No more time to waste.
Uncoiling in a smooth and powerful movement, Aaron twisted toward the officer.
Using his own cuffed wrist as leverage, he swung his right elbow in a tight diagonal arc that terminated on the bridge of the deputy’s nose. The bone there offered little resistance to the impact.
Blood bloomed immediately.
As the sheriff’s head snapped back, Aaron brought his own forehead forward to crunch against the other man’s chin. The impact lifted him off of his feet.
He tumbled unceremoniously backward, eyes swimming in their sockets as he struggled to remain conscious. Immediately Aaron was upon him, dropping a knee to his sternum, driving the air from him with a whoosh. His other knee pinned the gun hand of the deputy. A simple twist of the barrel and a sharp backhanded fist to the side of the head were sufficient to complete the work of subduing the taller man.
The attack was sudden, violent, and effective.
Aaron shook his head with regret as he rolled the young cop over and relieved him of his radio. He then hoisted the limp deputy over his shoulder in a firemen’s carry and dumped him into his own squad car.
Aaron hurriedly cuffed the man to the steering wheel with the shackles that had been intended for him.
Confident that the officer was secure, Aaron slapped his cheeks a few times to rouse him. Slowly, the patrolman came back to life. Eyes swam loosely around before they fixed on Aaron. The deputy held the watery gaze for a moment before a flash of recognition hit him.
A creative and vehement string of expletives followed as the lanky man thrashed against the cuffs, nearly tearing the steering wheel off the column.
Aaron just stepped back and headed for his own motorcycle, calling back over his shoulder as he went.
“I’m sorry, but I really do just need to get my son and go. I’ll be back this way in a minute. I’ll take the restraints off then and be on my way.”
Aaron turned on the police radio and toggled to an all-units frequency. Keeping his RPM’s low, he trundled past the makeshift roadblock and deeper into the town, listening to the emergency calls filtering in from across the county as he went. What he heard was alarming, the seizures and resulting accidents were hitting everywhere, the thin emergency infrastructure of the surrounding rural towns was overwhelmed and dispatchers were basically telling people they were on their own, encouraging personnel to solicit civilian help. Things had been bad in the city when Aaron left, and it appeared they would only get worse.
How much worse?
Las Vegas, Nevada
“I got the worst luck ever.” The huge bodyguard mumbled under his breath.
Julani almost couldn’t believe it. Today had been shaping up to be one of the best he had yet in Vegas. Valdez had shut down early and not called in hours, he had managed to land a real date with a girl who was way out of his league, and Serena had dropped a cash bomb on things to top it all off.
He even got to feed the elephants twice today. He loved those damn elephants.
Then the shit hit the fan.
And what a load of shit it was shaping up to be.
Beads of sweat popped on his forehead as he lugged Serena Dayne through the front doors of Babel. Not that she was heavy enough to speak of, but he had been carrying her for close to a mile. Even the cold desert nights were late-coming in the city proper. Congested exhaust of millions of bodies, buildings, cars, and cigarettes kept the heat trapped like a microcosm of global warming.
The three of them had been gorging on Kobe beef and truffle breads at Brucoli’s. Vegas’ finest five-star restaurant. Julani had ordered two appetizers and a magnum of wine that cost as much as his first car. The conversation was light, funny, and he had almost felt like he belonged in that chic dining room with two beautiful women who had nothing in common with where he came from.
Serena had started to blush noticeably right about the time the sorbet was served. Both he and Dr. Peel had expressed concern but Serena had dismissed it with a wave.
“Oh come on, it’s probably just the wine.”
Except Julani knew she had barely touched the wine. He was more observant than he ever let on. He was aware that Serena never really drank, only carrying around a half empty glass most of the time at social events to give the appearance of participation in everyone else’s fun. He figured she was just a single mom who always wanted to be on her toes.
Her blush had set her to sweating. Then she started to grimace, apologizing all the way for throwing a stick in the spokes of their date. When her words started to slur heavily, Julani had left to get the car.
He figured their dessert would be pudding at the hospital.
The valets were nowhere to be found, but any car associated with Hunter Valdez was deliberately left out front, where other patrons and passerby would see it.
By the time he returned to the dining room, Serena was laid out on the floor. Dr. Peel had covered her in cold, wet rags, and Julani could detect a faint tremor behind her closed eyelids, like she was having a nightmare. What was really crazy, Serena wasn’t the only one. At least three other people in the fancy dining spot were having the same reaction to something.
They had loaded her into the car and rushed to the hospital, only to find the emergency room overloaded. Quick calls to the UNLV Medical Center and other area hospitals let them know that the situation was the same all over the city.
The wail of sirens could be heard keening through the neon canyons between hotels. But what alarmed Julani the most was the fact that some of the casinos they passed were ratcheting down emergency shutters and clearing patrons out onto the street.
Casinos never closed.
Never.
The protocol for closure at Babel called for doors to be locked only in the event of biological or nuclear attack, or major structural fire. Anything else and the resorts went about business as usual, even if it was at limited capacity. The satellite radio stations were even being interrupted by scattered emergency reports of quarantines, terror alerts, emergency shelter locations.
Satellite radio.
Nationwide.
Worldwide?
Dr. Peel had been forced to make an executive decision.
“We’ll take her back to the tower, back to the vet clinic. I’ll do what I can for her until we can get the boss to call in his personal doctor.”
So they had worked their way back down the strip toward the immense shadow of Babel, until the going became too slow to bear and Julani had simply pulled up onto the wide sidewalk, cut the engine, and thrown Serena over his shoulder, bulling his way easily through a crowd of frightened tourists.
They arrived to find a similar scene inside the tower as out on the streets, the skeleton crew of staff and the bulk of the construction crews were gathered around the central reception desk of the vast lobby. The rise and fall of conversation was fearful, and Dr. Peel pointed out a number of people laid out on the marble floors, appearing to be under the same spell as Serena.
Julani adjusted his grip on the limp form in his arms, wondering how many of these folks were going to die.
It was a grim thought. But where he came from, if you were laid out on the floor, you were in bad shape.
Echoes of worry bounced back to them as they crossed to the elevators.
The giant obelisk fountain in the center of the hall cast its shadow to the east, like a giant sundial heralding the coming of the Hour of Judgment.
Julani’s eyes darted to the shadowy alcoves around the room, as was routine every time he came through with his boss. Except now he knew that he was in danger.
They all were.
The high speed elevators hummed down as sultry voices cooed their greetings, heedless of the chaos unfolding. Julani held back the urge to shoot out the speakers.
Somebody should shut the damn automated systems off and use the P.A. for something productive. He propped a heel against the wall of the elevator car and let Serena slump across his knee, temp
orarily unburdening his arms. Her skin had flushed to an unhealthy color, and the fluttering of her lashes revealed eyes so bloodshot they looked almost solid red.
Dr. Peel - Haley he was supposed to call her now- pressed two fingers into Serena’s neck and stared intently at her watch. She clucked her disapproval of what she found there.
“Her pulse is irregular. Can you feel the microtremors?”
Of course he could, he had been carrying her for a mile.
“It’s like her body is in a severe state of shock, and I do mean severe. I’ve ruled out allergic reaction. Something tells me that the hundreds of people we saw on the way here with similar symptoms didn’t all have bad shellfish.”
Julani only nodded silently, letting the doctor talk her way through possible scenarios.
“When we get to the lab I can run a few tests, but I don’t have the capacity to treat anything serious in a person. All of my drugs are for large animals.”
She paused, pressing a palm to her forehead as if to squeeze out the best option for solving their immediate problem. Seeing the concern in his eyes as he listened, Haley cautioned him.
“You know J. she could have some serious virulent disease, and you could be exposing yourself by being so close to her.”
He was almost offended by the implication.
“And you expect that I’ma just drop her here and let you handle it? Hell no!”
“I’m just speculating of course, but you should know that it’s a possibility. I mean, I am sort of obligated to help –even if I am just a veterinarian-, and she’s my friend…”
“I ain’t leaving her.” He said flatly. “Or you.” He hoped it didn’t sound corny.
“Well good, because I’m going to need your help after we get her situated and I go back down for the others.”
“Others?”
“Yes, J. All those people in the lobby and the ones we saw on the street. We have to help them all.”
He didn’t care too much for most people, and he really didn’t give two shits about those other people laying down there, but he knew she was right.
Something big was happening.
Really damn big.
If he wanted to fit in with somebody like Haley, he was going to have to start thinking and acting like that.
Somebody needs help, you help them.
Where he grew up, and in his line of work, that’s not how things were done. Maybe he could learn to think differently.
He just hoped that he wouldn’t get called away to some more bullshit guard duty for Valdez while people were dying in his own tower.
The darkened zoo level brightened with their arrival. But only so much. Ambient lighting carefully mimicked an evening on the veldt. All of that was great for visitors, but he would have given his right eye for a good old fashioned light switch to illuminate their path.
At the edges of his vision, he could see the shapes of the animals moving in their enclosures, graceful shadows flitting about the half-lit space.
He set off at a clip toward the rear of the level, to the veterinary lab, sweating a bit more. His massive arms finally started to tire noticeably. Dr. Peel dashed off ahead.
“I’ll unlock the doors and prep a table for her. We should try and get her fever down.”
He grunted his agreement.
A minute later Dr. Peel re-appeared up ahead, frozen in the middle of the path, staring not at him, but into the enclosures with a look of bewilderment.
“Whus up?” this was one time he wouldn’t be making a point of taking in the wildlife.
“Look at them.”
“Look at who?”
Only then did Julani notice. There, just on the other side of the glass. Staring intensely at him, or rather, at Serena. Lions, Cape buffalo, warthogs, and zebras, all gazed with wild eyes. Silently scrutinizing. He paused, mouth falling open in wonder.
“Wha…?”
The question died on his lips as he took another few steps. Animals on both sides moved in unison. Falling into step and pacing him.
All of them.
Julani almost dropped his precious cargo in shock.
He moved again, and the animals padded and clipped alongside, ignoring their proximity to one another. They slid wet noses along the glass and pawed at the dirt.
The shaggy-headed male lion’s eyes glowed with a feral intensity. Pupils like tiny points of midnight against amber green.
“What are they doing Doc?” His own blood rushed in the still moment.
“Maybe they can smell or sense that something is different.” She whispered “I’ve never seen this behavior before. Notice the posture? Tails relaxed. Ears alert. This is not aggression. They look more curious than anything.”
He could tell that the doctor was just as puzzled as he was, but less alarmed.
“We can figure it out later. For now, we handle Serena.”
Damp dreadlocks slapped his neck as he swung once again toward their destination. The animals kept pace, stalking along in queue on the other side of the glass.
The unnatural truce between predators and prey made Julani uneasy for some reason.
No matter how hard he tried, Julani couldn’t keep his eyes off of that giant male lion. The thing was impressive of course, but the way it fixated on Serena -laid out in his arms- caused him to hunger for more knowledge on what exactly it was that had put his friend out of commission.
The whole way through the grand space, Julani kept focused eyes on the animals while they all followed, rapt in response to Serena’s lifeless form.
Finally, they reached the door to the labs.
In the space of two minutes, he had helped Dr. Peel lay Serena out and cut away most of the sweaty clothing she wore so the doctor could examine her more thoroughly. Pulling a horse blanket over her patient to preserve the unconscious woman’s modesty, Haley once again entered professional mode.
“I need you to go into the next room and start filling the big stainless tub with cool water, not cold, but cool, her fever is spiking and we’ll dip her after I make sure her vitals are in a stable range. Also, I need you to reach into that high cabinet and give me one of the small vials marked Ketamine.”
Julani did as he was told, happy to be of some use.
Dr. Peel pulled a wicked-looking syringe out of a drawer and drew some of the clear liquid from the bottle. She picked up one of Serena’s arms, which was shaking worse now, and indicated that Julani should hold it still.
“What you shootin her up with?” Though he was no genius, Julani was sure that the veterinary complex didn’t have human medications on hand.
Dr. Peel was about to inject animal meds into their friend.
“It’s Ketamine, a mild tranquilizer we use on the smaller cats like Ocelots and Civets. High school kids use it to get high. It has no-long term effects in small doses, so I figure it’s our best option to settle her tremors, relax the muscles.”
“Cat drugs?”
“Hey, it’s the best we have to work with right?”
He only shrugged and clamped his hands onto Serena’s arm, feeling the slick warmth of her fever. The doctor plunged the needle into a vein and dumped its contents.
“Okay, now go fill that tub.”
Before he could go, a loud banging came from the other end of the laboratory. Someone was pounding on the main access door, and by the sound of it, they were adamant about having it answered.
Julani noted the look of fearful irritation in Haley’s face. She was on edge but also trying to focus on her patient.
More racket from the door. Even louder this time.
As if in response, Serena’s body bucked on the table. The effort came across half-hearted. The tranquilizers were doing their work.
Another loud boom. Whoever was there was hitting the door with something. Simply knocking wouldn’t reverberate through the thick steel like that.
“I’ll go check it out.” Julani offered.
Haley offered a tense smile.<
br />
He took an extra half second to look at her before turning and heading for the door.
As he strode toward the far entrance, Julani began to catch the faint indication of crowd noise outside the door. With each step, the din grew louder.
His ears gradually decoded the scramble of sound until it became clear what he was hearing. The howl of baboons, the distinctive yip,yip of hyenas, and a hundred other calls of bird and beast.
He detoured to a bank of monitors that showed security camera feeds from all over the enclosures. Every screen was full of frantic movement. In the dark, antelope and lechwe darted back and forth, slamming headlong into the transparent glass as if it weren’t even there. A flurry of feathers filled another screen. Julani found the monitor picking up the small herd of elephants. His beloved elephants.
The huge gray pachyderms looked like living rocks in the low light, all flapping ears and cracked skin. The bull was rearing up and down, swinging his trunk from side to side aggressively. Whatever was stirring the animals probably had something to do with the urgent knock on the door.
More insistent pounding rang, hard enough to be heard through the muffling steel.
Julani found the monitor that displayed the view of the entrance to the labs. A camera was trained on the vault door at all times.
The person standing on the screen was not who Julani expected to see. Certainly not somebody he was excited to be seeing.
Brown.
He groaned. This was not the time to be called on some babysitting errand.
He called back to Dr. Peel.
“Looks like I might have to go back to work!”
“Who is it?”
“Brown.”
“Is Valdez with him?” He could hear the hopeful tension in her voice. She had wanted to use the rich man’s connections to get their friend help.
“Nah.”
“Well then ignore him, we don’t work for Brown.”
She had a point.
“Lemme see what he wants. Maybe Valdez sent him.”
More pounding at the door.
The knock was urgent, frantic.
Not really Brown’s style.
To Light Us, To Guard Us (The Angel War Book 1) Page 14