New Title 1

by Jeffrey, Shaun

  She turned back to Ratty. “What do you mean, that’s who killed the vicar?”

  “Him, he killed the vicar.” Ratty was still pointing accusingly.

  Chase turned around again. Him! She stared at Adam and Mat. At the time of the murder, she remembered running to the surgery and bursting in on Adam and Mandy.

  “How did you manage to get back to the surgery so quickly, and why on earth did you kill the vicar?” She eyed Adam warily and backed away. She had already seen him kill once.

  Adam held his hands up. “Hold on a minute, you don’t think he means me do you? Tell her kid.”

  “No, not him, him.” He pointed at Mat.

  “You must have got it wrong.” Chase couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

  Ratty pulled the disc from underneath his T-shirt. “I saw it all on this.”

  “I’ll take that.” Drake stepped into the room and grabbed the disc. “Didn’t you men frisk them before you chucked them in here? Amateurs.” There was an embarrassed cough from out in the corridor. “Well you’d better check them now. God knows what else they could have on them.”

  Chase couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She looked at Mat, shaking her head. “Is it true?”

  Mat frowned. “Why is everyone looking at me? Who are all you people?”

  “It’s the change,” Mandy wailed. She put her hands on her head and began rocking back and forth as a guard entered the room.

  “You,” the guard pointed at Mandy, “against the wall. And you, back away.” He pointed a gun at Chase.

  When Mandy didn’t move, the guard shoved her, causing her to stumble and hit her head against the wall.

  “I said against the wall,” the guard repeated as Mandy rubbed her head.

  Chase knew that it was too late.

  “Quick, Jane, Ratty, and you,” she pointed at the girl, “get out of here.”

  “No one’s going anywhere,” Drake drawled, blocking the exit.

  “Let us out, you fool,” Adam bawled, pushing past Jane. “Don’t you realise what’s happening.”

  “You’re the fool.” Drake punched Adam in the stomach, causing him to double over in pain. “Now let my men do their job.”

  “Back away,” the guard covering Mandy said, his voice rising slightly. “If you don’t back off, I swear to God I’ll shoot.” The guard took a step back, his gun levelled on Mandy.

  “Drake,” Chase shouted, “Can’t you see what’s happening?”

  “Shut it, whore.”

  “For God’s sake, don’t just stand there.” As Chase spoke, Mandy advanced on the guard, her fingers flexing like claws.

  “Drake, do something.”

  But before he could reply, Mandy flew at the guard and a shot rang out, deafeningly loud in the enclosed space. Chase heard the sound reverberating in her head and she watched Mandy fly back, the wall suddenly painted with a bloody splatter effect by an invisible artist.

  “What the fuck’s going on in there,” Drake barked.

  Chase watched in shock as Mandy’s body slumped down the wall, a glistening slug trail of blood left down the brickwork. Jane screamed, her hands covering her mouth.

  “Don’t look.” Chase tried to shield Ratty and the girl from the sickening sight, but the blood trickling down the wall was too copious to hide.

  “I warned her, I warned her,” the guard gasped.

  “Get a grip,” Drake ordered. “Is she dead?”

  “I don’t know. They didn’t tell me I’d have to kill someone.”

  “Well check her then, you idiot, and if she isn’t dead, then make sure you finish the job.”

  The guard approached Mandy’s slumped body and felt her throat to check for a pulse when she suddenly reached out and grabbed his hand. The guard jumped in a mixture of shock and revulsion and he accidentally fired off another shot, the bullet whining around the room.

  Before the guard had time to react, Mandy bit into his hand, shaking her head from side to side like a dog with a rag. The guard screamed and instinctively hit out to get her to release her grip, but that only seemed to aggravate her even more, like swatting a wasp.

  “What the fuck’s going on in there?” Drake snarled, stepping into the room. “Let me pass.” He pushed Adam out of the way and stormed into the room.

  Chase knew that she only had one chance to execute the plan that formed in her head. Although dangerous, considering her options, what choice did she have? Moving quickly, she jumped on the guard that Mandy was biting and wrestled him for the gun. It wasn’t easy to make the guard let go of his weapon, and he pulled the trigger again, almost deafening her as a bullet embedded itself in the wall, spraying the air with dust. His grip was tenacious, until Chase copied Mandy and bit his hand, causing him to let go of the weapon. She had no idea how to use it, but as the guard had just fired a shot off by accident, she knew the safety catch wasn’t on. All she would have to do was pull the trigger. Slipping her finger around the trigger, she raised the barrel and pointed it at Drake who was forcing his way toward her.

  “Don’t move.” Even though she had never fired a gun in her life, Chase felt empowered by it. The weight, the feel, and the way it looked. It was almost sexual.

  Drake came to a stop, shook his head and laughed. “Don’t be stupid. Give me the gun.”

  The guard on the floor screamed again. The sound made Chase flinch, but she didn’t lower the weapon. She knew that it wasn’t a handgun as it was too big, neither was it a rifle. It was midway between the two with a curved magazine and a handle beneath the snub barrel. There was a switch on the side, which could be flicked between three positions.

  “Now be a good girl and take your finger off the trigger.” Drake was no longer laughing.

  “Don’t give it him,” Jane screamed, running to stand behind Chase.

  “Shoot him,” Adam shouted.

  “Way to go,” Ratty cheered.

  Drake cast a withering glare at Adam before turning his attention back to Chase. He stepped toward her, his hands raised in a placating manner. “Now just make it easy on yourself and give me the damn gun.”

  “I said don’t move.” Her voice wavered almost as much as the gun barrel.

  “Now you know you aren’t going to shoot me, and so do they.” He indicated the room’s occupants.

  As Drake took another step, Chase gritted her teeth and pulled the trigger. The room was filled with the hellish sound of the guns retort and a bullet flew past Drake, whining in protest as it missed its target and hit the wall. “Now, don’t move again.” She forced herself to remain calm even though the guns recoil had hurt her wrist.

  Drake stood still, his eyes narrowed into slits. “That wasn’t very clever,” he whispered menacingly.

  “Neither was moving,” Chase retorted. “Now get the other guard in here. Now.”

  For a moment, she didn’t think Drake was going to respond, then he turned and barked at the guard standing outside the door to come in. The guard tentatively peered around the door frame, his gun held tightly in his hand.

  “That’s it, in you come, don’t be shy,” Chase said as the young, acne scarred guard stepped into the room. “Now, you and Drake both drop your weapons. Easy, take it slow, otherwise ...” She motioned her eyes toward the gun in her hands.

  “You can’t escape,” Drake warned, slipping a pistol from a holster around his waist and dropping it on the ground. Adam scurried over and picked it up. When the guard dropped his machine gun, he picked that up too and pointed both barrels at Drake.

  The guard on the floor cried out in pain, forming a hellish musical accompaniment to the strange tableau as Mandy continued to clamp her teeth on his hand, her bloody fingers scratching at his face.

  “Now apart from Drake and his men, everyone else get out of the room.” They didn’t need much encouragement. “You too, Adam.”

  Adam looked at her. “But what about Mandy?”

  Chase looked down at the young girl as she finally rel
eased her bite on the guard who slumped against the wall, clutching his hand. Blood pooled around Mandy’s body. “Can you do anything for her?”

  Adam shrugged and went over to her. He crouched down and inspected her wound. Chase could see Mandy was having difficulty breathing, her ragged breaths causing grotesque little bubbles of blood to burst from her lips. When Adam eventually stood up, he shook his head.

  “Well, we’re not leaving her in here.” Making Drake and the uninjured guard sit on the floor, Chase ordered them to sit on their own hands before she helped Adam to lift Mandy and carry her out of the room. Once outside, she closed the door, turned the key in the lock and threw it along the corridor. Mandy gurgled incoherently and coughed up blood. Her eyes were open, but the spark of madness had been extinguished.

  “You won’t get away with this,” Drake snarled, his voice menacing even from behind the door.

  “Come on, let’s get out of here,” Chase said, ignoring Drake’s threats. “Jane, can you help Adam carry Mandy.”

  Jane nodded.

  “Why didn’t you leave him locked in there?” Ratty said.

  Chase looked at Mat. She had forgotten all about him during the fracas; now he looked lost and forlorn. Ratty gave him a wide berth, protectively holding hands with the young girl who she realised must be Izzy, the girl he had mentioned back in High Top Cottage. But what was she to do? She couldn’t believe Mat was a killer, but then she realised that the man standing before wasn’t really Mat – he had changed, becoming something else entirely.

  ***

  What was taking Drake so long? Nigel Moon impatiently tapped his fingers on the desk. He had been informed that Drake had recaptured the boy and girl, which with the help of the genetically modified dogs was only to be expected. The animals had been adapted using the traits of some of the world’s most vicious animals. Their eyesight was on a par with an eagle, and like a shark, they could smell their prey from miles away. Ethical morals aside, they were perfect killing machines, although slightly unpredictable as one of the handler’s discovered to his misfortune when he turned his back on one of them. He knew Drake was wary of the dogs, but he didn’t pay him to be wary. He was paid to carry out orders, and he had been ordered to report to Moon, immediately. Moon didn’t like to be kept waiting. He punched a button on the intercom. “Miss Coombs, where’s Drake? I sent for him over half an hour ago.”

  “Yes sir. We’re still trying to find him.”

  “Well try harder.” He let the button go and shook his head. That man was trying his patience. If he weren’t such a ruthless, dispassionate killer, Moon would have no time for him. As it was, Drake was good at what he did. He was a man without morals and normal compunctions. But Moon would only tolerate so much when it came to the man’s work ethics.

  A lot of the other guards around Paradise didn’t even know what was really going on. They knew that they couldn’t talk about what they saw or what they heard, and they were kept in the dark as to the project itself, so they couldn’t tell anyone about it. Their job was to keep people out and to keep the residents in. Period. If they got too inquisitive, Drake would have a quiet word with them, which never failed to impress upon them that they could be silenced, permanently. Fear was a notable silencer.

  Suddenly the intercom buzzed and Moon pressed the button to take the call. “Yes, have you found him?”

  “Yes, sir. He’s been ... detained.”

  “Detained, what the blasted hell does that mean?”

  Miss Coombs coughed slightly. “Well the prisoners have escaped, and they seem to have locked Mr Drake in the room they were being kept in.”

  Moon took a deep breath. His temples throbbed and he was out of the chair and out of the room, standing before the diminutive Miss Coombs before she could blink. He placed his hands on the edge of the desk to steady himself and said as calmly as he could, “Sound the alarm. They must not get away. Order the dogs to be released. And get someone to let Drake out.”

  CHAPTER 30

  Ratty followed behind the group, holding tightly onto Izzy’s hand. He kept a wary eye on Mat, still not sure why Chase hadn’t locked him up with Drake. If he had killed once, what was stopping him doing it again? Even if he wasn’t to blame, unable to recall the incident as he said, that didn’t mean it hadn’t happened. Besides, he seemed as mad as a hatter.

  Mandy was fading fast and slowing them down considerably. Ratty couldn’t believe someone could lose so much blood and yet still be alive. He absently wondered whether her prolonged demise was anything to do with the experiment.

  Entering the fog, Chase produced a compass from her pocket that she said she had found in an old farmhouse, and they used it to follow a path due North.

  As they proceeded, Ratty had the familiar feeling of being followed and once or twice he heard leaves rustle, but he couldn’t see anything. The fog was just too thick.

  That was when he heard the dogs in the distance.

  “Oh shit,” he said.

  “What is it?” Although he couldn’t see her, he recognised Chase’s voice.

  “The dogs,” Izzy said for him, her voice full of panic.

  “We should be okay with the guns,” Chase responded.

  “I wouldn’t be too sure,” Ratty said. “These aren’t normal dogs. They’re ... different.”

  “Different?” Jane said.

  “What he means is they’re worse than any dog you can imagine. They look like alligators, or sharks or something like that,” Izzy said.

  Ratty could feel her shaking. “She’s right. There’s things going on here that aren’t normal.”

  “You can say that again,” Jane said.

  “I’ve never seen any dogs.” Adam looked confused.

  “Try looking in the mirror,” Jane replied.

  “That’s enough,” Chase said. “We’ve got to get out of here, and we can’t do that if we fight among ourselves. The enemy’s out there, somewhere, now come on, let’s go.”

  The dog’s throaty growls were getting closer. “Hurry up,” Ratty pleaded, trying to make them move faster – but they couldn’t move fast, not with Mandy.

  The fog drifted around them, an undulating spirit world, halfway between reality and dreamscape. Shapes loomed into focus – trees, branches, hedges – caught midway between the two worlds before the fog devoured them.

  The undergrowth rustled. Ratty heard the click of teeth and felt Izzy tighten her grip on his hand. A growl filled the air and a shot rang out, puncturing the fog.

  “Adam, you idiot, stop firing,” Chase shouted. “You’ll hit one of us.”

  “I’m trying to scare them away.”

  “Then why not just look at them,” Jane said.

  “At least I’m doing something.”

  “Come on, let’s keep moving.” Ratty didn’t want to stand around any longer than was necessary, and if the others had seen the dogs, he was sure they’d agree.

  Close by, something howled and as if on command, the pack suddenly attacked, dashing through the undergrowth in a rabid frenzy of gnashing teeth.

  Someone screamed, “Run,” but the instruction fell on deaf ears – they were all ready running, propelled by fear.

  A shot rang out, followed by another, the bullets scything dangerously through the fog.

  The ground was steadily rising and as they entered a copse, the fog started to thin. Ratty wished it hadn’t as he saw the beasts. A nightmare incarnate. Their maws were filled with serrated daggers, while their heads were hairless and shark-like in shape. Their small pointed ears lay flat to their heads and their nostrils flared as they breathed.

  Ratty counted four beasts.

  One of the dogs had run in front, blocking the way and Ratty quickly ducked as it launched itself on powerful, muscular legs, teeth snapping angrily at empty air as it sailed over his head and crashed into a tree trunk, infuriating it more. Another shot rang out and Ratty saw Adam aiming the gun, his hand shaking as he pulled the trigger again, the s
hot going wide of the mark and splintering a branch. He had the guards machine gun slung over his shoulder, having refused to give it up to anyone else, especially Mat, which Ratty was grateful for.

  To allow himself to fire the gun with both hands, Adam had dropped Mandy, and as though they smelled the blood, the pack of dogs circled around her like a tornado, whipping up leaves in their wake. Adam loosed off a couple more shots, and whether by luck or skill, he hit one of the dogs in the flank. The animal howled and pitched over, but it didn’t stop. It dragged itself on its front paws toward its quarry. It was relentless, but as it was moving considerably slower, Adam was able to fire another bullet into it, causing it to roll over and play dead.