by Jesse Gagnon
“Do we have any ethanol available to use?” Mario asked.
“Haven’t had any shipments in a while. Only fuel we have now is what’s in the tanks of the generators. The renewable power seems to still be operational. You think it’s worth it Mario?” John asked.
“No, never mind. I just wanted to give Taliah a break for a change. She’s been through a lot.” Mario responded.
“I’m fine Mario. I got a couple showers in and some clean clothes on. I feel safe just being near you.” Taliah added.
“Well, you won’t smell clean for long. Here put this on.” Savanna handed Mario and Taliah a small bottle of the masking agent.
“What is this?” Taliah opened the top and sniffed the contents. “Whoa, that’s awful! Put this where?” She asked.
“It’s a masking agent we discovered a few years ago that hides our scent from the Azrael. You get used to the smell of it after a while. You put it directly on the skin.” Savanna said.
“I’ve used mud and grass that seemed to do the same thing.” Mario added.
“No, it’s okay, I can wear this. At least I don’t look dirty and homeless with this. Sorry Mario.” Taliah said applying a light coat of the agent on her skin. She handed the bottle to Mario.
“Sure, I’ll give it a shot. “ Mario applied the agent on his skin and handed it back to Savanna. She and John doused themselves in the stuff. They had no problems with the odor.
“Like I said, we’re used to the shit.” John said with a smirk to Mario.
“Explains the aroma I smelled when I first met Savanna. I thought…” Mario said and was interrupted.
“Hey, I keep that part clean asshole.” Savanna defended herself quickly. John laughed and nearly choked on the last bite of eggs he was eating. His eyes were watering and he took a sip of water to wash it down.
“I fucking love this guy. Alright, let’s get moving.” John said standing up and patted Mario on the back. He shook his head in amusement and headed for his room. “Pack your shit we’re leaving in thirty minutes. Meet back here.” John added grabbing Savanna’s arm and helped her out of her chair.
“Aren’t we packed already?” She asked. John smirked and they left the kitchen area towards his room together. “Thirty minutes is exaggerating it a bit. More like…”
“Shut up woman.” John interrupted and the rest of their conversation was inaudible as the door fully shut and they disappeared down the hall.
“What was that all about?” Taliah asked.
“Interesting couple there. Come on, let’s clean up here and get your stuff packed. Mine is already filled and ready. Always ready to leave at moment’s notice.” Mario said cleaning up the plates and wiping the table.
“Okay, but I don’t have a backpack or anything to store my things.” Taliah said lost in thought as she concentrated on cleaning one spot on the table. There was a dried up spot of food that needed more than a rag to remove. She continued to wipe at it anyway.
“Don’t worry, I got you. In the second room to the right of yours is a backpack. I took the liberties of placing a few items in there that I thought you could use. We’re gonna be fine Taliah.” Mario said with a smile. Taliah stopped scrubbing the spot and dropped the rag.
“Thanks Mario. What would I do without you?” Taliah hugged him and a few tears escaped her eyes. She wiped them away before she exited the hug. She hoped that he didn’t notice, but he did. Her eyes were red and glassy.
“It’s okay. Just stay close to me and nothing is going to happen to you, I promise.” Mario said holding her chin up and wiped away a rogue tear that she couldn’t stop from escaping her eye. “Now let’s get going, sooner we get moving the sooner you can clean off that masking agent.” Mario said leading Taliah towards the doors.
CHAPTER 13
ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS
A gurgling sound slowly began to enter Randall’s ears as the rest of the surrounding environment fell over him like a curtain slowly revealing the landscape. A foul stench of pungent body odor caused his eyes to water. He tasted something sour and leathery in his mouth. He spit out what was in it and found a bone and a ring among the meat. It was a finger. He focused on the floor and found a man still alive drowning in his own blood from a neck injury. In his left hand he held a handful of flesh from the man’s neck. He looked in the man’s eyes as the virus attempted to take over. However, with this injury, he would be unable to feed. A wedge of neck was missing revealing the spine. Frustrated with his situation he finished the job and severed the head from the neck. The body convulsed and Randall noticed the veins swelling from the adrenaline entering them. Within a few moments the body ceased to move. He stood up and took in his surroundings. The last he remembered he trapped himself in a room in an apartment building. He latched and set all the manual locks in hopes that his body would stay there. However, this was not the same room or the same building. What had his body been doing as he slept, he thought?
The man on the floor looked like he hadn’t seen a bath in a long time and his body odor masked the aroma of blood in the air. He was about in his late thirties and was underfed revealing the imprint of ribs in his skin. The room was dark but faintly lit in the corner by a candle. He stood up and arched his back stretching the muscles that were intensely tightened from whatever activities that ensued throughout the night. The walls revealed photos of a family on them. A husband, wife and two sons were in multiple poses at different ages. The oldest the boys looked in any of the photos was roughly five and seven. Did he have children, he thought. Memories of his wife pregnant reminded him of the horror that followed. She was pregnant when he ate her. It filled him with anger and he reacted punching the wall shattering the glass and frame of a family photo.
He heard noises, no; it was voices in the other room. The aroma of the man masked any other scents in the air. His stomach was full as he felt something sloshing around in his stomach. As he moved towards the voices, they began to scream.
“Mommy, stop it!” A young boy’s voice yelled as another voice screamed.
Randall moved quickly towards the voices and found a woman scratching and punching a door. It was a poorly designed door that was buckling from her attacks. She was a large woman and she struggled to stand on one of her legs because a giant chunk was missing from it. A scab was already developed over the wound that stopped the bleeding. Her right arm was reaching inside for whoever was within her grasp.
“Let go! Let go of me!” The boy screamed and the woman’s arm pulled back with a torn piece of shirt in it along with cuts and scrapes from the shattered door edges. Randall knew that this was his doing and decided to at least save these children from their newly changed mother. He took in a few deep breaths and charged in and kicked her leg that was already struggling to hold her massive frame up. She dropped fast as the bone snapped but continued to claw away at the door. She ignored Randall and pulled herself up using the hole in the door to brace herself. Suddenly, the edge of the hole collapsed and she fell forward cutting her gut on the splintered door. Blood and other fluids poured out and into the bathroom where the boys were. She reached out towards them but couldn’t reach them. Randall walked over and grabbed beneath her chin with his left hand and the top of her head with his right. He yanked back as hard as he could, snapping her neck, ripped her head from the spine and smashed it on the ground. The body convulsed a bit until it stopped.
The boys on the other side were horrified at what happened and didn’t know what to do. The oldest stood in front of the youngest in an attempt to shield his little brother from the threat. Randall pulled the woman off of the door and tossed it against the wall causing the drywall to cave in from the force. Pieces of the wall fell on the cadaver. He reached in and opened the door from the inside and pulled it open. He began to walk away and felt pain in his back. He knocked whoever was behind him away, reached behind him and pulled out a pair of scissors. The oldest son was on the ground crying and shielding his little brothe
r. He could make out his words.
“It’s okay Sammy. It will only hurt at first. That’s what dad told us, remember?” The boy tried to remain brave for his little brother. Randall put the scissors on the ground and kicked it to the boy. He grunted and looked for an exit for the apartment he was in. He found it and walked out. As he left the building he thought about the two boys, alone out there completely helpless to his kind. He thought of the parents and how they were gruesomely ravaged by his body. He tasted the flavor of the sour flesh in his mouth and wondered what conditions this family was living in. He hoped that the father’s aroma would hide their scent long enough for them to make it to safety. Make it where? Where is it safe? What hope do they have outside? What hope do they have in their apartment that has a broken front door? They won’t make it. They are either going to die or turn into an Azrael. What could he possibly do? He can’t talk or write. Actions! He remembered a saying. ‘Actions speak louder than words’
What could he do that wouldn’t eventually end in their deaths? When his mind slept his body would take over and ravage those boys. He already tried to lock himself up before he fell asleep. It didn’t work. Also, he wasn’t hungry now, but when his body needed to feed then what? He stood in front of the exit of the building and struggled to find an answer to his problem, a problem that his body created as he slept. He heard noises again and then voices. In an adjacent building about three stories up a woman was calling to the boys.
“Troy, Sammy stay quiet. It’s outside your door. I’ll be over in a bit.” Her voice solved his problem and as soon as she finished her words he noticed a gun aiming towards him. He began to sprint away and escaped as gunshots rang behind him striking the wall near where he once was. Unfortunately this was a foolish move on the woman’s part since the gunshots will rally more Azrael to their location. He escaped to a better vantage point hidden from the woman’s view. As soon as he calmed his breathing he felt the pull, a herd was coming. However the woman and the two boys couldn’t hear them, their senses were not as attuned as his. The woman reached the sidewalk next to her building and reached her arms out. He saw the boys slowly exit the building he just left. The youngest was still crying and the oldest had the scissors in his hands looking around for a threat.
“Hurry up Troy, before it comes back. I scared it away.” The woman said beckoning them to come to her. Suddenly a man’s voice yelled from the window she was in a minute ago.
“Susan! Those things are coming. It’s a bunch of em’ too.” The man yelled and fired a few shots at the herd in vain. They were too far away for him to get an accurate headshot. Also, there were about ten of them all following a very large alpha. Randall felt a pull on his body to join the herd. It was an overwhelming urge that he fought. However if he didn’t do anything those boys were going to die. Was it worth the risk? Damn right it was worth it. This was his fault to begin with, his responsibility. He noticed the boys fled back into their building and the woman chased them shortly after. He knew there wasn’t much he could do for the woman, but he would do his damnedest to protect those boys. He began his run and with every step towards the alpha his actions were getting harder to control. The woman entered the building shooting at the Azrael that were dangerously close to her. The man in the window noticed him too as a shot nearly struck his leg.
“Jesus! I missed. Susan, you stupid woman!” The man yelled and emptied his gun hitting a few of the Azrael in their backs and legs. An immediate aroma of blood hit the air and he knew that the woman was bitten into. Randall entered the building behind the herd and saw the alpha and three others biting into the woman. After a few more bites her scent changed and they stopped feeding. Randall knew that the boys were next as the herd had grown to twelve. He sprinted up the steps towards the apartment where the boys were before. He smelled the body odor of the father and struggled to smell the boys. Were they in there? He thought. He listened and heard a faint whisper in another room in the apartment. It was the boys, maybe the herd won’t hear them. He decided to keep his distance to avoid frightening them causing them to make a sound. Randall posted up at the entrance to the apartment and fought off the urge to join the herd. The pull got stronger and stronger as the alpha slowly climbed the stairs towards the apartment. It stopped at the doorway inches away from Randall and sniffed the air. The aroma of blood from the woman on its face drew a hunger in Randall. It stood upright and roared intensely to display its dominance. The shriek was frightening but Randall didn’t respond. However Sammy did.
“We’re gonna die Troy!” Sammy cried out.
The alpha heard the voice and attempted to push through Randall, but Randall held his ground. It ignored his defiance and proceeded to push through. Randall knew this may be his last moment in this world and put a choke hold on the alpha. The alpha didn’t expect the attack coming and hesitated. The hesitation was enough for Randall to lock his right hand around his left arm as his arm squeezed tightly on the alpha. It stood up biting into Randall’s arm and lifted him off of the ground. Two more lunged towards Randall biting him. He felt the pain as they dug their teeth into his flesh. He held on tight hoping that eventually he could pop the bitch off. He caught a glimpse of the boys watching in awe at the fight that ensued. The alpha rasped horribly and continued to sink its teeth into Randall’s arm. He refused to let go and the alpha sprinted towards the window and leapt through it. Randall didn’t expect this action and released his grip tearing the flesh from the mouth of the alpha. He shoved his knee in its mouth and turned so he would land on his knee on the ground with the alpha’s head beneath. His hands grabbed the side of its skull and held on tight. The other Azrael leaped out of the window as well. Randall hoped they all jumped out along with the alpha before they struck the ground.
They landed on the concrete as expected with the head of the alpha mangled beneath Randall’s now broken knee. The others hit the pavement but were getting up quickly. He counted ten still moving. Who was the alpha now? He searched among the group as they all seemed confused as to whom to follow next. He felt the pull, it was inside the apartment. It was the woman, the freshly turned woman. He slowly staggered to his feet, but his leg was broken. Moments later he heard the boys cry out the woman’s name, “Suzy”, and then silence followed. Minutes later the woman exited the building with blood on her mouth. She sniffed the air and smelled the man in the window. Seconds later a gunshot was heard. Randall smelled blood, the woman was untouched. The man killed himself. The herd gathered and began to leave. A few minutes later Troy and Sammy exited the building as Azrael, sniffing the air. He caught their eyes as their bodies were drawn to the alpha. They saw Randall, they were still inside, trapped beneath a body of a murderer.
The strain of the fight and his injuries stressed his mind and he began to fall asleep. Within seconds Randall was back into the dream world.
The sounds of moving water entered Randall’s ears. Slowly birds and crickets chirping surrounded his consciousness. Where was he now? He thought. At least his body wasn’t hovering over a freshly eaten corpse this time. It also appeared that his leg was no longer broken. The resilience of the Azrael is outstanding. It was early morning and sunlight was just barely poking its face beyond the horizon. The body of water was enormous. Was this the Mississippi? It had to be. He was on train tracks and there was a road and woods to his right. He could faintly see a figure on the other side of the river. He focused his vision and noticed that it was a man, wait it was an Azrael on the other side. It was eating a deer. There was a field and woods behind him as well. The Azrael noticed him and stood upright. Due to its muscle structure it seemed awkward standing. Randall stood up straight and could sense something familiar about it. He raised his hand as a friendly gesture and the Azrael returned the favor. It was like him. It had control. He had to meet him, he thought. Suddenly he sensed a pull. A herd was in the trees behind the Azrael. It turned around sensing the same thing and remained upright.
The trees shook and five Azrael
sprinted towards it to attack. The Azrael managed to tear the skull off of the deer and used the antlers as a weapon with its right hand within the skull while the fingers were grasping through the eye sockets. It swung its arm around slicing the throats of the oncoming Azrael and mangled their faces. It grabbed one with its other hand and tossed it several meters into the water striking a rock and shattering its skull. Within seconds the five were all battered in front of it. It turned around and Randall raised his arm again. It returned the favor once more and then directed its attention towards the tree line. The pull became overwhelming as an extremely large Azrael walked out from the trees with six more flanking its side like bodyguards. It released a roar that echoed across the river and the awakened Azrael responded, but with less presence. The alpha lunged forward with the others in tow and tackled the lone Azrael to the ground. It jabbed the antler into its throat but it wasn’t enough and it was knocked from its grasp. The other six grabbed at limbs and held on tight until all of its limbs were held down. The alpha stood over the lone Azrael and grabbed its head. It twisted and pulled until it removed it from the body. The alpha released a roar as it tossed the skull into the quickly moving river. The head bobbed to the surface and was taken away. Randall saw its eyes and face, it was smiling.
Randall released a terrifying shriek as he stood upright that carried over the river and struck the ears of the alpha and its followers. The alpha stood and gazed across the river sniffing the air. It finally found Randall and released a loud grunt as the others met it at the waterline. The alpha banged its chest like a gorilla and reached down grabbing the twitching Azrael corpse that it just killed. It lifted the body up like a trophy over its head as it roared. Blood poured out and dripped down onto the alpha’s face covering it in a red bloody mask. It flexed and tossed the cadaver several meters into the river towards Randall. It looked around for a way across, the others followed suit. The alpha ordered two across and they leaped into the river as instructed. They were swept away by the current striking rocks and were overcome by the power of the river. They were pulled under and never seen again. They were not crossing there, Randall thought.
