by Jesse Gagnon
One of the few volunteers was Chris Murphy. He volunteered as a builder but was prepared to defend himself if the situation escalated. His past experiences with security, fortification, and electronic surveillance placed him among the security force while allowing him to assist with the overall setup of its protective measures. However, Chris had been isolated from the world for some time and had issues dealing with people. Once arriving at the Paul Simon facility he chose a room on the top floor of the male dormitory. It was a place where he felt at home; a place that offered a tactical vantage point. There were plenty of rooms available and he was the only person on the top floor. Most people chose rooms closer to the ground since the elevators were not operational. Also, people generally enjoyed each other’s company. It made them feel safer and more comfortable. Most opted for their own room in their respective gender specific dorm. Some, like John and Savanna, shacked up together on the co-ed floor on the bottom of the female dorm. It wasn’t to separate the men from the women with fears that sex would distract them from their mission. That stuff happens and you can’t punish people for being social. The dorms were set up with specific items catered to a specific sex. Hair products, soap, perfume, hygiene items and decorative elements fit a certain gender. It’s what most people gravitated towards anyway when selecting a room. Lights were out at twenty-two hundred (10:00 pm) to conserve energy while showers were scheduled throughout the day. If you wanted a hot shower, you will shower at your designated time slot. Everyone understood the sacrifice and was actually impressed with what was provided. The Highwaymen did a great job at maintaining the facility.
Chris had gotten to know Mario, John, and Savanna during the initial orientation meeting that grouped those with the same skillset. Chris was assigned to the combat and defense group. They all shared their experiences with the Azrael and what they had encountered amongst each other. It was a good idea Savanna thought up before they left Chicago. She thought it was important for people to come together and share experiences. It wasn’t just to improve their knowledge of their enemy but to also get to know the person who could one day save their life. After the meeting, Mario and Chris had conversations about rifles, knives and other ways to kill the Azrael. They also discussed traps, mines, and methods to draw them away from the facility.
Rain drops formed wormlike patterns on the window as they raced down the window pane. Chris sat in a chair nearby and tried to imagine objects forming from the clear worms that joined into globs. After a few minutes of unsuccessful combinations, he realized that he lacked the energy to think. The blur of four armored charter buses behind the translucent worms was parked out front and once housed the mission participants. He changed his focus through the window and studied the blood stains on the first bus. It reminded Chris of the determination the Azrael have and how important it is to get the laboratory built as soon as possible. It would have taken two weeks of planning, setup, and surveillance before builders would have begun digging. But before that happened, problems with communications, Azrael sightings on the facility and a severe flu outbreak derailed the initial start-up process. It was as if the world didn’t want the lab built. Were humans the disease that needed cleansing? Was the Azrael virus the means of removing the world’s worst pollutant? Chris avoided the flu as he did the people. He stayed in his room and watched the world from his window as he did on his perch in Chicago. It had been a week and a half since they arrived and the infection outside hadn’t improved.
A naked Azrael woman sprinted across the grounds towards the first guard outpost near the buses. The guard was blowing his nose into a tissue completely oblivious to the threat. She was gorgeous; her body was lean and would have been a prize catch if she were human. A proximity mine ignited twenty feet from the guard sending pieces of the Azrael woman everywhere. The guard casually turned to look at the black and red spot in the grass. He continued to clear the mucous from his nose. When he was satisfied he balled up the tissue and tossed it towards the trash can near him. It bounced off of the can and rolled next to several other discarded used tissues. He walked over to the log book and notated the event. Continuous sightings like that had become common since their arrival. The guard entered the guard shack and exited with another proximity mine. He placed it where the other expended mine was and activated it. It blinked green for ten seconds until settling into a solid red indicating that it was armed. The guard was already sitting on a stool next to the guard shack by then. The morale had been low this week and seeing a beautiful Azrael explode into a million tiny pieces didn’t help either. Chris closed the blinds and decided that it was time that he and a small group of Highwaymen survey the dig sight and provide a larger security radius. He also wanted to investigate the power line towers. He heard rumors that it kept the Azrael calm and away for the most part. He wanted to know why.
The next morning Chris surprised the sniffling occupants of the cafeteria with his presence. It was the first time that they saw him outside of his room all week. Also, Chris was wearing outdoor gear, carried his backpack in his left hand while carrying a tray of breakfast food he found at the breakfast bar in the other room to his right. He sat next to Mario, John, and Savanna.
“Well, look who decided to join the living.” John greeted Chris.
“Just avoiding people.” Chris admitted.
“Don’t want to get sick?” Savanna asked.
“No, just better that I keep to myself; used to it.” Chris responded.
“So what’s up? Why are you geared up to leave?” Mario inquired.
“I guess it looks that way now doesn’t it.” Chris agreed.
“I’m alright with it.” Mario said. “Not that I don’t want you here, but I think we should explore a bit.”
“Yeah, let’s get the fuck out of this place. Tired of seeing people throwing up. Need some fresh air. Savanna?” John turned to her.
“Sure, I just need to rearrange a few things. I’m in charge of a women’s committee and we have a meeting later tonight. I’ll just reschedule for the weekend.” She said, stood up with her empty tray and brought it to the dishwashing station near the cafeteria exit. She disappeared down the hall. John’s head turned back towards Chris after watching her walk away. He had been more attached to her lately since she had been bitten. Mario and Chris both noticed. He noted that they were staring at him.
“What? She’s got a nice ass. It’s mine I can look!” He retorted.
“She’s gonna be okay John. She’s tough.” Mario assured.
“Just don’t want to lose her.”
“Then why take her outside. Why risk her life along with your own?” Chris asked.
“She wouldn’t let me go out there without her. She wouldn’t be content stuck inside. We gotta be free to roam the streets.”
“We or you need to be free to roam the streets? Maybe she will like staying where it’s safe if she had the option? You worry about her so why not just let her stay where it’s safe then?” Chris asked.
“Where is it safe these days? Where? Position me in the direction where there’s actually something not trying to kill us? We thought Chicago was safe. We were wrong. She’s safe with me.” John argued.
“It’s a tough world littered with tough choices. There isn’t a right or wrong choice these days. It’s a choice of survival. Do I want to live today? What do I have to do to survive in this world? Why are beautiful naked zombies blowing up by land mines?” Chris explained.
“The last one is a definite puzzler. I saw it too. The bitch went from nice to diced in seconds. What a waste.” John admitted.
“No kidding.” Mario agreed as his eyes glazed over trying to forget how fucked up the world has become.
“No shit.” Chris added in between bites of breakfast rice seasoned with too much soy sauce. “This shit’s awful. Who’s cooking this crap?”
“That’s the good stuff. You should try those grits.” John indicated at the heaping pile of grits on Chris’ tray.
&nbs
p; “Bad? I was saving these for last…” Chris asked scooting around the slop with his spork.
“Overcooked, bland and did I say overcooked?” John added.
“I get your point.” Chris griped after tasting a small amount from the tip of his Spork. The sheer skill of removing all traces of flavor from the grits amazed Chris. “Another reason why we need to leave this prison, a food run.” Chris smirked at Mario and he returned with a more sinister smile.
“I know just the place. I saw it on the way here.” Mario said while pulling out his folded map of the area. He found the location, pointed at it and returned his look at Chris. “It’s one of those new food chain warehouses that they built before all of this happened. They entered the grocery market so people could order groceries online and have it delivered to them. It could have been picked clean or we could be in business. Its fences seemed intact and the building itself looked in immaculate condition. I found it on a scavenge run the first week we got here with that new guard, you know the one with the mustache that he twirls up at the ends.” Mario described.
“Rico?” John asked.
“I doubt that’s his name.”
“He looks like a Rico.” John admitted and laughed.
“Well, he got sick the next week. I think he’s been in his room ever since.”
“There?” John pointed at the spot on the map that Mario indicated. “It’s isolated by an electric fence; a very high voltage fence. We’ve tried getting to that place since all this happened. We don’t know how it’s getting its power for them but it still works. We’ve run thermal diagnostics in the area with no luck in finding anyone alive inside or out. And that’s not the fucked up part.” John continued.
“What else?” Chris asked.
“The Azrael within the fence have been there a long time. They’re not eating too well either. The skinny ones are the unpredictable ones. They do weird shit. I had seen one grunting towards its shadow on a wall for two hours. It tried attacking it a few times until it broke its hand.”
“They must be losing even more brain functions due to lack of nutrition.” Chris thought out loud.
“How many of those are in there?” Mario asked.
“Hundreds maybe thousands. It’s a big fucking facility. There’s more that you can’t see from the road.” John admitted.
“Too risky.” Mario responded and scanned his map for another potential place to scrounge.
“Well, let’s not completely discard the idea.” Chris suggested noticing some lines on the map. He found the legend and identified them as sewer lines. “For such a large facility, they had to of had a large underground sewage system going in, right?” He followed the line from outside the facility to the inside with his finger.
“We tried that too. Requires night vision goggles to navigate. It’s pitch black in there. Also, there’s a gate down there too.” John jeered.
“Electrified?” Chris asked.
“No, not at all and that’s the problem.” John added.
“Should be safe to touch then, right?” Mario was puzzled.
“Well, yeah but it’s a gate that is armored, blow torches couldn’t break through before a herd showed up to investigate the disturbance. But that’s not the problem; with the power off to the gate a security measure added to discourage theft engaged a second layer of eight inch thick steel bars three feet thick behind the gate at two inch intervals from the ceiling to the floor.” John clarified.
“Fuck?!” Chris mumbled.
“What if we rerouted power to the gate? It would disable the second layer right?” Mario asked.
“Yeah, we thought of that too. It’s been untouchable for years now. Any idea we came up with was defeated. Once you add power to the gate it electrifies and once activated the sensors before the gate trip a deafening alarm, and well… That’s how we lost the last team that tried to break in there. Eventually, we gave up.” John fidgeted a bit revealing a personal connection to the whole idea.
“I see why. That place is sealed tight. What about a helo drop?” Chris asked.
“The noise would draw out Azrael for miles and we don’t have a helo to do a drop anyway.” John dismissed the idea.
“So, when was the last time you checked the place out? Something could have changed with it. It’s worth a quick survey, and then we can check on something else.” Chris suggested.
“It’s been over a year. It won’t hurt to check it out. Give us something to do.” John stated and nodded towards Mario.
“Okay, I’ll grab my gear and meet you outside near the guard shack. I have a few words to say to the guy anyway.” Mario grumbled as he left the table and the room.
“I’ll go set up me and Savanna’s packs. Meet you outside.” John said.
“Alright, see you outside.”
Chris finished the edible food on his tray and dropped it off at the dishwashing station. He picked up his gear and headed outside. He scanned the ground in front of him to avoid stepping on pieces of Azrael flesh that littered the area. A half charred skin piece had a pink butterfly tattoo on it. It came from the female Azrael from earlier. It was torn from her right hip, near her belly button. He disliked his photographic memory at times like that. He stepped over it and continued towards the guard shack. “The world is slowly desensitizing us all.” He mumbled. He noticed the guards reading old magazines inside with scattered pieces of once human flesh plastered on the exterior walls. Mario was discussing something with one of them. Chris couldn’t hear him but the man appeared offended at what Mario said. He poked Mario in the chest. Unfortunately, he didn’t pull it back before Mario grabbed it and broke it with a quick snap. The man fell to his knees and held his hand in agonizing pain. A few more Azrael were drawn towards the shack from a block away. By the time Mario walked over to Chris three explosions sent pieces of the Azrael group in multiple directions. The other guard attempted to shush the injured man but had to hurry over and replace the expended mines before another group came through.
“What was that all about?” Chris asked. Mario turned back, sighed and returned his gaze back at Chris with his hands in his pockets.
“Yeah, well the guy was harassing a young lady earlier and I told him to quit it.”
“Looked like he didn’t like what you had to say.”
“He shouldn’t have touched me.” Mario shrugged but did feel bad that he broke the guy’s finger. His reflexes reacted faster than his mind could. He turned back towards the man and shook his head. The man noticed Mario and gave him the finger.
“Guess he wants you to break that one too.” Chris speculated with a laugh.
“I’m sure he got my point. There’s Savanna and John.” Mario waved over to them. “Over here!” He hollered.
They approached with their bags packed and noticed the guy crying near the guard shack about fifty yards away.
“What happened to him?” Savanna asked while squinting. “Is he crying?”
“Mario broke the guy’s finger.”
“You what? Why?” Savanna asked. John gave him a high five. “Don’t give him that you brute.” She punched John in the gut. It brought the air out of his lungs but he still laughed.
“He was harassing Heather Grace earlier. Saw him grab her breasts and smacked her ass. She tried to fight back…but”
“She’s thirteen!” Savanna scoffed.
“I know which is why I had a talk with him. He told me to fuck off and poked me in the chest.”
“That’s when he broke the guy’s finger.” Chris added.
“Good, I would have kicked him in the junk. Why didn’t you do something earlier?”
“I was inside. I saw it through the window. We can’t have that kind of activity going on around here. It’s bad enough as it is with the flu and these damned Azrael.” He nodded over to another one who was seconds from…it detonated into tiny pieces. Savanna flinched and turned to face what it was while lowering her posture.
“Jesus! Let’s go.” Savan
na urged and scowled at the man in the guard shack that was having his finger splinted by the other guard using supplies from the first aid box in the shack. He winked at Savanna.
“Oh, I’m beating his ass.” John started to head over.
“Don’t, don’t John. He’ll get what’s coming to him. They all do. Besides he can wink all day, I’ve only got eyes for you.” She pinched his butt and he twitched.
“Fine, good job Mario.” John patted him on the back as he walked towards the Power Line Towers with Savanna.
“Come on dude. Don’t worry about that tool. He’ll recover.” Chris attempted to ease Mario’s worries.
“Sure.” Mario conceded and hurried over to John and Savanna. Chris was right next to him.
CHAPTER 8 PRISONERS
A swatch of sunlight found its way into Randall’s left eye awakening him from sleep. The room was dark and damp with only a small window seven feet up in the far corner providing Randall with its golden glow that slightly warmed the left side of this face along with blinding him. He attempted to reach for his face but his hands were stuck. He tugged harder and felt the pressure of the thick iron chains restraining him. His hands were behind him and he was shackled to the wall. The sunlight kept him from seeing the room as it is. His legs were also held tight by several chains that wrapped around them. He had been captured as he slept. His thoughts moved immediately towards Brooke. He scanned the area as best as he could as the sunlight caused his eyesight to blur. He listened for her tiny heartbeat. He found nothing. Where was he? Where was Brooke? What happened to them? Wasn’t he last in a truck or something? He struggled to remember anything with that damned light in his eyes. It infuriated him and he released a menacing roar causing other Azrael in the shadows to groan in response.
