by Jeff Olah
“Mom…” His mouth was still unable to form the words as a tear rolled undetected down his cheek and onto the floor.
44
It had been three hours since she entered the room and although her son had opened his eyes, there hadn’t been any further signs of progress. April sat in a chair next to Justin holding his hand and praying for her husband and father to return. She drifted in and out of sleep as her mother paced the halls. The cold sterility of the room made April nauseous as Tessa punched away at the keyboard in the corner documenting everything as it happened. Resting her eyes, she hadn’t sensed her mother’s return. “Oh… hi.”
“April you need to get some rest, you need to sleep. The two rooms past the kitchen have beds, more beds than we have been able to use in the past few days. Take advantage of the few minutes you have now.”
“How can you be so calm? Mason is out there looking for dad and there’s a good chance we won’t see either of them again.”
“I have faith… because it’s all we have at this point. We cannot give up. You didn’t make it this far by lying down and dying. Mason needs you here being strong for him and believing in the fact that he will return. Most importantly, your son needs you; he needs you now more than ever.”
“You’re right,” April said as she rose out of the chair. “Promise me you’ll wake me if anything happens.” Leaning in, she brushed the hair from her son’s forehead, kissed him and whispered. “Come back baby… please.” As April started to pull away, Justin exhaled softly into her ear, his warm breath trying to communicate. April turned to her mother as his hand began to tighten around hers.
. . .
The throbbing at the side of his head ran a close second to waking to a boot in the stomach. The blood pooling in his mouth tasted of bile as he rolled to his side and vomited. The world continued to spin as Mason pushed to his hands and knees before being kicked again and returning to the cabin floor. He had no idea how long he’d been unconscious, although it felt like days had past. As he turned over onto his back and his eyes came into focus, he saw three men standing above, his weapon and pack were nowhere to be found. Contorting his head backward, he saw the man he’d come to help, bound to a chair and beaten severely.
His jacket tightened around his torso as a giant meat hook of a hand pulled him to his feet and tossed him halfway across the room, colliding with another man near the door. Stepping back he realized the man he’d just knocked to the ground was Frank. Confused, Mason reached to pull him to his feet and was met with a nasty upper cut that threatened to knock him to the ground once again. Backing away, Mason stood next to Major Daniels, hands on his knees and breathing heavily through his nose.
“Mason, are we having fun yet?” the Major asked.
Turning to his father-in-law Mason said, “Not yet, but the day’s still young.”
Stepping forward, the behemoth of a man pushed Mason to the side and planted his foot on the chair between the Major’s legs. “Enough… your son-in-law here thought it was a good idea to come rescue you. I bet right about now he wishes he’d stayed back?”
“I think for once we are in agreement,” Major Daniels said.
“Great, although that doesn’t change the fact that he serves no purpose here.” Turning to Mason he said, “So sorry my friend, you were gonna die today either way, only now you won’t get the pleasure of understanding how horrific your father-in-law really was. The thing you’ll never know is the part he played in exterminating humankind.”
The giant was now flanked by Frank and the other smaller man who, up to this point, hadn’t said a word. “You look puzzled… I’ll clear a few things up for you. There is a man we need and your father-in-law is really the only one that can get to him. At some point, he’ll lead us to that man; we’re just going to have to apply pressure in the right areas. You know Frank here; he was our point man and arrived at Blackmore an hour or so before we did, pretending to be a soldier without a unit. Before his credentials were verified, it was already too late and he was in the building, but then the idiot got himself locked inside. The plan was brilliant if I do say so myself.”
The Major interjected, “The truth is that these men are the scum that my division was babysitting, and they are little more than low wage security officers you’d see in a department store. That giant mess of human is Anton and his little sidekick there is Travis.”
He wasn’t listening and his eyes hadn’t moved from his target. Without warning Mason lunged forward and pulled Frank to the floor, they rolled into the table and Mason ended up on top. He twisted the collar of Frank’s jacket in his left hand and shoved it to the floor, pinning his neck down. Mason punched through Frank’s flailing arms, striking him repeatedly with direct blows.
Frank attempted to retaliate; only most of his shots landed short and did nothing to distract Mason’s fury. Fatigue set in as he gripped the arm holding his throat down and dug his thumb into Mason’s wrist, forcing him to release. The blood rushing out of the new wound above his eye partially blinded him as he sat forward only to be met with Mason’s elbow sending him back to the floor, his brutalized head making contact first.
Mason’s right hand burned as the skin in multiple places was torn away. He leaned forward and gripped Frank’s neck. As he struggled to get free, Mason clamped down harder, the muscles in his forearm bulged as Frank pounded against them. Death wasn’t far off as he began to flail wildly under Mason’s weight. Seconds from ending this man’s life with his bare hands, Mason was pulled up from behind. He brought Frank from the floor in the process and only released his grip when he was thrown backward into the wall.
Frank moved to the opposite side coughing, spitting and finally cursing Anton for waiting so long to help. Regaining his composure, he walked over and kicked Mason in the stomach repeatedly until he lay in the fetal position gasping for air.
“Enough,” said Major Daniels. “He’s had enough. You have no authority here and no idea how deep this goes. Once Goodwin arrives here, we’ll work it out. Let Mason go and I’ll be sure you three live.”
Anton laughed and turning to Major Daniels said, “You’re allowing us to live. How nice of you, although there are a few recent developments you haven’t been privy to. First of which is the fact that we only need you until we find the Doctor. Also, the only reason your family has been allowed to live is a sign of good faith. If you want to end this today… if you want to go back to your little paradise in the mountains, you need to play ball. No more games. The next thing out of your mouth had better be the location of Lockwood.”
With the numbness in his arms and legs less of an annoyance, the Major leaned back in the chair and took in a long breath through his nose. “Son, you’ve tied me to this wretched chair, beat the hell out of me, threatened to kill my family and do unspeakable things to my wife. When your boss arrives and unties my hands, I am going to personally beat the life out of you. You might be under the misguided idea that your size somehow precludes you from showing me the respect I deserve, the respect I’ve worked years to earn, although I assure you that today you’re going to learn just how defective that belief actually was.”
Anton smiled. “Richard… your title, as well as the respect this world owes you left two weeks ago. No one is coming to save you. Goodwin is tucked away at headquarters with no intention of ever coming here. Why do you think he sent me?” Pulling Mason to his feet, Anton handed Frank his weapon and pointed to the door. “Take him outside and kill him.”
Helping Anton pull Mason from the floor, Frank used the remaining length of rope to bind Mason’s hands behind his back. He then pulled Mason by the hair, marched him to the door and pushed him through.
Alone with his thoughts, Richard Daniels hated himself. He hated who he’d become and what he’d done. This wasn’t Mason’s plan. It wasn’t supposed to end… not here, not like this.
The sound of a weapon being fired destroyed the silence.
What’s Next?
Volume 7…
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Table of Contents
Volume 4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Volume 5
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
Volume 6
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
What’s Next?