“Uh, Steve, what’s going on? What should I do?”
“If they wanted to eat you, they would have done it already.” He answered.
Not the most inspiring words but it made sense.
The Azrael continued her approach and took a knee a foot from Taliah. She placed the right side of her head against her stomach. It smiled.
Taliah felt the baby kick. The Azrael pulled back and saw the moving skin on her stomach.
“That was cool! Haven’t felt my baby do that before.”
The Azrael nodded to Taliah and backed up towards the larger one violating Steve’s personal bubble. It placed her hand on its shoulder and shook her head. The Azrael nodded and backed off.
She gestured a few things and pointed towards Taliah. The large Azrael nodded.
“I think they like you.” Steve suggested.
The female Azrael smiled and nodded her head. She gestured to the others and they all approached the fire. The largest Azrael was a few shades darker than Taliah. He had salt and pepper hair and the same for the patchy short beard he was growing. It nodded its head towards Taliah. She curtseyed.
A scraggly hairy man approached from behind her. He grunted as he approached so he didn’t surprise them. His dark hair hid any identifying factors on him. He was about six inches taller than Taliah, but hunched over so he appeared maybe only a few inches taller. He greeted her with a smile. Several pieces of unrecognizable meat and hair stuck between some crooked teeth. Taliah smiled in response with a giggle. Her right hand came up to her mouth in response and she touched her own teeth.
The last one was about the same size as Taliah. He looked fit but young. He waved. She waved back.
“So, is this it?” She asked with a warm smile.
The first Azrael nodded.
“So, uh, my name is Taliah and this is Steve. What should we call you?”
The first Azrael grunted and banged his chest.
“What’s wrong with them? Can’t they speak?” She asked.
“Yeah, right Awakened don’t have the capabilities to speak. At least I think they can’t.” He looked towards the Azrael for confirmation.
The first Azrael shook his head.
“Right, they can’t speak. So, uh, not sure how we’re going to do this.”
“Can they write?” She asked.
“I don’t know.” He turned to the Azrael. “Can you?”
It shook its head again.
“So, they can’t write either. This is going to be difficult.” He grumbled.
“I like charades. All right, let’s do this.” Taliah beamed.
Chapter 37: A Stoic Leader
Hurrying through the chaos of flashing red lights and wailing alarms, Simon, Mario, Justin and Jane flocked towards the exit along with the majority of the prisoners, workers and scientists in the hallways. Unfortunately, they were restricted to descend the stairwell due to the power being shut down throughout the facility. An occasional scream and the words “Azrael” were shouted during their transit towards the exit. They were twenty-five stories up and the bottleneck of people packed throughout the hallways was making the move slow and dangerous. People were being attacked in the distance, maybe thirty feet behind them as they kept their heads down.
“Did you do this?” Simon whispered to Jane.
She nodded and wore a guilty smile.
“Where did the Azrael come from?” Justin asked.
“On the 42nd floor was labeled Azrael studies. It’s where they were going to have me work.”
“How long do we have?” Simon asked.
“An hour at best. It depends on how long it will take them to bypass the virus I injected from my hard drive.”
“Where did you find that?” Justin asked.
“Remember the lab I hacked into?” She asked.
“Yeah, sure. Was it in there?”
“I found it in a file labeled For Chicago. I didn’t know it was a virus until I opened it.”
“How did you keep that? I thought they searched you. I saw them search you.” Justin asked in confusion.
Mario smiled and shook his head.
“What?” Justin looked at Mario’s reaction and back to Jane. Then it hit him. “Oh, you hid it there? When did you have the time to do that? How?”
“They didn’t search the girls.” She winked at Justin.
“Oh, I thought you put it…”
“Ooh gross, I would never.” Jane felt insulted. Her voice raised and drew attention.
“Keep it down.” Simon urged in a forceful whisper.
“Sorry.” Jane and Justin answered in a whisper.
The screams of people falling to Azrael seemed to fade away above them. They were already in the stairwell and on the fifteenth floor.
“Do you think we’ll actually make it out of this?” Justin whispered.
“As long as we don’t encounter any resistance or a blockade near the bottom. With the way we’re moving, it seems they haven’t had the time to set up a checkpoint.” Mario suggested.
“Let’s hope so.” Simon hoped.
They found their answer by the fifth floor. An armed group of men appeared at the bottom floor and quickly filtered through the exiting mass. They were checking id’s. If it was just one of them that forgot a keycard, maybe they could talk their way out of it. Nevertheless, all four of them lacked any documentation. They were screwed.
“The Fourth floor…get off on the next floor.” Mario urged.
By this time, Jane had already passed the door.
“Shit, the next one then.” He whispered over to Jane. “Keep your heads down.”
She lowered her head and nodded in response.
She quickly and discretely opened the door to the third floor and darted through it. The others followed behind quickly. Mario closed the door behind him. He noticed the person behind him give him a funny look but continued to move down the steps.
“We may have been compromised. Hurry to the window on the west side of the building.” He urged.
“Where the hell is that?” Jane asked.
“Turn left and down the hall. See that window?” Mario explained.
“Yeah, I see it. You could have just said that.” She scowled.
“I forget who I’m working with sometimes. Sorry about that.” Mario shrugged.
“Not everyone has a sense of direction like you, Mario.” Simon added.
“Regardless, we need to move quickly. The guy behind me gave me a funny look when I broke away from the flock heading to its shepherd.” Mario admitted.
“Interesting analogy there Mario.” Simon smiled.
“I read it somewhere. Not even sure where. It sounded cool in my head. Was it corny?” He asked as they headed down the hall.
“Naw, it was pretty cool. Pretty cool.” Simon patted Mario on the back. Mario winced.
“Shit, my bad Mario. Forgot they worked you up. You doin’ alright?”
“I’ll survive.” Mario lied. He was in a lot of pain and he had lost a decent amount of blood.
They approached the window and Jane pressed her forehead against it. She peered down towards the ground level. The ground level was roughly twenty-five feet down.
“I’m not jumping.” She admitted.
“We don’t have to. Look to the right. See the awning?”
“I’m not jumping on that. We’ll fall through it.” She protested.
“You…no. Simon will definitely fall through that.” He joked and patted Simon on the back. He didn’t laugh. He just gave him a blank stare. He uncomfortably cleared his throat. “Fine. That’s not what I meant anyway. See that fire hose cabinet by the door over there.” Mario continued and gestured to it about ten feet down the hall.
“What about it?” She asked.
“We can repel down the wall using the hose inside. I’ll stay up here to make sure it holds.”
“Repel? Do I look like I repel?” She scoffed.
Simon shook his head.
/> “But today, I think you’ll have to if you want to come out of this alive.” Simon admitted.
She turned to Justin. He looked surprised.
“When do you ever turn to me for advice about anything?” He blurted out.
She turned back to Simon.
“He’s crazy.”
Screams down the hall through the doorway to the stairwell caught their attention. Gunshots followed. The Azrael were close. She sprinted down the hall, pulled off her shoe and broke the glass.
“The Azrael might be a disease on this world, but damned if it don’t get people moving.” Simon laughed.
Mario hurried down after her and helped her pay out the hose.
“You can do this.” Mario inspired.
“We’ll see. I have no clue what I’m doing.” She said as Mario tied the end of the hose around her waist.
“Don’t worry. We’ll send you down slowly. The only thing you have to do is kick off the wall as we lower you. Got it?” Mario instructed.
“That’s it?” She asked.
“That’s it.” He confirmed.
“Let’s do it.” Jane smiled.
She ran down the hall towards the window. After five feet, she was yanked back, sucking the wind out of her. She fell to the floor.
“Ooh, what the hell?” She wheezed as she pulled herself to her feet. She turned around.
Mario was on the floor. Blood was oozing from his leg and led down the hall towards the stairwell door. More lightly stained the carpeted floor towards the window. By this time, Simon and Justin were helping Mario to his feet.
“What happened?” Justin asked while assisting Mario.
“Blood loss must have finally got to him.” Jane speculated. She untied the hose from around her waist and wrapped it around Mario instead. “He’s going first.” She urged.
“It looks that way.” Simon admitted.
Jane helped to pay out the hose as Simon and Justin carried Mario towards the window. Jane hurried over once the entire length of hose was pulled out. Mario opened his eyes.
“Wh...what happened?” He asked.
“It’s your leg. You’ve lost too much blood. We need to get you back to Chicago.” Simon answered.
Mario nodded.
“Figured I’d make it. Sorry.” He spoke weakly.
“Don’t worry about it.” Jane wore a massive smile.” She pulled off her shoe and was about to smash it into the window again. Simon caught her arm.
“Wait. There has to be a quieter way.” Simon suggested.
“There isn’t. And besides you’re not going to break open that window with that shoe.” Mario suggested.
“Ideas?” Simon asked.
Mario dropped his head and scanned the hallway for an answer.
“Was there a fire extinguisher in that cabinet?” Mario asked.
“Yeah, a small one. Think it’ll break through?” Jane asked.
“It’s pretty solid and has some weight to it. We can give it a try.” Mario speculated.
Jane hopped on one foot as she placed her shoe back on, and then settled into a jog over to the cabinet. She removed the extinguisher and brought it over.
“Here.” She paused to catch her breath after handing it over to Simon.
Simon pulled it back and paused.
“Uh, we should get back a bit.” He suggested. They agreed and backed up about eight feet. “Here we go.”
Simon tossed the extinguisher through the window in a loud crashing noise. Jagged shards of glass remained. Justin, Jane and Simon quickly removed all pieces that could pose a risk of cutting the hose or themselves.
“There. Think we should be okay.” Simon added.
Suddenly, the door to the stairwell knocked open. A group of Azrael hurried towards them.
“Shit! Sorry Mario.” Simon pushed him out of the window.
“Simon!” Jane scoffed.
Simon held onto the hose as it pulled quickly. About ten feet down he gripped it tight and it nearly yanked him through the window. Justin instinctively grabbed Simon and pulled back. The Azrael were fast approaching.
Simon let go and Mario crashed on top of the awning. He landed with an audible “Oomph.”
“Is he okay?” Jane asked.
“No time, slide down the hose now.” Simon urged. Jane gingerly grasped the hose and began to climb down.
“Faster Jane! Faster!” Simon hollered.
She loosened her grip and slid down into Mario feet first. Her feet slammed into Mario’s gut. He groaned.
“Good job.” He smiled.
“Sorry Mario.” She apologized.
“I’m fine. We should move.”
“Right.”
They both rolled off the awning and dropped to the ground level. Jane landed on both feet gracefully. Mario, on the other hand, landed on his side. The wind was brought from his lungs. She hurried over to him.
“You alright?” She asked. She scanned the area for threats. There were none. Seconds later Justin slammed into the roof of the awning. They could see a welt beneath the metal frame.
“Roll off!” Mario and Jane urged. He complied and landed to his feet. They all looked up.
Time seemed to stand still in that moment for Simon as he glanced over towards the Azrael sprinting down the hall. He knew, in that instant, that his number was up. He cracked a smile and nodded towards the crazed Azrael as they approached. The moment ended as soon as it came. The Azrael leapt at him and he stole one more glance down below.
“What’s he doing? Jump Simon.” Jane screamed.
“He’s not going to. Run. Don’t let his sacrifice be in vain.” Mario advised but was too injured to press too hard.
“Run?” Jane scoffed. “I’m...I’m not leaving him.” She continued.
“RUUUUN!” Simon hollered at the top of his lungs when he saw Jane remain. “Arghhh!...RUUUUUN!” He continued as the Azrael were on him biting into his arms and neck. He grabbed their shirts, pants and limbs and pushed his way back down the hall dragging them away from the window.
“It’s too late Jane. We need to leave.” Justin pulled at her arm.
She peered up at Simon and tears freely escaped her eyes. Her thoughts were in the moment. Simon’s big brown eyes met hers. He mouthed Run once more and disappeared deep into the building. Her feet moved without thought as Justin pulled her along. Mario was limping and staggered as he moved into the woods.
“He’s gone!” She stammered as she followed behind in a daze.
“He saved us Jane. He’s a hero. Let’s keep it that way.” Justin explained softly.
She nodded and they disappeared into the woods after Mario.
Chapter 38: Trial and Error
The air carried a rancid odor from all areas. The foul stench of Azrael, somewhat different than Jason’s own musk, seemed to sharply bite Samantha’s nostrils. Her nose twitched and she turned to Giselle.
“You’ll get used to it. But it’s good to know where they are before they are on you.” Giselle explained.
“Why does he…” Samantha gestured to Jason. “…smell so different.” She asked.
“It’s his diet. Since he doesn’t eat humans, the Azrael cells are having trouble digesting and processing the animal meat.” Toko answered.
“Why? Aren’t we animals too?” She asked. The sounds of sticks breaking and feet moving to the left drew her attention. A group of Azrael were heading their way. They were still about two hundred yards away.
“It’s not only the inability of the virus to break down the meat. It’s like those ticks that give red meat allergies.”
“I haven’t heard of that?” Samantha wondered. “Is this true?” She asked Giselle.
“I’ve heard of it before.” She answered.
“Well, Dr. Aoki said something about some carbohydrate called alpha-gal. It is in most red meat mammals like cows and pigs. He said that the virus comprises of similar carbohydrates as the alpha-gal. So when you consume this type of meat, you wi
ll exhibit a similar allergic reaction as in those, uh, lone star ticks, I believe. But since Jason is an Azrael, he must be fighting off the allergic reaction by releasing it through gas, perspiration and other bodily excrements. Since the Azrael heal and regenerate on a much quicker rate. It is also why the Azrael mainly attack humans.” Toko explained in a much higher level of detail than was necessary.
“So, he smells more like ass than the Azrael’s pungent b.o. mixed with rancid meat and...” She sniffed the air. “…spoiled milk?” Samantha added. The Azrael were about a hundred yards away.
“Hai, that is correct.” Toko admitted. He removed his sword and twisted his neck sharply inspiring a few pops.
“When did the doc tell you this?” François asked.
“It was during one of our Q and A sessions during our training. Were you not listening?”
“Of course I was listening to…some of it.” François confessed. He retrieved a pistol from a backpack that he was wearing.
Giselle also removed a pistol from her holster. She popped out the magazine, verified the amount of rounds and pushed it back in. She pulled the slide back and released it, placing a round in the chamber.
“Okay, let’s get this over with.” Giselle spoke.
“Uh, can I try?” Samantha asked Giselle while gesturing towards the weapon with her eyes.
“Sure. Have you shot one of these before?” She asked.
Samantha answered with a resting bitch face.
“I take that as a yes.” Giselle admitted and handed over the pistol.
“Hey, guys let me try to take them out.” She asked.
The Azrael were about fifty yards closer by this time. The others relaxed and placed their arms out to emphasize relinquishing of power.
Samantha aimed the pistol at the lead Azrael. Her eyes seem to zoom in. It zoomed back out, then back in again.
“Whoa, that was cool!” She admitted. She focused again.
She could hear them, smell them and see their faces clear as day. They seemed to move in slow motion. She took the shot. It struck its shoulder blade.
“Crap, I hit ‘em in the…”
“…shoulder. Aim for the head.” François interrupted.
The Azrael (Book 5): Prisoners Page 22