by L. H. Tide
But suddenly, he cheered up. He looked up again and asked, looking at Tony Lee, "Tony, do you have one of your laser cannons here, one which is fully operational? I remember that your specialty was in the domain of the red and infrared lasers."
"Yes," answered the young Asian, a smile appearing on his tense face, "but in fact..."
He was briskly interrupted by Adams who said, mockingly, "In fact his biggest lasers are weak and, worse, are a fire hazard!” Tony's face darkened, despite his usual efforts to seem insensitive.
"Let's make a résumé of the situation," continued the old man, snorting, and adding, "They're just plain useless!"
"They will be useful for cutting the blades inserted in your wall, if we use a magnifying glass."
"Why would we have to use lasers for cutting your... blades?" asked Adams, looking skeptical.
"Because they're the only things able to cut through this otherwise indestructible material. It's even harder than diamond!"
He looked above, the bag and them, and finally, turning his attention to the people near him, yelled at them, "Step back!" Elmer then extended his right arm and grabbed firmly the big black bag, while recoiling.
As he pulled his hand down, the bag was suddenly torn into pieces while it was pressed downwards, against the two big crystalline blades inside it. These remained immobile, in an almost horizontal position, stuck into the wall, as what remained of the bag and its contents rained toward the ground.
"Beware!" Elmer shouted as he jumped back a step.
The other blades which had been inside the bag were falling. Johnny and Bo jumped away just in time to avoid being pierced by some of them, which, falling vertically and diagonally, sank into the ground. Others fell horizontally on the surface of the ground, the whole emitting deafening crisp sounds. Finally, they remained immobile, those stuck in the ground vibrating, continuing to emit a crystalline sound.
"What the fuck is that?" yelled Bo, watching the pile of blades scattered on the dirty ground. They were now lying immobile in the dirt, but they continued to emit the crystal-like sound, as if they continued to resonate. It was as if they had their own lives. Johnny goggled at the glistening blades, fascinated. It's as if they producethat sound continuously... Are these things alive?
"Quick!"
Elmer's voice shook the young colored man who quit his dreamy state. And the hypnotizing sound emitted by the blades was weakening. This helped him to again make contact with reality.
"Quick, I said," repeated the scientist, who put a hand on his shoulder. "We must wrap the blades, and go inside as fast as possible."
He raised his chin and said, indicating the two remaining blades still stuck in the wall, "These ones will take much longer to cut and to carry out, gentlemen. I assure you that they won't make your wall vulnerable, and they won't be lost, until we come back with the necessary equipment to retrieve them. We need the other samples of this special diamond-like material, which is the essential component of these blades."
The scientist had the pleasure to see, at last, a grin spread across the Administrator's face, who had listened to him, with Tony Lee with him. Finally, the old man answered, "The incredible toughness of your blades has impressed me, and Mister Lee, here, has convinced me that you'll be an asset for our Community."
"Come back as quickly as you can," said Lee, smiling too, while watching him.
Having said that, the young Asian raised his chin, his face suddenly becoming much more somber.
"Get back now, they're coming!"
This was like electric shock for Elmer, who looked around. Dozens of living dead were approaching, emerging from behind the trees and bushes. They were able to be so discreet… but luckily, they were very slow, so, he thought they had a few minutes before their arrival.
The scientist began immediately to help Bo, who was cautiously putting the fallen blades on one big piece of bag fabric that he had laid over the ground.
"Thank you... Boris, that's your first name, if I've understood correctly? Be careful, manipulate these blades very cautiously, if you want to avoid to be injured."
Johnny didn't feel proud, about not helping them. He decided to add to the bunch of blades, on the fabric, the one which was in front of him. It was planted in the ground in a vertical position, and he could see that it seemed very slender. So slender, in fact, that when he approached his face and moved it slightly on one side, the blade, seen on the side, literally disappeared! The roars and growls increased, and the young man, his heart beating hard in his chest, saw that the nearest creatures were no more than a hundred meters away, now. He hesitated a few seconds and then he tentatively reached to grab the blade.
"No!"
Elmer's voice startled Johnny just as his hand enclosed the blade to lift it to raise it off the ground.
He yelled when the palm of his hand sank into the two sharp edges of the blade, blood immediately pouring out.
The nearest group of zombies, which was now only a few dozen meters away, became static, looking intensely at him. Elmer watched them too, surprised by their immobility, and by their fascination for something.
"My God," the fat scientist who had arrived near the young man exclaimed, looking at his hand, "I said that one had to be careful, while manipulating this material!"
The angry voice of Elmer, added to the fact that the living dead were now close to them, stressed Johnny, whose heart raced now. Fighting against the pain, he grit his teeth and, slowly, opening his hand, he tried to free it, and by the way, himself.
But despite all his efforts, his hand was blocked, every movement becoming a torture session!
His palm, split at two locations, was literally stuck in the blade. Elmer goggled at the wounded hand.
"My God, it's literally encased in it. I only see one solution. Sorry, my boy," murmured Elmer.
He took the young man's hand in his, and began to slide it up. Johnny winced with pain, as the scientist helped his hand to slide towards the upper part of the blade. The sliding made the hand bleed even more...
"They're arriving, come back inside!" shouted Tony from above them, a tone of alarm in his voice.
Johnny looked up at him, lifting his hand higher along the blade, helped by Elmer who was concentrating on easing the movement of it in the upper direction. The blood began to flow downwards along the tapered sides, beginning to make a small red pond at his feet. Then the young black guy lowered his gaze, and felt cold sweat run down his back. He had seen the nearest bunch of zombies running toward him. He had never seen those creatures run like that, but it was as if the scent of blood excited them!
"Motherfuckers!" shouted Johnny, and lifting his hand harshly, he forced his palm along the blade, wincing and biting on his tongue due to his suffering. In the process, the wounds on the palm of his hand opened further. Internally, he thanked Hiroto for the meditation courses he had given to him for pain control.
Finally he brutally lifted his hand which was completely freed, and, putting it in a horizontal position, he looked at it. The two opened wounds showed some of the bones of his hand mixed with the bloody flesh of the torn palm. An impressive amount of blood was flowing down.
Goggling at the hand, which was a scene worthy of a board of anatomy, Elmer was horrified, and his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he fainted.
"No!"
Johnny's voice shook him. Looking at the young black man, while avoiding looking at his bloody hand, he felt strangely light. That's when he realized that he was strongly supported by Johnny, who used his healthy hand to help him.
"Hey, Professor," yelled Johnny, scowling at him. "This isn't the time for faltering, it's the time for running!" Saying that, the young man looked in a direction, and Elmer followed his gaze.
He was alarmed to see three zombies in rags almost leaping toward them. He was paralyzed by fear, horrified by the huge gaping jaw of one of them, and hypnotized by its reddish eyes.
The ugly face of death disappeare
d in a wall of flames, making the scientist wince because of the intensity of the light, and the intense heat he felt on his face.
The flow of flames disappeared and, his eyes wet because of the tears provoked by the inferno, he saw that one of the guards, who had accompanied them outside, was using one of their strange rifle-like flame throwers.
"It's really the moment for us to go back inside!" shouted Johnny, pulling Elmer. The latter felt a surge of stress when he saw that the huge double doors of the Community were closing now. Bo and other people were disappearing through the half-open doors. They're going to lock it and leave us outside! That's what a panicking, interior voice murmured to Elmer.
***
Experiment
It's always a pleasure to have tea with someone... But what if you had a doubt concerning the true nature of your guest? Human being or Zombie? Here's a potentially deadly tea time...
The red liquid poured from the spout of the nice teapot into the little
golden cup; both had a rather kitsch look. Professor Theodore Harding raised the ceramic teapot from Limoges, stopping the flow of boiling liquid, and placed it on the table.
"Would you, too, like a cup of red tea? Perhaps some coffee?" he asked, looking Harry in the eye, who was sitting at the table, in front of him.
The muscular man looked at him with surprise, and, hesitant, lowered his gaze toward the empty cup. He was holding its handle between two of his impressive fingers, making it look like a little girl's toy.
"Well," he answered, "coffee... please."
The scientist smiled at him and, taking a metallic coffee dispenser, he served the big black man. As the dark liquid was pouring into the cup, turning around and creating inside a kind of maelstrom, Professor Harding observed something odd.
Harry was concentrating on the whirling liquid. His reddish eyes reflected in an odd way the light coming from the neon tube above them. An image of the tube was reflected in the wavelets of the liquid. He understood the origin of the wavelets when he observed, with a scientific spirit, that the big black hand of his guest was beginning to tremble. Harding swallowed hard, sweat beginning to trickle along his right temple.
Fear struck him, and his heart beat hard in his chest, when he saw that the cup was going to overflow, and he abruptly stopped pouring. The hot liquid was very close to dropping on Harry’s fingers, which were now trembling frenetically. The scientist feared that the slightest burn on the big man's skin would trigger a lethal reaction!
Finally, the trembling of the giant's hand ceased, and the entirety of the boiling liquid remained inside the cup.
Harding sighed. Must I continue the test? The experience? I've the impression of being sitting next to a ticking bomb!
He shivered, but did everything he could to hide his internal feelings. Like dogs and wolves, they attack more easily, if they sense fear…
He controlled his breath, which had begun to accelerate, under the watchful eye of the big man, and finally became quiet, repelling fear. Tentatively, he decided to continue, and added: "I love to drink that tea. Actually, it's not really red tea, in fact. It's some rooibos; a red colored infusion drunk by a lot of people, in South America."
"Roi..." Harry stopped speaking, hesitant, trying to pronounce the name. The scientist observed his eyes.
They seemed less red now, more pinkish. Some blown veinlets were still visible in the white of his eyes, but others had obviously recovered. A reassuring improvement, indeed!
"Rooibos. It's a plant which is part of the broom family."
"Rea... really?" answered Harry, while he continued to concentrate more of his attention on the whirling black liquid in his cup. It was now slowing down. Theodore couldn't help but be fascinated by the fact that his guest was beginning a real conversation with him. The black giant continued, "I've... never heard about it... even if I was..." He became silent, looking up the words. The scientist was full of hope now, opening his eyes wide, hope literally perspiring from him. This individual, despite being in a delicate equilibrium between remaining a man or becoming a monster, was remembering that his first job had been as a horticulturist...
The warmth of happiness pervading his mind instead of his usual state of cold analytics, he pushed the bowl containing many white little brick-like pieces toward the giant, and asked, "Would you like some sugar?"
"Su-sugar?" Harry answered, lowering his gaze toward the beautiful bowl, with its edges covered with a nice design of flowers, and he seemed to hesitate. “Yes, thank… Thank you…”.
"You’re welcome," the scientist added while smiling, knowing that the man had been known to be fond of sweetness.
Awkwardly, neglecting the sugar tong placed alongside the bowl, Harry took a piece of sugar between two of his thick fingers, and then his hand went over his cup. Inside the cup, the dark liquid had stopped whirling. Watching the scene in fascination, Professor Harding was waiting for the fingers to release into it the piece.
The colossus threw the piece of sugar into his open mouth, surprising the scientist. He crushed it briskly between his teeth, and small bits were spit with force from his open mouth, toward one of the scientist's eyes, who closed it by reflex. With his unspoilt eye, Theodore saw Harry take the bowl in his hand, letting all the remaining sugar pieces fall into his huge open mouth. Many pieces fell noisily on the table in front of him, and, miraculously, a few in his cup of coffee. This caused an impressive spattering, soiling the beautiful white tablecloth which was underneath. Professor Harding, still seated on his chair, became tense while watching - and hearing - the big colored man in front of him munching the pieces of sugar. Some of them stuck out, tossed between his partly decayed teeth, as he looked strangely at the Scientist.
All of a sudden Harry threw his big hand in front of him, making Harding lean back while protecting his face with his hands. Eyes closed, the scientist was already feeling the strong pull of the giant's hand on one of his arms, and his bite. Seconds passed by but the pull and the bite weren't coming. It had only been his imagination, apparently. Hesitating to open his eyes and to confront reality, he only heard a flowing sound. Finally opening his eyes to see his own arms, crossed in front of his face to protect himself, he slowly spread them, seeing...
Harry had his head in a reclined position, holding the metallic dispenser like a toy in his big hand, and was gulping the coffee, via its pouring spout, inside his opened mouth. The boiling dark liquid inundated his mouth and trickled heavily toward his ears. Goggling at him, Harding saw some steam come out of the burnt mouth of the big man.
After many seconds the liquid stopped pouring from the now empty dispenser, and Harry placed it heavily on the table with a thump. Looking at Professor Harding with red, glowing eyes, the colossus opened his big mouth, which was a mess of brownish liquid and dissolved sugar, and shouted, coffee gushing out, "Get out of here!" Theodore didn't need to be told twice, and he ran toward the door of the cell, which was swiftly opened by a frightened aide.
As soon as the door was closed behind him, Harry leapt toward him, overturning the tea table in his way, scattering dishes, cutlery and chairs. He violently hit the bars, his huge head between them, watching him, a vague look on his face.
Looking behind, the scientist sighed, reassured to see that the colossus was blocked in front of the bars of the door of the cell.
That's when the giant extended an arm and seized him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him violently back.
"Help me!" the skewed scientist shouted.
His back crashed into the metallic bars, as another muscular arm wrapped around his neck. His now painful back pressed against the bars. His collaborator and a colleague of his arrived, at the same time as he felt the warm breath of the man along his neck, near his jugular vein.
Suddenly Professor Harding was violently shaken by an electric shock, making him yell. The shock ceased as quickly as it had arrived. As soon as the surge had passed, he felt his knees tremble, and slowly began to crouch
, still held by the massive arm. He understood vaguely, his mind clouded because of what he had just passed through: his aides had tasered Harry. The dark arm which was still holding him had transmitted the dozens of thousands of volts by conduction. Apparently, it had been efficient, since he felt the weakening of the pressure on his throat.
All of a sudden, he heard a deafening bear-like growl coming from behind, and the arm at his throat tightened again.
"Give him some more!" shouted one of the two men to the other, while Harry, his head still in a reclined position because of the arm, could only have a glimpse of the worried aide. The professor whispered with difficulty, "Noooo", not willing to endure another electrocution session.
A new electric shock made him tremble violently, as he saw the world around him becoming a mess of colors, seconds seeming like centuries.
The shocks ceased at last, once again, and in a daze, he saw more than he felt himself collapse on the cold floor. The pressure on his throat had at last disappeared, and the only thing he felt, now, was the huge, warm mass of Harry, slumped against his back, through the bars. Astonishingly, that warmth made him plunge even quicker toward a welcomed unconsciousness…
"What happened to him?"
The shouting made Professor Harding awake, and opening his eyes, he looked at Johnny, who was kneeling in front of him. The scientist realized that the young colored man's knees were on the cold floor of the room, and that he himself was lying on it, on his back.
"Answer me, what did you do to him?" Johnny asked again, grabbing him by the throat just like his father, a moment ago. The scientist's face took on a scarlet color, as he tried to make the pressure release on his throat.
"Give the professor a break, let him go," one of the aides shouted at the young man, clearly angry.
The man grabbed the forearm of the young black, to force him to release him. With the other hand, Johnny violently pushed him, making him yell while falling on his back. Johnny lifted the scientist onto his feet, putting him back against one of the walls of the gloomy room. Professor Harding looked Johnny in the eye, seething inside, as he felt himself being pressed against the surface.