Munsher got to his feet. “Who the fuck are you?”
He stood straight up like he owned the place. He had a proud chin and held it high. He was the kind of man who loved to hate his country and would do anything to prove it. With dark hair and a cynical eye, he was Captain America in reverse.
“I already told you, son,” I said. “I don’t expect to repeat myself again.”
“You… really work for Blackwell?”
He swallowed hard. His voice trembled when he said the name. In fact, all the men looked concerned. Blackwell’s name held more weight than I could have hoped.
I grimaced. “You better not say his name too much around here,” I said. “He doesn’t like to have it repeated out loud.”
Munsher smacked the back of Maya’s head. “Son of a bitch. He finally sent someone. The name is Munsher. Why are you here, sir?”
He raised his hand and we shook. He had a solid grip, but too solid. He was squeezing too hard, like he had something to prove. Or wanted to show dominance.
“I was sent to check in on Redmann for a progress report. He’s been out of touch.”
“That psycho has completely fucked up the entire mission, sir.”
I had no idea what the mission was or why these men were here. But I knew it revolved around the beast. Maybe that was all I needed to know.
“What are you men doing here?” I moved around Maya. And took a wild guess. “Why are you separated from Redmann?”
“Because he’s an egomaniacal little prick,” Munsher said. “He said he didn’t need security anymore. Because the monsters were under his control. He tried to kick us off the Island. When we didn’t go, he tried to have us killed.
“That’s not what he reported at the base,” I said. Maya glanced up at me. There was obviously dissension on the Island. And it sounded like it stemmed from Munsher and Redmann not playing nice with each other. It was a classic tale of east versus west. But I definitely couldn’t tell which side was the good guys.
I kept my eyes on Munsher, who crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. He was skeptical. Or rebellious. Or both.
“The last thing Redmann reported,” I said, “was that you gentlemen didn’t respect his work with The Presence. He said you tried to rebel and take over the project. That there was a fallout and you died.”
“That mousy son of a bitch is a liar,” he said. “We haven’t rebelled. Yet. But we’re going to. As soon as we have enough people to take out those monster mother-fuckers of his.”
I nodded toward Maya. “Why do you have one of my assets in here?”
“The girl? She’s one of yours?”
“She belongs to Poe,” I said. I had to bite my tongue even saying it. But throwing out another high-profile name would ensure more trust and bypass any resistance.
“We found her tied to a tree,” he said. “She’s given me nothing but lip.”
“She was supposed to scout out Redmann,” I said. “I see you fucked it up for her.”
“She’s your spy? She’s a little too hot to be a spy, don’t you think? Wouldn’t you want someone a little more plain-jane? Less noticeable?”
“That’s exactly why she’s a spy,” I said. “Her looks throw people off. They’re more concerned about trying to get into her pants than suspecting she’s a threat.”
“Fucking brilliant, sir,” Munsher said. He was sucking up to me, thinking that I was his superior. And I didn’t mind one bit.
I grabbed Maya’s jaw and lifted her to her feet. I had to play rough to sell the role.
I narrowed my eyes. “Are you done playing house now, little girl?”
She nodded and knew to play her role. In order to gain rapport, I used the same words Munsher did. I had to get across to him, on a subconscious level, that I was his ally, not an enemy. And I did that by mirroring and matching his movements and speech patterns.
I even walked the same way he did.
He wouldn’t consciously realize I was doing it, but it would gain me his trust. Or a knife in the back. You never know for sure with psychopaths.
“What are you waiting for?” I asked him. “Redmann’s only a few miles away with a handful of people.”
“He has three monstrous golems,” he said. “Those things can take out an entire city. We wouldn’t stand a chance before they ripped us apart.”
Of course, I only saw the one that Karen called off. I wondered where the other two were hiding.
“This is what we’re going to do,” I said. “You and I are going to take Redmann out. His mission is over.”
Munsher sat in the chair. “I’m listening.”
“I’m going to bring the girl back with me because she’s mine.”
“I think not,” he said. “She’s grown on me.”
“You’re going to talk that way to your superior? Once I’m through with you, Blackwell will have your ass.”
“Maybe,” he said with a slimy grin. He pulled out a 45 Colt. “But if I kill you, Blackwell will never know, will he? He may think Redmann did it. Maybe one of his precious pets got to you. If I put two bullets in your chest, who’s to say any different?”
“Do you know what a Forever Person is, son? Because you’re looking at one.”
I was betting that none of these men were Forever People. Not only based on gut instinct, but Forevers normally wouldn’t feel the need to wear a bulletproof vest or carry guns. Or follow a crowd for that matter. Even a crowd of homicidal maniacs.
Munsher sneered. “Bullshit. You’re… one of them?”
“Pull the trigger and find out,” I said, stepping into the Colt. “And when my body spits those bullets back at you, I’m going to drain every last one of you sorry sons of bitches for being insubordinate. It will be a room full of empty husks.”
The crowd gasped. And murmured. They knew what Forever People were alright. And they were smart enough to not want to tangle with one.
Munsher lowered his 45 Colt. “Son of bitch.” He jumped to his feet and moved several paces back from me, like he was contemplating. He tapped the pistol against his chin. “Oh, what the hell.” He raised the gun at me and fired.
I dropped as he got the shots off. The wind off the bullets grazed my ribcage and arm. I lunged forward and disarmed him, swinging the butt of the gun into his cheek, driving him to the floor.
Now I had two guns. Fortune favors the bold.
The other soldiers drew their guns. These asshats were more loyal to their leader than they were to Blackwell. I didn’t want my head to get caught in the crossfire.
“Lay down your weapons, boys,” I said. “You work for me now.”
They turned to each other with questionable looks and eventually lowered their weapons. I was pretty impressed with myself for blindly taking over a small army of military brats to form a coup against the person I needed to take down anyway. And you know what they say—
Pride comes before the fall.
From down the hall, someone pranced into the room. His name was Gary. My roommate.
I had instant regret. I probably should have treated him better.
“He doesn’t work for Blackwell,” Gary said. “He’s just a newcomer.”
They all raised their rifles at me. Munsher got to his feet and clobbered me on the back of the skull. I dropped to my knees and felt myself passing out. There was no way out.
I was a dead man.
Chapter 16
Munsher
“Wakey, wakey, sleeping beauty,” Munsher said, tapping the Beretta against my skull. This guy was the high school jock who picked on people for the hell of it and had an entourage of asshole-wannabees following him around because they thought he was cool. And now he was flicking my nose with his finger.
What a dick. That shit hurts.
As I awoke, I found myself strapped to a chair with tons of duct tape. My blade and my pistol were removed. Maya was being held by one of the goons in the crowd.
Munsher sat across from me in a backward
chair. Leaning on the back, he crossed his arms and wrinkled his forehead.
“If you weren’t sent here by Blackwell, then you mind telling me who the hell is sitting in front of me right now? Cuz I am dying to know.”
I gave him the stink eye. “I’m a hunter,” I said.
“Like Del Toro? Lot of good he did me. We threw his ass in the pit.”
“What’s going on in this place?” I asked.
“We’re staging a coup,” he said. “We’re going to take Redmann down once and for all. I don’t know who the hell you are, but I’ll forget your pathetic little rouse if you decide to join us in our fight. We need all the men we can get.”
“What is Redmann trying to do with The Presence?”
“Redmann is a prick. And a menace,” he said. “I was assigned here to build a military force out of this situation.”
I twisted my arms underneath the duct tape to loosen it up, but it was tight. “What did you do to Del Toro? What was that thing inside him?”
“You saw that? Hell, I didn’t do anything to that guy,” he said. “But The Presence? He turned him into one of his damn minions. Ugly sons of bitches, aren’t they?” He chuckled under his breath.
I sneered. “What the hell was it?”
“The creature that hatched from his chest is called a Primitive. I named it myself. You see, underneath us is the beast. The Presence. Under this place, this Island; whatever the hell you want to call it.”
“Is it physical or ethereal?”
“It can only appear partially in our reality,” he said. “In certain moments, when it’s dark enough, it can manifest in physical form, but not for very long. It fades away in the light.”
One of his mercenary goons approached him. “Hey, Dickie, what do you want us to do with the girl?”
I snickered.
Munsher’s face went stone cold. “What’s so goddamn funny?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Your name is Dick Muncher?”
There was giggling in the crowd.
Munsher whipped back at them. “Shut the fuck up. SHUT UP. All of you,” he said, pointing at them. He turned back to me. “It’s Munsher, with an S. It’s French.” Several goons chuckled within the group. Munsher shot up the floor near their feet. They stopped laughing. “Not another word. No more jokes. I’m sick of it, you hear me?”
“No wonder you go by your last name,” I said. “Dickie.”
“My mom and dad laughed at me all the time. When I confronted them, you know what my mom said? She said, ‘Be glad we didn’t name you Cock.’ And this was my mother. My parents were assholes.”
I cleared my throat and rotated my ankles under the tape. “What are you going to do with Redmann?”
Munsher scoffed. “Redmann is a fucked-up fanatic. He’s gonna pay for trying to kill us. I’ll start by peeling off his skin. From there, I’ll make it up as I go.”
“What’s his agenda?” I asked.
Munsher nodded to the glass room behind me. I peered to the side. Several ASL goons stumbled around inside the containment room. Aimlessly. They were mindless zombies. Like Del Toro was before that creature popped out of him.
Munsher jumped up and tapped the glass with the pistol. “Here, fishy, fishy, fishy,” he said. “The things inside of them? They’re primal beasts. See, the creature guts out the person, devours their organs, and controls the husk like a goddamn puppet. Pretty sick, huh? They’re ferocious as hell. Hard to kill. And completely controllable. They listen to me. Like little slaves.”
He pulled out what looked like a dog whistle from around his neck and blew. The zombies stopped moving and wailed in agony. Black blood flowed from their nose and ears. When he stopped blowing the whistle, their screams went silent and they returned to walking around in circles.
Munsher smiled a toothy smile and snickered. “Man, I do love my Primitives. I got a whole stable of them now. When I get a few more, I’ll have enough to take down Redmann. Fuck his biblical bullshit one-offs. I’ll have an army.”
I sneered. “I’m very happy for you.”
He sat back down and set one leg on his knee. “You killed one of my Primitives when you took out Del Toro. I saw the body. You tore him apart. The way I see it, you owe me one.” He mosied over to Maya and caressed her face. “Maybe I’ll have one with a pretty face this time.”
Maya spit on him. He wiped it off his face and sucked his fingers. “Is that foreplay, sweetheart?”
“Fuck you, assbag,” she said.
Maya was messing it up big time. Being defiant wasn’t the way to beat Munsher. It would only feed his machismo and make him want to retaliate by showing her who was boss.
With an open hand, he backhanded her. I couldn’t get to her in time to help. She had to learn to take the punishment.
“You’re a saucy little bitch, aren’t you?” he said. “Chicks are only good for two things, and both are on their knees.”
Maya spit blood to the floor. “You pig!” She lunged at him but was wrenched back by the man twice her size.
Munsher cocked his head. “How old are you, girly? Eighteen? Nineteen?”
“Twenty-one and a half,” she said.
Munsher chuckled. “Ooooh. Can’t forget the half,” he said to his crew. They all laughed. “You could be sucking cock and sleeping your way to the top of the White House. Or becoming the next Marylin Monroe poster girl for millennials. Hell, you could be barefoot and pregnant and popping out babies. But what does a hottie like you do with her time? Snapchat pics with bunny ears. A waste of perfectly tight little flesh, if you ask me.” He got inches from her face. “Your whole generation is worthless.”
“Blow me, dick muncher.” She leaned back and head-butted him. He wasn’t expecting that one.
Munsher stumbled back, grabbing his nose. He was a gusher. “Mother fucker!”
He tightened his fist and belted her across the cheek. Hard. It lifted her off the ground. When she came down, she crashed even harder, landing spine-first on the cement. I wouldn’t be surprised if her cheekbone was broken.
“Fucking bitch,” he said. “We should gang bang you with our fucking M16s. But you’re not worth the cleanup.” He turned to the Forever Person. “Gary, throw this bitch in the pit. Let’s see what happens to that pretty little face after the beast is done with her.”
I jerked under my bindings. “Munsher, don’t do it. Let the girl go.”
He scowled. “Shut the fuck up, poser.”
Gary wormed his way to Maya and hoisted her off the floor. She was barely conscious. He glanced at Munsher. “But I can’t teleport on the Island.”
Munsher held his nostrils. “Then fucking walk like the rest of us, dipshit.”
“It’s almost two miles--”
“Holyyyy shit,” Munsher said. He reached into his pocket and threw Gary his keys. “Take the jeep and get the fuck out of here, you sissy bitch retard. I can’t believe we let you into the brotherhood.” Munsher grabbed Maya’s jaw. “Maybe now you’ll know your place, little girl,” he said. Gary took the half-conscious Maya to the door. “Oh, and Gary?” Gary stopped by the door and looked back at him. “Don’t fuck it up. If she escapes, I’m throwing you in the pit next. Capiche?”
Gary nodded and left with Maya. And here I was strapped to a chair. Unable to stop them.
Maya messed it up for both of us. She embarrassed Munsher in front of his men. There was no telling what he would do in his enraged state of mind.
He trampled up to me, sniffing the blood in his nostrils. “I was going to see if you wanted to join my crew. But your chick pissed me off to no end. Now, I’m just going to kill you.” He waved his hand to one of his crew, a Hispanic soldier the size of Mexico.
He grabbed the back of my chair and dragged me into the containment room. With a chuckle, he dropped me on my back for shits and giggles.
Opening the back door, he rushed out and locked me inside. A thick wall of glass separated me from freedom.
Munsher grin
ned. “Have fun with the Primitives. They won’t infest you, but they sure as hell will eat you. Their rows of shark teeth may be small, but those little fuckers are like chainsaws.”
He turned to leave but spun back around. “I almost forgot. They also upchuck their stomach acid to melt their food. Ever see The Fly with Jeff Goldblum? Gross, right? It’s just like that.” Munsher gave a two-fingered salute. “Bon appétit, boys.”
He took his crew and left the room. One of his men grabbed a chair and sat down to watch the show. From the neighboring room staggered in a man with a zombie-like stupor. Two more people trampled in with the same M.O.
CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.
Ribs popped loose as the people’s chests opened wide. Clawed fingers crawled out to reveal the same kind of beastie I killed earlier. Yellow beady eyes blinked from inside the dark chest cavity as black claws pushed the ribs further open.
All three creatures vacated the bodies at once, screeching something awful. It was lunch time.
And I was the meal.
Chapter 17
What’s on the Menu?
Duct-taped to a wooden chair and my back on the cement floor, I was upside-down and more vulnerable than I was comfortable with. My gaze rolled up along the floor at the unfortunate shit-storm taking place. Three people hovered over me like zombies. Their chest cavities opened up to reveal black demon-like creatures prying themselves from the shriveled wet organs and flesh inside. The sound alone was enough to make a guy hurl his Froot Loops.
The first creature squirmed free from its human shell and crawled onto my chest. With its head by my lap, I squeezed its skull between my knees and flopped to the side. Trust me when I say I was concerned about the family jewels. Luckily, the soldiers didn’t tie my ankles to the chair, only together, so my legs were free to move. What a bunch of amateurs.
I rammed my heel into the beastie’s throat and climbed to my feet. The creature snarled and flailed, so when it opened its mouth to scream, I drove my other boot down its throat and wore that prick like a pair of galoshes.
Faith of a Monster Killer: Killing Forever Book 3 Page 9