The Azrael (Book 5): Prisoners

by Gagnon, Jesse

  “We’re coming to your location. Stand by, out.”

  “Help me up. We need to move now.”

  Mason assisted Noah to his feet. Noah awkwardly flung his left leg forward in a sweeping motion, shifted his weight to his left hip and stepped forward with his right foot. He looked at Mason while biting his lip.

  “Hurts like a motherfucker, but it works.”

  “This is only temporary. We’ll need to get you to a doctor soon.”

  “Where? Where is there a doctor that can fix me? Look around you Mason. As far as we know, this is all we have that we can count on.”

  “I can’t imagine that this city is the only one of its kind. There has to be…”

  “I know what you’re doing and I appreciate it. But reality suggests that this broke leg is permanent and that Laura is gone.” Noah brought in a deep breath and fought off a tear.

  “That’s bullshit. We can’t make any assumptions until we step away. Let’s see what information Leatherface has for us.”

  “We’ll see.” Noah conceded.

  They hurried towards the end of the alley. Once they arrived, they carefully peeked around the corner and towards Janice’s position.

  “You see them?” Mason asked in a squint.

  “Yeah, I see Janice. She’s by that building over there. You see her?”

  “Barely.”

  “You need to get a new pair of glasses.”

  “I took these from one of those fucks.”

  Mason pointed at the corpses in the alley near the dumpster.

  “Where’s yours?”

  “Fucking cracked them on the jump down. Didn’t really have time to wait for a safer route.”

  “Damn it, sorry man. We’ll get you a new pair.”

  “See, thinking positive already.” Mason smiled.

  “Fuck off.” Noah wore a brief grin. “It’s clear. Let’s move.”

  The two hurried over towards Janice. They looked around for the others.

  “So what’s the damage?” Janice asked.

  “Where’s Leather…”

  “Patrick?” Noah interrupted and punched Mason in the arm.

  “Patrick…” He corrected. “…and Charles.”

  Janice’s gaze dropped to the ground and she shook her head.

  “Both of them?” Noah asked.

  She nodded.

  “Fuck, I’m sorry about that Janice. You doing okay?” Noah asked.

  “Yeah, I’m alive. The city’s a mess. The good news is the Azrael, well most of them, have left the city.”

  “Yeah, we saw that too. You know anything about these other guys?” Mason asked.

  “I had a run in with one of them. You know anything about a Tricon?”

  “Tricon? Never heard of the place. Simon doesn’t tell us everything. I’ll ask Giselle when she gets back. She’ll be back for…Fuck!”

  “What is it?”

  “Steven, she’ll be back for Steven.”

  “So, what’s the problem? Where’s Steven?”

  “That’s the fucking problem. I was tasked with watching over him while she was gone. She’s out looking for her brother.”

  “What happened to Jason?”

  “Not sure. Fuck…” He cussed and wobbled away in frustration.

  “Maybe he’s ok.” Janice speculated.

  “I don’t know. My leg is fucked and there’s gotta be at least ten blocks from here to there.” Noah pointed towards Steven’s apartment building.

  “If you don’t mind me asking, why is he not with you here?” Janice wondered.

  “Laura’s condition worsened over the past few days. The infection is spreading.” He sighed. “I left someone in charge while I checked on her. I was planning on coming back later but…”

  “The attack?” She asked.

  He nodded.

  “He’s a tough kid, Gunny. Maybe he’s ok.”

  “Let’s find out.” Noah hobbled towards the building.

  “Not like this.” Janice stepped in front of him.

  “What are you doing?” Noah attempted to pushed her out of the way but she stood firm.

  “No, this is stupid. We need to think this through.”

  “You don’t get it. Do you?”

  “Get what?” Janice asked.

  “Giselle will kill me.”

  “She won’t kill you. What are you talking about?”

  “She’s changed…a lot.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She’s like those monsters out there. She’s got those…”

  “Eyes?”

  “Yeah, wait, you know about her change?” Noah asked.

  “No, I just ran into someone like her.”

  “Your run in?”

  “Uh huh. Does she eat people too?”

  “No, not that I’m aware of.” Noah turned and wore a worried look towards the clinic. “You think they’ll eat…”

  “No, they’re not going to eat your fucking sister.” Mason added.

  “Why not? She’s injured. There’s no point in keeping her alive.” Noah argued.

  “We don’t know what these people want. Let’s just get somewhere safe and form up a game plan.” Mason suggested.

  “That’s a good idea.” Janice agreed.

  “Know anyplace safe nearby?”

  She nodded towards the Highwaymen Station.

  “I scoped it out after I saw that rocket hit your building. There were too many surrounding the clinic. I figured that it was the same group attacking the clinic. I was right. It’s been abandoned.”

  “Is that where you were when I had you switch channels?”

  “I was. Can’t trust anyone at this point, so I chose a rally point that I could see from cover. When I saw your crippled ass, I figured I’d reveal myself.”

  “Smart play.” Noah smiled.

  “I’ve made my share of mistakes over the past few days.”

  Janice appeared to look a thousand miles away. She bit her lower lip, closed her eyes and sighed.

  “We’ve all made mistakes. We need to learn from them and keep going. We can worry about that shit later.” Mason urged.

  “Your right Mason. Lead the way Janice.”

  “Sure.”

  Chapter 23: Escaping the Diner

  Jimmy leaned his head against the window. Bloody handprints were slowly pulling apart as the wind created veins along the outside of the glass. They were speeding much faster than necessary but he was too exhausted and weak from blood loss to dispute. Bryson was in the middle seat crying and his mother was driving like a maniac. A ringing in his ears drowned out her screams and cussing. He wondered what went wrong with his plan to leave the diner moments ago. However, his plan didn’t factor in the patient hunting strategies of Azrael in the rural areas.

  Grace smacked Jimmy’s arm to get his attention. He turned to her and gave her a blank stare. She said a few words to him but he couldn’t hear any of it. He focused on her lips and tried to follow them. His eyes blurred. He thought about Norma and returned his gaze on her bloody handprints on the window. Jimmy replayed what happened in his head.

  The pickup truck was only about fifty yards from the back door and the plan was to draw the wolves towards a meal of raw steak that was sitting at the bottom of the freezer with a severe case of freezer burn. It was Jimmy’s job to grab the wolves’ attention and once they started to eat the frozen steak then they would make their move. All was going according to plan when Jimmy tossed the frozen brick into the parking lot in front of the diner catching the Alpha Male’s attention. Within 30 seconds of cautious inspection, Jimmy noticed the pack hurry towards the steak. They licked and pulled at the meatcicle in a hungered frenzy.

  “Now! To the back door.” Jimmy instructed.

  The three opened the back door and hurried towards the truck at Norma’s pace. She moved in a swift walk. Before they reached ten yards from the door something exited the woods to their left. Jimmy noticed it but was too far behind to t
ell them. He saw it from the back window of the kitchen.

  “Watch out!” Jimmy hollered as he pushed through the back door.

  Norma’s eyes widened when she saw the Azrael hurrying for them. Being a mother and grandmother she felt obligated to sacrifice her own life for her family. She fell on purpose.

  “Get up momma!” Grace urged.

  “Run, Sweetheart! Don’t wait for me.”

  Grace grabbed her mother’s arm and dragged her. Norma fought like a disobedient toddler with dead weight. Bryson was too scared to notice that he was alone sprinting towards the truck.

  “Momma, what are you doing? Get up! We can make it.”

  Norma shook her head.

  “You won’t make it with me. I’m too slow.”

  By this time, Jimmy was a few feet away from the Azrael. He leapt and tackled it to the ground before it got close to Norma. As he landed, he hollered.

  “Get up and run! There’s two more coming.” He urged.

  Surprised by Jimmy’s heroics, Norma sat there slack jawed. Grace continued to pull at her arm.

  “Get up Momma! We don’t have time for this.” Grace shouted. She noticed her son fifty feet from the truck.

  Another group of Azrael approached from the front of the diner. Jimmy couldn’t stop them all.

  “Leave me! I’ll give you time to make it. Catch up to Bryson. This was my plan all along.”

  “Your what?” Grace scoffed at her comment.

  “We don’t have time for this. Get to the truck. Catch up to your son. I’ll deal with this. Get it started” Jimmy instructed after he removed a knife from the skull of the Azrael he tackled. The other two were on him before he could get back up and the group near the diner was closing in on them. ”Fuck!” He shouted when they bit into him.

  “You don’t have to do this, young man.” Norma explained in a calm grandmotherly tone.

  “You’re crazy.”

  “I’ve lived longer than I should have in this world. Before you arrived I’d come to terms with sacrificing my life so they could get to that truck.” Norma turned and looked at her daughter in the truck starting the engine. “And she’s made it.” She smiled.

  One of the Azrael biting Jimmy sniffed the air and decided that Norma would be a much tastier meal. As it lunged towards Norma, Jimmy grabbed its pants leg with a firm grip while holding the other in a choke hold as it fed on his left shoulder. It kicked and hissed when it noticed Jimmy’s grip.

  “Where you going?” Jimmy snarled.

  “Let it go Jimmy. You can’t stop the others.” She said as she noticed the group fast approaching.

  The truck grumbled to life and hurried over to them. You could see the crazed look in Grace’s eyes as she drove towards them. Unfortunately, Norma was right. It was too late for her. She’d made her sacrifice. Before the truck struck and dazed the two that came from around the diner, one of them bit into Norma’s leg.

  “Sweet Jesus that hurts!” Norma cried out and wailed in pain.

  By this time, the fabric ripped and Jimmy lost his grip on the Azrael’s pants leg. It tackled into Norma and bit into her throat. She screamed. Jimmy rolled onto his back, wrapped his legs around the Azrael on him and thrusted his knife into its face several times. Eventually he struck its brain and it fell limp. He hurried to his feet. Norma was convulsing as the virus took root. He kicked the Azrael that turned her now Azrael infused flesh. It fell over on top of her. One of the other Azrael was pinned under the right front tire while its companion was crawling towards the gash in her leg that it bit earlier. The passenger side door flung open and a gunshot sent pieces of the crawling creature’s skull across the gravel lot. A fierce ringing in Jimmy’s ears had him staggering towards the truck and he hopped in shutting the door.

  “My mother! You left her out there!”

  “She was bit…it was too late.” Jimmy huffed as he watched through the window.

  “You’ve been bit! Get the fuck out of the truck.”

  She kicked his legs and smacked his face. Jimmy turned to her and glared into her eyes with his milky white Azrael eyes. She looked away and screamed as loud as she could at the windshield in front of her. She punched the steering wheel like a child throwing a temper tantrum.

  “Go! She’s one of them now. Just go.” He admitted and locked the door with his right elbow.

  Seconds later, Norma was at the window beating on it.

  “Grammy!” Bryson shouted. “It’s Grammy.”

  Grace’s eyes enlarged in horror when she saw her mother’s crazed eyes as she slammed against the door in a maddened fury. The truck finally accelerated leaving Norma behind except for her bloody handprints.

  Thirty minutes passed and they were nearing Lake Rend. Bryson was fast asleep clutching a plastic coffee mug in his lap. It had Grammy written on it. Grace’s hair was pulled in many directions and she wore heavy bags under her eyes. She was nearing her breaking point. It seems that Bryson was the only thing keeping her going. The ringing in Jimmy’s ears was subsiding.

  “You’re gonna want to take 154 East to 37 and head south on 37.”

  “Exit 77?”

  “Yeah, that’s the one. When you get off, take a left onto 154. “

  “So, who are you meeting here?” She asked.

  “A doctor.”

  “Because of your scars?”

  “Something like that.”

  They passed exit 83.

  “It should be the next exit.”

  “Ok.”

  “Will we be safe there?”

  “Yes. Probably the safest you’ve been since it all started.” Jimmy admitted.

  “Can we stay there?”

  “I’m not sure. It’s not my call. There are other safe places closer to Chicago.”

  “We’re not going to Chicago. I hate big cities.” She explained.

  “Yeah, me too.”

  Grace took exit 77 and stopped at the stop sign at the end of the off ramp.

  “Left?”

  “Yeah, make a left here. Follow that and then turn right on Markum Branch Road.”

  “ How far is that?”

  “Just a bit down the road. Should be a brown sign just before you get to it saying something about Recreation Areas. You might miss it though. Now I remember. Think it’s just below a grouping of trees.”

  “You know a lot about this place. You live here?”

  “No, I just have business here often. After the turn there should be a water facility on your left a bit up the road.”

  The turn came right after a group of overgrown trees dropped into the road, blocking the entire right lane. Grace turned down Markum Branch Rd. and followed it to Rend Lake Inter-City Water facility. Men armed with rifles and body armor surrounded a gate into one of the buildings. A pile of corpses were placed in the grass next to the road. One of the guards instructed her to roll her window down. She complied and smelled the dead Azrael corpses.

  “That’s awful.” She dry heaved.

  “Sorry ma’am this is a private facility. You’re going to have to turn back the way you came.” The guard instructed.

  Jimmy leaned over and hollered across Grace.

  “She’s with me. So’s the kid.”

  The guard bent over and noticed Jimmy.

  “Oh, Jimmy. Didn’t see you there.”

  “How’s it going Brandon?”

  “You just missed Toko and François.”

  “I missed who?”

  “Yeah, Toko and François just left yesterday.”

  “Are you shitting me?”

  “Afraid not.”

  “You know where they went?”

  “You know they don’t tell me that stuff.”

  “Maybe Dr. Aoki knows.”

  “I’ll let him know you’re on your way.”

  “Appreciate it Brandon.”

  “No problem Jimmy.” Brandon said. He stepped back and turned to the gate guard. “Open the gate.”

  The gate hummed and
lifted.

  “Do I drive in there?” Grace asked.

  “It’s like an underground parking garage. I’ll guide you. Don’t worry.”

  Bryson awoke as they entered.

  “Where are we?” He asked looking around.

  “I don’t know Honey. We should be safe here.” Grace looked into Jimmy’s eyes.

  “Yeah kid, it’s pretty safe down here. I’ll give you a tour after we talk to the doctor.”

  “We seeing the doctor for Grammy?” Bryson asked.

  “No, it’s about something else.”

  “Oh, ok.”

  They slowly traveled down the ramp until they arrived at the Veil’s facility. Dr. Ang waved at them from the doors. She was carrying a stuffed bear.

  “Is he too old for that stuff?”

  “No, it’s fine.” Grace forced a smile.

  “Is that bear for me? Cool!” Bryson beamed.

  Chapter 24: Toko’s Return

  Samantha’s fever was getting worse with each hour and Giselle hadn’t heard anything from Toko since the morning. The ambient noises of raindrops splattering against the side of the house and windows clashed with the rumbling of thunder in the distance. Sporadic flashes of lightning illuminated the living room temporarily blinding Giselle.

  Suddenly, a tapping noise accompanied the thunderstorm outside. Both Giselle and Jason focused their attention on the door. The tapping stopped and returned in the same cadence as before. Giselle walked over to the window near the front door that had a few more pieces of furniture blocking its path. A flash of lightning revealed a mob of Azrael gathered in the field near the house. The tapping became louder as it echoed off the window pane. Without warning a face appeared in the window. Its eyes were Azrael, but it appeared clean and attractive. Another familiar face joined it. It was Toko. He smiled when he saw her and waved. He gestured behind him and placed a finger in front of his pursed lips so that she would be quiet in whatever she was doing. She nodded and began to quietly remove the obstacles from the door. Jason joined her when he noticed her actions. He was worried about Samantha and was curious to see if Toko had something that could help her. The door opened.

  “Hurry up! Get inside.” Giselle whispered.

  Both of them walked in and immediately helped Giselle restack the furniture against the door.