Broken (Book 3 of The Guardian Interviews)

by Michael Clary

  “Looks like we’re back on the menu,” Javie announced.

  After long moments of scrambling for cover, I noticed that the zombies were multiplying. In addition to attacking us, I also saw several groups of newly-risen, half-eaten corpses bearing down on our attackers.

  Javie and Georgie eventually dragged me behind a heavy, over-turned table. I could see the exit to the building. It was so close, but it might as well have been miles away with all the bullets flying towards us.

  I realized we were in the lobby. I could see the corpses of the dead security team. I could also see that they weren’t re-animating. The reception desk was covered in blood. I knew almost nothing about the Men in Black but I knew I hated them. They killed innocent people.

  I looked for Miriam. She was standing in the middle of the room. The bulge in her chest had gotten even bigger. It had also begun to press against the bottom of her throat. I was hoping she was building up another swarm of locusts, but something told me I was wrong.

  A bullet hit her shoulder. She was twisted violently to the left from the impact. Another hit her in the stomach. She bent over, and then she leapt to the ceiling. With her back pressed against the tiled panels, she began to rapidly crawl towards the men shooting her.

  Once she was above them, she dropped from the ceiling and landed in the middle of their group. I saw her flashing claws. I saw streaks of blood fly into the air. The group was dead before they could even scream.

  Miriam leapt to the ceiling once again. She began her disjointed crawl to the next group of men barring our way to the exit. I didn’t want to watch but I couldn’t help myself.

  I felt something pulling on my leg.

  A zombie had grabbed ahold of my ankle. He was attempting to pull me closer so that he could bite into my calf. I screamed out and began to kick my legs. I couldn’t break free. Javie and Georgie had no idea I was being attacked. They were concentrating on shooting down our enemies, both living and dead.

  “Georgie!” I screamed. “Georgie!”

  Suddenly, a bare foot connected with the zombie’s head, and it released its grip. Georgie then proceeded to stomp down on its head until the skull was mush beneath his feet.

  “I’m sorry. I need to ask a question.”

  Feel free.

  “Why wasn’t Georgie wearing any shoes?”

  Oh, I’m sorry. I should have told you. Both Georgie and Javie were wearing their hospital gowns. Their clothes had been cut off of them when they first got to the hospital. Their butts were bare to the entire world.

  “You stay next to me,” Georgie said as he killed yet another shambler that had gotten too close.

  I had lost track of Miriam, but I could hear screams coming from the other side of the room. My world was on fire. I had flashbacks of the banquet hall. I had already lost Skie. Who was I going to lose next?

  Suddenly everything became quiet.

  I could hear Miriam cackling but I couldn’t see her. Through the large wall of front windows, I saw a running form. For a moment, I worried that it was a zombie, but it was Major Crass. He had survived.

  I crawled to the window, and I watched as he ran across the parking lot. More SUVs were pouring in to greet him.

  “We need to go!” I shouted. “Reinforcements are arriving now!”

  “Alive or dead?” Javie asked.

  “Alive,” I said.

  I turned around. Miriam was standing behind me. The look in her eyes was frightening. She had just killed many human beings, and she seemed to be enjoying herself. She offered me her bloody hand. For a moment I hesitated. Then I took it, and she pulled me to my feet.

  I could see corpses attempting to rise to their feet through all the gunfire smoke and clutter of broken chairs and tables. It looked as if the newly fallen had begun to turn.

  Miriam held a hand up to us as she watched the dead find their feet. She went to them with open arms, as the three of us stared on in shock.

  “Come to me, my children,” Miriam said. “Don’t be shy. Open your eyes and gather around. I shall lead you to food. I shall stop the hunger in your bellies.”

  Behind us, a small army of men gathered outside the windows and door. They were getting ready to storm the lobby. I even saw the smug look on Major Crass’s face as he shouted out orders.

  “Fuck me,” Georgie said. “This is bad.”

  “Man,” Javie said. “I wish Jaxon was here.”

  Inside the lobby, the dead continued to rise. They massed behind Miriam in an army of their own.

  I heard Major Crass shout out the order to enter the lobby.

  Miriam spun around and smiled at him through the glass. Then she clapped her hands together, and the glass windows exploded in a storm of cutting pain onto the rushing Men in Black.

  Immediately behind the flying glass were the dead. A rushing hungry mass of them, and Major Crass once again found himself in danger.

  “Let’s move,” Georgie shouted.

  All of us, Miriam included, ran for our lives into the parking lot. Once we hit pavement, we veered to the right in the direction of the emergency entrance. An ambulance was waiting there. We got inside; the keys were in the ignition. Georgie got behind the wheel and peeled out of the parking lot as Javie bandaged up my wrist.

  A block away from the hospital, Miriam began to convulse.

  “Miriam!” I shouted. “Miriam!”

  I tried to hold her down. I tried to prevent her from hurting herself. Her convulsions were so violent, I found myself thrown away from her. Javie helped me lay her down on the floor of the ambulance, but it didn’t seem to help. Neither of us could hold her down.

  “What do we do?” I asked.

  “No clue,” Javie said.

  Miriam went still. I was worried that we had lost her. Perhaps she had pushed herself too far, used too much magic.

  Georgie drove on through the woods. I could tell we were gaining altitude but I had no idea where we were. I held her close as Georgie drove us away from danger.

  Javie tried to check her pulse.

  Miriam sat upright.

  The lump in her chest had grown horribly and pushed against her throat.

  “Stop the car,” Miriam choked out.

  Georgie immediately pulled over to the side of the winding road. Miriam got out of the rear of the vehicle and walked across the street. There was a clearing on the hillside. From the clearing we could see the front of the hospital. Gunshots and screams echoed towards us across the night sky.

  Miriam watched the chaos unfold calmly.

  “Have we just started another outbreak?” I asked.

  “No,” Miriam answered. “It will all be over soon.”

  Then she doubled over in pain. I heard the sound of retching coming from deep inside her. It was an ugly sound, a gagging, choking cough that wouldn’t end. Each retch raised in volume. It was inhuman. I covered my ears but couldn’t block out those horrible noises.

  “Stop,” I cried out. “Miriam, please, stop!”

  Finally she did. She stopped making her horrible noises; she stood up straight once again. For a brief moment, the two of us locked eyes, and then she turned back towards the hospital and roared.

  If I thought the gagging and choking noises were loud, they had nothing on her roar. The roar was just horrible. It sounded like some gigantic beast of war was bellowing over its territory.

  I once again had no idea what was going on.

  A black smoke burst violently from her mouth. It expelled itself into the sky and formed an ugly cloud of sharp edges and frightening shapes that I had never seen before. The smoke poured from her mouth until the lump in Miriam’s throat had shrunk away.

  By that time, the cloud was immense. I watched as it moved away from us toward the hospital.

  “What did you just do?” I asked.

  “I’m ending it,” Miriam answered.

  “That cloud?” I asked. “It will stop the zombies?”

  “Indeed it will,” Mi
riam said. “I’m very sorry to have frightened you, my dear. I used the darkest magic to save our lives. It seldom looks pretty. Please forgive me. I had no choice.”

  “Why can’t you do the same thing to El Paso?” I asked.

  “I’ve tried many times,” Miriam answered. “Over the years, that particular curse has grown in strength. There is no stopping it, and there is no cure for the ones that are cursed.”

  We saw a car approaching the hospital. It was easy to spot. It was the only thing headed in that direction. The vehicle halted right before the parking lot.

  “We need to warn people,” I said. “They could get killed.”

  The cloud meanwhile had settled itself over the hospital. Black drops of tar like rain began to fall, and when the drops hit the ground they instantly turned into a dark vapor.

  “No need,” Miriam said. “It’s already over.”

  Indeed, I could no longer see the vague outlines of violence in the distance. I could no longer hear the screams of the dead and suffering.

  The driver of the lone car finally got out. Georgie recognized him instantly.

  “That’s Father Monarez,” Georgie said. “What’s he doing there?”

  “He’s probably just worried about everyone,” I said.

  “I don’t think so,” Georgie said. “He’s carrying his chainsaw. I’m going to call him.”

  I didn’t argue. I just handed him my cell phone. Georgie had excellent eyesight. All I saw was a small blob. There was no reason for Father Monarez to endanger himself. Miriam had the situation under control, and despite the fact that she was scaring the shit out of me, I still had faith in her. Georgie would be able to send the Father home and keep him from getting involved in our mess.

  Father Monarez didn’t seem very cooperative when he picked up the phone. From what I could follow of the conversation, he was asking about our location so that he could meet up with us.

  Georgie gave him directions. To be honest, I really didn’t know the man that well. I know that he had fought alongside the Regulators. Then again, so have a lot of people. Still, the boys trusted him. They saw him as a warrior: a bit nerdy, but still a warrior.

  We dozed around the ambulance after that. Each of us was tired. The evening had certainly taken its toll, but we woke up instantly as we saw the approaching headlights. Father Monarez pulled his car up behind our ambulance. He was out the door and running towards us almost before the vehicle came to a stop.

  “I just heard from Mr. Hardin,” Father Monarez said. “I’m aware of the situation. I’m supposed to get the lot of you into hiding.”

  “You realize the Government is trying to kill us?” I asked.

  “The Government may have turned on you my dear,” Father Monarez smiled. “But the church has not. We will protect you. We will keep you safe until everything gets sorted out. First however, we must go to the local airport. The rest of your team is in danger.”

  Chapter 7

  Nick

  I met with Nick in the standard meeting room. I knew better than to meet him anywhere else. He arrived on time, and in full gear. His boyish face looked as young as ever but his large frame had slimmed down a bit. It seemed as if the man had been exercising.

  He smiled as soon as he saw me. I smiled back, and we shook hands.

  You’re looking good, girl.

  “Thank you.”

  When are we going to go out on a date? I’ll take you anywhere you wanna go. What do you think?

  “I heard you had a girlfriend?”

  Who told you that?

  “Uh-huh, let’s just stick with the interview, how about that?”

  Let’s just make out one time and see what happens. I bet you’ll like it.

  “Nah, let’s just do the interview.”

  Nick sighed heavily, and motioned me to begin with the questions. I had to laugh at his attempt. He obviously expected me to turn him down, but he still felt obligated to try.

  “You’ve been informed about the new subject matter, correct?”

  Yup, shitty times.

  “When I spoke with Jaxon, he took me all the way to the Abraham Chavez Theater. I believe it was you, Dudley, Snake Charmer, and Jaxon. The four of you were headed toward the stairwell in order to gain access to the roof when you were pinned between a mass of zombies and the Monster.”

  Sounds accurate.

  “Can you take things from there?”

  Sure. We were in a bad, bad position. The shamblers had invaded the freakin’ stairwell before we’d gotten to it. Dudley, Snake Charmer, and I kept them from advancing upon us as we retreated. That’s when the Monster entered the hallway behind us.

  “Why didn’t any of the three of you engage the Monster along with Jaxon?”

  We couldn’t. I mean, Dudley tried several times but each time he tried to break away we started getting overwhelmed. Like I said, shitty times. Jaxon was in no shape to go and fight that guy. He’d taken too much damage the first time they mixed things up.

  “Then why’d he do it?”

  Because he’s the General, that’s what he does. By rights, someone else should have disengaged from the group and tried to deal with the Monster but try telling that to Jaxon. I personally think he just wanted to be the one to kill the fucker. He wasn’t exactly thinking straight at the time. I can’t blame him for that. I don’t want to even begin to imagine what he was going through. I’ve been married a couple times. If one of my wives had been shot, well, there’d be hell to pay.

  “Were you able to see the fight?”

  I caught glimpses of it. It was a slaughter. Dudley was the one that really watched it though. He kept getting distracted. Snake and I had to save his ass more than a few times. The zombies would grab ahold of him, and we’d have to yank them off.

  I can’t blame him either. His uncle was being beaten to death right behind us. We needed to do something. Unfortunately, Jaxon was limp by the time an opening presented itself. Snake threw the last two of his grenades into the stairwell, and suddenly the tide of dead just stopped flowing.

  “I’ll buy us some time,” Snake Charmer said as he took out the remainder of the shamblers still in the hallway with us.

  Dudley was already rushing towards the Monster. He fired upon that freak at point blank range. The Monster just reached out and slapped the barrel of the weapon to the side. Then he swatted Dudley away like he was an annoying bug.

  He was back to stomping on Jaxon’s body when I tried to tackle him. Putting all of my weight behind me barely made him move an inch backwards. The next thing I knew, he had me by the collar of my utility vest, and was lifting me into the air. The dude was so big, he made me look small.

  That’s when Snake entered the picture.

  He opened up on the Monster from the side. I was dropped roughly, as the Monster made an attempt to grab ahold of Snake. I struck out with my fire axe the second he let me go. The fire axe cleaved only a little bit into his back before getting stuck.

  I didn’t realize Snake was just a distraction until glass was breaking and flames were spreading. Dudley had thrown a Molotov cocktail, and he nailed the Monster right in the face. The bastard screamed as the flames spread all over his body.

  It was the first time he’d been hurt.

  Dudley immediately ran to Jaxon as the former Guardian thrashed and screamed away from us down the hallway. I picked up my fire axe from the ground, and started running after him when Snake grabbed me by the arm.

  “There’s no time for that,” Snake Charmer shouted. “We need to boogie.”

  I ran to Dudley and threw Jaxon’s limp form over my shoulder. The three of us then ran to the stairwell. We had problems. We had big, big problems.

  Snake Charmer’s grenades didn’t finish off the mass of zombies in the stairwell. It probably just knocked them back a bit. After Snake dealt with the shamblers in the hallway, he must have gone into the stairwell and set up a bunch of those black disks with the lasers.

  T
here were piles of human shaped pieces below us, obviously the remains of the dead after charging through the lasers. The mass of zombies kept surging forth. Eventually the lasers would burn out. We needed to move fast.

  “How many of the disk lasers did Snake Charmer activate?”

  Fifteen or twenty; he must have run a bit down the stairs and started slapping them on the walls before the zombies recovered from the grenade explosion. That was a gutsy move on his part. He could have easily gotten eaten, but it was an action we desperately needed. Without him doing that, we would have been overrun.

  “Why didn’t everyone use the air ducts to gain access to the roof like they did the last time they were at the Abraham Chavez Theater?”

  My way should have been easier and quicker. Besides, have you seen the size of me? I’m not sure I would even fit through an air duct.

  So anyway, we hauled ass up the stairs. Jaxon isn’t exactly a small guy, so I was beginning to have problems catching my breath by the time we got to the last flight of stairs.

  “How many flights of stairs were there?”

  Three or four, I forget.

  I had to stifle a laugh at that point.

  Oh, I see how you are. Well, trust me. Jaxon was out. I wasn’t even positive he was alive. So, I was carrying a big heavy sack of potatoes up the stairs. I wasn’t falling behind, and I still managed to hit the door to the roof with enough force to knock it off its hinges.

  Of course, I had no choice but to keep moving. Right after we made it up one flight of stairs, the zombies had broken through the disks.

  “Nice job,” Dudley cried out as he tried to fit the door back on the frame.

  I wasn’t listening to him. I was headed to the waiting helicopter. I ducked low and approached. There were four soldiers inside the chopper in addition to a pilot and co-pilot. The soldiers took Jaxon away from me, and I immediately spun back around to fire on the zombies that had already made it to the roof.

  Dudley was down. The door was on top of him. Three zombies were on top of the door. Snake Charmer was firing into the doorway in an attempt to keep any more zombies from getting to the roof.