort and seconds later he heard a scream.

  CHAPTER 9

  GISELLE’S DISCOVERY

  Sunrise came as usual, illuminating the landscape of the small country town northwest of Chicago. Mount Carroll was a historical community, where Giselle grew up. It held a special place in her heart and she visited it often. The husk of Hotel Glenview glowed dark orange as the sun began to kiss its surface when it emerged into the sky. The cobblestone road of the business district had tufts of grass pushing through the cracks. The windows and glass doors of some of the structures were broken through and its interior had been severely punished by the harsh winters of the past years. The wildlife slowly began to claim ownership of the town and Giselle found the occasional coyote or deer roaming between buildings. The eerie Raven’s Grin Inn now became almost completely entangled in vines and the surrounding trees. The décor of the exterior was lost within a tomb of green vegetation, hiding the entrance to the house.

  Jessica Stone, her brother’s recent selection for marriage, travelled with her on this trip. This was wife number three, no four, for her brother. Not that they were all getting eaten or turned into zombies but because her brother wasn’t exactly good husband material. He was attractive and exciting but he was unfaithful and drank a lot. Alcoholism was the reason why he was no longer a part of the Highwaymen. Jessica was a pretty girl with long blonde hair and a petite body. She was naïve, but sweet. She enjoyed the thrill of a smash and grab robbery of a convenience store under new management, the Azrael. Her aim with a pistol was spot on, however she is impatient and she hesitates, which is why she wasn’t selected to be a part of a two man recon- scavenging team. Those missions were often dangerous and involved three to five days of living beyond the Chicago District. Out there, the Azrael were evolving, learning and hunting their prey. The Azrael found in rural areas were often slower and quieter. They conserved their energy for the hunt where people were few and far between. Many groups found were small herds that could easily overpower a small two man team when caught off-guard. There was no room for hesitation.

  Giselle spoke of her home town of Mount Carroll often. Even though her brother Jason was raised by his father in Wheaton, he often visited his mother and younger sister in the summer. Their parents divorced when she was four and Jason was eight due to incompatibility, which was true. Her father was a drunk and cheated on their mother several times. She stayed the first few times for the children, but his thirst for Jack and lust for the ladies eventually caused the divorce. Her mother remarried and remained married to Austin Johnson until his death. He treated her mother good and kept her happy. He adopted Giselle when she turned nine and she took his last name. Although tough like a Stone she learned how to think herself out of a situation like her stepfather. He was the sheriff of Carroll County and always found a way to get people to listen to him, despite their level of intoxication. He was cool headed and fast on the draw. Giselle learned how to shoot from him and entered sharpshooting competitions to push her skill. When she was nineteen her stepfather suffered from a massive heart attack and died before his deputy could get him to the hospital. She continued to compete and eventually won first place and wished that Austin was around to see it. After many pushes from her late stepfather’s friends to join the police force she finally applied for the police academy and was in training when the outbreak happened. The academy continued but she withdrew to take care of her mother. She didn’t want her to be eaten by one of those things while she was away learning how to protect people.

  Jessica was aware of her new husband’s past and of his father’s road to alcoholism. She was optimistic that Jason had changed and that he just needed a woman like her. Bless her heart for thinking positive no matter how naïve it sounded. She begged Giselle to take her to Mount Carroll and through a lot of convincing she was allowed this one trip to her hometown. It was designed as a weekend trip, kind of like a vacation. They had enough food and water for three days and a map laid out of all the safe houses on the way.

  As they drove through the town they noticed a lone Azrael had wandered away from its herd. Maybe it got lost or somehow severed the connection to the herd. In the beginning when everything happened all at once it was common to find a lone Azrael but in these days it was virtually unheard of to find one by itself. Once infected they tended to gravitate towards the one who bit them or towards the alpha of the herd. It was common knowledge among the Highwaymen and a discovery like this was a gem to find.

  “Can I shoot it?” Jessica asked excited to find something more than old abandoned houses.

  “No, this one’s alone. If we shoot it, a herd may appear that we didn’t see. The rules are different out here.” Giselle said instructing Jessica to holster her weapon that was already pointed at the Azrael. She followed her instructions and put the gun away.

  “What now? Are we going to follow it?” Jessica asked.

  “I don’t know. Let’s watch it for a bit, see what happens.” Giselle said taking pictures with a Polaroid camera she found on a scavenging mission last month. The sound of the camera reminded her of her childhood and it made her smile.

  Within ten minutes Giselle came to the conclusion that this Azrael was in fact alone. Why was it alone? What was it doing out here? As she observed its actions more questions came to mind. Where did it come from? When did it last eat? Who did it last eat? A girl? An old man?

  “This is boring. Can’t we just kill it? I don’t see a herd.” Jessica asked annoying Giselle.

  “No we can’t just kill it. It’s behaving strangely and it’s my job to find out why.” Giselle said.

  “Let’s go ask it then.” Jessica sticks her head out of the window of the car. “Hey Zombie. What’s the deal?” She laughed and smiled at Giselle. Giselle’s face was stiff and her ey
e was twitching.

  “What the hell are you doing Jessica? This isn’t a game or a joke. Those things are dangerous. Reckless behavior gets people killed.” Giselle said keeping a watchful eye on the lone Azrael now staring at them. “It’s going to attack soon. Get ready.” Giselle continued and removed her pistol from its holster. Jessica got excited and pulled her pistol out again. It continued to stare at them and stood upright.

  “That’s new. I’ve never seen them stand that way before.” Giselle said in response. It released a terrifying howl that brought chills down Giselle’s back. Its eyes were focused on them and it sniffed the air. It stepped forward a bit and released another howl. It continued to focus on the two women in the car, a focus she’s never seen before on one of them. However, she underestimated the level of skill the herds of the wild possessed at hunting. Within seconds an almost fatal mistake was discovered when an Azrael opened Jessica’s door and yanked her out of the car before she could react. Giselle exited the vehicle quickly and shot a few rounds towards the fleeing Azrael dragging its prize into the trees. What she didn’t expect was what happened next.

  The lone Azrael tackled the female that dragged Jessica away. She lost her grip and Jessica rose to her feet and sprinted towards Giselle. Another Azrael began to chase her and Giselle placed two rounds in its chest knocking it back. It was too far to risk a headshot so she settled with stopping force instead. It rose in seconds barely affected by its wounds and began to chase Jessica again. The lone Azrael grabbed it by its throat and ripped out its trachea. It released a horrible raspy noise grabbing its throat and rolling around in the dirt. The female lunged at the lone Azrael but was no match for its speed and power. It sidestepped the lunge and pushed its head into the dirt and she bit the ground. It jumped on the female’s back and grabbed it below its jaw with both hands and pulled up. The snapping of its neck was heard across the field as the flesh tore and the head was removed from its body. It threw the female’s head at the one grabbing at its throat and released another bloodcurdling howl. By this time Jessica was already climbing in the car as Giselle watched the Azrael fight amongst themselves. The lone Azrael had been one of them for quite some time due to its massive muscle development and impressive power. The other two must have been fresh turners due to their normal human muscle development. The male was shirtless in jeans and the female was barely wearing a robe. It was possible that they were turned together by the same Azrael. Which meant that there could be more out there coming. The Azrael that killed the other two was a young male, probably in his twenties. He was wearing heavily worn khaki slacks, black socks worn at the bottom revealing heavily calloused feet. Its t-shirt was ripped, dirty gray with several blood stains on them. It turned and looked at Giselle, focused on her face and their eyes met strangely.

  She popped out behind the car and began to speak.

  “Can you understand me?” She hollered across the field. It just stared at her with no readable expression.

  “You saved my friend. Thank you I just…” Her voice was cut short by a gunshot. The Azrael’s head exploded and it dropped to the dirt landing on top of the female. Another shot quieted the Azrael on the ground grabbing its throat as its skull decorated the dirt nearby. Four bearded men emerged from the woods with shotguns.

  “Finally caught up with Jimmy and Jenny.” One of the men spoke out loud to his friends wearing a black leather jacket and a nice pair of black cowboy boots.

  “Those fuckers are quick. I told Jimmy to stay closer to town. Dumbass didn’t listen to shit anyone says.” Another older man in suspenders spoke spitting on the male Azrael with its throat ripped out.

  “You ladies doin’ alright? You shouldn’t be out this far, these bastards are sneaky out here.” The man with the black jacket spoke.

  “We’re fine. We had everything under control over here.” Giselle spoke with confidence.

  “Oh really? It looked like that bastard was about to eat some pretty young girls to me.” A third skinny bearded man spoke licking his lips.

  “You’re lucky we got here when we did. We were tracking these two for miles. Looked like this one here turned them and they found you.” The man with the leather coat spoke pointing his shotgun towards the black Azrael.

  “Actually you didn’t save us. That Azrael you shot first did. He killed…” Jessica spoke up through the car window but Giselle interrupted her.

  “He killed those two and you saved us. She’s going through shock right now.” Giselle interrupted.

  “But, that’s not…” Jessica looked at Giselle confused.

  “That’s exactly what happened Sweetie. We need to thank these men and be back on our way.” Giselle said looking at Jessica with a stern face.

  “I don’t understand what…” Jessica was slow to catch on to what Giselle was pitching. Giselle knew that these men could be more dangerous than the Azrael. Also they were outnumbered and possibly outgunned if they let the men get too close to the car.

  “Yeah, why don’t you come thank us for our service?” The skinny bearded man said grabbing at his crotch. The others smiled and nodded with approval.

  “Thank you for saving us. We really must get going.” Jessica said finally understanding what Giselle was fearful of.

  “Yes, we are grateful for what you did here. Here, take this extra food we have. We will leave it here and we will be on our way.” Giselle said with a smile slowly moving towards the front driver’s side door and opened it.

  “Food? We don’t want your food woman.” The fourth man finally spoke stepping forward cocking his shotgun. He was larger than the others in height and in girth.

  “Does it look like we need to eat? Look at Billy, he’s been eating pretty good.” The skinny man said laughing.

  “Shut the fuck up Curtis, Billy’s sensitive about his weight.” The man with the black leather coat said.

  “I didn’t mean nothin’ by it Stevie. It’s just these women are offerin’ up food and we don’t want food.” The skinny man said.

  “What else do you want if our food isn’t good enough for you?” Jessica asked a stupid question. The four men smiled revealing poorly maintained teeth.

  “I think your friend knows exactly what we want and it ain’t your food.” The large man said winking at Giselle.

  “Lock the door and duck down when I say.” Giselle whispered to Jessica. She hopped in the car and attempted to start it. “Now Jessica.” She yelled and Jessica ducked.

  “Now hold up little lady.” The large bearded man said as he unloaded two buck shots at the car, aiming for the hood. The armor on the side of the car absorbed most of the spray and the rest broke through the windows and deflated the front passenger tire. Giselle got the car started and attempted to drive off. The others fired their shotguns as well and ball bearings were breezing past Giselle’s head while more struck the front and rear tires. The armor at the front of the car wasn’t as reinforced as the doors and in seconds the car began to sputter and it turned off.

  “No, no no. Not now.” Giselle screamed striking the steering wheel. Jessica was still hiding and was shaking.

  “Thought you’d get away without thankin’ us?” Stevie said as he grabbed and shifted his crotch. The skinny man smiled.

  “The blonde one’s mine.” Curtis said with excitement.

  “They’re both mine.” Billy said knocking Curtis to the ground.

  “Aww, I always get sloppy seconds.” Curtis got up kicking the dirt.

  “More like sloppy fourths, you skinny bitch.” Stevie said with a smile.

  Giselle gave up on the car and grabbed Jessica’s hand.

  “Come with me, they’re coming.” She said pulling her arm. It was limp and as Giselle pulled her towards her Jessica’s head tilted towards her revealing two holes in her skull and face. She was dead. Giselle barely noticed her own injuries as the shock of Jessica’s death hit her. She backed up holding her mouth and felt a tight feeling in her side. A ball bearing had hit her side
, but entered shallow. She could still feel the ball and pulled it out. She was getting faint but managed to get herself together before the men got around the car. She pulled out her pistol and emptied the magazine towards the group. They weren’t expecting a fight from Giselle. The old man was on the ground struggling to breathe as three holes in his chest caused his lungs to deflate and Billy was shot in the leg cussing.

  “Daddy!” Curtis yelled.

  “You bitch. You killed Wayne.” Billy hollered and got up firing at Giselle with his shotgun. The sound of the blast and the ball bearings hitting the side of the car disoriented her. She reloaded, searched the area for the other two and shot at Billy again. Before she could get off a third shot she blacked out.

  She awoke in her undies and tied up to a bed. Her mouth was duct taped closed and wrapped around her head several times. Her hands were together and tied to the piping of the headboard. Her legs were spread open as each leg was tied to the front legs of the bed. She didn’t want to think of what happened to her as she slept. Her body ached and she was sore down below. She was upset that she got captured again and got her brother’s new wife killed. This world is so fucked up, we deserved the Azrael, she thought. She faintly heard sounds in the room with her. She sat up and saw Curtis staring at Jessica’s corpse.

  “Stop staring at the dead bitch and get her ready for the pot.” Stevie said knocking the shit out of Curtis. He apologized and started cleaning her body. He left the room and came back with a knife. Giselle started to scream beneath the duct tape.