Jane yelped. “Elsewhere? Like with Dr. Schwinn?” She answered with her eyes closed still.
“You’re coming with us. We need someone familiar with the NIOX software system and according to your file; you pioneered the use of data seeding with it. Unfortunately, the security software is NIOX at Tricon and no one else in this city has ever heard of it.”
“Tricon? Like the guys in the suits that abducted Savanna?” Jane asked still in a lethargic stupor.
“How do you know about that?”
“Logged on to your account to decrypt Chris Murphy’s SD card...was in my inbox.” Jane lazily pointed over to her inbox tray on her desk. A ripped up envelope labeled ‘SD card from Chris Murphy’ was lying next to her keyboard.
“Did you say Chris Murphy?” She was unresponsive. “Damn it woman, wake up! This is important.” Simon became frustrated.
She finally opened her eyes. They were bloodshot and she squinted from the lights.
“Bright...bright...shit!” She brought her head down. “Yes Simon, you can watch the video or read my journals. It’s all in there.” She patted the three spiral notebooks on the table.
“It shows Savanna being taken away by men in black suits? You actually saw them take her away in the video. Are you sure it was Savanna?” He probed further.
“Well, the guy narrating the video, Chris, said her name when they took her away. Did a little digging through some of your files, the Veil’s files and random information found on the network concerning the logo on the van that hauled her away. The Veil called them Tricon. But that’s not the interesting part.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Alpha of the herd that attacked that outpost near Chris did some very uncommon things.”
“Like what?”
“Let me show you.” She moved her mouse waking up the sleeping monitor. Simon wished that Jane awoke as easily and smiled as he imagined it. She typed in Simon’s password for his account to unlock the screen. It revealed an open folder with five video files. She opened the last one and fast-forwarded to the motorcycle scene. “There, he shoots and...” She moved the footage frame by frame. “The Alpha turns, grunts and the other Azrael stepped in front of the shot.” She turned to see Simon’s expression.
“I guess. There could be some speculation about it. I don’t know. “
“Well, I would have dismissed it as speculation myself but then I saw this.” Jane fast-forwarded twelve minutes and then paused the video. “This next scene will make your skin crawl. If you were close to Chris it may be hard to watch, just a disclaimer.” Jane explained and studied Simon’s response. He didn’t give any readable reaction. “Okay.” She pressed play.
They both watched as Chris’ throat was torn out by the Alpha’s hand and watched it smile as Chris slowly drowned in his own blood. Once he took in his last breath, the graphic footage of the monster eating Chris caused Simon to turn and puke in another wastebasket nearby.
“I told you. It’s rough. They are far...”
“...more intelligent than we thought. This must be the one the Veil of the Five Daggers is tracking.” Simon interrupted and wiped his mouth with his right sleeve.
“They are tracking that one? That doesn’t seem wise.” She questioned.
“They have one leading the investigation that is like Giselle.”
“A bitch?”
“Ha...no, has abilities like hers.”
“...condescending, antagonistic, doesn’t cooperate well with others?”
“More like infected but not Azrael. I hear he’s pretty tough and was once a part of the KGB.” He explained.
“Why are there Russians in Chicago?”
“Why are there zombies in Chicago? The world isn’t as big as it once was.”
“I guess. Is he by himself?”
“Kind of. He’s using a group of Awakened Azrael to help him track it.”
“Shut the hell up! Are you serious? I’ve read that some exhibit normal human abilities at times, but to work with, communicate and track it with one of their own is nuts. How? How has this happened?”
“They have limitations, like going completely crazy when they sleep.”
“But they don’t sleep. That’s what makes them so dangerous. Right?”
“The mind needs sleep, but the body continues relying solely on basic primal instincts.”
“Ah, I’ve actually seen this on the footage of the outbreak.”
“You’ve got footage from...”
“I’ll fill you in later. Actually, you can read those journals.” She gestured towards the books on her desk.
“I’ll have to do that. So, are you coming or do I have to order you to...?”
“I’m coming, just let me clean up a bit and pack.”
“Great. We’re leaving first thing tomorrow morning.”
“That soon, shit, okay I’ll be ready. For how long?”
“A week or two.”
“A week or two? Because I’m a woman and a woman needs to pack differently for both.”
“Be prepared for two then and could you please log out of my account so I can send out a few emails, please?” Simon patted Jane on the shoulder and exited the lab.
She copied the decryption software to her computer locally and logged out. She watched him enter the elevator and sighed.
“He’s not gay.” Jane bit her lip. “There must be someone else, but who?” She whispered to herself.
Chapter 5
красивая смерть
“Beautiful Death”
When Vladomir returned to the Alpha’s hideout, he found only the Awakened group hanging around. Harry and Bear were keeping a lookout for the Alpha. After two weeks of camping nearby, they realized that it had moved on. Karla was with Red near the Paul Simon Facility providing surveillance there as well. It must have smelled their presence and relocated to somewhere else. Randall stood on the roof of the hideout like a statue watching the city activity beyond. Small Azrael groups were everywhere in all directions. Occasional human scavenging activities often led to smaller Azrael herds increasing their ranks. Vladomir sat on the ledge next to Randall.
“World gone to shit.”
Randall agreed with a nod.
“Why is Alpha killing Azrael?”
Randall pointed to himself and exaggerated opening his eyes with hand movements in front of his eyes. He made fists and opened his hands as if they were eyelids.
“Ah, awakened Azrael. Alpha killing awakened, why?”
Randall pointed to himself again, grunted and mimed fighting.
“You fought Alpha?”
Randall nodded.
“So what happened? You are both still alive.”
Randall mimed a great fight and it ended in a body of water.
“Did you fall in lake or something?”
Randall shook his head. He pointed to himself, mimed kicking and something going into the water.
“You kicked Alpha into water?”
He agreed.
“Was it river?”
He nodded.
“Why fight Alpha?”
Randall paused for a moment. He grunted a few sounds and gestured something small. He gestured breasts.
“Small girl?”
He shook his head. He mimed a scary face and pointed to his eyes.
“Small Azrael girl?”
Randall agreed. He gestured the Alpha ripping the small girl in half.
“Alpha is monster. Was Azrael girl a friend?”
He paused for a bit and then nodded.
“Was girl daughter?”
Randall shook his head.
“Was she like you?”
He shrugged.
“Guess would be hard to tell. Children not ready for world like this.”
Randall agreed.
“Is good thing Awakened Azrael. Sleeping Azrael no good. Do you know what caused Awakened for you?”
He gestured lightning and a tree.
&n
bsp; “You struck with lightning? This did trick?”
Randall shrugged. He gestured the eyes opening with his hands again.
“Did you wake up after or have you always had mind in Azrael body?”
Randall shook his head. He gestured to his head and mimed watching. He gestured lightning, Awakened and moved his limbs with exaggeration.
“Your mind always like this? Lightning gave motor skills?”
He agreed.
“Shit. So human mind stuck in Azrael. This is shit.”
Randall agreed. He mimed crazy.
“Would make crazy, yes. Would lose hope. Would lose humanity.”
Randall nodded and gestured a struggle.
“Struggle is real comrade, struggle is real.” Vladomir laughed.
Randall smiled and grunted. His stomach growled and he pointed to his stomach.
“Is lunch time, yes. Go, take Bear and Harry. Eat, I will watch.”
Randall grunted and patted Vladomir on the back. After a few minutes Vladomir observed the three heading for the nearest wooded area for a wild animal to eat. It gave him time to write down everything he had learned from Randall. Each day more information had been drawn from the Awakened Azrael that was a mystery before. Fortunately, he remembered to log each encounter with intricate detail.
An hour after Randall departed, the Alpha returned to the hideout with a small army of massive Azrael. Vladomir noticed, as they were only a block away. Had he been vigilantly scouring the cityscape he would have noticed the Alpha sooner. Unfortunately, Vladomir was too preoccupied with his several journal entries that he inscribed from memory to notice the herd approaching from further away.
“Veil, this is Vlad. Alpha sighted at hideout. Nine others with Alpha.” He whispered as he verified his pistols were fully loaded and screwed on suppressors.
The Alpha caught eyes with Vladomir after hearing him address the Veil. It howled ferociously placing the others in a maddened fury. Vladomir knew that he was outmatched and shot down at the Alpha in hopes to interrupt its control over the others. It held up its massive arms absorbing most of his shots. It replied with a loud grunt and a wicked grin. Vladomir was trapped on the roof. His only hope was to fight his way through them. As the idea came, the door to the roof slammed open spewing several Azrael on the rooftop towards him.
“We have good time, yes?” He taunted them.
His two pistols dealt with the first two that charged in. However, the third was on their heels and powered through, plowing over Vladomir like a maddened bull. It brought the wind out of him.
“Shit!”
Vlad already had a small knife out and was shanking the Azrael in the temple repeatedly until its body went limp. The other six were out the door and charged in towards Vladomir. He removed two bottles of pepper spray at 18% concentration with a rating of over seven million Scoville heat units. He sprayed towards the group until the bottles emptied. All of them were on the ground grabbing at their throats and rubbing their eyes.
“Giselle find weakness. Pain you feel compliments of Miss Johnson.”
Vladomir seized the opportunity to sprint through the door to the stairwell. As he approached the bottom of the steps of the second floor, he overheard the group entering the stairwell. Their grunts, growls and hissing indicated their level of frustration.
As Vladomir exited the building, his only chance to get away was to head for the Alpha. It leered at him and stood on all fours like a gorilla waiting for Vladomir to approach. It sat up, banged on his chest and grunted. As soon as Vlad achieved an arm’s length away from the Alpha, he tried to stab it in its head but was halted mid swing while gasping for air. The Alpha put both long massive arms out in front of it stopping Vladomir and driving the air out of his lungs the moment that he struck them. The Alpha grasped and lifted Vladomir off the ground by his neck. It squeezed tightly causing him to suffocate. He brought his hands to his throat in attempts to pry the Alpha’s grip from around his neck while dropping the knife.
“Argh, shit.” Vladomir’s words were garbled as he struggled to breathe. He kicked and kneed the Alpha’s rock solid body causing Vladomir to lose hope with each strike. By this time, the six others exited the building and were en route to Vladomir. The Alpha put out its other hand stopping the others from continuing their pursuit. Their faces were red-orange and snot was dripping from their noses. Fury painted their faces and they paced left and right in attempts to control their rage.
“...attack of killer tomatoes.” Vladomir joked while attempting to laugh but the Alpha dug its fingers into his throat ending his enjoyment from it.
The Alpha brought him within an inch, inspected his eyes, and sniffed his odor. Vladomir took the opportunity to pull up his right elbow striking the Alpha with a devastating blow to the chin. It staggered dropping Vladomir to the ground. He grasped, took in a deep breath of air, picked up his knife and charged in for a strike.
“Argh!” Vladomir roared a fierce war cry as he tacked the Alpha to the ground. It was surprised by his strength and its expression showed.
“I...” Vladomir pushed his knife towards the Alpha’s skull. It pushed back but Vlad had the topside advantage. “Kill you now.” He pressed both hands further and further towards the Alpha’s head. It released the hold on its companions; they charged in yanking Vladomir off and dragged him away in a sprint.
“Dishonorable...piece of shit.” Vladomir spat as he was dragged away.
A faint blue beeping light was seen on the Alpha’s lower back indicating the tracking device had been activated. Vladomir displayed a grin but knew his end was coming. Two stayed with the Alpha while four brought Vladomir within the hideout. They tossed him towards the huge pile of intestines and he landed deep into it. He crawled out of it now surrounded in the corner by four seriously pissed off Azrael that wanted nothing more than to rip him apart. Now oily, shitty and coated in the foulest odor imaginable, Vladomir knew that it was the last stand for him. He removed a handful of serum syringes from his backpack and jabbed them into his right thigh sending his body into an overdrive status. He roared and banged his chest as the chemicals coursed through his veins amplifying his power and speed. The Azrael responded with deep growls and moved in for the kill.
Vladomir used his oily body to his advantage keeping them from grabbing him as he tore into them with his bare hands. His strength overwhelmed the Azrael and within minutes, pieces of them were scattered across the room. Vladomir suffered no injuries, although his heartrate tripled its normal speed. The massive amount of hormones and adrenaline became toxic thus shortening his time on this earth to mere minutes. He knew it.
Vladomir’s vision continued to focus on everything in extreme detail as the adrenaline still coursed through his veins placing him in a heightened state of action. He moved towards the stairs with the destination of the roof in his mind. Sounds amplified and silenced in sporadic intervals. Extremely disoriented, Vladomir fought to make it to the roof in any real haste. His muscles tensed and relaxed in no real order causing him to lose control of his movements. He bumped into the wall and tripped over his steps. Finally, he walked through the door to the rooftop and stumbled over several bodies of dead Azrael on his way to the ledge. The beating of his heart grew too violent for his arteries and veins to handle as some snapped or tore from the pressure they endured. A bright light illuminated all around him as a warming sensation surrounded him in a welcoming embrace.
“красивая смерть!” Vladomir spoke his last breath as he stretched out towards the glow.
Abruptly, his heart ceased to function causing his body to fall limp. Muscle spasms appeared occasionally due to adrenaline still coursing throughout his veins and muscles. His war with the Azrael had ended and he joined Kyo in the afterlife.
Chapter 6
Janice Yates
Paul Simon Safe House, Chicago IL
Hiding in the closet of her rom on the third floor of the female dormitory, Janice Yates clutched her
pistol and listened for movement. Screams and loud banging noises permeated throughout the atmosphere beyond the door of her closet. Stan Williams and Austin James accompanied her within the closet, each clutching their own pistol.
“Do you think they’ll find us?” Austin asked frightened half to death.
“Stay quiet Austin. They have excellent hearing.” Stan whispered. Austin nodded in response but the closet was dark so no one actually saw his response.
Austin and Stan were both seventeen and volunteered as builders to guarantee luxurious living conditions in Chicago due to the risk they were taking with this job. Some risks were worth the reward. However, they all felt differently on that day as they hid from the Azrael in a tiny closet in the Paul Simon facility. Janice had been a member of the Highwaymen for a little over a year, had the training to survive and the will to live. She mentored under Giselle Johnson when she arrived and learned a lot from her.
“Quiet, the both of you!” She hushed the two in a whisper. Unfortunately, she didn’t have any of the masking agent with her to hide their scent. Yet, she managed to bring a hamster cage with her inside the closet with the intent to wipe the soiled wood chips on their skin as another means of hiding their odor.
“Here, wipe this on you.” She breathed.
They didn’t hesitate for a second and applied the chips on their bodies liberally. Footsteps in her room were followed by even faster footsteps. Moments later a man screamed and his body was thrown across the room striking the closet door. A dark shadow lied lifeless at the bottom of it.
“Holy shit...they’re going to find us, man.” Austin freaked out.
Janice slapped her hand over his mouth and squeezed hard on his cheeks to shut him up. Was it too late? The three kept silent and held their breaths as heavy footsteps approached the door. The volume of an Azrael breathing increased as it neared the door.
Suddenly, the door shook as the corpse on the other side reanimated. It seized for a few seconds until eventually stopped its moving entirely. A moment later, it stood up quickly sniffing the air. It couched into a crawl and smelled underneath the door intensely. Unsatisfied with the aroma, it pulled away and sprinted out of the room towards a distant scream. The heavy-footed Azrael followed but paused at the door that exited the room. What was it doing? Janice watched through a drilled hole in the door from a body-sized mirror that once hung from it. She could make out a moving dark figure blocking out light that radiated through the front door. It was a massive beast. It inhaled deeply and looked towards the closet with a curious gaze. It moved towards the closet still sniffing the air. Janice quietly scooted to the back of the closet where the other two were. Behind her in the back of the closet, the ground was warm and wet revealing that one of the two pissed themselves. This fatal mistake introduced a distinct human aroma into the air. She knew that they were fucked.
The Azrael (Book 4): Tricon Page 3