by Jesse Gagnon
“Morphine does crazy shit to some people.” Tank admitted and began to put away his first aid kit.
“Is he good, though?” Mario asked concerned with Johnson’s mental state.
“Yes Sarge, he’s fine. He did just cheat death while killing every mother fucker in here.” Tank explained while counting the seven corpses sliced up throughout the room with his eyes. Three more were in the other room. “It’s his adrenaline. Let him come down from it and he’ll be aight.”
“All right then.” Mario noticed movement outside. “Shit, he’s in the fucking mud already. Damn it, Johnson.” Mario grumbled. Flint, Tank, and Mario quietly crawled out onto the mud and moved towards Johnson and the tree. He was almost up it already.
The smell of rot and decay entered Mario’s senses. He heard something dragging and felt something pulling his legs. What the hell was going on? Everything went dark. Mario opened his eyes and saw a dark figure dragging him. Its grip around his ankle was strong. Its fingernails dug into his skin and he could feel it digging into an open wound. His head was throbbing and he felt every bump that his head encountered as he was dragged. It was pulling him away. What the fuck did it want with him? What can he do? He reached for his machete and it was gone. It must have fallen out during the scuffle.
He remembered his knife. Could he get it without letting it know his intentions? How much time did he have? Was he fast enough?
Suddenly, the pulling stopped and his feet were dropped. He felt its hand grabbing at his leg, massaging the muscle and finding the meat. Now! Now was the time to strike. He reached down into his boot and thanked God his knife was still there. It caught the Azrael off-guard and it didn’t react before Mario slammed his knife into its skull. Mario removed the knife and thrusted it back into its throat. It made a gurgling noise as it choked on its own blood and fell over. He slowly brought himself to his knees and retched, unloading his stomach onto the concrete. A small Azrael was cowering in the corner and hissed at Mario. He had a trail of spit still dangling from his mouth and had barely enough energy to keep himself up as he continued to throw his guts up. It ran down the alley and disappeared into the shadows of the building. His head was aching. He reached up and found blood escaping the back of his skull. It clotted up a bit, but the wound was there. He could feel swelling and possibly a crack in his skull. It was sensitive to the touch.
Mario stood to his feet and squinted as he attempted to see in the dark. It was no use. The buildings were blocking any moonlight if there was any in the first place. He chose to focus on his hearing. He listened for anything. He heard footsteps. Gently placed footsteps approached. Fuck his head hurt. Where was he last? He attempted to think and couldn’t focus. He just needed to survive. He’ll work that shit out later. The footsteps were closer. He readied his knife and placed his thumb on the butt of it while the blade rode down his right wrist. He got low and waited. There were several coming. This must be quick, he thought. He pumped himself up. Suddenly an empty can was kicked across the ground spinning around.
“Fuck, goddamned cans.” A voice whispered.
“Quiet John.” Savanna followed. Mario calmed himself and put his knife back into his boot.
“You guys need better training.” Mario spoke softly while arching his back and placing his hands on his hips. Several pops followed and he sighed from the comfort it brought him.
“Did you hear that?” John asked.
“It sounded like…Mario.” Savanna exclaimed.
“Mario? Is that you buddy?” John asked.
“Yes…yes, it’s me. Shit dude, what the hell happened?” Mario asked and hobbled towards them. He finally felt the sprain on his ankle from being dragged. It hurt a lot to just walk on it.
“Dude, you’re alive. Holy fuck you’re alive! “Chris walked up and investigated Mario. Savanna turned on the flashlight and shined it on him.
“Asshole tried to drag me away to eat me. Put a knife in its skull and slit its throat.” Mario looked down at the ground behind him. Savanna trained the flashlight to it. It was massive and a lot of blood was pooling from its throat. It was roughly the same size as the one Mario was wrestling with earlier. It still jerked and gurgled as it still slowly died.
“Did you track it from the building?” Mario asked.
“No, we got away before anything happened there. It put you out. We were taking you back to Chicago to run some tests on your head. It banged you up pretty good.” John added.
“Then…how did this happen?” Mario was puzzled and scratched his head. His finger was wet and he inspected it. He shrugged it off and wiped the blood on his shirt.
“On our way back, one of them attacked us. We shot at it after it knocked Chris down.” Savanna said.
“Did it bite you?’ Mario interrupted.
“No man. Scared the shit out of me, but it didn’t bite me.” Chris admitted.
“Then next thing we know the fucker dragged you out of the cart and into this alley. Asshole had been following us for miles. Must have settled for an easier meal after we shot at it.” John assumed.
“I saw a small Azrael girl with that one. It hissed at me and ran off. Sounds like pack hunting. There’s another one out there somewhere. They don’t hunt like this alone. No clue what the fuck the little one was doing.” Mario suggested and felt around for bites. After discovering he was bite free he sighed with relief.
“Was it about this height with red hair?” Savanna asked describing the little Azrael girl from the antique shop.
“Sounds about right. Seen her before?”
“It was with the ones that attacked you guys next to a half-eaten female Azrael. We figured it was its mother or something until we saw her face.” Savanna continued.
“The virus was designed to survive so that it can spread. It will adapt to change. Less found out here makes smaller hunting groups. This was more common in the rural areas from what I’ve seen. I guess food has gotten scarce here too.” Mario speculated.
“We should get moving then.” John suggested.
“I agree. I’m learning more and more with each minute with you guys.” Chris added.
They managed to make it back to the cart without incident. Savanna fluffed up the blankets on the wagon for Mario.
“Uh, want to lay down in the cart?” John asked while motioning over to it.
“In that?”
“Yeah, it was the only thing we could find.” John confessed.
“I’d fall out of that thing.” Mario studied the condition of it.
“You did.” Savanna agreed and glared at John. “Dumbass spilled you out of it.”
“I hit a pothole. It was pitch black. I didn’t see it. Hell, I bet none of ya’ll would have seen it either. Come on man.” John defended himself.
“I’ll take my chances walking.” Mario said.
“It’s cool. I didn’t want to chauffeur your ass around anyway.” John added and kicked the cart. They shared a good laugh. Moments later a resonating howl cut through the silence behind them. It came from the alley where they found Mario.
“We should get moving. Leave the damned cart, John. It makes too much noise anyway.” Savanna whispered.
They quickly made their retreat and reached the Paul Simon facility within the hour. They figured that they should get some sleep and head out in the morning. They made a plan to take shifts monitoring Mario throughout the night.
CHAPTER 19: BAD NEWS
A ringing noise broke through the peaceful sunrise Simon was enjoying on the balcony of his loft. The absence of machinery drowning out the city created a calming environment that technology ruined nearly a hundred years ago. Although some activity continued, it was distant and less concentrated. He stood up slowly favoring his good knee and walked over to the phone. He finally answered it after five rings. He hoped he didn’t miss the call.
“Simon.” He spoke and leaned over the desk on his left elbow removing some weight off of his knee.
“We’re goi
ng to be inbound to Chicago in about 45 mikes.” Chris said.
“We? This is Chris, right? What happened?”
“Yes, sir. We encountered a few engagements with small Alpha…uh, Azrael groups just outside the Paul Simon facility about a couple of hours north of it.”
“Any casualties?”
“Mario.”
“Mario? Was he bit?”
“No, he wasn't bitten. However, he did suffer some head injuries during the engagement. We need to set up an MRI as soon as we arrive to see if there are any hidden damages.”
Simon twirled the phone cord around his finger and bit his lip nervously. His right foot also tapped subconsciously.
“So, uh…” His mind raced in fifty directions. Now is not the time.
“Sir?” Chris was concerned with the pause.
“Yes, I’ll have the machine operational and doctors on standby when you arrive.”
“Thank you, sir. And if you don’t mind me saying but the playbook for dealing with the Azrael needs some improvements.”
“I agree Chris. Just having a hard time keeping up with the changes. Anything else?” Simon hoped there wasn’t more.
“No, sir.”
“Okay, I’ll see you soon. Be safe and get here as soon as you can.”
“Got it, sir.”
Simon hung up the phone. He sat down while uncoiling the line from around his finger. He rested his elbows on the desk, placed his hands on his forehead and stared at the more disturbing news. A letter on the desk from the medical team revealed test results from Taliah’s blood work. She was HIV positive. From what he gathered she may have contracted it when she was captured. It was news that he didn’t want to deal with. It was given to him two days ago. It sat on his desk since then. He didn’t know how to tell Taliah or Mario the news. She’s been so happy lately, optimistic and an inspiration to us all. He knew that she was required to receive notification of her infection due to the nature of the HIV virus and the medical care that needed to be provided to her. This is definitely not a time to have such a sickness. Fortunately, this is the best place to be to provide the care that she needs. And now, Mario, her hero that rescued her from the worst nightmare in her life has potentially life threatening injuries. How can he lay this on her? She doesn’t deserve this. She’s done nothing to the world to have this much fucked up shit happen to her. He banged his fists on the desk disturbing the letter. It lifted slightly and slowly settled back on the desk. He could feel more gray hair developing on his head and the muscle beneath his left eye twitched from the stress. He thought about Taliah, and how close they have become as of lately since she started working with the doc. In a way, she reminded him of his younger cousin Kelly. He hadn’t seen her in years, but Taliah made him feel like he was family. That’s why she is so important to this world. She can connect with anyone. He drew in a deep breath and released it slowly.
Simon glanced out at the sun slowly climbing the sky, wading through distant clouds. He wanted to return to the simple life, where he could just watch the sunrise and could count on tomorrow bringing a new sunrise equally as beautiful, back when the world made sense when people fought over jobs and promotions and not for their lives. When a young girl could go to school, have crushes, fall in love and make mistakes without worrying about being kidnapped, raped, given a life threatening disease all while narrowly escaping a world infested with monsters.
Today, if you make a mistake you pretty much have paid with your life. No matter how tough you are or positive you try to be the world will at some point let you down all while breaking your resolve in the process.
“You win world. I’m broken. I’m torn. I’m hurt.” Simon spoke under his breath. The phone rang again. He watched it ring. He didn’t want to hear any more bad news. He had enough to deal with. It rang again. He took in a deep breath. It rang once more. “The hell with it.” He thought out loud. He picked up the receiver.
“Simon.” He answered.
“We’ve discovered something with the virus.” A woman’s voice sounded excited.
“Wait, what virus?”
“The Azrael virus, what other virus would I be talking about?” She sounded confused.
“Yeah, yeah sorry. Just dealing with stuff right now. Who is this again?”
“Dr. Barnett. I was with Giselle. I took some of her blood samples. Remember me?” Jane asked.
“Oh…you.” He sighed audibly without noticing or caring if it was perceptible.
“I know I fucked up. I get it. I’m sorry, but I’ve discovered some properties that we may be able to isolate from Giselle’s blood.”
“And do what with it? I’m not following you.”
“I don’t know yet. But it’s behaving strangely after I isolate certain cells from others and introduce a normal human cell to it.”
“Behaving like what?”
“you just have to come see it. It’s pretty amazing.”
“I could use a bit of amazing right now. Be down in thirty minutes.”
“Alright. See you soon.” Jane hung up the phone. Simon did the same.
Today is getting more and more interesting, Simon thought. He walked to the bathroom and proceeded to get himself together. Maybe a hot shower and a clean pressed suit would change his mood.
CHAPTER 20: WHAT MAKES DAVID TICK?
David escaped into the dream world once more following three stray gunshot wounds that pierced through his neck, shoulder, and skull. He returned to his house, but this was his father’s house. The basement still hung chains that he used when he inherited the house along with the acres of land that surrounded the isolated property. His weak mother was a husk of a body, numb to the world caused by heavy medications for depression and anxiety disorders. His father liked to hunt and collect trophies of his hunted prey. As David got older, around 12, his father brought home different trophies, living, breathing trophies that he hung in the basement. He never let David down there. That was Daddy’s workshop and only Daddy would work in the workshop. However, this day was a gift for David, for killing his first black bear.
David could smell the chemicals that his father used to clean his workshop. His mother wasn’t upstairs in her usual comatose state and the door to the basement that usually was locked was cracked open. He heard screaming, but not loud screaming. It was as though their lungs weren’t strong enough to support it or something was in its mouth. Each cry ended in a faint gurgling noise. David left his bear on the porch along with his rifle. Daddy didn’t like dead animals in the kitchen or a loaded rifle. Daddy told David that you bring home what you kill by yourself. At twelve, he was a large boy at six feet. With a bit of work, he made it home with the bear. His father told him when he gets home he’d have a gift for him. Maybe this was his gift? He was allowed into Daddy’s workshop. David slowly pushed the door open and it creaked.
“Dad?” He called out but was met with silence besides the faint screaming. He took a step and the wooden plank creaked worse than the door. Again he called out. “Dad!” Still, he got no reply. The screaming finally stopped.
David continued down the steps and caught a glimpse of light in the far corner. He walked towards it and immediately smelled the stench of human shit and rotting corpses. The aroma of the cleaner was even more overpowering but failed to hide the true aroma that dominated the basement, death.
Chained to the wall was a young attractive woman fully nude and cut in places David didn’t know existed. Her neck was cut across and blood was dried up down her body and on the floor. A shadow moved in the corner in the darkness.
“Leave son.” His mother spoke.
“Mom? I can’t see you. What’s going on? Where’s Dad?” David asked trying to see his mother.
“GO UPSTAIRS YOU LITTLE SHIT!” She yelled in a screeching, terrifying voice. David was frightened and began to flee but ran into a table holding a body that was between his mother and the steps. He examined closer and noticed that it was his father gut like a pig. His
mouth was covered by a torn rag that was wrapped around his face. He still twitched and moaned beneath the rag. David reached for his father.
“Dad?”
“I TOLD YOU TO GO UPSTAIRS!!!” She shouted again and came into the light. Her face and body were covered in blood. Her eye was blackened and bruises riddled her body. She held a knife in her hand wildly. David ran upstairs and grabbed his rifle. He held it close slowly rubbing the trigger and waited. He waited what seemed like hours. She never came upstairs. He fell asleep clutching his rifle and the morning came in what seemed like an instant. He quietly brought himself to his feet and noticed the door to the basement was still wide open. He mustered enough courage and ventured downstairs cautiously unable to imagine what awaited him in the darkness below.
On the table lied two lumped bodies. As he moved closer he found his mother lay on top of his father with a knife stuck in her jugular vein. The smell of the place still clung in his mind. The bodies, the beautifully mangled bodies…
A faint light slowly dimmed throughout the room causing it to fade from existence. The aroma of pine trees and mud surfaced. His body was moving through a dense forest. Only his Betas were with him. What happened to his herd? Why was he not with them? He wanted to turn back, his body didn’t respond. He tried to force his will on his body with no result. His body began to wade through a shallow stream and he caught a glimpse of his face. A large tuft of his beard was missing on his left cheek. It reminded him of the defiant one. It infuriated him and he wanted to scream and his body responded releasing a fierce howl. That traitor ruined his face. He looked stupid now. He threw a fit and his arms flung around like a child throwing a temper tantrum. Splashes of water flung all over in his fit of rage. As soon as his rage ended so did any control or resemblance of control over his body. In an instant, he forgot where he was and panicked. His eyes grew wild and he looked down at his chest. No identification was present. He suddenly felt alone and afraid. He could only see his body moving but had no real power. What was going on? David was confused once again at his dilemma. His body sniffed the air, a fire, something made of meat burned. Humans were nearby. His body excited and sprinted towards the aroma. What was it doing? He became light headed and in moments he fell victim to sleep once more.
