Viral Misery | Book 3 | Revelations

by Watson, Thomas A.

  “I loaded hollow points,” Wendy replied, but was looking at the castle walls. “How dare they just move into Joseph’s home,” she spat. “He called that when he was eight years old.”

  “Babe,” Arthur said shaking his head. “You and I wouldn’t have made enough money in thirty lifetimes to buy it for Joseph.”

  “I know that, but now he gets to have his dream home,” Wendy stated very cheerfully.

  Knowing Wendy, Arthur just shut up and reached to the center of his chest. Because the holder clipped and held the laser light attachment, the pistol looked like it was just stuck to Arthur’s chest. He had his XD mounted there with a suppresser already attached. On his thigh he still carried his 1911 but he’d wanted more bullets because when it started, it was going to be close work. That’s why the XD had an extended magazine holding twenty-five rounds. Even Jason had his XD mounted and set up like Arthur, as did Joseph. Samantha and Wendy had their XDs in 9mm mounted like the guys, but Wendy always had extended thirty-two round magazines in her sidearm. And now, so did Samantha.

  Checking the red dot Jason had mounted on his XD, Arthur just shoved it back in the clip holster and checked his other weapons. “You want to check the mask and tanks again?” Jason asked.

  Shaking his head, “No, we checked them when we left the trucks. If one doesn’t work now, that person just stays back,” Arthur answered as he finished. He almost turned to tell Donald and Daisy to sit, but all the dogs were back at the trucks with the mini-mes and other guards from the ranch.

  “Mine doesn’t work, I’m taking yours,” Wendy told him bluntly.

  Moving over to the duffel bags that some in Albert’s group carried, Arthur unzipped one and started assembling a ladder. “Will you take your dick off your shoulder?” he nearly begged.

  “Arthur, it’s fucking cold out here…” Wendy paused to look at the thermometer on her wristwatch. “It’s eight below zero. My dick on my shoulder keeps me warm so my tits don’t freeze and fall off. I can cut glass right now and I’m not even playing.”

  Finished with one ladder, Arthur set it to the side as he looked up at Wendy with a shit-eating grin and she brought up both fists. “Motherfucker, they hurt now, so don’t you even think about touching my tits,” she warned.

  “I won’t touch the whole boob,” Arthur clarified as Jason snickered, pulling over another bag and starting to assemble another ladder.

  “I know. You want to touch the nipple and that’s the part that hurts,” she replied, still holding her fists up. She dropped her fists as Joseph started assembling another ladder. “I’ll make a deal. If you promise to give me your mask if mine doesn’t work and you stay back, I’ll chew on a piece of wood and let you touch them before we get home.”

  Not even thinking, “Deal,” Arthur said standing up. All of Albert’s and Jill’s groups gave a startle, as did a few in Chad’s group.

  “Guys,” Joseph chuckled. “Mom’s been here just as many times as I have. This is the place where Dad taught us how to bypass magnetic door sensor alarms.”

  “Joseph, baby,” Wendy smirked. “Your dad and I have been here more than you have,” she told him, and Joseph looked up in shock. “Hey, you joined the Navy and weren’t here.”

  “How many times?” Joseph asked with a hurt face.

  Shrugging, “At least half a dozen, but probably more. We stayed here for Valentine’s weekend last year,” Wendy answered. “I kicked his ass bowling that weekend.”

  Clearly excited, “They finally fixed both the pinsetters in the bowling alley?” Joseph asked.

  “No, Arthur brought his tools and fixed them,” she replied, and Jason stood up.

  “So,” he said looking at Arthur. “You broke in, fixed the bowling alley, and stayed a weekend? Arthur, why didn’t you just apply to be a caretaker? You’re the only person I’ve ever heard of who breaks in and fixes stuff.”

  Turning to look at the castle, “When Joseph was a kid and we stayed here the first time, it was winter. So, I fixed the heating for the second and third floors. They had pipes running through the floor carrying hot water, but the pumps were broken. The third-floor furnace I damn near had to rebuild,” Arthur told him.

  “You can break into my house any time,” Jason replied. “The company that owns this place must love the gremlins. Hell, even if you would’ve gotten caught, they wouldn’t have pressed charges. They probably would’ve offered you the job of caretaker and just given you the keys.”

  Giving an ‘I don’t give a shit’ shrug, Arthur turned again to Wendy. “You put fuckers down. I don’t care what you see or hear, you shoot to kill. If your knife comes out and your gun still works, I’m going to lift you off the ground BY your hard nipples,” Arthur nearly snarled, making Wendy take a step back and Joseph moved closer to his mom.

  “I will, Arthur. Don’t worry,” Wendy assured him.

  “Dad-,” Joseph started, but stopped when Arthur held up his hand.

  “Everyone,” Arthur called out softly. “I’m hoping most of the shit the Witchers do they’re inside doing it because it’s so cold, but I smell fire so I know some are out in the bailey, the open area inside the castle walls. I promise you, these fuckers do some evil shit that even shocks me.”

  Hearing that, nearly everyone wanted to just head back and do what Joseph had proposed. Fly one of his planes over and just bomb the place. But Arthur wanted the structure because it provided a good base for them to operate from.

  Stepping closer, Wendy put her hand on Arthur’s arm. “Arthur, don’t worry. Everyone will do what needs to be done or Samantha and I will take them for a jog through town,” Wendy offered. Arthur turned to look at each person. Only his group and a few in Chad’s group had the quad tube goggles, but everyone else had at least fourth generation night vision goggles or monoculars.

  When he got a nod from each person, Arthur just picked up a ladder and moved away with Wendy following. When they broke the tree line, Joseph grabbed another and followed with LL, as Chad motioned for everyone to move to the tree line and cover them.

  Reaching the wall, Arthur maneuvered the ladder up. Two cloth-covered hooks at the top latched onto the battlement. Tugging at the ladder first to make sure it was set, Arthur eased up as Joseph hung his ladder on the wall. Even from right next to Arthur, Joseph couldn’t hear his dad’s footsteps on the rungs. Before Joseph’s ladder was set, Arthur was already at the top of the twenty-foot wall.

  As Joseph tested his ladder, Wendy started up and he could barely hear his mom’s footfalls on the rungs. “Damn ladders don’t even squeak,” LL whispered, very impressed.

  “Duh, that’s the way Dad made them. These are how we’ve always gotten inside. Jason’s using Mom’s ladder,” Joseph said, then started up. Before Joseph reached the top, LL turned to see Jason and Samantha coming with the last ladder.

  Reaching the top, Arthur eased over the battlements his ladder was hanging on with the XD in his hand. Hearing the soft scrape as Joseph hung his ladder, Arthur glanced to the left and right as he knelt. At each corner was a fortified tower that stood twenty feet above the wall and housed apartments and storage rooms. The towers were just referred to by location. Northeast was the rear right back tower, like the southwest was the front left tower.

  Each wall was nearly two hundred and fifty yards long and Arthur was sitting in the middle of the east or back wall. He didn’t spot anyone near him or standing outside the towers. As he dropped his eyes to the bailey area behind the castle, he saw the swimming pool, tennis and basketball courts, but also several fires with groups around them. Along the inside of the north wall was a glass greenhouse that ran the entire length. Inside, Arthur could see dim lights and just groaned as Wendy joined him.

  Putting his XD away and moving left to make room for the others to come up, Arthur lifted his AR aiming to the left as Wendy put her back to his, aiming to the right. Before Joseph joined them, Jason had set the other ladder, and then LL was with them. Not saying anything, Ar
thur turned and tapped Wendy on the shoulder as he moved past her, heading toward the tower she was covering to the north. Lowering her AR to the ready position, Wendy eased up in a crouch and fell in behind Arthur to clear the northeast tower.

  The top of the wall was six feet wide with battlements that were two feet wide and four feet tall on the inner and outer wall. Hearing the scream of what could only be a little boy down below, Wendy just gritted her teeth as loud laughter could be heard over the music. When Arthur neared the double wooden doors, Wendy’s step faltered. Sitting right beside the doors were four Segways, parked neatly against the wall.

  “Arthur was telling the truth,” she mumbled, then saw Arthur let his AR hang and pull his XD. After Wendy did the same, she tapped his shoulder to let him know she was set. Arthur gently eased the left door open just a hair. When very little light came out, he peered inside to see a common sitting room for the two apartments above and the one below. Each tower had five levels. At the bottom was a storage room, then moving next came the first apartment, then the common room, and then going up the next two levels were the top two apartments. From their previous visits, he knew all the apartments were just over eight hundred square feet. There was a living room connected to a kitchen and small breakfast nook and then on the far side, two small bedrooms with a bathroom between them. Not spotting anyone in the common room, he eased in and saw the light was coming from the winding stairwell in the corner.

  They stayed there waiting on LL so those coming up wouldn’t be surprised, while Jason and Joseph moved to the southeast tower. When LL joined them, he tapped Wendy’s shoulder and she tapped Arthur’s. They all flipped up their goggles since the staircase was filled with light. In a single file they moved to the spiral staircase, with Arthur and Wendy shifting their aims up the stairwell and LL aiming down.

  LL stayed in the common room to cover the stairs and the door to the north wall walkway as Wendy followed Arthur up until they reached the landing. Arthur gripped the door handle and eased it open to hear voices, and stopped the door from opening more. Hearing three voices talking and laughing, Arthur continued opening the door.

  When the door was open a few inches, he saw the living room and kitchen area. A teen boy was standing in the middle of the room laughing with two people sitting on the couch, but Arthur could only see the backs of their heads. Having targets, he pushed the door open, lining up on the standing teen. Moving through the door, Arthur rested the red dot on the boy’s nose and pulled the trigger.

  The XD coughed as Arthur shifted his aim to the back of the closest head, pulling the trigger before the standing boy had hit the floor. Still moving into the room, Arthur shifted his aim as the last head started to turn around, and he saw it was a teen girl just as he pulled the trigger. The bullet hit her in the temple and blew out the other side, taking half her skull off.

  Sweeping the room with the XD he didn’t see any more targets, then he checked to make sure the three he’d shot wouldn’t get back up. Since all three were missing most of their heads, Arthur aimed at the three doors on the far wall.

  With Wendy standing just inside the door to cover the stairs from someone coming down from the apartment above, Arthur eased to the first bedroom. Just before he opened the door, he heard the muffled scream from a small child from behind the other bedroom door.

  Ignoring it for now because he knew Wendy would shift her aim to cover the other bedroom door, Arthur gripped the handle and entered the room fast. The room was filthy but empty. Moving over, he checked under the bed and in the closet. Finding all empty, he stepped back out in the living room and then checked the bathroom in the middle.

  If the room was filthy, Arthur didn’t even know what to classify the bathroom as. He was a boy and wouldn’t have even pissed in it. Leaving the door open, he moved to the last bedroom door, taking a deep breath as another muffled cry sounded from behind the door, and Arthur started getting sick as to why the three dead teens in the living room had been laughing.

  Throwing the door open, he saw five naked teens around the bed and started pulling the trigger of the XD. In two seconds, the five were down and as Arthur started to sweep the room, he saw a naked teen boy and girl in a chair in the corner. They paused doing the tube snake boogie, staring in shock at their five counterparts he’d shot. Before either could shift their gaze to him, Arthur shot each in the head. Finishing his sweep of the room, he pulled two of the bodies that’d fallen on the bed off, letting them hit the floor.

  Arthur jerked back in shock to see two naked girls, who couldn’t have been older than ten, trapped under the bodies. Then Arthur shifted his gaze to the bodies on the floor and realized he had pulled boys off and just what they’d been doing. He turned back to the bed and only then realized there was also a naked boy on the bed between the little girls. At most, Arthur put his age around six.

  “Stay here, hide under the bed. I brought my friends and we’re going to kill all of them,” Arthur told them as all three stared at him wide-eyed and trembling. It took a minute, but Arthur realized they were looking at his hat and not his face. He scanned their bodies and saw they were covered in small cuts and burns. Some were fresh and others looked weeks old.

  “Hide now. One of the Caravan will come and get you when they’re all dead, but don’t leave this room because you might get shot,” Arthur told them, then went around the room putting two more slugs into each body.

  When he was done, he ejected the magazine and tossed it in his dump bag as he headed for the door. Walking out, he saw Wendy was moving to the room because she’d heard more shooting. She stopped as Arthur slapped in another extended magazine, heading for the door. Knowing damn well Wendy wanted to know what was in the room, Arthur just grabbed her and pulled her to follow.

  “I’m coming,” she told him in a low voice, then realized Arthur was leading but she was supposed to clear the top apartment. “It’s my turn,” she told him.

  Moving out the door and aiming up the stairs, “No, you’ll cover and you’ll like it, understood?” Arthur told her, not waiting for her reply as he moved up the stairs.

  Not liking it, but Wendy wasn’t about to argue. She knew from the way Arthur was acting, she wouldn’t have dealt well with what he’d seen. For all her blustering, Wendy knew she let things get to her too much and couldn’t push them back like Arthur could. So she aimed up the stairwell, following him.

  Reaching the landing, Arthur stopped when the door opened and two teen girls stumbled out, obviously very drunk. Never pausing, Arthur shot both in the face. They fell back through the open door and he stepped on one’s body as he entered the apartment. He saw a large group in the living area playing quarters on a coffee table, and started squeezing the trigger as he felt Wendy move up on his right.

  The group melted under the fire as Arthur caught movement from the breakfast nook near the kitchen and saw another game of quarters in progress, but this group only had six players. All six were stumbling to their feet as Arthur swung his XD over and snapped off shots. Only two managed to stand before he shot them, and Arthur cleared the kitchen as he swept back to the living room with Wendy still firing.

  When his aim reached the living room, he saw the last one diving to the floor and saw Wendy hit him twice in the head before he’d finished his dive. Dropping his magazine Arthur slapped in a new one, moving to the bedroom on the left as Wendy moved to the one on the right. They both opened the doors and stormed in. Arthur saw a Witcher boy and girl doing the funky monkey on the bed. They didn’t stop, and neither even turned when he stormed in.

  Never pausing, Arthur shot both in the head and cleared the room, hearing Wendy shooting in the other room. “Oh, I hope she didn’t see what I did,” he mumbled, moving back out in the living room. Throwing the bathroom door open, he found it empty but rather clean.

  When he came out of the bathroom Arthur found Wendy in the living room changing magazines. “You do realize there were seventeen around the coffee table, right
?” she asked.

  Shrugging, “I have four extended magazines and six regular mags, so I hope they all group up like that,” Arthur challenged, turning to look at the carnage of bodies in the living room and the five in the breakfast nook. “I had two fucking. What was in your room?”

  “Four girls and a boy fucking,” Wendy replied. When Wendy didn’t offer more, Arthur was glad that it’d only been Witchers that Wendy had dealt with.

  Heading for the door, Arthur pulled a box of ammo from the bottom of his small backpack. Walking down the stairs, he had one extended magazine reloaded before he reached LL. Putting it in the holster on his left thigh, he reloaded the other, noticing Wendy was reloading a magazine.

  “Sounded like a party up there,” LL said, holding his pistol low but aimed between the door to the wall walkway and the stairs.

  “Not anymore,” Arthur replied, shoving the topped-off mag with the others. “I’m lead,” Arthur said and headed down the stairs.

  “Oh for fuck’s sake,” Wendy groaned and followed him down.

  Arthur never paused and just walked into the apartment and only found three kids inside smoking weed. He dropped them and cleared the rooms, then headed down to the first floor. Finding the storeroom packed with food and boxes of whiskey, Arthur just walked over to the double door and locked it.

  Wendy watched his every move and could tell he wasn’t angry, maybe a little upset. “I’m a big girl, Arthur, and you taught me well,” she said, following him back up the stairs.

  “I know, and that’s why I’ll clear the apartments,” Arthur told her when they reached LL. Before Wendy answered, he turned to face her. “I don’t want you to get medieval on any of the Witchers.”

  Cocking her head to the side, “I told you I wouldn’t,” she reminded him.

  “Wendy, I know you. If you’d seen what I saw, you’d still be up there with your knife,” Arthur told her, then moved to the doorway of the north wall walkway. “LL, see if our relief is here so we can move on,” Arthur asked, and waited until LL stepped away to open the door they’d first come in.