Jason grunted and scowled.
“He is something new. We are still figuring out his limitations.” Giselle explained
“So…who is the guy with the man-bun?” She asked with a turned up nose. She wiped away tomato sauce from her mouth with her right sleeve
“François Messier, Mademoiselle. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” François introduced himself, walked over and kissed her hand.
“He’s a real douche.” Giselle added.
“Kinda gettin’ the same vibe.” She slurped up the remainder of the can.
“It offends me that you feel this way. Your manners are not much different than this thing you call Giselle” He protested. Giselle wore a condescending smile.
“It’s just kinda creepy that you’re hitting on me, and you’ve been lurking around my unconscious body for…uh? How long have I been out? Crap, I’m still hungry.” She asked turning to Giselle. She opened up another can from the bag. The second one was green beans. She griped but still turned the can over and swallowed half the can.
“A few days.” She admitted.
“Creepy? I wasn’t lurking around. I was helping the girl through her transition. C’est des conneries.” He cussed.
“Ooh, I guess I pushed his buttons. I just don’t like creeps.” She admitted with a snobbish smile revealing pieces of green beans within her teeth. “So, how does this work?” She asked Giselle.
“What do you mean?” Giselle inquired.
“This serum thing, am I like you, Giselle? Or…”
“You will need to inject the serum into your body every day for the rest of your life.” Toko answered.
“Right to the point…well that sucks.” Samantha sighed. She turned to Giselle, drank the juice from the can and finished the rest of the beans. “So, what’s the deal with you? How come you aren’t dependent on the serum?” She asked with a mouthful of squishy green vegetables.
“I’ve received the virus differently.” She explained.
“What does that mean? Differently?” Samantha asked and swallowed hard.
“Well, a while before I was bit, like you.” She turned to Toko. He nodded. “Toko, François …” She gestured towards the two with her hand. “…they captured me, and, uh.”
“Injected her with a receiving agent.” Toko finished.
“Yes, they injected me with a receiving agent so that I can be infected with the virus.”
“So that you can be infected? Were you immune?”
“Apparently, well…I used to be immune.” She scowled at Toko. “And they made it so that I could receive the virus.”
“That’s shitty. Why in the hell would…”
“To receive the benefits of the virus without actually turning into a mindless freak like those things outside.” François interrupted. “Her job subjected her to the dangers of being bitten by the Azrael. Our employer just made a scientific decision to provide her with a way to defend herself if she found herself in a bind.” He continued.
“Or…to create a test subject that could evolve the serum process.” Giselle suggested.
“Your words, not ours.” François responded with his hands up.
“What’s wrong with the serum process?”
They all wore uncomfortable faces.
“What’s wrong with it?” She urged.
“It has a shelf life, mademoiselle.” François answered. It kind of just spat out without thought. Giselle scowled at him.
“With each use, the body produces antibodies that cause it to become more resistant to the serum. Once you get to a level one serum, you have only a month or two left.” François explained. He turned to Toko and sighed.
“Or?”
“Or you’ll turn into those things out there.” François answered again while tightening his face revealing gritted teeth.
“Is this true?” She turned to Giselle.
She quietly nodded her head.
“I see.” She looked down.
“It was my fault. I’m so sorry, Sweetie. I should have…”
“I was careless. I was too close to the attic hatch. I should have known better.” Samantha interjected.
“I…also injected you with the serum.” Giselle mumbled.
“And saved her life.” Toko added.
“So, what happens now?” She asked.
“We take you back to the Veil for training and education on your new…eh, abilities.” François suggested.
“Well, I won’t be a liability anymore.” She forced a smile.
The group agreed with a hint of regret.
“We didn’t want you like this. We wanted you to grow up normal.” Giselle spoke.
“This is normal Giselle. This is the new normal. We have to accept that this is the way things are now. I was a fool to believe that I could continue as a normal human being in this mundo loca.” She laughed.
“She’s taking this well.” François said.
Giselle grimaced at him.
“She is a tough young lady.” Toko added.
“Yes, she is.” Giselle smiled.
“So, when do we get moving. I want to test this shit out.” Samantha exclaimed while pulling objects from the front door.
The group stood slack jawed while Samantha and Jason removed the objects blocking the door.
“And spunky.” François beamed. “I like this girl.”
Chapter 35: Reunion
A tall bald creature stood in front of a two-way mirror that decorated the front of some banking establishment. He struggled to identify who it was that stared back at him. Burn scars decorated its face. However, the scarring could have been worse had the injuries occurred while it was only a man.
A group of large Azrael hurried over to him sniffing the air and lowered their eyes to their leader as they approached. The massive herd had rushed through the outskirts of Chicago and had settled in the suburbs of east Elmwood Park. He hadn’t remembered how he got there or why he was there to begin with. He awoke staring at his own reflection. Although, he doesn’t have full control over his body. It does respond to his deep desires.
A thought of a woman entered his mind like a rogue frame within a film, splicing a memory into his reality. It revealed a woman on the roof. She was familiar. She knew David. Why did she know David? Why does he know this woman? He pondered. He could see his facial expression change drastically in his reflection as he pondered further. His parents in the basement of their home and his sisters burned body is all he could conjure up from his past. He knew them. When did he meet that woman? How did she recognize him after the burns, and after the scarring?
The motorized purr of automobiles entered his ears and caused his body to turn to the left. A group of vehicles, to the east and on Grand Avenue, were heading straight towards his herd. They were moving in fast. Leading the charge was a heavily armored truck that once transported US currency. Two miniguns were mounted on the roof and were already firing into his herd a full block away. The whine of the barrels rolling in the distance discharging rounds at roughly 6,000 rpms became louder as they approached. Bodies of the Azrael were falling quickly and David needed to do something fast.
His body roared ferociously urging his followers towards the threat to overwhelm them on all sides. David slammed his right forearm into the mirrored glass in front of the bank. It bounced back reflecting his strike. He wasn’t entering through that window, he thought. Across the street was another establishment. On the side of the building within the parking lot was a low brick wall that gained access to the upper levels and to the roof. He quickly hurried over, leaning forward like a gorilla as he crossed the street. He grasped the top of the wall and hauled himself up. Soon after, he was pulling himself to the roof.
There David overlooked the entire picture. Six vehicles were in a line shooting down his herd. In the back was a large transport vehicle. Moments later a piece of brick on the ledge burst into pieces and another round connected into David’s right shoulder. The
sheer force of it twisted his body and he landed on the roof with a thud. His body scrambled to its feet and squatted. It slowly walked towards the ledge. The lead vehicle had already passed by and hurried down Grand Avenue in a hurry. The other vehicles kept close behind the next. As the last vehicle drove by, he realized its purpose. It didn’t intend to take out his herd of Azrael. It was going somewhere and in a hurry. What was so important? He thought. Hundreds of mangled Azrael staggered to their feet and began their healing process. About a hundred more didn’t move at all because their skulls were spread out across the road.
In the distance, maybe four blocks away, David noticed a small Azrael girl staring at him. Two large Azrael flanked each side of her. They were not a part of his herd nor did they feel drawn to it. On the contrary, he felt compelled to follow her. As if not noticing, he was off the roof and closing the gap between the girl and himself. Within fifteen seconds, he was face to face with this intriguing young Azrael. He turned to see his herd now moving away towards the city that they once fled. A new Alpha emerged and brought them to where an abundance of uninfected were, Chicago.
He felt a nudge and turned back towards the young Azrael. She stared up at him with a snarl. Something was familiar about her. He shook his head as visions of the girl entered his thoughts. Memories of the girl that seemed real poured in, enveloping him in some history in his life that he must have locked away.
In some lab, David was sitting in a chair. Wait, he was chained in the chair. And it wasn’t just a chair, but an electric chair. The room was small. He could smell a woman nearby. She wore a hint of vanilla masked by the distinct odor of cigarettes. Her smooth pale skin was without blemishes. She hummed a tune that he once heard a long time ago on the radio. She looked up at him.
“You doin’ okay big guy?” She winked.
His head nodded.
“Ready for another go?”
His head nodded.
A sharp bolt of electricity entered his body causing his arms and legs to shake. His fingers danced erratically. The smell of burning flesh filled the air. His body growled and hissed.
She wore a wry grin as she held onto the nob.
“Just a little further?”
His head nodded again.
“Okay.”
She cranked it up.
He blacked out. In the background he heard her faint voice.
“Damn it. Too much again. Maybe next time…use…voltage.” Her voice faded out intermittently.
He felt a tapping on his head.
A young girl’s face stared into his face. His eyes slowly focused. It wasn’t just a girl. She was an Azrael. He was in a much larger room this time. Other figures in the background paced around. None of their features were defined, only the girl. She pulled on his beard with her left hand and pointed up with the other. His body sat up. His left hand lay flat on the floor as his arm held him up. His movements were different this time. His mind seemed to control his actions as the defects do. The young Azrael girl also seemed in charge of her faculties. She smiled and scowled at the same moment. Her body language was confusing but she had a presence that rivaled any Alpha he had encountered before.
A buzzing noise caught his attention. Moments later, two men in a funny thick suit entered the room next door. The buzzing noise amplified, coming from an alarm in the room and a mist of gas circulated throughout the room. All but the young girl collapsed. David felt the sudden urge to sleep and rested peacefully. He looked up at the girl. She stepped backwards shaking her head as the men approached. She fought and bit the arms and fingers of the men. Their suit protected them from her bites. One of the men injected a syringe into her neck and within moments she was limp in the arms of the other man. David’s eyes slowly closed. She gave him a worried look before his eyes completely closed. That face…that look. It was her.
Again, her small fist punched his leg pulling him from his thoughts and back into the world. She hissed, barked and followed with a doglike whimper. She wanted him to follow her. What did she want with him? He thought.
She jogged towards the south with the two behemoth Azrael on each side of her. David followed without thinking. His body wanted to go with her. She needs his protection. He noticed a tag sticking out the back of her shirt. Written in purple marker was the name Emma.
*
“Sir, the objective has found the hunter. Should we pursue?” A man’s voice scratched over a handheld radio.
“Negative. Did you plant the tracker?”
“The hunter has been marked.”
“Very good. Keep track of their movement with the tracker. They are too dangerous together to follow.”
“Roger. What about the herd?”
“What about it?”
“It’s, uh, heading back to Chicago, Sir.”
“That’s fine. Let it play out. It may work to our advantage.”
“Roger.”
“Switch frequency to The Highwaymen current frequency.” He observed his watch. “It should be on the seventh frequency right now. Monitor their chatter and report back if you find anything.”
“Do you think they are still using this map?”
“I guarantee they are still using it. Especially those who were not in Chicago when we invaded.”
“Roger. Going offline.”
The radio went silent.
In the back of a vehicle transport, hurrying back to Tricon, Mark Sloan sat next to his new pet.
“In time, you will be thanking me for what I’ve done to you.” Mark whispered in the ear of a young woman strapped to a hospital gurney. An IV was feeding fermented enzymes infused with several vitamins and minerals required to feed the Azrael cells within a saline solution into her body. She was fast asleep; however, she was fighting a fever. Sweat beaded down her forehead and into her icy white blonde hair. He rubbed his fingers through it as if comforting a child. “Sleep well, my dear.” He smiled.
Chapter 36: Hello Mr. Awakened, Sir
The warmth of direct heat and the glow from a flame awoke Taliah. She felt lethargic and the pain in her left arm was agonizing. Her right hand instinctively massaged her stomach. The sound of a strong heartbeat greeted her. Her baby was fine. The last thing she remembered was the impact of her skull on the steering wheel. The absence of an airbag was apparent when she first entered the car. However, she wished it had indeed still contained the safety device. Her head was throbbing.
“Glad to see you’re still with us. You took a nasty strike to your head.” Steve grumbled. He gestured to her forehead. She reached up to it with her right hand and touched the welt that protruded just above her right eye and winced.
“Those cars came from nowhere.” She faintly whispered.
Several more shadowy figures surrounded the camp. She startled.
“Whoa! Who…who’s that?” Taliah sat up. She squinted and pulled herself up with a bit of effort. She groaned in response to the pain covering her body.
“It’s okay. These are those Awakened we saw just before the crash.”
“The Awakened? Why are they here?” Her eyes danced about from figure to figure. She settled on the big one. It was, by far, the largest Azrael that she’d ever seen.
“They’re the ones who pulled us from the car. I was unconscious when they arrived like you were. However, as you can see…” He gestured to a giant scar on his head and shoulder. “…I recover much quicker.” He wore an authentic smile revealing a large set of pearly white teeth.
She looked down at her stomach. “Do you think the baby’s okay?”
“I think the baby had the best deal out of all of us. I’m sure your baby is fine.” He confirmed.
The second largest Azrael approached the fire. His tan skin was a few shades lighter than her own. His ethnicity was unrecognizable. However, he definitely had strong native American roots. He appeared honest and about business.
He grunted. Gestured towards the distance.
Taliah attempted to see where he was poin
ting. She couldn’t see five feet beyond the glow of the fire. She shook her head.
“I don’t know what he’s asking?” She admitted.
“He’s asking if we came from the mist. I can still see it.”
“Oh, right…You’ve got the same eyes as them.” She groaned and squinted again in attempts to see through the blackness of night.
The Azrael grunted and gestured towards the mist again.
“Yes. We were inside the mist. Some naked zombies in there and this dude named Kirk. Know him?”
The Azrael shrugged.
“So you don’t know the guy, huh?”
“I doubt he knew Kirk. He’s only been outside Tricon for a few weeks now.”
The name Tricon struck a nerve with the Azrael. It banged its chest and slapped his massive palm on Steve’s chest.
“What’s that all about?” Taliah asked.
“Was this about Tricon?” Steve asked.
The Azrael nodded.
“I, uh, used to work for them. I’m with her now.” Steve admitted.
The Azrael scowled, grunted and shook its head. It banged its right fist onto his left palm with force and pointed towards the north. The other Azrael grunted in response and settled into a low growl.
“I, uh, I worked for them. Doesn’t mean I condoned what they did.”
“What’s that all about?”
“A while back, one of our facilities that experimented on the Awakened Azrael had some kind of breach. A long story short, a bunch of Azrael escaped and a lot of people died in the process. These guys must have been part of those experiments.” He speculated.
The Azrael nodded and wore a shit-eating grin.
“Uh, oh.”
“Listen, I had nothing to do with it.” Steve backed up with his hands up as the Azrael entered his personal space.
“Hey, Awakened guy! They kidnapped me too. Actually, Steve helped me escape.” She explained. She didn’t bother adding the fact that she made him do it.
Another Azrael approached into the light. It was female. She startled Taliah and she flinched. The Azrael put her hands out to emphasize to calm down. Taliah looked towards Steve.
The Azrael (Book 5): Prisoners Page 21