by Jesse Gagnon
“Yes, sir.”
“Now get a few people to help us remove the barrier and replace it once we are outside.”
“Are you coming back?”
“No, don’t worry about that. We’ll figure a way to let you know it’s clear. Just listen to what I say and you’ll be just fine.”
“Roger.” The soldier turned around and addressed the frightened patrons in the lobby. “Listen up people. We need to help remove the barricade and then replace it as soon as Mario and his buddy leave.” He yelled and the people perked up and started to help.
“So I’m your buddy now?” Jason inquired and punched him in the arm.
“I guess so.” Mario grinned at Jason.
“Oh, I made alterations to four more noisemakers converting them to piss-mist noisemakers.”
“Where did you get the…”
“I guess I’m charming. I don’t know.” Jason popped his collar and smiled.
“What did you say to them to get… You know I don’t want to know.” Mario noticed an attractive young woman looking entirely too interested in Jason. “When did you have the time?” Mario asked puzzled. Jason shrugged.
Once all of the furniture was removed, Mario and Jason leaned against the door and put opposite ears to the door facing each other. They heard nothing. They nodded at the same time, opened the door and pulled it closed quietly after entering the stairwell. They heard furniture moving and being pushed towards the door. The door pushed towards them slightly indicating pressure on it. Good!
“You said you had a plan. What is it?” Jason whispered.
“I kind of have part of a plan.” Mario admitted lifting his left hand while shrugging. “The echo in here is pretty loud. If you toss a noisemaker, the regular ones, down to the bottom where the hole is, once we’re outside the hole of course, then we can lure them to the opening. After that, well, we wait for it to fizzle out and then lure them back towards the alley and away from the building.”
“Makes sense. Then what?” Jason was starting to like the plan.
“I don’t know. We keep doing it until we get far enough away, then use the piss-mist ones to consolidate the herd and BOOM!” Mario pointed to a red tipped bolt and made an explosion gesture with his hands.
“Lots of holes in the plan. Lots could go wrong. We could die at any slight miscalculation.”
“I know.”
“I like it.” Jason revealed an exaggeratedly wicked grin.
“Still haven’t worked out a way to plug up the hole in the building.” Mario confessed while checking out the massive hole downstairs.
“Maybe there isn’t a way to fix that. I’m guessing we’ll have to evacuate the building.”
“That’s a lot of people. How can we keep that many safe?”
“I don’t know. I don’t make plans. I wing it.”
“We’ll wing it then.” Mario agreed and they both headed down to the opening in the back of the building.
“That’s a big fucking hole Mario.” Jason observed.
“Evacuation?” Mario inquired under his breath.
“Yup, looks like it.” Jason acknowledged patting Mario on the back and walked out of the building through the hole. Mario followed. Once they stepped outside over thirty amputated Azrael began to snarl from beyond the smoking husk of a food truck. They were crawling towards them. All cuts and bruising had healed and they moved with unnatural athleticism for disabled Azrael.
“We should take care of these first.” Mario ordered removing a knife out of a sheath in his boot. Jason did the same but his knife was much larger. Jason commented on the size.
“Nice butter knife you’ve got there buddy.”
“It’s not about the size; it’s how you use it.” Mario walked over and jabbed his knife in the eye of an approaching Azrael that neared his foot. Jason laughed and began to stab into other Azrael that were nearby. They may have been amputees but they were still dangerous and they both were well aware of the hazards involved. They took great care in knowing their surroundings as they finished off the remaining disabled herd.
“That about does it.” Jason reported and removed his blade from the back of an Azrael’s skull.
“I think we got em all.” Mario remarked as he stepped on the back of a large legless amputated Azrael and jabbed his knife in the top of the neck where it connected to the spine, severing the connection to the body. He wiped the blood off on its shirt and placed it back in the sheath in his boot.
Jason reached into his backpack and felt around for a regular noisemaker.
“That took longer than I wanted it to go. Go ahead toss it.” Mario instructed pointing at the hole as Jason removed a noisemaker from his bag. He activated it and tossed it towards the opening in the building. It landed and rolled deeper inside. They heard nothing.
“Did you turn it on?”
“I did. You watched me.”
“Toss another one.”
“Only one more regular noisemaker left.”
“Toss a piss-mist then.”
“I’d hate to waste them.”
“It’s safer if you do.”
“I can fix it.”
“No, you won’t. It could activate the moment you get there.”
“I’ll have enough time to get away.” Jason insisted and ran towards the grenade
“Shit.” Mario made sure his crossbow was fully armed and ready with three silver tips attached to each one.
Jason searched within the rubble that littered the opening of the hole, located the grenade and inspected the issue. It was a piss-mist version. He forgot to label this one. Fuck. He managed to remove the small piece of concrete that was wedged into the triggering mechanism. Before he could drop it, the grenade began to wail while spraying warm piss at his face, shirt, pants and shoes.
“Fuck!” He yelled as the noise of the screaming woman nearly made him deaf. He turned to run spitting out urine that dripped on his lips and into the corner of his mouth. He slid down loose concrete pebbles and yelled “Run!”
Mario’s eyes grew wild as he noticed Jason sprinting towards him while pulling out a blinder from his backpack behind him. Jason gestured for Mario not to shoot. Mario held his fire but observed what followed with concern.
A massive horde of Azrael came into view of the noisemaker and began to sniff the air. They followed the aroma until identifying the source running away. They released a raspy roar and began to chase. As Jason ran past Mario he spoke.
“I’m winging it.”
Mario smelled the piss on Jason and he started to run.
“Shit.” Mario noticed the following Azrael and turned to join Jason. “What happened?” He yelled as he caught up.”
“Threw the wrong one.” He paused to stabilize his breathing. “A piece of concrete…” He paused again. “wedged in the triggering mechanism.
“We’ve got a following. They’re going to catch us.” Mario glanced back and could feel them inching closer.
“Not if they can’t see us.” He turned, tossed the blinder and proceeded onto the main road pulling Mario the direction he was running. “Don’t look back.”
The grenade activated lighting up the street and blinded the Azrael. They covered their eyes, staggered into each other and fell into a massive dogpile. The two continued to run down the street. Their boots slapping the sidewalk alerted nearby herds that were searching for another person to infect.
“This isn’t going to end well for us.” Mario admitted noticing the Azrael approaching.
“What, you don’t like winging it?” Jason asked while panting. He slowed down. His endurance took a detour into shit once he started drinking. However, Jessica brought him out of the rut he was in and pushed him back into the gym. His endurance wasn’t wat it was when he first joined the Highwaymen but it was light-speeds better than it was when he was drinking. He noticed that he was falling behind and sped back up.
“We’re going to have to circle back to the building to see if i
t’s clear. First we’re going to have to deal with these.” Mario commanded shooting three consecutive bolts at three Azrael that approached from the right and killed them instantly. He pointed towards another group that was closing in from the left. “Piss-Mist!”
Jason removed one, identified it as a piss-mist noisemaker, activated it and tossed it towards them. As it connected, the wail of the scream and mist released immediately drew in all of the pursuers. Mario darted right down the next road available and lowered his posture as he hid behind parallel parked cars from growling and snarling Azrael in the street that were following the screams around the corner. Jason was moving low too. The Azrael in the road smelled the air and caught a whiff of the piss on Jason. They slowed, but the screams beyond excited their senses more and continued after the screams. Mario noticed that the Azrael smelled Jason.
“You’ve got to get out of those clothes.” Mario whispered to Jason as he caught up to him.
“But we just met. I feel like our relationship is moving too fast.” Jason joked as he began to remove his shirt, pants and used the inside of them to wipe off the urine that lingered on his skin. “That girl needs to stay away from asparagus. Not a good smell.”
“And normal piss is?”
“In comparison, yes.”
“You’ve got issues Jason.”
“Keeps me sane Mario.” Jason rubbed his arms and blew into his hands to warm them.
“You didn’t bring any extra clothes?”
“Just grenades. The other bag has guns. Didn’t think I’d need them.”
“Take these.” Mario extracted a hoody, some sweatpants, and a t-shirt from his pack. He handed them to Jason.
“Will they fit?”
“Does it matter?”
“Kind of.” Jason mumbled while stretching out the shirt, squeezing into the sweats, and tearing into the hooded sweatshirt as he wiggled into them violently. Mario heard threads snap as he put them on.
“You can keep em.”
“Oh, thanks. It’s a good look for me.” Jason bragged as the sweatpants’ legs stopped just past the knee and clung to his frame awkwardly. The hoody pressed his stomach tightly and offered visual on his midriff. His belly button flattened and elongated.
“I bet you’ll pack more clothes next time.” Mario gestured towards Jason’s outfit.
“Or bring taller friends.” They shared a good laugh and continued to work around towards the alley where they started.
Chapter 15
John’s Got It Covered
Moments after the last piece of furniture was added to the barricade the soldier noticed a tapping noise. It was a controlled tapping coming from somewhere. “Everybody quiet.” He shushed the group in a loud whisper. Everyone held their breath and listened for something.
Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap
“What’s that?” The middle-aged woman asked. The sequence was varied but constant like some code.
“Is that Morse code?” The doctor asked as the taps continued following the same pattern.
“I think it is.” The soldier agreed.
“What are they saying?” The middle-aged woman asked.
“I don’t know. I never learned it.” The soldier admitted his lack of training.
“What good are you then?” The woman murmured.
John finished writing down the message on paper and folded it while the others were baffled at the hidden code. He walked over and handed the paper to the soldier. He led him to a corner away from everyone else as he read the message.
“Is this what they’re saying?” The soldier whispered to John in disbelief.
“Yes. Just keep your voice down, we don’t need everyone to panic.” He motioned the young soldier to quiet down.
“Are you sure? You could have made a mistake.” He asked.
“I’m a hundred percent certain that is the message.” John asserted.
“Do you think it’s coming from the floor above us?” The soldier asked looking above for a sign of some sort.
“Hard to tell. If it’s coming from the ventilation then it could be any floor.”
“Shit. That’s fucking awful.”
“Yeah, I know.” John confessed.
Unexpectedly the middle aged woman snatched the paper out of the soldier’s hands and ran off with it like some grade school child. “This is what they were sneaking around and talking about behind our backs. There will be no secrets kept from us.” The woman squawked as she scampered off with the message. She read it and her hand went to her mouth immediately.
“Is this true?” The woman asked in shock.
“It’s what the taps were saying.” John admitted.
“It says that the foster floor including the daycare center floor had been breached and there are Azrael children all over the place.” The woman wept as she read the message, knowing that grandchildren of hers were among the children at the daycare center.
“Johnny! No, not Johnny…” A couple cried out in unison.
“Sandra? My little girl. There’s no way. She’s too sweet.” A man wept in disbelief.
“Tommy and Jenny, did they make it out?” A young woman approached John wild eyed.
“I don’t know ma’am.” He shook his head.
Most of the adults there who had children had them enrolled at the daycare center ten floors up. It had boasted a high level of protection from Azrael attacks. However, no one was prepared for a breach in the building’s infrastructure. The morale was going to shit fast.
As if to make things worse a loud screaming outside the doors sparked panic. “Someone needs our help!” A man yelled out running for the barricade. Seconds later hundreds of footsteps were pouring down the stairwell towards the noise. “It’s too late.” The man shouted sounding defeated as he slowed down and dropped to his knees. The scream continued to call out to the Azrael. John could tell that the Azrael reached the source. The screams persisted and remained constant but muffled as they surrounded the source in confusion.
“It’s one of Jason’s noisemaker grenades.” He commented in a whisper that was loud enough to carry across the room.
“But it sounds like a woman screaming?” The soldier asked quietly.
“More realistic of a draw for them. They’re trying to lure them outside.” He confirmed. “Everyone just needs to stay calm and quiet and we’ll get through this.”
Hundreds of feet descended the stairwell and slowly faded into the distance as they exited the building chasing a new target. The noisemaker slowly weakened its scream level as it eventually ran out of power. All was quiet and no one knew if any Azrael were left inside the building or not.
“Is it safe? Are we safe?” A man asked eager to know their fate.
The families with infected children continued to mourn their loss. An audible cry by the parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins and siblings wrapped the room in a blanket of sadness. For an hour a peaceful but defeated morale hung over the people on the Lobby floor. John knew most were at the end of their rope. The monsters outside had finally stripped them of the last ounce of joy they had left in this world. His assumptions were verified when he heard a gunshot from the other room.
A woman stricken with grief and shock found a pistol in the drawer of the desk in an office and took her own life. She lied there still holding a picture of her husband and two boys. None of which were on the floor they were on.
As if an outbreak of suicide spread, three more gunshots echoed throughout the floor. It was the end of the rope for lots of them. Unfortunately for those still alive, the repetitive gunfire brought attention from the remainder of the Azrael in the building. Lots of footsteps rushed down the steps. Not as many as before but enough to worry John.
In seconds the doors to the Lobby were shaking and buckling from nearly fifty Azrael striking them. The furniture that braced against the doors shook and rattled. People began to scream out in fear. It only excited the Azrael further and quickened their date with death.
John removed his pistol from its holster on his hip and examined the condition of it. He made sure he had a full magazine and made several more available for reload. He stood in front of Savanna lying on a large comfortable couch not eighty feet from the pile of furniture in front of the door. Everyone else retreated to the back of the lobby near the elevator doors that served no purpose during a power outage. However, it was the furthest part of the Lobby away from the front doors. The soldier stood by John offering support.
“So, uh you’ve killed hundreds of these things? Any tips?” He asked seeking to soak up some bravery through battle stories.
“Sure, kid. Just aim and shoot.” John answered knowing Mario must have told him, probably to give John some merit for the leadership role.
“That’s crazy. Are you a Highwayman?” He asked.
“Sure am. Look kid, you’re kind of making me nervous. Why don’t you go protect the people by the elevator? I’m sure they’re scared shitless and need a bit of a confidence boost right now.” John insisted trying to get rid of the young soldier. He was gonna get himself killed trying to be some kind of hero. Also, he only had one extra magazine for his pistol. He was going to run out on the first ten that came in the door.
The door started to warp and splinter as the mad crowd of Azrael beyond the doors banged on them in a wild frenzy. Their stench started to seep into the room and John knew that they would be through very soon. His only plan was to keep his fire focused on the doors, killing them as they revealed their ugly fucked up heads. Maybe the Azrael bodies could pile up enough to keep the others from coming in. So he hoped.
The left door started to shatter and splinter even more as a hole large enough for a body to fit exposed an Azrael squirming through. It snarled and bit air as it wiggled past. John took the first shot and missed. He paused, controlled his breathing and gently released the next shot splattering the Azrael’s skull and painting the door with blood and brains. Pieces of brain stuck to the wood.