Mason squeezed the trigger. It struck its shoulder and it barely flinched.
“Keep shooting Mason!” She hollered.
He squeezed the trigger two more times. The first missed and the second caught it in the throat. Blood squirted out and it staggered a bit. Its right hand covered the wound and it darted away towards a grouping of cars about twenty yards from the pile of bodies.
“Fucking Hell!” Janice sighed.
“I didn’t kill it, but if it’s one of those smart ones then it may be thinking of a new approach.”
“You mean like that little Azrael girl I told you about.”
“Yeah, maybe it’s one of those ones.”
“I hope not. It’s pretty big.” Janice admitted.
“Fuck!”
“What is it?” Janice asked.
“Get away from the door.”
A large metal object was hurled towards the front door. It broke through the front doors and shattered the tile nearly ten feet away from them.
“Did it throw that thing?” Janice asked.
“I think so. Do you see it anymore?”
“No. I don’t see anything out there.”
“We’re gonna need to repair that door.” Mason suggested.
“I know but I don’t want to stop searching for that thing.”
“Me neither.”
Janice walked over and tried to move the fire hydrant with her foot. It wasn’t budging.
“How heavy you think this thing is?”
“At least 600 lbs.”
“That’s crazy!”
“I got a feeling that it wasn’t here by chance.” Mason worried.
“Think it followed the boys?”
“I think so.”
“Then it will be back.”
“I know.”
Mason gave Janice a worried glance. She walked over and began to push a large leather couch towards the entrance.
“What’s that gonna do?”
“It’s a start.” She shrugged and continued to push. Mason joined her.
*
A loud banging noise near the front of the building startled Steven awake. He had just settled into a rhythm too. Ethan was still in the shower, singing. There’s no way he heard it too. Steven found his rifle on the table near the couch he was sleeping. He wrapped the sling around his neck. The weight of it was uncomfortable causing the strap to dig into his skin. He removed the sling and held the rifle in both hands carrying the weight of it in his arms. He walked out cautiously and headed towards the front door. A noise behind him, brief and sharp caught his attention.
“Ethan?” Steven asked. When he heard the awful singing in the shower, he knew it wasn’t Ethan. “Mr. Flynn, sir?” He hoped.
Still nothing responded. He slowly headed towards the back door. It was wide open. The frame was busted and pieces of it were on the floor.
“Crap...someone’s inside.” Steven worried and turned around.
A massive Azrael was behind him staring at him nearly three feet away. The smell hit him after the shock of it settled. Steven couldn’t get the weapon up in time. The beast snatched it from his hands and tossed it down the hall behind it. Blood and pieces of meat caked its face. A recording device was attached to its head. It put its right index finger to its mouth, shushing Steven. It approached, tossed the boy over its shoulder and darted out the back door. Steven was frozen in fear. He wanted to yell. He wanted to warn his friends that he was being taken away. But a part of him knew that if they came, this thing would kill them all. He found the rifle in the hallway with his eyes. He watched it, his sword and shield, slowly disappear from view. This was it. This was the end. He dropped his head and cried quietly.
Chapter 33: Driving Steve Crazy
The route back to The Veil was rural and full of potholes. Taliah attempted to evade the holes in the asphalt but miraculously managed to hit every single one. The car shook and she cringed every time worrying that she would get a flat.
“Are you aiming for those things, girl?” Steve groaned while holding the ceiling grab handles.
“I’m tryin’ to miss them. I swear.” She admitted.
Up ahead a thick fog covered the road and the surrounding plains.
“Shit. It’s that fog again. Should we try another route?”
“Drive through it. Just slow down. You’re going to break the axle or cause a blowout.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll slow down.” She acknowledged.
She entered the mist cautiously. Visibility was shit. She squinted, attempting to see the road. The car began to rock and tremble on the right side.
“Get back on the road!” Steve hollered.
“Sorry. I can’t see anything.”
A figure appeared briefly on her side of the car and disappeared.
“Did you see that?” She asked.
“No, I missed it. Was checking to see if my seatbelt was working. What was it?” he asked.
“I thought I saw something out there.” She explained.
Three more appeared and disappeared immediately as she drove past. A fourth one was directly ahead. She didn’t have time to evade and drove over the body.
“It’s Azrael. They’re…they’re…”
“Naked! They look sick.” Steve added.
Suddenly, hundreds of bodies appeared. She stopped. There were too many to drive through and in moments they were surrounded on all sides. She could hear their groans and grunts outside. They lazily banged on the car. There were more bodies than she could count and the smell of them were far more pungent than the normal Azrael.
“What are they?” She asked.
“I’ve never seen this before.” Steve confessed.
“What should we do?”
“Do you think you can do that thing you did to me? Maybe you can get them to go away.”
“I’m not going out there.” She rubbed her belly.
A hoarse howl caused the Azrael to quiet. It continued to moan as it approached. A larger male appeared. It must have been the Alpha. Steve froze and Taliah noticed.
“What’s wrong Steve?”
“I…know this one.”
“Well, tell it to go away.” She urged.
“It’s Kirk. He’s supposed to be dead.”
“He’s an Azrael. That’s how that works. Where’ve you been big guy?” She asked.
“No, I buried his corpse over a month ago...after the experimentations supposedly killed him.”
“He looks alive to me. A bit pale, but alive. You think he’ll recognize you?”
“I’m not sure I want…”
It noticed Steve. Its face became furious and it slammed its fists on the hood, producing a large pair of dents in its wake.
“We should back up.” Steve became white as a ghost.
“Calm down. Maybe I can…”
“Fucking back up. Now!” Steve shouted.
Taliah placed the transmission in reverse and slammed her foot on the gas. The car rocked and jolted as it drove over bodies. The Azrael and Kirk chased them but gradually faded into the fog as they moved further away. The rocking and jolting became less frequent as the car escaped the herd. A minute later they exited the fog entirely. Taliah kept going for about a mile. She eventually removed her foot from the gas and it slowed to a stop. She turned over to Steve, rubbed her belly and calmed her breathing. He stared off towards the fog down the road.
“Take a detour.” Steve urged.
Taliah made a U-turn and handed the GPS to Steve.
“Find another route.” She ordered.
“Sure.” He searched for alternate routes and found a thirty-minute add-on to their original path. “There.” He handed it back to her.
She stuck it to the window, followed the new destination indicators with a lead foot.
“So, you gonna fill me in on what that was all about?” She asked.
Steve grumbled and sighed. He studied the mist in the side mirror until it came out of view.
&n
bsp; “We’ve got an hour and a half to go. I’ve got nothing but time.” She nodded over to Steve, hoping that he would say something.
“Dr. Hart was in charge of Kirk’s transition. She fucked up with the serum they used to allow Kirk to keep control after he was bit. A long story short, it killed him. She was concerned about her own life since Kirk was Dr. Kolovski’s brother.
“Who’s that?”
“He runs Tricon.”
“Oh…so he runs that place?”
“He’s expecting you.”
“He’ll be disappointed.” She beamed. “So, what did Dr. Hart do?”
She had me help her bury him among thousands of corpses that were gassed when this all started.”
“Thousands gassed? Do you think those naked Azrael were them?”
“Fuck…she brought them back.” Steve speculated.
“Is that possible?” She asked. She rubbed her belly and felt goosebumps on her arms.
“Look at me…anything’s possible.” He stared at her with milky white eyes.
Taliah studied Steve’s eyes while glancing back and forth to the road.
“Your eyes haven’t changed yet.”
“Are they supposed to? What happened to me?” She inquired.
“You don’t know?”
“I remember this mansion…Eleanor…I remember an Eleanor and some guys climbing into a window.”
“All I know is that you were infected with the virus and went into a coma.”
Taliah massaged her belly and nodded to Steve inquisitively.
“…and you were being treated for a pregnancy. I don’t know when that happened.”
“I think I know when it happened.” She shook her head, sighed and brushed away the bad memories.
“But now…I don’t know what the hell you are. You’ve got this control over me…” Steve looked at the palms of his hands. “…made me kill Eric and Lisa.”
“Were you close?”
“Fuck no…actually, I never trusted Lisa’s scheming ass. And Eric always said shit about my smell. Do I stink?” He asked.
“Well, if you want me to be honest…”
“Forget it. I don’t want to know.” Steve secretly smelled beneath his collar.
“Why do you think, that I’m able to control you?” She asked.
“Maybe it’s the pregnancy…the hormones could be why.”
“That doesn’t make sense. There’s got to be more to it. How do you know that I’ve been infected with the virus? I’m not displaying any symptoms. Well, my senses are a bit sensitive but my eyes are fine. I don’t feel any stronger or want to eat people.” Taliah leaned into the view of the rearview mirror and opened her eyes wide.
“I don’t know. Something is different about you. I guess it could be a female thing.”
“What do you mean?”
“Only females carry the gene for immunity. On rare cases and I mean rare, a male has been known to be immune but I’m talking one in a billion.”
“I’ve always wondered if it were proven medically. Giselle and Savanna were both immune to the virus. I think there were four others in Chicago who were immune and they are all women. Me and the Doc figured that it was coincidence. There weren’t enough cases to prove the theory.”
“It’s what they discovered at one of our testing facilities. And actually, Savanna isn’t fully immune. She’s a carrier.”
“A carrier? That means she’ll spread it to someone else, eventually?”
“Uh huh?”
“When?”
“I don’t know. I’m not a doctor. I’m just good at remembering dumb shit like that.”
“Do you remember anything else about my condition?”
“…I think…I think there was something said about your immune system.”
“Oh, that’s right. Simon told me that I’m HIV positive.” She sighed. She forgot about that until that moment.
“Yeah, I think that’s what it was.”
“Do you think the HIV virus is masking my physical symptoms?”
“I have no idea.”
“I wonder if all this will affect my baby.” Taliah worried. She stroked her stomach softly.
She noticed a small herd of five sprinting across a field. The sun was setting and they were merely silhouette figures on the horizon. Steve noticed one of them wave. Were they Azrael or a stranded group of humans. He focused more intently. His eyes zoomed in and identified them as Azrael. The same one waved again. Were they Awakened, he thought?
“Huh…”
“What is it Steve?”
“Nothing that you should worry yourself with.”
“Worry myself? What was it?” She urged.
“I think it was a group of Awakened Azrael.”
“Really? I don’t think I’ve seen one before. Are they dangerous.” She craned her neck to the right towards the group of five now behind them.
“Watch out!” Steve shouted.
Taliah turned quickly and attempted to steer the vehicle sharply to avoid a grouping of rusted cars that littered the road up ahead. They were hidden by the hill just before it. The car clipped the front bumper of a tractor trailer with its rear bumper causing her vehicle to spin uncontrollably. Forward momentum and the tires gripping the pavement sent the car into a violent roll. Taliah immediately blacked out.
Chapter 34: Transition Complete
Groggy and extremely lethargic, Samantha awoke with confusion. Sounds gradually amplified as she exited an almost coma like condition. She opened her eyes and the sunlight that cascaded across her face temporarily blinded her. She shook her head in response and wiggled her face and body away from the intense glow. The aroma of the Azrael outside stung her nostrils. Within the house, in the basement, another stench of Azrael stunk the air. It was most assuredly Jason, she thought. Three bodies curled up in blankets on the floor. Their breathing was swift and their hearts raced. She could taste the sweat in the air and the sour of the mildew from the old damp wood panels on the walls. Her senses were so acute and overwhelming. Tastes, scents, noises and the refraction changes of her eye lenses were fighting for importance. Was she still dreaming, she thought.
Giselle was the closest and the loudest sleeper. Her body was almost completely hidden beneath a large fuzzy blue blanket except for her brown ponytail that escaped a corner of the blue blob that seemed to sharpen and blur in no real order. About five feet away, Toko was lying on his back with his hands on his chest clinching his katana. A tiny wool blanket covered his chest to his ankles. His black socks escaped the bottom of the blanket. His hair was long and unkempt, almost to his shoulders. Several scars decorated his face and hands from previous battles. He seemed to sleep peacefully and was smiling. It drew a small crooked smile on Samantha’s face. The third figure was about as tall as Jason, but smelled…quite different. A sweet aroma of a man’s cologne lingered in the air around him. He too was almost fully enveloped beneath a thin light brown blanket. It clung to his frame tightly revealing every curve of his body and his face was covered by the blanket. The only alarming description was a neatly shaped man-bun. She scowled. Who still wears the man-bun? And the real kicker is…who is this guy?
Samantha stretched and cracked joints with each twist and turn as she sat on the couch. The sudden pull at her right arm carried a sharp pain. An IV was feeding nutrients into her body as she slept. She slowly peeled the tape off the tubes and carefully pulled out the needle. A small dot of blood trickled out of the hole in her arm. She pressed it with her left hand to stop the bleeding. The aroma of vanilla lingered in her hair and she sniffed it as she pulled it to her nostrils. What had happened? Why was she so…hungry? Her stomach groaned in response and she rubbed her stomach. She located her backpack and began to walk over to it. Her legs were wobbly and she nearly fell as she applied her weight to them. She stumbled into Giselle. She awoke wide eyed and tight faced. Once she realized that it was Samantha, her face softened and a massive grin replaced it.
&nbs
p; “Sam…Samantha you’re awake!” She spoke in awe as her voice cracked.
Samantha smiled and wore a worried and tired look.
“What happened? What’s happening to me?” She asked in a hoarse voice.
“I, uh, I think you should sit down.” Giselle suggested as she sat up. Her legs were crossed and she sighed. “I’m so glad you’re awake.” She beamed.
“What’s wrong with me Giselle?” Samantha inquired and sat down quickly on the couch. She leaned forward and placed her elbows on her knees while her fisted hands held up her head beneath her chin.
Toko and the other man continued to sleep throughout their conversation.
“Sam…you were bit.”
“The attic guy?”
“Yes. He somehow got you.”
“Did I turn?”
“Not completely, no.”
“What does that mean?”
“You’re not immune, Sweetheart.”
“So…that must explain my senses.” She mumbled.
“I went through it too. It’s disorienting.”
“What about my…” Samantha stood up and ran over to the bathroom just under the steps. She glanced in the mirror. “My eyes…I’ve got the zombie eyes.” She sighed.
“It’s part of the package, Sam.”
“How did you keep me from turning completely?” Samantha asked as she walked back into the room.
Her sudden movements awoke Jason and he hurried up the steps to see what was going on. When he saw Samantha he wore an enormous smile and howled waking the other two.
“I used Toko’s serum.”
“It worked?” She asked.
“Apparently…” The man with the man-bun chimed in. His accent was obviously French.
“Hai, it worked Samantha. It is good to see you up and moving around.” Toko greeted.
“I feel…weird. Is this normal?” Samantha asked. She found her backpack and opened a can of pasta in meat sauce with a hand crank can opener. She slurped up a quarter of it in one gulp.
“Nothing normal about you. You are both human and Azrael like Toko, myself and Giselle.” Man-bun guy explained.
“And Jason?” She asked with a cheek full of pasta.
“That creature is not human anymore. He is something else completely. A mutation of the Azrael virus.”
The Azrael (Book 5): Prisoners Page 20