The Original's Return (Book 2): The Original's Retribution

by David Watkins

  Seconds later, Collins heard more noises, but this time it was heading towards him. The cavalry. At last. He knew he should be tying a tourniquet, but he couldn’t move. All the drills, all the training, deserted him when it was needed most. Collins sank into unconsciousness.

  Chapter 10

  1

  Jack woke with a start. He was strapped to the table again. The unmistakable sound of a gun cocking clicked loudly next to him and he strained his head to look. A soldier who looked about twelve was aiming a wavering gun barrel at him.

  “Don’t move!” he snarled with a deep voice that was completely incongruous with his looks.

  “Ok, keep calm. I won’t do anything,” Jack said.

  “I see so much as one hair grow on your body, I will put you in the ground.”

  One hair? Really? “Message understood, mate. Where’s Knowles?”

  “Who?”

  “The guy in charge, your boss.”

  “That’s Major Raymond.”

  “Oh, right,” Jack said. Army ranks had always been a mystery to him. “Please, could you stop waving that gun at me?”

  “No, sir. I have orders to make sure you don’t move.”

  “Well, that’s great,” Jack said. He forced himself to relax, resting his head back on the table. “By the way, call me Jack. Only the kids call me sir.”

  The soldier looked confused. Well, he could have been taught by me last year. Jack didn’t want to think about all that had changed in the last year. Less than six months ago he had been happily married with a kid on the way. A secure job in a nice school in Devon. Now, well, now he wasn’t.

  “Private Patel.” The new voice belonged to a stern looking man in a smart uniform. He wore a lot of medal strips on his shirt and a crown was stitched into a patch on his shoulder.

  “Yes, sir,” Patel snapped to attention, dropping his gun to his side as he did so.

  “You may leave us.”

  Patel looked confused.

  “You heard the major,” Knowles said, appearing from behind the man. “Oh, and I’m Knowles. You might want to remember that.”

  Patel blanched, then half marched, half fled from the room.

  “Why am I tied up?” Jack said.

  “I need to ask you some questions,” Raymond said, his voice as stern as his face.

  “You know I can break these, right?” Jack wiggled his arms, making the chains rattle and clink against the metal table. Not a table. This is a bed. No wonder army folk are always so miserable.

  “Yes, Mr Stadler, I do.” Raymond pulled a chair from next to the bed into view and sat down. “However, it would go a long way to impress me if you would allow this. A charade maybe, but a necessary one.”

  “Jesus Christ, seriously? Knowles?”

  Knowles shrugged, inclining his head at Raymond. The look said: he’s in charge.

  “I need to know if I can trust you, Jack.”

  “I could eat you now if that makes you feel any better.” Jack scowled at Raymond. The man was about the same size as Knowles, maybe a couple of inches taller. He looked quite young to be a major, maybe late thirties, but then Jack didn’t really know how old someone was to be a major. The age of some of these men, maybe twenty is old to them.

  “Jack.” The warning in Knowles’ voice was unmistakable.

  “That’s not funny, Mr Stadler,” Raymond said.

  “Look, face facts, your chains would not keep me here. Your bullets would only stop me for a moment. If I wanted to, you and all your men would be dead, so cut the crap, ok?” Jack flexed his arms and they rippled for a second. The chains pinged off, crashing to the floor but not before Jack had leapt to his feet to stand toe to toe with Raymond.

  At the noise, the door burst open and four men ran in, all brandishing weapons. Knowles had his hand on the pistol in a holster on his belt. All the colour drained from Raymond’s face. The men were shouting and aiming their guns at Jack.

  “Stand down!” Raymond roared. The men glanced at each other but didn’t drop their weapons. “Now!” With a grumble, the weapons were lowered. Knowles relaxed his grip on the pistol. “You win, Mr Stadler, point made. Please, sit down.”

  Jack looked at Knowles, then sat down. His heart was hammering in his chest, but he was trying not to show it. He knew that he could do all of those things, but also that if he did, then part of him would be lost forever. Empty threat, it was just an empty threat. Yeah?

  Why did you break the chains then?

  He tried to keep his face neutral but he wasn’t sure he was being entirely successful. The voice was back. The other voice. The one that had taken charge in the hospital in Barnstaple and had made him kill that poor doctor. The one he hadn’t heard for a while now. Jack wiped sweat from his brow without taking his stare from Raymond’s.

  Raymond waved his hand and the soldiers filed out of the room, more uncertainly than when they’d entered.

  “I want to see my wife and boy,” Jack said.

  “We’ve been here before Jack,” Knowles said. “It didn’t end well.”

  The look of fear on Katie’s face. Josh’s big sad eyes. The blood over the walls. No, that was pretty much the dictionary definition of not ending well.

  “Knowles, I want my life back. I’ve thought about this. I came here because I knew there was another Original. Someone who could help me.” Jack paused. “That can’t happen now.”

  “Why not?” Knowles said. His hand was no longer over the gun at his waist.

  “That man was as clueless as me. He’s as new to this, probably newer, than I am.”

  “Then what are you suggesting Jack?” This came from Raymond.

  “I help you catch him, you help me get my old life back.”

  2

  Knowles ran his hand through his hair. He knew that Jack’s thought process was close to his, but also how impossible that would be. There were two of them now, two Originals. How many more were out there? Hundreds of wolves had attacked the base a week ago. Over eighty were killed immediately, but that still meant there were more out there. The Originals were really dangerous, but so were the ordinary wolves.

  Ordinary wolves. Jesus. Knowles knew they had to get this situation under control and quickly. They had to recapture Bryant and ascertain the true nature of the wolf threat: just how many were there? Jack was vital to both parts of that: he and Bryant were linked somehow. Whilst the wolves were a very real threat, Jack would not be allowed to see Katie: Raymond could not allow it.

  “Jack,” Raymond said, “I don’t think we need your help.”

  “Wait a second, a minute ago you were asking if you could trust me.”

  “Yes. I think you can give me information, but I don’t need your help. This is the British Armed Forces, - we are the best in the world. We don’t need the help of,” Raymond paused, searching for the right word, “of a teacher.”

  “I don’t think you can class me as a teacher anymore,” Jack said, with a rueful smile. “My students and my boss think I’m dead.”

  “How did you know that Bryant was an Original?”

  “I didn’t. I saw him and just knew, there and then, like I could sense him.”

  “You changed immediately, like you had no control. Do you think it would happen again?” Knowles asked.

  Jack shrugged. “No idea. It didn’t happen with the other lot.” No-one needed to ask him what he meant by that. “So I assume it only happens with Originals. It happened a few nights ago too. I woke up and knew there was another one.”

  “What?” Raymond barked. “When?”

  “It was about three, maybe four nights ago,” Jack said. Raymond and Knowles exchanged a look. “What?”

  “Bryant was part of the team that went into your cave.”

  “Not my cave,” Jack said.

  “You know what I mean. Anyway, Bryant found the skull of the thing you landed on.”

  “Knowles,” Raymond said, “I want you to interrogate his team from that night.
Did any of them see anything? Find out what they know.”

  “Yes sir,” Knowles said, “but I think they are part of the team chasing him.”

  “Ok, then they are all in custody the minute they set foot back on this camp. Get a message to the others. Bryant’s team are to return to base immediately.”

  “Yes sir,” Knowles said. He stood and started to march towards the door when his radio buzzed. He listened for a few seconds then turned back to Raymond. This is bad.

  “Sir, that was from Clarke. They are calling everyone back to the base.”

  “What? Why?”

  “It’s Bryant’s team. They’re dead sir, all except Collins and he’s been bitten. It’s not good, sir.”

  3

  Knowles sat opposite Raymond, Jack next to him. Behind them, two soldiers stood relaxed but even so gave the impression that they could have their weapons ready in a moment’s notice. Raymond was listening on a telephone, saying little until he eventually hung up.

  “They have amputated Collins’ leg,” Raymond said.

  Poor bastard. “We should just kill him,” Knowles said. Jack looked at him, mouth open in disgust.

  “Why? It’s not his fault,” Jack said.

  “He’s one of them now,” Knowles said.

  “So am I.”

  “Quit it. Knowles, no-one is killing Collins, clear?”

  “Sir,” Knowles started to say.

  “No, Knowles, Collins is here. He’s under lock and key and he has our medical staff looking after him. If Collins has any surprises for us, we’re ready for him.”

  “May I speak freely, sir?”

  “Yes, Knowles, you usually do. I don’t think I could stop you.”

  “This is a mistake, sir. I’ve seen what these things can do.”

  “So have I, Knowles.”

  “With respect sir, not like I have. I’ve been in battle with these things. I am the sole survivor-”

  “Not sole,” Raymond said, inclining his head at Jack.

  “You know what I mean.”

  “I’m still in the room,” Jack said. Knowles turned to him, a scowl on his face. “Don’t look at me like that. I am one of these things or have you forgotten?”

  “Yes, but you’re not like them.”

  “What, I’m OK for one of them?” Jack sneered. “I didn’t have you down as a casual racist, Knowles.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Some of my best friends are wolves?” Jack imitated Knowles’ voice.

  “Fuck off, Jack,” Knowles said.

  Silence descended on the room for a moment, both men glaring at each other.

  “What happened to you?” Jack said.

  Knowles opened his mouth, but the words would not come out. Claire. Claire happened to me. And the others. All my friends died in an afternoon. Eventually he said, “The wolves are dangerous. You, of all people, know that. We need to eliminate that threat.”

  “What if we join together? Me and Bryant? The wolves think we’re gods, that’s what that Callum fella said, remember?”

  Knowles nodded. He remembered Callum, but they were not good memories. His jaws closing around Claire’s neck, severing her arteries in a heartbeat.

  “We could get the wolves to follow us. We could stop the killing, on both sides,” Jack looked pointedly at Knowles, “and then I could go back to my family.”

  “How do we stop Bryant?” Knowles said. “That is more pressing than anything else.”

  “You can’t,” Jack said. “He’s like me. If you shoot him, it’ll only stop him for a while. Then he heals and, well, he’s back again.”

  “Ok, Jack,” Raymond said, “how did you control it?”

  Jack shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “So how is Bryant going to control it then?”

  “I don’t know that either.”

  “Well that’s very helpful,” Raymond snorted.

  “It took Jack a few goes,” Knowles said. They had been testing him for weeks, putting him under pressure. Each time it had gone wrong and had required more and more tranquiliser to put Jack down. Then, one day, the Wolf had gone crazier than usual. It had chased Claire into a courtyard. In his head, the scene was crystal clear: the Wolf approaching Claire whilst he was too far away to help. He had never felt so helpless before. Luckily, Jack had not eaten her. It turned out that Claire and Katie, Jack’s wife, shared a taste in perfume. It had saved her life. Or at least, gained her another month.

  “I killed at first,” Jack said, a sudden tremor in his voice. Edwards. Doctor Baxter. The drunk blokes in Barnstaple.

  Knowles nodded. “But you are essentially a good person Jack. How many times, before all this, have you been in a fight?”

  “School,” Jack said, “when I was about fifteen.”

  “Exactly.”

  Raymond was nodding now. “So, we have a problem then, because Bryant is a trained killer.”

  4

  Patel came in carrying a folder which he placed on Raymond’s desk. He saluted smartly then left, still looking nervous.

  “Now what,” Raymond muttered, opening the folder.

  Knowles glanced at Jack. He looked so calm, so very different from the person he had first met in a pub in a sleepy village in Devon. Who wouldn’t be changed after all that? Jack met his gaze for a moment, then turned back to Raymond. His eyes were darting from Raymond to the desk. What are you thinking Jack?

  “It appears we have a problem,” Raymond said. He held up a photograph. It showed a room covered in limbs and blood. Knowles felt his stomach lurch.

  “More attacks?” Jack asked. “That’s not normal.”

  “Where is that?” Knowles said at the same time.

  “It’s local. A few miles down the road.” Raymond handed Knowles the folder.

  Knowles flicked through the photos, each one increasing the sick feeling in his stomach.

  “This isn’t normal,” Jack said again.

  “Damn right it isn’t,” Knowles muttered.

  “What do you mean, Jack?” Raymond said.

  “The wolves have been hidden for years, centuries even. Why attack now? Why be so public?”

  “This isn’t public,” Knowles said. “This is a private hospital. I’ve driven past this place every day for the last week and I had no idea it was there.”

  “It was Bryant,” Raymond said. Knowles flicked to the last photo and saw a naked man standing amongst the blood and carnage. He was grinning in the grainy image, and it was clearly Bryant.

  “Where did these pictures come from?”

  “The hospital had a private security contractor. They wired up their CCTV and monitored it remotely. The company have released these images to the web, which is where we found them.”

  Knowles reached the last page in the folder. It described everything Raymond had just told him. The images had been blocked by the web team, but it was only a matter of time before they surfaced again.

  “This will go viral,” Knowles said.

  Raymond nodded. “We’ve closed it down, but I don’t know if anyone has seen it before we did that. We will close them all down, but it will rapidly become a game of whack-a-mole.” He mimed hitting imaginary moles on the head.

  “Use it to your advantage, then,” Jack said. The two soldiers looked at him sharply. “Look, the wolves have been secret all this time. They do not want their existence becoming public.”

  “Why not?” Knowles said. “What’s stopping them?”

  “I don’t know,” Jack said. “This is as new to me remember? I think that the wolves are terrified of being discovered. People will hunt them down and kill them.” He gave Knowles a pointed look. “They don’t want this.”

  “What about Callum and those others that attacked us?” Knowles said. “He said they wanted to rule us. You’ve changed everything, Jack.”

  “How so?”

  “They want you to rule them because they think you’re an Original. What will they do if they find ou
t there are two? What if they don’t need you?”

  Jack laughed. “Most of the wolves that know I exist are dead. The others are terrified and running for their lives.”

  Knowles shook his head. “No, I don’t think that’s right. They knew about you before you knew what you were. They found you.”

  “So what?” Jack said. “They are pretty much all dead.”

  “No-one to spread the word,” Raymond said. “But what if Knowles is right? What if they do know about you? Know about Bryant? Know what he is?”

  “Then we’re screwed.”

  “Yes,” Raymond said, “we are.”

  “So we have to stop him,” Jack said.

  “No shit, Sherlock,” Knowles said, “but how? How do you stop a god?”

  “Release the image,” Jack said with a smile. “Let it go viral. Get everybody looking for the sick bastard that mutilated a poor nurse.”

  “Are you nuts?” Knowles said.

  “No,” Raymond said, nodding slowly. “He’s right. Make it so the public will scream if they see Bryant. Give a reward for information, maybe the people who took him in will turn on him.”

  “No reward,” Knowles said. “A reward will bring the nutcases out. We’ll be chasing false leads from now until Christmas.”

  “Maybe,” Raymond said. “I’ll get a press release ready.”

  “Sir, with respect,” Knowles got as far as saying.

  “Don’t finish that sentence, Knowles,” Raymond said. “I might be giving you free reign around here, but that doesn’t mean you can question my every judgment.”

  “Yes, sir.” Knowles’ face betrayed his real thoughts, but he stayed quiet.

  “Good. Now find out why Bryant was at that hospital. Collins might know.” Raymond looked at Jack. “And take him with you.”

  5

  Collins looked deathly pale as he slept on the hospital bed. Jack couldn’t take his eyes off the weird way the blankets fell around Collins’ legs. Or lack of.