by Jesse Gagnon
“It would be my honor to have you with me. What was it that you studied young man?”
“Biological Science.”
“I was going to ask you to join me after seeing your quick thinking with the bus and how you handled yourself under pressure. Now knowing that you were studying to be a scientist, I will gladly take you with me to Chicago, unless you don’t want to leave your friends. It’s up to you. I am not forcing you. Please know that where I’m going is a place that is well protected. If you would have me as a mentor, you just might get the opportunity to not only save a bus full of grateful passengers but get the opportunity to cure this awful sickness that’s taken so much from you and your friends. So what say you, young man?” Dr. Schwinn asked Simon Killbrook.
“I would love to come with you, sir.” Simon said with pride.
CHAPTER 4
THE ORIGINALS
Over the years Simon Killbrook proved his worth to Dr. Schwinn not only physically but mentally. However, now that they were relocating to the Moonlight District, word needed to be given to the Highwaymen as to where to report their information. The Scavenger Program, the official name, was an idea started by Simon. He was actually a member of the first scouting mission to retrieve information about a local herd that circled the Chicago Metro District. He rode along with Kevin Strude, Antonio Tuccione, Giselle Johnson, Jason Stone and John Masterson. All six volunteered their service to the Scavenger Program and were selected for the first mission. These selectees were medically screened, given appropriate vaccinations and trained for months in small arms accuracy, scavenging basics and advanced first aid. Each member of the team needed the same skillset so they could assist survivors and could operate independently if a situation arose that needed the team to separate. Further training was scheduled for the team but the need to investigate the herd became necessary.
This herd grew in size three-fold due to an outbreak that occurred in the Sunlight District south of Chicago. The heavily fortified district made a fatal mistake when an alpha Azrael managed to lead his herd into a sewer access that led straight into the Sunlight District’s waste management plant at the center of the district. These doors were locked, but not manned. With hours of constant strikes and determination the herd managed to exploit a weak point in the door’s design at the hinge. This hinge was missing a pin, a vital pin that kept the door attached to the steel hinge welded to the wall. To add insult to injury, this attack happened at the most inopportune moment for the Sunlight District. All hands were busy on a working party distributing stores throughout the district from a resupply shipment from Central Chicago’s Deep Store Locker. A skeleton crew was manned in key locations set up throughout the district. The herd moved in undetected, quiet and infected and fed on the unsuspecting patrons. A population of nearly 14,000 were either turned Azrael or eaten. The Sunlight District was lost and an enormous amount of resources were now unobtainable behind a herd now reaching a whopping 20,000 Azrael.
Simon had an idea that involved three teams of six in separate locations. One team was stationed south on the southeast diagonal stretch of 90, while another team handled the northern highway on 55. Both northern and southern teams coordinated with each other and relayed any movement to the ground team.
The infamous Highwaymen title was born as the brave six volunteers including Simon descended the Northern Highway Wall of the Sunlight District and continued on foot towards the center of the district. The supplies operation was less than a quarter complete, so the six tractor-trailer trucks were stocked with resources to feed and supply a population of 12,000 people. Stealth, and coordinated paths needed to be of the utmost importance. The northern team was the first to offer a safe route to these trucks, while the southern team plotted the route and observed the Azrael traffic.
Simon, Jason and John found a four door coupe that had keys inside. The fuel tank was full; however, there was a lot of blood staining the upholstery. Simon placed three large towels across the seats and the three entered and moved through the district carefully with the quiet hybrid. Several detours were taken to avoid being seen, but they were reaching their destination with haste. It was remarkably easy as to how efficient the plan was working, almost too easy.
The other three headed for the gate that led to the Central Chicago District. They encountered about five Azrael attempting to breach a building that seemed lightly defended. Voices of several children screaming kept the Azrael’s focus
“What should we do? We can’t just leave those children here to be eaten by them.” Giselle whispered nudging the two.
“We can shoot them since we have the element of surprise and suppressors on our weapons.” Kevin said in a whisper pointing his gun at the group.
“We can’t just go in there guns blazing. There’s five of them and only three of us.” Antonio said disagreeing with Kevin’s idea.
“So what are we gonna do then?” As Kevin spoke a swift breeze grabbed his scent and carried it towards the five Azrael. They turned around and began to race towards the three.
“Fuck! Shoot them.” Antonio said shooting several shots towards the approaching Azrael. Kevin joined in shooting at the charging creatures. Several rounds struck them, but none of them were lethal.
“I have a plan.” Giselle said tossing a flash grenade towards the approaching Azrael. The others stopped shooting and just watched as it bounced off of a car near the approaching Azrael. She tackled the two knocking them to the ground and shielded them from the flash.
“Where the hell did you get that?” Antonio hollered as he hit the ground.
“I made it before we left.” Giselle said with a grin, helped the other two up and they moved in the shadows towards the children. Unfortunately two of the five Azrael were not affected by the grenade and found the three of them, despite being concealed by a huge cloud of dust. Kevin failed to mask his scent with the masking agent, since he disliked anything scented. It made him ill most of the time, so he figured if he was clean enough that his odor wouldn’t be detected. He was wrong.
A freshly turned Azrael was weaker but dangerous and wild. The two were fresh turners, one lunged and tackled Kevin.
“Jesus! Get off of me. Get ‘em off!” He yelled, but the other one leapt in too and bit into his arm.
“Aaaaaghh! It bit me. The fucker bit me!” Kevin screamed, trying to push the attackers off of him. Antonio shot the two in the skull and they dropped writhing like bacon. Kevin started to get faint and passed out as the virus began to work quickly.
Giselle reached for her pistol and noticed that it wasn’t in its holster. It must have fallen out when she tackled the two to the ground.
“Freakin’ shoot him Tony!” Giselle yelled reaching for Antonio’s gun.
“I, I, I can’t. He’s my cousin. He’s all I have left.” Antonio said slowly dropping his pistol.
“We all made the same sacrifice. If we are bit, we turn. There is no cure. We turn into monsters. He’s gonna be one of them Tony. If you turn I’ll shoot you. If I turn I would hope you would shoot me too. Shoot him!” Giselle screamed as she noticed the revival process take place. His eyes opened crazily and looked at them in horror. They were covered in a gray film and focused on Antonio’s face. Antonio froze. Kevin got up and tackled him to the ground. He bit him repeatedly as Antonio cried out in pain. His hand was shaking as he handed his pistol to Giselle. He clutched his cousin and hugged him tight as Kevin bit into him once more. A tear unseen by Giselle escaped Kevin’s gray right eye.
“I love you man. Arghhhh, it hurts…. I know it’s not your fault Kev. I talked you into this. I’m sorry. I…” Antonio released his final words when the virus finally took root and his body grew limp. Kevin looked up at Giselle as she blasted a hole through his skull. She turned the weapon towards the now infected Antonio. Gisele took a breath as a tear escaped. “Sacrifice. I’ll remember both of your sacrifices” and pulled the trigger.
Giselle wiped away a few tears and some snot from
her nose on her sleeve. There was not much time to mourn, there were still three Azrael out there. She popped out the magazine, checked the amount of rounds. Twelve rounds left. She popped it back inside. She saw her pistol thirty yards away back where she tackled the guys. She removed Kevin’s pistol from his corpse, and took his extra magazines as well. Always scavenge from dead allies. It was rule number 4 in the ‘Survive the Apocalypse’ manual that they were trained with. It was written by a nobody, before all of this happened. Everyone was fascinated with zombie apocalypses these days so there were many to choose from. The book they used seemed to have the best survival techniques in urban settings.
She quietly flanked the other three Azrael who seemed to get a grasp on her scent despite not being able to see. They moved slowly towards her sniffing the air. She shot two rounds at one, missing the first shot, hitting its neck and killing it with the second. The other one was killed with one shot. The third heard and felt the presence of its allies wane. It was much larger than the others and was wearing an army uniform. It growled and sprinted into the shadows of a building a hundred yards away. Giselle knew that she had to track and kill the one that escaped; however, she needed to get these children to safety first. She walked over to where her pistol was, picked it up investigating it for damage and holstered it. She returned to the building where the children were hiding in, knocked on the door and spoke.
“It’s okay. We killed them. You can come out.” Giselle said with confidence.
“What about your friends? I don’t see them. What happened to them?” A small boy’s voice said as he peeked through a hole in the wall near the door.
“They got bit, but I put them down. We need to get you out of here now.” Giselle said smiling and hoped to lure the children out.
“No, we’ll end up like your friends. They had guns. We don’t have guns. It’s too dangerous out there. We’re safer in here. We’ve survived this long.” An older thirteen year old girl said.
“You may seem safe in there. And you might be safe for a little while. There are thousands of them out here. They will get inside when they find you. Plus, you will run out of food eventually. It is only a matter of time, but you will all die if you stay in there.” Giselle told the hard truth to the children, knowing that sometimes solid information is needed even by children.
“Are you sure? I don’t want to die in here.” The boy said and he inaudibly argued with the older girl behind the door. The latch opened and Giselle kneeled in front of the door and waited for the children to exit.
“Come out. It’s okay.” Giselle said and seven children ranging from thirteen, the oldest, to six exited the building. It was more than she hoped were inside. But Giselle was happy to see that this many survived. “Okay, listen to me, and follow my every movement. Everything that I say will keep you alive. We don’t have far to go, but there are many Azrael out here.” Giselle said searching her surroundings and tactically moved towards the location where she was dropped off. The children followed her movements and stayed close. They were nearly halfway when they encountered a small group of Azrael.
“Wait! Four over there, see them?” Giselle asked in a whisper. The children nodded and looked scared.
“It’s okay. We don’t need to fight them. We just need to get past them unnoticed and we’re good.” Giselle said with confidence pointing towards a wall that was out of the Azrael’s sight fifty yards away. There were several cars between the wall that would provide them with temporary cover.
“’I’m scared. We won’t make it.” The boy said holding onto Giselle’s leg tight.
“Don’t be scared. We got this. If they do see us. I’m pretty sure I can take them out. See that propane tank near them. I can shoot it and it will explode, killing all of them.” Giselle said pointing towards a propane tank that she hoped actually contained propane.
“Cool. Why don’t we just do that?” The boy asked.
“Because it’s loud, and we don’t need more attention. Plus, it’s not worth the risk if we can make it by being unseen.” Giselle said to the young boy.
The older girl punched him in the arm. “Stop asking so many questions. Just listen to her. We’ll be ok.” The girl whispered to him.
Giselle nodded with approval and then proceeded towards the first car; the others followed. They continued past the next one, and then the next. They were halfway across before she noticed that the Azrael were gone. Where did they go? Her eyes scanned the landscape wildly. She turned around and noticed one of the kids was hiding under the second car they passed. She attempted to get the young girls attention, but it was no use. She was curled into herself and singing a song. It was barely audible to Giselle, but the Azrael have enhanced senses and she finally found the four slowly sniffing the air and moving forward towards the eight year old girl. She told the others to stay put and moved her way towards the girl. As she got closer she could hear the song the girl was singing. It was ‘Three Little Birds’ by Bob Marley. It was a common song played over the air these days to calm the people.
“Hey! Girl, get over here. They’re coming!” Giselle tried to whisper loud enough to reach the child but not too loud to alert the Azrael. Her head lifted and Giselle noticed tears rolling down her cheek. The little girl’s eyes lit up and she began to crawl from under the car. She almost got away but one of the Azrael found her and grabbed her ankle. The girl’s eyes grew big and she screamed as she reached out for Giselle. She was too far to reach. Giselle watched in horror as the group pulled the little girl to them and began to eat her. They continued eating her even after her screams stopped. Giselle noticed it, turned around and hurried to catch the others.
“Where’s Janie?” The kids all asked in unison in a whisper.
“She’s gone. They were too close. I couldn’t reach her.” Giselle said stricken with shock. She didn’t know how she could convince the children to carry on when one of them was eaten and it was right after she said that she would protect them!
“That’s what happens when you don’t listen to Miss Giselle. Stay close and quiet. We will pray for Janie when we’re safe. She wouldn’t want all of us to die too.” The oldest girl said convincing the other children to keep moving. They did make it to the wall and proceeded to the drop off location without any more sightings. The six children were pulled up with some rope and a shopping cart found nearby. Giselle decided to stay to see if she could find the gate leading to the Central Chicago District. Two of the members of the northern team offered to help her. She waved their help away, not wanting any more to die on their mission.
“I got this. Get the kids to the Central District. Feed them; get them fresh clothes, a bath and some time to mourn their friend Janie.” Giselle said smiling at the children. She waved, turned and ran towards the shadows of a large building. She never came back.
*
“We lost what? Shit, so we’re only picking up three trucks. Got it. What about the gate? Shit! Guess we’ll figure it out. Got it. No, we’re too close to give up now.” Simon said speaking to a cell phone that was connected to the network back at the Greyhound Station.
“What happened?” John asked.
“Looks like the other three didn’t make it to the gate.” Simon said.
“So they gave up and abandoned the mission or…” Jason, Giselle’s brother said with a heavy voice.
“Giselle came back with some kids and went back out. They lost communication with her hours ago. I’m sorry man.” Simon said patting his friend’s back.
“They don’t know if she’s dead though. She could be okay. She’s tough and smart. I’m sure she’s okay. Can we…”
John interrupted. “Of course we are going to look for her.” looking for Simon’s approval.
“After we drop off these trucks, we can look for her, sure.” Simon said.
“We don’t even know a safe route to the gates to the Central District. The spotters can see but so much of the road from there. You have to be on the ground lev
el to map out a secure path. The mission is a failure. We need to see if we can find Giselle, like now.” Jason said looking into Simon’s eyes for a reaction. He provided none.
“The mission is still green. These supplies will keep people alive. On our way back with the trucks, we’ll have to move in a direct line to the gates. We don’t have time for detours. I’m sure we’ll find her on the way. We all made the same sacrifice. The sooner we drop off these trucks then the sooner we’ll find out where she’s hiding.” Simon said to Jason with professionalism and presence. He was a foot taller than Jason and eight inches taller than John. When Simon spoke, people listened, despite the situation.
“Okay, let’s do it.” Jason said and John agreed. The three secured the items within the trailers and locked the back sliding doors. The trucks came to life and they began their push towards the northern wall being guided through radio contact with both teams on the northern and southern highway bridges. The three trucks all connected to the same CB channel and started moving.
“We have to travel in line with each other. These streets are too narrow or have too much debris on them to traverse side by side. I have communication with the northern and southern teams. Stay close and we should get to the Central District Gate in no time.” Simon said encouraging the other two over the CB radio.