White Heat Beast

by Steven Jennings

  I thought about making a run for it, but I kept hearing a voice in my head softly saying, “Don’t run from us Shawndre, don’t run.” I started thinking I was losing my mind; maybe I was still dreaming? But that was impossible, the sensations, the shower, it was all too real. At this point, I figured even if I ran, somebody would know where I was, and I had to get to the bottom of why and how?

  I turned on the TV, popped in the DVD and sat down. Suddenly my name, social security number and birthday showed up on the screen. Then a series of short video clips started playing consecutively showing me in various stages of my life, like clips from birthday parties at school, in the backyard playing, at the hospital, standing on the corner selling crack, Dee-Dee and I having drinks at a restaurant in Los Angeles and more.

  They even had a video clip of me having sex with two girls in the grass behind the carnival. I felt violated and angry but for some reason, I was not afraid. Then suddenly, the video switched to a black background, and a woman walked on the camera and took a seat, and it was Dee-Dee! Only now she looked about 10 years older than the last time I saw her.

  She was crying as she nervously began telling me a story about how she was a secret agent from Saudi Arabia and she was given the mission of destroying America’s secret weapon, until she started falling in love, with me.

  She said her associates came to finish the job, and after I killed them all, she torched the hotel. But she couldn’t bear to see me burn to death in the fire and pulled me to safety when she saw I was still breathing. Dee-Dee said some powerful Generals in this Special Operations Committee, which I had never heard of, were also double agents, and wanted to see me dead. I was never supposed to be deployed to Los Angeles, it was all a set-up. She told me Iron Bird, from the island, was dead and had been killed as soon as I stepped foot on the flight to Los Angeles.

  She said the only reason I was still alive today, was because she informed the committee of my whereabouts the night of the fire. She spoke of how this committee was a clandestine organization that reached to the White House, but it was riddled with double agents, rogue agents and a lot of internal turmoil about whether someone with my abilities should be allowed to live after being studied, or used in battle.

  Dee-Dee said certain key people who hadn’t flipped sides, and were amazed that I survived having my brains blown out. She told me how Saudi Arabian Intelligence hacked into a computer system and learned all about who I was, and what had been done to me. I was eventually supposed to be deployed to the Middle East for still unknown reasons. Dee-Dee talked about Molecular Nanotechnology, and how I had been injected with nanorobots that kept my heart beating and rebuilt my brain, even repairing it on a molecular level. But they began to self-replicate in my body using materials from the bullets, and the little robots kept repairing me while I was in the coma, even changing my DNA, which was some type of self-preserving anomaly that had not been anticipated by any of the scientists.

  The U.S Government was tracking me with an RFID chip that was implanted somewhere in my body, but she hadn’t figured out where, since the nanorobots had repaired any wounds or scars I had on my body. Then she blew my mind, when she said, I no longer needed the bots in my body, they had turned me into an indestructible creature, a unique new species in all of mankind.

  She said the only way I could disable the tracking device in my body, since I probably would not be able to cut into my flesh using conventional methods, would be to somehow allow an enormous amount of electrical current to flow through my body and fry the device.

  She said the nanorobots would probably survive. And I would heal within a matter of hours regardless. It was an incredible story but I wondered; was it just another trick, to get me to commit suicide? She looked very uncomfortable, like someone was telling her what to say. The last thing she said was that I would be hunted down if I didn’t turn myself in, and they had certain weapons they had formulated during the past 15 years, that could be used to fight against me if ever needed.

  Her last words of advice were to run. Then the DVD abruptly stopped and the DVD player self-destructed. Smoke began to leak from the vents and it started a small fire. So I pulled it out the wall and dropped it in the sink under cold running water. Upon inspection I saw the DVD was completely destroyed, which pissed me off, because I wanted to watch it again, to see my Dee-Dee. I decided it was time to leave, and if somebody had beef with me, I was ready for war.

  Speaking of beef, I was as hungry as a junkyard dog, and penniless. I had to get a hold of some money fast! My first idea was to rob criminals, who had illegal money, and who wouldn’t be interested in police involvement. So I thought, maybe I should jack some of those drug dealers near downtown? The thugs I remembered that hung out right off Michigan Avenue always had bread. It wasn’t too far away and with the strength I had I could easily kill them and snatch the money.

  So I started a light jog on a mission to get paid quick, fast in a hurry. I wasn’t sure what day of the week it was, but when I got near downtown, the streets were crowded, like something was happening. Maybe a special event or something, I wasn’t sure, but as I got closer, I could see it was a cesspool!

  I saw whores giving blowjobs in the allies, crackheads laid out on the sidewalks talking to themselves and drug dealers chasing down cars on every other corner. These streets were more intense then when I was in them. Shit was just crazy, chaotic and people were in a zombie like daze all around. I thought to myself, this ghetto looked like a third world country and I felt like a guy from out of town. This wasn’t my hood anymore. I walked up to a hooker and asked what day of the week it was.

  She looked up at me and said, “Hey White boy what you doin around here?” Then she looked me up and down and licked her lips and started getting loud, “Damn you big! Hmm, Today’s your lucky day, so what is you? One of them Chicago Bears? I got what you lookin for baby. Hey!” I hushed her lips and grabbed her arm with the other hand, “Shhh bitch don’t make a scene out here, just tell me the fucking day of the week or I’m gonna smack the shit outta you.” Her eyes got real big and she said, “Damn it Saturday boo!” Then I looked her up and down and said, “You too fine to be selling pussy on this block.” Then I let her go and walked up the block, ducking into an alley to wait for it to get dark outside. As I walked through the alley, the bums parted and made way for me.

  They looked afraid of me, like they knew something bad was about to happen soon. I unstrapped my backpack and dropped it by my side. Then I leaned against it and tried to make myself comfortable while I was plotting how I was going to rob these dudes on the corner. I wondered if I was still being followed, then I said to myself, “Get a picture of this here motherfuckers!”

  I didn’t give a damn about anything at this point, I felt fearless. I slowly began to fall asleep with my arms folded on my knees and my head between my legs. After about an hour, I was fast asleep. Then I heard a rowdy crowd approaching, cursing and yelling and rapping lyrics from songs. The sound was getting closer and closer until I looked up and saw the hooker I spoke to earlier. She was standing with a group of thugs, and complaining about something.

  They all looked like some rap stars, wearing gold jewelry, new sneakers and fresh outfits. I knew all about this shit, these boys were ballers, straight-up drug dealers. She pointed at me and said, “There he go right there!” One of the boys walked up to me and said, “Hey cracker why you in my alley? You the police or something?” I said, “Fuck you asshole. I aint a cop.” Then he replied, “Well that’s fucked up for you bitch!” I was thinking, today must be my lucky day, because I stood up and counted eight of these motherfuckers. I was about to get paid tonight!

  A couple of them were pretty big, standing in the back, but the one standing closest to me had to be about 5’10 and 210 pounds. They all looked alike adults, so I said it was fair game.

  The kid talking shit went into his coat to reach for his pistol, so I grabbed his arm and squeezed until I heard it pop like a piece
of tree limb. He screamed out in agony and the other guys all started reaching in their coats for their pistols. I punched him in his mouth so hard his head snapped back and he started coughing up bloody teeth. The hooker screamed, took off her heels and started running down the alley toward the street. I picked up the little shithead whose arm I broke and lifted him over my head throwing him at the two big dudes standing in back of the group.

  While they were trying to catch him, I sprinted toward the next guy in front of me. I heard him shout, “Dis Cracker Crazy!” right before I smashed his face in with one punch! I spun around and they all started unloading on me.

  I crushed one guy’s head against the wall. Then I broke two motherfucker’s necks that were blasting me at close range; ducked down broke one dudes jaw with a left uppercut, grabbed the big motherfucker by the neck and choke slammed him to the ground. Everyone I touched was either unconscious or dead and all that was left was me and the last big guy. He had to be 6’5 and 350 pounds or more.

  He was sweating profusely and pulling the trigger of his gun, but it was empty and just clicking. So I fastened my eyes on him, growled and started walking toward him. He turned around to run, but I scooped him up over my head and threw him about 20 feet into a fire escape where he knocked his head and flopped to the ground. I went through all of their pockets and collected all the money and jewelry they had. I left the dope; I didn’t need that shit in my possession anymore.

  But I stuffed all the money and jewelry in my backpack, while the bums in the alley hid in the shadows in horror. I stepped over the kid laying there with a broken jaw and said, “You’re the lucky one!” I started walking down the alley and stopped when I looked down at my bullet riddled sweatshirt top.

  I was in awe, as I lifted up my top and noticed my chest had little red spots on it, but not one of the bullets penetrated my skin. I took off running down the street with my backpack strapped on. I tried not to run too fast, to avoid drawing attention, but I was still at a marathon pace. In five minutes I was on the other side of town, and I managed to avoid every police car I saw. After checking into a hole in the wall Motel called the EverReady Inn, I went into my room and counted the money. It came out to $21,374!

  Not to mention the chains, rings and watches. Within two minutes the phone rang, I quickly answered it, figuring it was the front desk.

  I said, “Hello?”

  The voice on the other end was deep and raspy, like an old man who smoked cigars.

  “Hello Mr. Brown.”

  “Okay who the fuck is this? I didn’t tell you my last name when I checked in!”

  “This isn’t the front desk son,” He replied.

  “Well who the fuck is it then?”

  He replied, “Let’s just say, I’m the reason you’re alive.”

  “Oh really,” I growled.

  “Yes, you should be thanking me. My associates and I had to pull some serious strings to make sure you were not terminated while in that long slumber of yours.”

  “Slumber?” I screamed, “I was in a 15 year coma asshole. What did you motherfuckers do to my parents?”

  Then he paused for a moment, and asked, “Has anyone else tried to contact you today?”

  I answered, “Shit you already know everything, answer that yourself?”

  He got a little irritated and said, “Our enemies, and your enemies hacked into our secret database, and your tracking system has been compromised. We aren’t the only people tracking your movements. But we are the ones currently cleaning up that mess you left in the alley on the other side of town.”

  I replied, “Shit gets messy sometimes.”

  He replied, “Indeed it does.”

  I asked, “What did you do to my family? Why are they acting all weird? Who all is involved in this shit?”

  He replied, “We need to meet very soon or you may find yourself in danger.”

  I said, “All you motherfuckers know where I’m at. Come and get me!”

  He replied, “In time Mr. Brown, we will. Oh and one more thing I wanted to mention. Don’t believe that cunt Dee-Dee. She still wants you dead. She use to work for us, and she flipped to the other side for money.”

  I said, “She saved my life!”

  He replied, “No she didn’t, Mr. Brown the nanorobots saved your life. You got up and unconsciously walked out that building while you were on fire. You were burnt to a crisp. That’s why the nanorobots inside of you repaired your skin tissue, and perfected it, haven’t you noticed? Your skin is unlike any human on earth.

  Just listen to me when I call, and I will be in touch.” Then he hung up. As I sat there thinking of all the things he said to me, the one thing that bothered me, is he never answered my question about my family. His story about my skin kind of made sense, but why would Dee-Dee try to trick me into killing myself?

  Maybe it was about money like he said. I couldn’t believe anyone at that point. I stayed up all night wondering what would happen next, who was watching me, and what would really happen if I electrocuted myself. I figured if I fried once and survived maybe I would survive the second time too? But I didn’t want to end up in a coma for another 15 years. I missed half of my life while I was in that bed.

  I laid there all night staring at the ceiling, in a daze. After about 6 hours I couldn’t get a wink of sleep and I was hungry, so I walked over to the all night diner across the street from the motel and ordered steak and eggs with hash browns and orange juice. The waitress was an old Spanish lady, with very sweet smelling perfume on. The scent she gave off made me start thinking of women again. I was scanning the room to see if there were any ladies out late that night, but there wasn’t much going on.

  My ears could hear the sound of a helicopter nearby. I started wondering if that could be someone coming for me, then I laughed it off. I was in the hood, and the police helicopters roam the city nights regularly. I just relaxed for about an hour and finished my food, then ordered a coffee to top it off. As I sat in the booth, and counted the tip out, I noticed two brown skinned men in the parking lot, wearing all black jumpsuits. They were both big muscular guys, about my size or larger.

  They could pass for South American, or even Middle Eastern or Indian. They were talking and laughing, as I was watching them; but suddenly they became silent and locked eyes on me. I fastened my eyes on them and they scowled at me, like they wanted some trouble. At that moment I felt like nobody in the world could fuck with me, and I was ready to kill anyone who wanted to try. So I decided to find out what this was all about!

  I left my money on the table and calmly stepped outside. I played the humble role, and walked past them slowly with my head down, waiting to see what they would say. Then one spoke to me saying, “Hey you!”

  I turned around, “You talking to me?”

  He replied, “Yeah I’m talking to you! Why were you looking at us through the window; Are you some kind of big American faggot?”

  I just ignored him, turned around and kept walking.

  Then I felt somebody hit me in the back of the head!

  I was shocked he was able to sneak up behind me. When I turned around the guy who hit me said, “So what you gonna do?” I swung at him with all my strength, but he was fast enough to duck and move to the side while punching me in the ribs.

  Then the guy who was with him, moved around behind me and pulled out some kind of strange looking long silver gun that looked like a harpoon.

  He fired it and a sharp long sword like piece of metal came out, attached to an electrically charged wire. I caught the sharp metal thing and turned in one continuous motion, stabbing his friend in the neck with it. As he was being electrocuted, the guy with the gun yelled out, “Oh Shit!” Then he dropped the gun and tried to tackle me! He was as strong as I was, but his skin was not like mines, because when I punched him in the face, he bruised. He swung back at me wildly, then pulled out something that looked like a stun gun and tried to jab me with it. I moved from side to side, using boxing skill
s to block his attempts.

  It was glowing and making a humming noise like one of those bug killing lights you put in your backyard. I grabbed him by the wrist, he punched me in the face, and I stomped his foot! I felt his toes break under my heel. He didn’t scream like he was in pain, but he kept fighting, even harder. I repeatedly punched him in the ribs, and under his armpit. He knew Krav Maga, and we began going through some movements, but I wouldn’t release his arm as I was trying to disarm him.

  He out maneuvered me and freed his wrist for a brief moment, then he tried to jab that super stun gun into my ribcage, but I moved back quicker than he moved forward and caused him to overextend. I caught his wrist again and made him pay for it this time; as I bent and broke his elbow and used his own arm to put the device to his eye socket, knocking him unconscious. The spark was loud and so bright it must have jolted his brain! I looked up and noticed a helicopter was coming directly toward me.

  It must have been hovering about two blocks away, watching us. I ran across the street to my hotel and burst through my door. After quickly looking around the room I grabbed my bag and money, stuffed everything inside and strapped it on.

  By the time I got to the front door the helicopter was facing me, it was some type of stealth modified Apache helicopter, which I have never seen, with 50 caliber guns and fully armed!

  I was amazed this thing was able to fly around in Chicago without raising red flags with the Police Department. It started firing off 50 caliber rounds into my room, as I ran back inside and burst through the back wall into the room behind me, then kicked down their door and ran down the street. I was trying to figure out who wanted me dead? I ran down a dark city block into an old abandoned apartment building, as the helicopter started circling the building.