The Cannibal Cure

by Jeff D Ellis

  David watched as everybody got loaded up with their full tactical gear. After seeing each member of his team give him a thumbs-up, he gave the signal to form up at the door to the loading dock.

  David gave the signal. “Breach and clear.”

  Perry picked the lock on the door and pushed it open. David and Abby entered and swept the room looking for guards. At their signal, Perry and then Gwen entered behind them. Gwen closed the outside door and pushed in a doorstop to slow down anyone that would want to come in behind them. The team formed up on the door to the hall.

  “Six, we have made entry.”

  “Team-1, cutting camera in the hall. You are clear to continue.”

  On David’s signal, Perry opened the door to the hall. The team entered the danger area and formed up on the door straight across from the loading dock. Gwen kept watch down the hall as Perry opened the door for David and Abby to enter, and then stayed in the hall to watch as well.

  David saw this was one of the rooms set up as a studio apartment. From the description, it must be the room Hammer was kept in. Sleeping in the bed was one of the guards. David fired three rounds into the guard’s chest while Abby scanned the room for danger.

  David whispered, “Tango down.”

  Abby checked to make sure he was dead before whispering, “Clear.”

  After reforming back in the hall, David gave the signal for Perry and Gwen to watch the hall and then started what was called “Slicing the pie” on the kitchen area. David slowly moved to view only a small slice of the room at a time while approaching and only being exposed to areas that are visually clear. He noticed a guard sitting at a table looking his way. The guard knocked the table forward for cover and dove behind it as David fired shots in his direction.

  The Guard yelled into his radio. “Intruders on lab level.”

  Anyone in the lab next door would have heard him. Time for stealth was over and they couldn’t afford to be attacked from multiple directions.

  “U.S. Marshals. Drop your weapon and come out with your hands up.”

  What rose up was no longer human, but a Windigo with sharp teeth and claws gleaming in the light.

  David yelled out, “Windigo!”

  As the monster charged, David and Abby emptied their magazines into the creature’s chest, putting it down in a pool of blood. Letting her P90 drop onto its sling, Abby pulled her tomahawk and cut the head from the monster. The sounds of gunfire erupted from the hallway. They quickly reloaded and joined the fight in the hall. Two guards were using the lab doorway as cover shooting down the hall.

  “Perry’s been shot.”

  “Gwen, get him to safety. You’re done here.”

  “Team-1, medical is on their way. Sitrep?”

  “Two Tangos down, two active shooters. Have not seen Primary.”

  The problem was they were on the same side of the hallway as the guards, and didn’t have an angle of attack. Abby held her P90 in the hall, providing blind cover fire to keep the guards pinned in the lab and covering Gwen pulling Perry to the relative safety of the loading dock. It also gave David a chance to race across the hall and enter the closet on the other side where he had a better angle on the lab door. It wasn’t great but it was better than the kitchen. He would give anything for a frag grenade to lob into the lab, but they were against the rules of engagement on this mission. Maintaining the lab was a priority.

  A feral cry rang out from the lab as two Windigos ran out into the hallway. Behind them, Otis Thorn ran across to the room opposite the lab and disappeared. These Windigos were too new to hold up to concentrated gun fire. Thorn must be trying to escape. David stepped out and opened fire on the Windigo facing him, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see streaks of burning light of Abby’s tracers hitting the other one. This quickly put them down.

  “Thorn is getting away.”

  Abby ran down the hall, tomahawk in hand. “I’ll keep these two from rising, you go after him. I’ll be right behind you.”

  David ran to where Thorn had disappeared. The room wasn’t at all what he had expected. It looked like a study from the 1900s, with dark wood bookshelves, a writing desk, and overstuffed leather chairs. In the corner was a bed that matched the other decor. What he didn’t see was Otis Thorn. Looking closely at the floor, there were scratches in an arc at the end of the bookshelf. He gave it a good pull. The bottom half of the bookcase swung open, revealing stairs down into the darkness below. Hearing movement fading away, David knew he couldn’t wait for Abby. After shoving a doorstop to keep the bookcase from closing after him, David descended into the darkness.

  ***

  Abby kicked the second head away from its body when she heard the doors of the elevator open. Looking up, she saw the final two Windigos facing her with glowing eyes. There was no time to think. Instinct took over as she threw her tomahawk with all her might at the one to her right and turned her focus to the one on the left. Time slowed down, and her vision focused on the approaching threat. Her blade appeared in her hand as if by magic and she started to weave it in deadly arcs in front of her.

  The Windigo swung its deadly claws. She moved in and blocked its arm as her blade swung down from upper right to lower left, cutting a bloody path in its wake. At the end of the swing, it came over her left shoulder gathering power to swing down from upper left to lower right, as she twisted and danced away from its counterattack, making contact with the creature’s wrist leaving its hand on the floor. The screams of its pain assaulted her ears. Its good hand scratched across her body armor. The blade turned and traveled from right to left across its emaciated abs disemboweling the monster, but still it came for her. Abby slipped in the blood, falling down to the floor. As it bent over to finish her off, she thrust the blade through its neck, cutting the spinal column. As it collapsed, she rolled out of the way to keep from being trapped beneath it.

  A voice in the back of her head kept repeating, “finish the job, Abby, finish the job.”

  Crawling through the blood and guts, she extracted the blade and chopped down, severing the head. Sounds came rushing over her as she heard shuffling feet from down the hall. The first guard must have been a Windigo and had regenerated enough to come seeking vengeance.

  “Oh shit, not again.”

  ***

  David’s eyes quickly adjusted to the lack of light, but Human eyes wouldn’t be good enough. He would need the enhanced senses of a Were-jaguar if he was going to find and beat Otis Thorn. Shifting to Were-jaguar always caused David a little vertigo for the sensory overload, but it was worth it. Now he could see the passage come alive with Thorn’s tracks leading off in the distance. He could smell the distinctive rotting Windigo odor up ahead. If only he had seen Thorn as a Were-jaguar, it would have saved them a lot of trouble knowing what he actually was. He was in his element now and the hunt was on. On silent feet, David quickly moved along the downward sloping passageway where it hit a junction.

  A voice rang out down one path. “Deputy Seymour, I’m waiting for you down here.”

  David turned and followed the path to the voice. It opened up into a large room, bigger than the one that had the tree growing in it. In the center was what could only be described as a throne, with Otis Thorn sitting on it. He was actually dwarfed by it, as if it was made for someone much larger. And the ceiling was cloaked in shadows, as if the entire room was meant for something much larger. The torch light left more shadows than light.

  “Now there you are … be a good boy and change back.”

  David shifted back. “I only did it to make it easier to talk.”

  “Of course you did, boy.”

  “I’m not your boy, Thorn.”

  “You’re going to forget you found me.”

  “I’m not one of your pet guards. You don’t control me.”

  “One could hope.”

  “You can control the ones you create?”

  “Something like that.”

  “It must take more than g
etting infected.”

  “Since you are the only one to not become a Windigo on infection, it shouldn’t be a surprise. It was worth a try as it would have saved your life.”

  “You assume you could kill me. I’ve survived your other Windigos as well as Wraiths and a Necromancer.”

  “I’ve heard of your exploits, but you aren’t the same Shapeshifter you were back then.”

  “Why don’t we stop with the threats and you tell me why you thought you could get away with it.”

  “The plans have been in development since before you were born and I can still make mine happen once you’re dead.”

  “What, control the world?”

  “No, just the political elite that think they are better than we are. With them under control, real change for The Veiled can happen.”

  “It’s all for the good of The Veiled?”

  “I’m not saying I wouldn’t benefit as well, but yes.”

  “What are your plans with me out of the way?”

  “I can turn your co-workers and continue on as planned.”

  “Not when the people you’re looking to control have ordered your death. The transport to the next facility has been canceled and everyone but your guards have been instructed to terminate you on sight.”

  “That does put a damper on things, but unlike those people, I can disappear and finish my plans in the future and will have perfected things to a greater degree. I will still be here long after your Chief Knight and his bosses have retired or died off.”

  “That’s all assuming you make it past me and our team, who should be joining me shortly.”

  “The door won’t be as easy for them to open and even if they do manage to find and open it, it will be too late for you. I do have you to thank for helping my research reach its the next phase. You and I may hold the keys to many advances in science.”

  “I don’t understand how you can justify so many Human deaths in the name of your research.”

  Thorn stood. “I think we’ve stalled long enough for you to realize help isn’t coming for you.”

  David raised his Kriss Vector and emptied its magazine into Thorn’s chest. “Or for you.”

  Thorn changed into the largest Windigo David and ever seen, not that he had seen many. It looked like some giant turned into a zombie with oddly stretched grayish skin stretched over his bones. The deep set glowing red eyes and heart pulsing in his chest were again visible. What was left of his hair was gray and stringy. The shots he had fired were more stomach level than chest and were healing. What he had seen before must have been more of an illusion then a pre-transformation body. This felt like a video game boss fight where it is at least double the size of the player character. Thorn couldn’t be much older than Willow and she wasn’t quite this large. Maybe Thorn wasn’t quite as large as he seemed now. It would make targeting difficult.

  Thorn’s voice was all raspy. “I’m too old for you to kill me that way.”

  Placing his hand on the totem in his pocket, David quickly focused on it and the feelings he had in the spirit realm and shifted. Raising the shield, he readied himself for the first blow from the Windigo.

  Thorn laughed. “You late for Comic Con or something? I don’t see any Spanish Conquistadors around, not that the natives, dressed like you, did very well against them.”

  “The natives’ gear didn’t contain magic.”

  David almost laughed when Thorn took a step back and squinted at him, but just because the items from Jaguar were magically imbued, didn’t mean they would help win this fight. Thorn’s caution didn’t last long as he stepped forward and slashed his clawed fingers at David’s head. Raising the shield up, the blow scratched against its surface, giving David the ability to slash out with the sword at the Windigo’s leg, leaving a bloody line. The blood stopped flowing almost at once. With a yell, the Windigo pushed hard, knocking David back several feet. Running forward, David rolled, ducking under the Thorn’s arms and back to his feet behind him, and swung his sword into the back of the legs, causing Thorn to scream out again. It didn’t cause the damage David had hoped for. The blow would have crippled a Human, but it only slowed down the Windigo for a moment.

  Spinning, the Windigo lashed out, hitting David in the ribs, causing pain to shoot through his body and made him stagger back. The rib would heal soon, but not soon enough unless he shifted, and while in the past he could shift quickly enough, right now he still wasn’t back to his full capability, and it was a risk he couldn’t take. Madly, he swung the sword back and forth to keep the Windigo back.

  It was hideous to see Thorn’s Windigo face smiling over the small victory. It launched a barrage of blows into David’s abs, knocking the wind out of him and drove him to the ground. Thorn kicked at David’s side, but David rolled out of the way and shifted into a jaguar. He leaped to put the throne between himself and the monster.

  Thorn sneered. “Here kitty, kitty, I have something for you.” The Windigo ran around the throne to chase the jaguar, but found David standing in his Jaguar Shaman form, swinging the sword with all of his might. It cut deep into Thorn’s side. Staggering back, the Windigo spit up blood. Bashing Thorn with his shield, he knocked him over and swung the sword again, almost cutting the monster in half and putting Thorn on the ground.

  “Any last words?”

  Thorn struggled to rise up and coughed blood.

  David nodded and made a home run swing with the sword, severing the monster’s head from its body.

  David smiled. “There can only be one.”

  He slipped in the blood and gore and fell to his knees. Sliding out of the mess, he pushed himself back to his feet and shifted back to his normal Human form. With his body healing from its abuse and the quick shifts, he felt overcome with fatigue and the realization that this could very easily have gone the other way. It was all he could do to shuffle back up the slanted corridor to freedom.

  When he got to the bookcase, it was closed like Thorn had said: David didn’t have the strength left to push it open against the strength of whatever had closed it.

  ***

  Abby stumbled to her feet. She realized the Windigo behind her might also recover from a tomahawk lodged in its skull, and the last thing she needed was to be forced to fight on two fronts. A simple scratch from these monsters could be the end of her. She looked for that first Windigo, to no avail. Sheathing her blade, she reloaded the P90 to address the shambling guard. But scanning the room, she had now lost them both. How could that be? He wasn’t moving that fast. A noise in the kitchen caught her attention. It was the guard, who now was after her. Firing a burst from her P90, the guard shuddered with the impacts to its chest and stumbled. She fired again and it fell to the ground with a sorrowful moan. This time she wouldn’t just check for a pulse. She cut its head off with her blade. Bending over to make the cut, she heard a shout.

  “Abby, behind you.”

  Gunfire erupted from Gwen’s Kriss Vector. Abby spun in time to see a Windigo clutching her tomahawk fall. Recovering the tomahawk from the Windigo, she finished off both bodies. They wouldn’t be coming back to life this time.

  “Thank you, Gwen. It could have killed me or worse.”

  “You did well in the short time I was gone.”

  “I don’t know how I’m still standing, to tell the truth. How’s Perry?”

  “Ash is taking good care of him. The bullet only hit muscle in his leg. He should recover as long as he doesn’t get infected by something nasty. Where’s David?”

  “He went after Thorn and I was to follow right behind, but the two Windigos coming out of the elevator tied me up.”

  David, are you okay? The final two guards ambushed me from the elevator but it’s all quiet here now … David?

  “Gwen, something seems wrong. I can’t reach David.”

  “After you.”

  Abby and Gwen rushed into the room David had disappeared into.

  Abby tilted her head. “I know I saw them come into thi
s room.”

  “Let’s look around and try and find a secret door. From your reports, it seems like Thorn is into those.”

  The bookcase started to push open and Abby and Gwen backed up and pointed their weapons at it.

  Abby, it’s me. Help me get the bookcase open.

  “It’s David! Help me with the bookcase.”

  They both pulled it open and David fell into the room, covered in blood.

  “David, are you hurt?”

  “The blood isn’t mine. I’m just exhausted.”

  Abby smiled. “I know the feeling.”

  David looked up at her and saw she was covered in blood as well. “Crap, Abby! I’m so sorry! I didn’t know I was leaving you in danger.”

  “It wasn’t anything us girls couldn’t handle. I just had to kill three Windigos without you. Thorn?”

  “He’s dead. It’s time for the cleaners.”

  Gwen helped David to his feet. “Can you walk?”

  “I can as long as there aren’t any more heavy doors in my way. I need a day off.”

  Gwen and Abby laughed. “Don’t we all?”

  ***

  The Chief was happy that justice was finally served for Otis Thorn. He represented all that could go wrong and evil in the world and his bosses had been too willing to give it a blind eye in their thirst for power. Maintaining the treaties with The Veiled was important to him. He thought about his own heritage. He wasn’t going to stand by and let them be treated like the Native Americans had been by his government. Why is it Humans have to kill or oppress anything different from themselves? His ancestors had to hide what they were and were lucky enough to be able to interbreed with Humans and become a part of this society.

  Luckily, Abby’s heritage had been hidden and she only had to deal with the stigma of being Native American. It was better Grandfather chose to bring her in gradually and someday she might know the truth. She thought she was only partly Veiled, but the Chief knew she had a pure bloodline back to Raven himself. It was amazing that two tricksters like Raven and Coyote would let their descendants join together, but it had been working for Connor and Robin, and they produced David, who was even more powerful than they were. He felt like this case pushed David a little too hard ethically and he would have to take better care in protecting him, like he’d promised Connor he would.