“You like her,” He alleged. Alex then choked and spit out whatever water he was trying to drink.
“What?! Oh no, oh hell no! She’s practically my sister!” He defended himself.
Levi snickered and said, “Relax, and don’t waste water. That stuffs hard to get a second time.”
“You sure she’s like that? She seemed pretty happy to see you till you shot her down,” Levi continued to tease him.
“She’s always like that!” Alex said.
“Oh my! Who knew you were such a player!” Levi said one last time.
Alex groaned embarrassed and took another drink. Levi smiled and looked at the moon and suddenly his fun loving smile turned to a serious frown. “It’s ten thirty. If we’re going to do this, we need to do it now.”
Alex looked up at the moon and looked at Levi with disbelief once more. “How do you know – “all of a sudden Alex was flung to the next building over behind him. He kept landing painfully and moving over to the next until he finally stopped and hit a generator, causing him to come to a halt. Alex’s vision steadied and he could see in awestruck wonder Levi navigating the roof tops. Levi moved as graceful as a raccoon in the dead of night and slid under malfunctioned air conditioning units and slung himself high into the clear night sky. Levi was now at Alex’s right side as he was flying through the air and then suddenly, he made a complete ninety degree turn in midair and was flung sideways. He hit the ground with a slide in front of Alex, who had been sitting watching him. Levi then stood and held out his hand for the canteen. Alex came to his senses and gave the canteen he had been hanging onto for dear life back. Levi tried to pour water into his open maw and only a single drop came out.
“Great, you spilt it all,” He said in an indifferent tone. He turned and looked out to the route he flung Alex in and raised his canteen. He had to have seen the light of the moon reflecting from the spilled water due to his nocturnal vision. Nocturnal vision, like a cat’s vision, can pick up the faintest glimmer of light in the darkness. Alex sat there believing that he was insane until something came into vision. He saw glimmering and then he saw a handheld typhoon generate into the canteen. He watched, awestruck, as the beauty of the light shows in front of his view of the moon began to unfold. The glimmering diamonds in the liquid filled him with wonder as it slowly fell back into the small hole to its home. Levi then slammed the lid shut to hold the water within. He turned back to Alex and put the canteen back into his belt loop. “Up.” Alex rose at this and looked around the corner of the generator. He saw a massive behemoth circling and consuming the silhouettes within. It had vultures perched on certain sides of the monster. The monster breathed individual fires illuminating the home of the terrorists.
“There’s no way were getting in there.”
“Relax, scaredy cat. I have a plan.”
“Really? You have a plan?”
“Yeah, just follow it and everything will go fine.”
Alex leaned in and listened intently.
Logan was sitting at the doctors table looking at his personal phone. He was having a text conversation with a side scroll of numbers. Late night at the office? Logan read to himself. He responded, Yeah, think you can make dinner for yourself tonight? I’ve been doing that for years for us, lol =) was the response. Logan smiled and wrote, alright hotshot, I would like a filet mignon with white wine tonight. Rrly? = (was the response. Jk was what he wrote. He received a =) as a response.
“Sir, I think that that’s the guy you wanted to see,” The doctor said. Logan turned in his seat and saw what it was he was seeking. A man with a gray hat walked in through the front entrance. He was also wearing a gray suite with a black tie to match his head apparel. He had a narrow nose with dark blue, almost purple eyes. His hair was blonde and on the back of his head and a large forehead.
“Thank you,” He said to the healer. He stood and left him to his other patients. On his way to his target he couldn’t help but notice a woman standing with him. She had curly, fiery red hair and a black dress that revealed her entire back and was sleeveless. She had tan, orange skin and blue eyes. Logan made his way through the vampires and found himself facing his assignment. “Are you Alan Fitzgerald?!” He asked shouting over the mechanical monotony.
“Who wants to know?!” He shouted in a French accent.
“You don’t sound anything like your name!” he shouted confused. The business man looked around him and his eyes landed on a back door.
“Let’s talk about this elsewhere,” He whispered in his ear. The business man walked off and motioned Logan to follow him, Logan shadowed, as did the woman. The business man then opened a door for Logan and his companion and quickly shut it behind him. The click of the lock immediately drew Logan’s attention. They were now in a small, soundproof room with walls appearing as though they were closing in on them. There was a tiny, round table in the center of the room. The business man motioned him to take a seat, so he did. The woman stood by her associate with a still and stoic expression as he took his leave. He took off his hat to reveal his short, well-kept hair and gave it to the woman to hold. “Where did you hear my name?” He asked. Logan quickly thought of an excuse and spoke.
“One of your clients, a friend of mine, told me about you,” He lied. Logan examined his suit and that was how he came up with the scam. The business man was relieved and responded.
“Oh, I am so happy to hear that, I can always use more takers,” He said smiling.
“Alan, what exactly do you have to offer me? My friend just told me to see you.”
“Discretion.”
“What do you mean?” The business man set his elbows on the circular table and folded his hands over his pleased mouth.
“Exactly what it sounds like.” The business man held out his hand to the woman who was carrying a white three-ring binder. He grasped it and set it on the table in front of Logan. Logan picked it up and opened it. The binder featured a collage of several names and what type of infection they had; it was a mix of male and female names.
“I never quite got your name Monsieur,” The business man asked. Logan’s eyes widened and shrunk back to normal size at this. Without thinking, he spoke.
“Michael Stevens.” Guilt quickly water-logged his system as the scene played back in his mind.
“It’s interesting that your name is English and yet you sound like your fresh out of France,” Logan continued.
“I came to the states no more than a year ago,” He said plainly. “But please call me the Dealer.”
“Dealer?” Logan asked.
“Because I always close the deal,” The Dealer said with a smile. Logan was silent after reading the binder. The names seemed abstract, some seeming to be counterfeit. Below their names were their afflictions. Specter, Wheezer, Droid, Skeleton, Salamander, False Angels, these were only the first page. Toward the end of the binder it said in bold letters Premium. Logan handed back the binder and the woman walked around and took it. Logan leaned back in his seat and thought about the names in the binder. They were fabricated, much like an altered ego or code word. He also noticed the Dealer and his overweening smile that had been grating on Logan the more he heard him talk and the more he saw his face. Logan presumed that they were assassins of some sort.
“You made the right choice in coming to me, you know,” The Dealer stated. Logan kept looking at the woman who had been looking back at him intently, almost pleading.
“Why is that?” Logan asked while he was discretely pulling out his shorty from his coat pocket and hiding it in his lap under the table. The Dealer then reached into his pocket and pulled out a column of thinly sliced pasteboards and placed them on the table. “What’s that for?” Logan asked.
“I like to do business over some nice games,” He said as he shuffled his deck of marshaled playing cards. The cards moved together like a flock of birds in his hands and with the quiet flapping of wings. He laid out the cards on the table and scooped them back up again and ga
ve Logan five of them. “I like you. You don’t ask a lot of questions, I respect that. This will be enjoyable,” The Dealer said holding up his five cards and the game commenced.
Danny was standing at the same table at which he and Delsin had discussed their defensive earlier that day. He leaned on his left arm, holding his body up over the table and his right hand up to his face, covering his eye. He had a rampant headache as he stood there, still thinking of a possible defensive or counterattack. The military could strike their home at any moment. It was no secret that they were in the red zone. They have had attacks before, but it was mostly other infected seeking nourishment or people. Danny had made a few miniature models of purgers and the different classes as well as average military. He shuffled the figures around, running through several different outcomes that his head felt like it was going to detonate. A knock on the door made him jump and look back, grasping the pistol that he had in the back of his jeans. The door slowly opened with a loud creek echoing throughout the entire room and through the smashed window. An eyeball peered into the room and continued to open the door until a face was revealed.
It was Merrick. Danny sighed and then released the handle of his pistol and let his arm fall to his side. “Take it easy kid, it’s me,” Merrick said as he walked into the room. Danny swung back around and continued to think about the bases defenses. “You know focusing on something to much is bad for you right?” Merrick asked crossing his arms, his dog tags were glimmering in the light of the electric lantern Danny had brought up.
Danny rolled his eyes and looked back at him. “Well what am I supposed to do? Go to sleep knowing that a PU could kill half of our people?”
“If they were going to attack they would have done it earlier today. Attacking at night is a coward’s tactic if I recall,” Merrick assured him.
“Zero Dark Thirty?” Danny scoffed. Merrick walked closer to him and spoke.
“Just get some sleep kiddo. You’ve been up here a while and people are starting to worry about you.”
“At least let me take the night shift. And I’m twenty-three, I’m pretty sure I’m not much of a kid now.”
“One: We already have takers for the night shift. And two: you should know by know by now that I’m never going to stop calling you kid,” Merrick said with a smile and pulled his skull cap over his face playfully. Danny pushed his arm off and readjusted his cap with a grin.
“I think I have a plan worked out. I just need a few more minutes.”
Merrick sighed and put his hand on his shoulder. “Fine, you have five minutes,” He told him and then walked out through the door he had left open.
Two minutes had passed and Danny had just about finished running through his plan. He heard footsteps and turned. “It’s only been two minutes!” He shouted.
“What?” A feminine voice responded. It was Ashley. She was carrying a plate of food with her.
“Oh, it’s you,” Danny said.
“You didn’t eat dinner so I thought you might be hungry,” She said as she scurried to the table. She placed the provisions at his side.
“It’s alright. I’m fine,” Danny responded and raised his hand to this gesture of kindness.
“So, I was thinking about what you said, about my birthday I mean,” Danny’s head rose as he looked at his side to Ashley. He could tell that she was visibly nervous about the topic of it.
“Ah, I knew that you were human and like to have fun too,” Danny teased playfully to ease her anxiety. She grinned and said.
“I feel like there’s – “
In that instant a loud pop was heard, followed by another, and another. “Just great,” Danny said as he walked out of the room with his pistol drawn. Ashley followed close behind him. They made their way downstairs and onto the main floor. A gun shot was their alarm. One shot: Military two shots: enemy gang, three shots: unknown entity. On the wall were guns mounted. Ashley grasped an SMG and a tactical shotgun. “Here,” She said as she tossed the scatter gun. Danny caught it, holstered his pistol and bashed into the door going outside. Ashely and Danny both ran out towards the front gate, as they got closer they noticed four people standing in a circle around a crouching figure. Danny and Ashley approached and aimed there weapons at the figure. The flame from the nearby trash cans lightly illuminated the figure. It was wearing a blood stained and filthy grey hooded jacket with the hood covering its face. The figure was an overall mess, covered in black and brown substance. Danny noticed that it may have been a mistake, his arrival here, the man was trembling.
“Get up!” Danny shouted at the character the entity rose with a struggle, as though his feet had died on him then and there. At last he augmented and kept his hood stretched over his eyes. The people around him were Delsin, two new recruits and the mother of Elizabeth. Danny gazed over to Elizabeth’s mother and noticed that the safety of her weapon was still enabled. It reminded him that the majority of the new people have never even held a gun before. “Who are you?! What do you want?!” Danny said trying to sound as overawing as possible. Danny stepped forward and grabbed the hooded entity by the head, with his weapons still pointed in one hand. The closer he approached, the more he could see the fingers of the entity rattle. When Danny began to pull back the hood, the figure let out a quite yelp, much like a threated pup. Danny drew back the hood to reveal the entity’s cerise eyes and brown hair draped over its forehead. His eyes were pleading.
Alex felt like he was going to pass out at the sight of the terrorists glare. All he could do now was hope that Levi would fulfill his end of the plan and evacuate him from this place. Till then, Alex was at the mercy of the terrorists behind the Times Square incident. He stared into the odious eyes of the feral man in front of him. He did not appear to be much older than himself, in his twenty’s at least. He appeared as though he had done his fair share butchery in his time on earth. His jacket was demolished, as were his pants for the most part. Alex’s blood red eyes glared into the azure eyes of the apparent psychopath. His eyes shone with pure anger and malice, so much so that Alex almost saw everything that led to this moment flash before his face. He felt the scatter gun pressed close to his breast; a single blink could mean his end. He had to keep his composure. His legs were shaking, as were his fingers.
Danny looked closely at the cerise eyeballs of the young boy. The eyeball told him that it was a mistake, his coming here. That he’s seen death before, and wants no part of it. Danny continued to press the instrument of war and power to his chest and kept his stern demeanor he couldn’t take chances, not with children. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a small, dwarfish figure that looked as though it would only go up to his knees. His head turned, still grasping the boy, and recognized the figure. It was little Elizabeth, her mother followed Danny’s eyes and quickly ran over to the child.
“Mom, what’s happening?” Elizabeth asked.
“Go back to bed, ok?” Her mother responded with urgency.
“Who is that boy?” She continued to question.
“He’s nobody, just go back to the factory,” Her mother said as she pushed her toward the factory. Before she even got close, more gunshots sprang in the distance. Everyone looked over in that direction and Danny immediately looked back at the boy.
“What are you doing?!” He asked with confused fury.
“Go check it out,” Delsin commanded. Danny looked at Delsin and then motioned everyone to follow him.
“Mom?!” Elizabeth asked petrified. Her mother grabbed her by the wrist and ran. Danny ran for the back of the encampment.
Delsin, without warning, hit the boy with the barrel of his rifle, bringing him to his knees painfully. “Don’t move!” He threatened.
Immediately after he said that, a silhouette went flying over his head in the night. The silhouette had an irregular formation and was constantly altering, as though it had something beating in the wind. It also had a hunched back, like a backpack. Delsin looked up and took a shot with a loud pop. The boy, in a
panic struck him in the nose, knocking him over. The boy tried to run, scared, hoping for some sort of salvation. Danny ran back, following the silhouette, only to see that it was now over the wall. Ashley and Merrick ran back with weapons aimed. Danny saw Delsin see the running boy and frantically tried to load another shot into his single shot bolt action rifle.
Alex ran for his life, ready to rendezvous with Levi over the wall. Alex was imploring him to jump back and pick him up. As he ran, he turned and saw the swarm of monsters approaching him. There were beasts and animals of all kinds, all of which ready to do what animals do best, fight. Their teeth glistened in the fire and smoldered with phosphorous. Then there was a loud bang and Alex fell to his chest. The force of what had struck him was far too great to be a tackle. He looked down and saw the inevitable, a gunshot to the stomach. He recoiled at the sight of his own mortal lesion. Until he saw something that was a miracle, black gas fell from his wound and the large bullet was cast from his hole in his chest. His wound had reformed, as though it had never happened.
He was still on the ground when he looked over and saw an opening in the beast. It was a hole about the size of his hand, and he could see Levi on a building. Levi was gone in that one instant. Alex, feeling betrayed, but expectant of this, rose to his feet once more. Then a flash appeared before his eyes. It was a bright, white flash that had crackled to life in front of him and then out formed a woman. The woman held out her pistol at him and he cringed, ready to die. He opened his eyes to find that nothing had happened. The woman was surprised and soon drew a combat knife from her back pocket. She swung down on Alex and he grabbed her arms and they both fell to the ground and Alex kept his eyes close. A moment had passed and he opened his eyes to a horrific sight. A disheveled body piled onto him as though he were in a pit of the dead. He shrieked and then threw the body off of him. He looked around to see stunned and mortified faces. The terrifying man in the leather coat gave an expression of horror and grief, and he could see another girl holding a small child close and covering her eyes. Alex rose and stared at the contorted corpse for at least ten seconds and then looked back up. He was brought back to his knees from behind. He could feel heat radiating from his back down and he was burned by the touch of flesh. He was turned over to see the face of the leather coat man with evil eyes with a burning hatred. Alex saw a smoldering fist raised and he knew then, that he was face to face with Lucifer. Lucifer’s fist came down and everything was black.
Disease X Page 9