by Jesse Gagnon
“I don’t know dude, that’s kind of fucked up. Your mom was raped, that’s why she was pregnant at sixteen. I’m not with you on that one Chico, sorry.” Clip said.
“I guess it’s a little fucked up dude.” Chico said.
“Look, I’ll see what I can do about your friend. But if there’s a white woman, oh yeah she’s getting it.” Clip said pounding his left palm with his right fist.
Mario started to devise a plan to free his friends, but it’s gonna be sloppy.
“What you thinkin’ bout dude. You’re about to meet the boss. He’s probably going to want to kill you since you got his little brother killed, but it’s José man. He’s the king around here. See that tree right there. It’s part of his Kingdom. Feel me bro?” Chico said with excitement. Mario could give two shits about this clown at this point. Suddenly movement came from the trees.
“It’s a fucking zombie!” Chico pulled out his machete and held his position. Clip pulled out his pistol and aimed it towards the threat. A dog slowly limped forward, it was Samson. He was hurt.
“It’s a dog, yo. I haven’t seen one of those things in a while. We should take it with us, the boss is gonna flip.” Chico said reaching for the dog. It snarled and growled fiercely. “Whoa, nice doggy. I’m not gonna hurt ya.”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Mario warned Chico.
“Do you know this dog?” Clip looked at Mario.
“Wait, wait. This is your dog. Dude, get away from the dog Chico. If it’s his dog, it’s probably dangerous.” Clip said and Chico backed away.
“It’s not my dog it’s Taliah’s. Come here boy, what’s wrong? A gunshot wound was on its right hip, it favored the other leg. Its right hind leg was shaking from the pain. “Is Taliah okay?” Mario asked and the dog barked and turned his head and barked again. “Okay, this game is over.” Mario grabbed the knife from his boot and cut the rope binding his wrist. He pointed the knife at Chico’s throat.
“Holy shit!” Chico was taken off guard and was between Mario and Clip.
“I’ve no issues with you two. Those people are my friends and I will kill for them. Know this and stay out of my way. I like you guys. You lack training but I respect your bravery for your fallen brother.” Mario said keeping the knife at Chico’s throat and was shielded from Clip’s gunfire.
“They’ll kill you man. It’s not worth it.” Clip said putting his gun in his pants. “I’m not gonna shoot you dude. You are doing what I would do in the same situation. Get your friends, just don’t kill everyone. We’re not all bad people.” Clip said and Mario smiled and followed the dog to where Taliah was being held.
“Why did you do that Clip?” Chico asked.
“LSD is about to be under new management. Being friends with that guy and whatever organization he is a part of will only help us grow. Think about it Chico. Think about it.” Clip said.
CHAPTER 20
IMPROVISATIONS
Giselle exited the parking lot of the YMCA building, crossed over North Galena Avenue and followed Boyd east towards Dixon High School. She didn’t bother hiding behind anything as she traversed. She increased her speed and stride breaking into a sprint heading for the Illinois Army National Guard Building (IANG). Her heartbeat maintained its rhythm as she pushed her body harder. She smelled an Azrael herd gathered in the parking lot across Peoria at the school. She continued her path ignoring the herd’s presence. She needed guns and she had open ground to move in. She may have been outnumbered but she had her wits about her and the same strength as a fresh turner.
As she neared the herd she noticed that they were not fresh turners, but muscle defined warriors of the undead. She heard their stomachs growling indicating an emptiness within driving a deep hunger. This would make them more dangerous than what she hoped for. She continued to run past them hoping that they would not want to waste energy chasing her. She was wrong, the four released a shriek and began to chase. Their apelike body structure made them top heavy as they ran towards her. On occasion they braced themselves with their hands as they turned corners. Giselle sprinted faster and turned around a building at the end of the parking lot. As she rounded the corner she entered a heavily congested parking lot. She dove over a hood of a truck and darted between cars and found a bus. She kicked the doors open, entered and pushed towards the back of the bus.
The alpha entered the bus first and the weight of him shook it. The other three followed, but only one could walk down the aisle at a time. She reached in her backpack and was glad that she stayed up all night the other day. When she stays up late, she tends to tinker with things she found throughout the day. She pulled out an improvised grenade. It wasn’t designed to do much damage, but it released a blinding light. It was one of the first grenade designs her brother showed her when she was brought to Chicago by him. Jason, although an alcoholic, was extremely handy to have around. She wondered what he would think about her current condition. Would he be afraid of her? She thought of Jessica and it angered her. She found the emergency escape bar at the back of the bus on the door and pulled it as she pulled the pin from the grenade and rolled it towards them. She leapt out; combat rolled and continued her run towards the football field. She hurdled over the fence surrounding the field and continued her run. Her energy level was high and she was not tired in the least bit. As she crossed the field and leapt over the next fence she heard the alpha fall out of the back of the bus. The others followed and landed on top of it. It released a frustrated wail as it still staggered on its feet and fell into a truck nearby. She escaped the herd. They had no chance of catching her now.
The back of the IANG building was about fifty feet from the fence and Giselle slowed down and walked around the building searching for a way inside. Fortunately for her, the back door was wide open. She didn’t get this far by running in without a plan. She listened to what was inside. She found nothing. She sniffed the air and a foul odor of decayed flesh hit her nostrils. It didn’t smell exactly like Azrael. Something was dead in there and not getting any fresher. She found no threats and entered with her knife out ready for any unseen dangers.
The moment Giselle entered she found the source of the rot. Three dead Azrael were on the ground near the door with their heads removed with a sharp blade. Two humans lay lifeless nearby decomposed at a much quicker rate. They had bullet wounds entering and leaving their skulls. Their hands were tied behind them and their mouths were gagged with torn cloth. They were executed maybe a year ago. She found a third dead body of a woman with her hands tied in front of her as she lay on the ground on her stomach. Her dress was pulled up revealing a naked ass. She had a bullet hole in the back of her head too and her mouth was gagged. It’s a cruel world they live in these days. She died around the same time as the other two. She continued her search for the armory or a loose weapon on the ground.
After searching for fifteen minutes Giselle found the armory. It was blown open by some kind of bomb and everything was gone. She heard movements, but it was faint and nearby. She heard pounding on the wall. Wait, it’s a vault. Upon investigating she realized that the lock wasn’t engaged, but it was pulled close. She opened the vault and an Azrael dove on top of her. It was anorexic and its eyes looked enormous on its sunken in face. It attempted to bite her and she shielded its bite with her left arm. It bit into her but it barely broke into the skin. She was amazed that it was alive at all after being locked in there for so long. She shoved her knife into its skull and twisted the blade. It loosened its bite and she pushed the pile of bones on its side. To her surprise it was an armed watch stander. She removed the entire belt that was barely hanging on around its thigh and put it on. She had to adjust it since the Velcro was designed for a man with a 36 inch waist. Her waist was much smaller. She clipped the straps around her legs and checked the extra magazines in the pouch to her left. They were all full, thank God. She even had a can of OC, a type of pepper spray, a baton and some flexicuffs. She removed his body armor as well and put i
t on. It was bulky and heavy but the extra weight didn’t matter much to her these days. It did take away some of her agility but she liked being able to take a bullet in the chest or back if need be.
Giselle exited the vault and started to head for the exit. In the doorway the alpha stood and the others were in tow entering the building.
“Oh shit, you again.” Giselle said and thought about her options. Was it worth wasting bullets on this group? The alpha released a shriek and charged in. She pulled out her knife and tried to stab it. It knocked it out of her hand and tackled her to the ground. The weight of the alpha on top of the Kevlar vest caused her breathing to be shallow. His right hand palmed her head and started to bang it against the ground. Her right hand managed to grab the can of OC and she squirted it at its face. It knocked it out of her hand and rolled off of her grabbing at its face howling. The other three charged in and started to choke from the pepper in the air. They grabbed at their throats. Giselle was one of the lucky ones back at the police academy who had no reaction to the stuff. However, it did burn a bit more than usual. Maybe it was a higher concentration than what she was trained on or maybe the Azrael react to the stuff more intensely since their senses and her senses were so acute. Either way she needed to seize the opportunity to get the can and empty the entire fucking thing in there and shut the door. She attempted to push past one of the Azrael and it grabbed her and bit into her right arm near the shoulder. She cringed and she grabbed her baton from the belt and slammed it against its skull. She didn’t deploy it, but it still managed to stun it. She kicked it off of her and it fell into one of the others. The air started to clear up and she scrambled to find the can. She finally found the can lying next to the woman lying on her stomach. She picked it up and held the button down until nothing else came out. The others were almost on her as she released the spray. The can was full when she found it, not anymore. She gagged from the intensity of the stuff in the air as the others choked and swelled from the overexposure of the pepper spray. Giselle shut the door to the back door and stumbled out coughing. Her eyes were watering and she was sweating profusely. She could hear the small herd within the building hacking and shrieking. The sound faded as she walked away towards Snyders.
Giselle followed West Everett Street in a slow stroll slowly gathering her wits about her. Her senses were still weakened from the OC. She thought more about it and wished she had another can. She might have been able to sneak past them if she opened up a can of the pepper spray in Snyders. Unfortunately, the can was empty and sitting inside the IANG building. Her magazines were full and the one inserted within the pistol was full as well. There was even a round in the chamber. She didn’t want to waste all of her bullets. She still didn’t know what other threats she may encounter on the way back to Chicago. Giselle put half a magazine of rounds in her empty silenced pistol and placed it back in her bag. Her senses slowly returned to her as she began to hear the heartbeats of the thirteen Azrael inside. She struggled to find the fourteenth and found it deep within the building in the back. Its breathing was rapid and consistent, it was sleeping. Sweat was leaving its pores and its breath was fruity. A fucking diabetic, which explains things. Guess she’s grabbing insulin along with an inhaler.
Giselle entered the building low and focused her attention on the Azrael within the building. All thirteen were towards the back banging on the pharmacy window. This pharmacy was protected with a bulletproof glass to separate the customers from the pharmacy. There must have been several robberies involving pharmaceuticals in the area. Whatever the case, it kept whoever was behind those windows safe for now. She found some loose candy bars on the ground and tossed them in her pack. She searched the aisles for a distraction, something to pull them to the front of the store so she can get to the pharmacy. She found some ant killing foggers in the home and garden section, jackpot. She grabbed five packages all containing four each and tossed them in her pack. She activated the first one and tossed it towards the entrance. A few heard the noise and broke away to check it out. She tossed the others and all but the alpha were drawn to the noise and the steady hiss of the spray as the foggers did what they were designed for, killing ants not the Azrael. The alpha was pooling its focus on the sleeping teenager behind the glass. Giselle tossed another loose can of fogger in the corner in the back away from the door. It looked at it, paused. Sniffed the air and turned around looking right at Giselle.
“Shit, masking agent my ass.” Giselle said as she pulled out her pistol from her bag. The alpha charged in fast but she was faster and fired off two rounds severing its spine and it dropped. Good thing she managed to insert some bullets within her own pistol. She knew she may have needed a silenced shot at some point. She was glad that she was ready. She knew that the foggers will keep the other’s attention but for so long. She also knew that now a new alpha will emerge from the ranks of the twelve left messing around with the foggers near the entrance. She knocked on the glass. The young teenage boy didn’t respond. She banged harder and hoped that it didn’t alert the Azrael, it didn’t. The boy opened his eyes and closed them again seeing another Azrael looking at him from beyond the glass.
“Shit, I’m not an Azrael. I had an eye injury, that’s all.” Giselle said quick witted hoping that he can hear her. She must have dropped her glasses when she was fighting with the Azrael in the IANG building.
“Go away. There are no drugs here that can fix a zombie.” The boy said with his eyes still closed.
“I’m not a fucking zombie you little shit. I’m here for an inhaler and to save your ass. Damn it, look at me.” Giselle shouted as she banged on the glass. A few Azrael noticed her sounds and broke away from the foggers. The boy opened his eyes and still saw an Azrael staring back at him.
“I must be really high.” The boy said to himself.
“You’re not high. Let me in there. I need an inhaler.” Giselle shouted.
“You’re not getting in here you slippery zombie. I’m on to your tricks.” The boy said pointing at Giselle and shut his eyes again. Giselle noticed the two coming down the aisle and waited until they were closer and shot them both with her silenced pistol. Her pistol was empty. She didn’t have time to add ammo to the silenced pistol now. She turned and the boy was sleeping again. Shit, what can she do to get him to let her in? She had an idea. She searched around the area for sunglasses. All of these fucking places carry sunglasses. She found some and put on the first pair she found.
“Kid, let me in. I need an inhaler for a little girl. She’s dying.” Giselle said again. He opened his eyes and saw the sunglasses.
“Some elaborate mind tricks going on here. Now the zombies are wearing glasses to lure me to let them in to eat me.” The boy said out loud. “Well your efforts have worked. If you’re that crafty then I won’t mind turnin’ into one.” He unlocked the door and Giselle pushed in and shut the door and locked it again.
“Thank you so much. Have you seen any inhalers?” Giselle asked smelling the aroma of piss and shit.
“Inhalers, why does a zombie need an inhaler? Aren’t you going to bite me?” The boy said as he sat down on the ground and put his head between his knees. “I’m so freakin’ tired.”
“I’m not a zombie kid. I’m sick, but I need to get an inhaler for a girl. Here, eat these.” Giselle said pulling out a couple candy bars and handed it to the boy. The aroma of fecal matter and urine caused her to gag.
“Jackpot, you brought me candy. Are you going to lure me into your van, pedophile zombie?” The boy said laughing and took the candy, opened them and ate them quickly. Giselle was getting annoyed with the boy and started to search for the inhaler herself. She tried to ignore the aroma in the air as she wondered what the box looked like and was overwhelmed with options. She finally found several types of inhalation aerosol cans. She grabbed anything that could have been the right one and tossed it in her backpack. She had to loosen some of the straps on her pack to fit more inside.
“Insulin. You need i
nsulin. Where is it?” Giselle asked.
“There isn’t anymore. It’s all gone. I looked. I’ve been searching for days. I’ve pissed myself, look.” The boy said pointing at his pants.
“It’s okay, you’re sick. It’s not your fault. It doesn’t mean that you should give up. Maybe you missed something.” Giselle said searching the back room for insulin. She moved around boxes and searched through bags meant for customers that didn’t pick up their orders. After thirty minutes of searching throughout the pharmacy she finally found a locked cabinet that had several bottles of insulin inside. She smashed the glass and grabbed the bottles. She located some syringes and filled one and injected it in the boy’s arm.
“You found some, my zombie hero.” The boy said cheering. Giselle searched for more drugs she thought she could use. Most of the drugs on the shelf were gone. The cabinet with insulin was well hidden behind a few white lab coats. Thank God it wasn’t looted, she thought. She dropped several bottles along with syringes in her pack. It was full of drugs.
“Okay, we need to get you out of here.” Giselle said standing up pulling the boy to his feet. She looked out the window and the other ten were at the window banging. “Shit, we’re trapped.” She said.
“There’s a back door. An alarm is gonna go off though. That’s why I didn’t use it. I didn’t think that I’d make it far enough away from them in time.” The boy said as Giselle led him towards the door.
“What’s your name?” Giselle asked.
“Ethan. What’s your name zombie lady?”
“Giselle, just Giselle.” She smiled and pushed the door open. The alarm sounded as Ethan said. “How did you know the alarm would sound?”
“My mom used to work here. She wasn’t a pharmacist. She was the manager so she had access to everywhere.” Ethan said. They sprinted across the street and managed to make it across and into the garage that was left open. They hid behind a car that was stuck behind a minivan.