by Jesse Gagnon
Mario looked into John’s eyes and shook his head.
“Did those assholes kill him?” John became infuriated.
“The Azrael got em, John. Ate him to the bone.”
“Fuck! Jesus, what the hell man. He didn’t say he was immune.”
“Maybe he didn’t know. Either way, he’s gone John and I probably owe him my life for it. He was right outside the passenger door guarding me. He also had recorded something with his rifle scope on this.”
Mario retrieved the sim card from his pocket and showed the two.
“What size is that?” Clip asked.
“It’s a micro sd card.”
“I think my computer back here can play it.” Clip checked on his computer. “Fuck, it’s busted. Chico’s fat ass spilled those small canned sausages on that bitch. I knew we would need that shit one day. Sorry, Mario, I can’t help you.”
“It’s okay. Hell, it might be encrypted anyway. Those military grade recording devices usually come that way standard. And I believe it’s the same model that I researched years ago. It was a praised feature among snipers to record their kills.”
“You got shit that can read that back in Chicago?” Clip asked.
“If it was issued by Simon to the Eagle’s Nest then I’m sure of it.” Mario said.
“Look at you esé, using code words and shit. What the fuck’s Eagles Nest?”
“A sniper community that lives on top of the high rises to take out Azrael if they make it inside.” John added.
“I heard about your outbreak. Thousands turned in there. What started it?”
“Stupid bitch playing with shit she don’t understand.” John answered.
“I take it that puta survived?” Clip asked.
“I’m sure she’s being punished in her own way.” Mario stated.
“Ya’ll didn’t kill that bitch? I’d have put her out there with those thieving fucks to rot on those spikes.”
“You should really consider killing those Azrael. They’re dangerous even chained up. I know this is your place, so it’s just a suggestion.” Mario shrugged and Clip nodded his head. “Now, about the woman who started it, she’s a scientist. Simon has her under control now. I don’t doubt his wisdom in things like that.” Mario continued.
“She must be fine as hell.”
“She is.” John added.
“I doubt that has anything to do with…” Mario was interrupted.
“You’re a fucking liar Mario. Beautiful people can do what they want in this world. They’ve got it made esé.”
“Like Taliah, Clip?” Mario asked. Clip sighed and nodded his head.
“You’ve got a point. I’m sorry holmes. I didn't mean anything by it. It’s just…”
“Forget about it Clip. I see your point too, but we need to focus on the real problem here. The Azrael are our enemy. Until we can all come together to stop them from spreading we’re going to end up like the dinosaurs.”
“Giant fucking lizards?” Clip asked while trying to hide a smile.
“Nothing’s serious with you Clip?” Mario asked.
“Gotta find the joy in whatever I can Mario. Life has taken so much from us.” Clip admitted.
“I agree. Come on John let’s get back to Chicago.”
“Hey Mario, good luck holmes. John, if you need us to help get your woman back just swing by. And take these.” Clip tossed a set of keys to Mario. “Not gonna let you walk there. My people travel with style.” Clip wore a large grin and threw up some gang signs unfamiliar to John. He responded with a thumbs up. Chico approached them when they walked out. The sun had set and it was quickly getting darker outside.
“You leaving?”
“Heading back to Chicago to formulate a plan. Hopefully, Clip can come up with some information about the suits that we can use.” Mario answered.
“Be safe out there holmes. Hey, Flip told me you were punching an Azrael in the face. You are one fucking crazy ass gringo.” He punched John on the shoulder and threw up two fingers as he strolled off.
As they moved towards the cars Mario addressed John.
“What was that all about John?”
“Ran out of bullets so I used my fists.” John admitted and looked down at them. They were swollen from a possible break. He can’t save Savanna if he’s all fucked up.
“Well let’s all appreciate your fists and never do that again, okay?”
“I hear you, Mario.”
A man walked over to Mario near the fountain. The two Azrael on the spikes were hanging limp with a hole in their skulls.
“Follow me; I’ll take you to your ride.” The man instructed.
A 96’ Mustang with a flame painted on the side of it drew John’s attention.
“Is this the car?” John asked with a giddy smile though his face was still too swollen to make out any facial expressions.
“This tacky piece of shit? No, that’s Chico’s ride. Over here’s yours.” The man gestured to a 2015 Audi S7 in a sleek silver paint job.
“Now that’s a nice fucking car.” Mario exclaimed.
“I guess.” John scowled.
“Here’s your weapons.” The man handed John and Mario their weapons back.
“I’m surprised they let you take those in.” Mario joked.
“What?”
“Your fists.” Mario laughed.
“Not funny Mario. Fucking old man jokes.” John shook his head with disappointment. Mario shrugged.
They holstered their pistols and entered the car.
“Good luck out there.” The man said.
Mario nodded at the man and drove off towards Chicago. In five minutes John was in a deep sleep snoring loudly.
CHAPTER 40: KYO’S SACRIFICE AND NEW FRIENDS
After sleeping for the rest of the day Vladomir awoke inside a room he wasn’t familiar with. The sun broke through the window in shards of diagonal beams that decorated the floor. The blinds that the sun penetrated through were stretched open at eye level. Sounds of movement downstairs indicated Kyo or someone else was down there. All of Vladomir’s wounds were healed and his strength returned to him.
“Kyo? Is good to see sun today, eh?” Vladomir hollered.
Nobody responded. Maybe Kyo was in trouble. Vladomir slid out of bed and rushed downstairs causing every board on the steps to whine as they bent. Kyo was curled up in the corner. His body was shivering and his temperature was dangerously high.
“Kyo, where is serum? You need serum.” Vladomir searched his pack for some. Its contents were already emptied out and on the floor along with Kyo’s.
“We fix this. I make call. They send over serum. Where’s phone?”
A broken plastic phone case was next to Kyo.
“…it’s…broke…Vlad.” Kyo spoke in a weakened whisper.
“My blood, I could pull with syringe. Give you serum from blood.”
“I…I’m B…positive. You…are…O…positive…it can’t work.”
“Not full transfusion, just a little may perk you up until we get serum, no?”
“Get out of here Vlad before I turn. I…don’t want to hurt you, friend.”
“I won’t leave comrade. We figure this out like family.”
“It’s too late…Vlad…I…I’m turning…” Kyo yelled and veins in his neck expanded as he strained and stretched his entire body.
“Kyo!” Vladomir shouted.
Kyo’s face revealed intense strain as he spat foaming spit at Vlad.
“Go!” He yelled and a long inhuman growl followed. Suddenly he collapsed when his heartbeat ceased to function.
Kyo’s heartbeat restarted at a thundering pace, much quicker than Kyo usually kept his running. He typically regulated his already Azrael induced elevated heart rate to just under 200 bpm with controlled breathing to save calories. A low growl exited his mouth. His head looked towards Vladomir and snarled.
“When veil covers my brother in darkness…” Kyo lunged at Vladomir attempting to bite him
. “…danger must release from enemy’s clutches.” Vladomir held him at arm’s reach by the neck and continued. “I bring you home Kyo, among those that fought and lost to the enemy.” He jabbed a black dagger into Kyo’s skull damaging the brain and releasing the hold the virus had on him. His blood splattered over Vladomir’s hands coating it with a red paint that infuriated him. He arose and released a mighty roar causing all of his muscles to tense up, stretching and ripping the fabric that clothed him.
He lost a best friend that day, although a victory was won the day before, the virus claimed its prize today. Nevertheless, the Alpha must be found. Vladomir’s mission is not yet complete. However, Kyo’s body must be taken back to the Veil and a new batch of serum should be acquired before he continued his search.
Vladomir exited the apartment. The front door was broken into and useless for providing any security for that building. Out on the street the two Azrael behemoths were being torn into by a pack of dogs. He walked over to take a look at the vehicle that revealed a muzzle flash the day before. A body was pressed against the door eaten through. Bloody footprints circled around the vehicle and walked towards Chicago. They were human footsteps. An Azrael would have moved with a purpose. There were no Azrael footprints anywhere.
The smell of Azrael rot intensified and Vladomir quickly scanned the area while lowering his posture. A small group of five Azrael was jogging towards him. It wasn’t a hunting pace but more of an endurance run. It didn’t appear like they saw him, though. Vladomir hid behind the car and watched. They reached the side of the car and the small hairy one was sniffing the corpse and tasting the blood. It grunted at one of the large Azrael and it nodded. What the shit were they doing? Why where they so calm? The largest of the group was the biggest Azrael he’d ever seen and it frightened him. He lost one. Shit, the female, where did the female go? He turned and was eye to eye with her and instinctively pushed her away. She saw his eyes, hissed like a cat and charged in pinning him to the car. She was remarkably strong for her size. A loud grunt caused her to stop. She pushed him against the car hard once more and released him. What the shit?
Vladomir stepped from behind the car with his hands up. It made no sense. The leader of the group walked up to Vladomir and studied him in the eyes mere inches from his face. It sniffed the air around him.
“What is this shit?” Vladomir asked.
The Alpha of the group’s eyes widened. It glanced back at the others and pointed to Vladomir with its mouth open. Vladomir remembered talk of awakened Azrael.
“Are you in control of body?”
The Alpha nodded.
“Are all of friends in control as well?”
The Alpha nodded.
“This good news.”
The Alpha pointed to Vladomir’s eyes and wore a confused look.
“These eyes, eh? Not much different than your own.”
The Alpha mimed a talking motion with its mouth and flicked the air as if something was coming out of its mouth.
“Ah, you are wondering how I speak, eh?”
The Alpha nodded.
“I am not Azrael, like you. I have Azrael strength and gifts but still human.”
The Alpha mimed the word how.
“This good question. Work for Veil of Five Daggers. Have you heard of it?”
The Alpha and the others shook their heads, no.
“Of course not, it secret society put together to fight Azrael with its own weapon, virus.”
The Alpha tilted his head to the side.
“We, uh, could help each other, yes?”
The Alpha turned to the others and they shrugged. So he shrugged as well.
“This is good. We work like team. See this corpse right here.” Vladomir moved towards the dead cadaver on the car and pointed at it. “I need to find piece of shit that did this. It is very bad.”
The Alpha nodded its head and grunted towards the hairy one. It came over and sniffed around a bit more.
“So this is tracker, outstanding. We are making progress.”
The hairy Azrael grunted at the Alpha and aimed its left arm towards the south.
“This sound like crazy question, but would you mind wearing tracking device?”
The Alpha appeared confused at Vladomir’s request.
“It for good reason. I must return to facility and retrieve medicine to keep me strong like you. I can only get it there. I promise I carry no ill intent in this. We are comrades, no?”
The Alpha shook its head, no.
“How about new plan. To the south is storage facility. Several blocks to east is gas station. I meet you there, yes?”
The Alpha glanced to the south and then to the east of it and then returned its gaze on Vladomir. It shrugged.
“This no good? This not trap my friend. You help Vlad. Vlad help you. Maybe my people could study you.” The large Azrael scowled and growled.
“With consent of course. They may have answers that you seek. If I was Azrael that becomes like you I would be curious like cat.” Vladomir nodded and hoped that they agreed.
The Alpha turned to the others and they nodded with approval.
“You have Vlad’s word. This is good?”
The Alpha nodded and reached in for a handshake.
“Ooh, handshake seal deal.” Vlad reached in for a handshake and the Alpha drew him in close examining everything. Vlad was powerless to stop him. It pushed him and threw its hands up as to shoo him away.
“Don’t forget gas station and tracking device. I leave with pretty lady.”
Vladomir walked over to the female Azrael and attempted to snap it on her blouse. She smacked his hand away and snarled at him.
“Would any care for breath mint?” They all growled at Vlad.
“Is joke, is joke. Guess I leave with group lead.”
The Alpha removed the device from Vladomir’s hand. He sniffed it and bit it.
“Is not breath mint. Is tracking device. Breath mint was joke.”
The Alpha snarled at Vlad.
“Is bad joke, my apologies. I leave you now. I return at gas station as promised. Do not lose tracker. Do not eat tracker. I go now.”
Vladomir removed a map from his back pocket and began to navigate to the nearest safe house thirteen miles away. As he moved he heard a dog barking and approaching the small group. He wondered if it was theirs. He continued to watch and noticed the group lead petting the dog. What the fuck is going on? He thought.
CHAPTER 41: MORE NEWS FOR TALIAH
Movement outside Taliah’s apartment other than the guards caused Samson to bark.
“Quiet boy. Come on let’s put you away.” Taliah instructed. She brought a bowl of water and food to the spare room set up for Samson. She shut the door after he walked in. The aroma of cookies saturated the apartment and caused her to sigh. The door knocked and Samson started barking again.
“Quiet down boy. Quiet down. I’m coming.” She hollered and walked to the door.
She opened it and an Azrael leapt at her. It bit into her shoulder and infected her with the virus. She screamed as loud as she could but nothing came out. She glanced back towards the Azrael and it was Mario.
“No Mario, No!” She screamed. The barking became louder.
Taliah jerked awake and sat up on the couch. She had a strand of drool from her lip to the pillow she was lying on. Her hair was flattened and needed to be brushed. The door knocked. The smell of burning in the kitchen caused her to spring up and dart over to it. She opened the oven and black smoke exited. She coughed and waved away the smoke from her face as she removed a platter of black cookies. The door knocked again.
“Just a minute.” She shouted.
The fire alarm started to beep a loud screeching noise that deafened her ears. The door knocked again.
“Jesus Christ, give me a minute!” She snapped. A muffled voice was heard behind the door.
“Everything alright in there?”
“Yeah, just some burnt cookies. No b
ig deal.” Taliah replied and followed with a coughing fit. She turned the exhaust fan on high and the smoke began to clear up. In a few seconds, the alarm ceased and now she could only hear Samson barking.
“It’s okay boy. It’s okay. Coming!” Taliah yelled.
She opened the door expecting to see Simon and Ethan were standing there. Her expression showed her surprise.
“Is this a bad time? I can go.” He asked.
“No, no, well, yeah it’s kind of a bad time.” Taliah said quickly remembering that Simon still hadn’t arrived with those damned apples. Where is Simon? She poked her head out of the door and searched down the hall. The smoke exited the room and caused Ethan to cough.
“Thought you were baking pies?” Ethan asked.
“Well, Simon Killbrook was on his way over and his favorite dessert is chocolate chip cookies.”
“Oh, Mr. Killbrook’s coming over. I see. He’s a pretty cool guy. Giselle thought highly of him.”
“Oh, oh no. It’s not like that. He’s like a father to me. Ew, you thought?”
“No, no I was just saying that he’s, uh, a cool guy. I didn’t think, pshhh, he’s too old for you anyway.”
“So I’m just some old guy huh? Simon asked walking up to the door with a bag of apples. “Jesus, what did you burn in there?”
“Cookies, your cookies. I’m sorry Simon. I fell asleep on the couch. Then there was this Azrael…”
“Where? Are you okay?” Simon interrupted and pushed inside.
“It was a dream, Simon. I woke up and the cookies were burning.” Taliah admitted. Simon walked out and released an audible sigh.
“What’s with the apples? Are you guys baking apple pies too?”
“No? No!” Simon said at the same time as Taliah.
“Jinx?” Ethan suggested.
“She told me to bring them over.” Simon lifted the bag and handed them to Taliah dramatically.
“Thanks, Simon. If you came sooner then I’d have them all ready for the pies and your cookies wouldn’t have burnt.”
“I got caught up at the office. You got any dough left?” Simon asked as he walked into the apartment again and entered the kitchen.
“Come on in. There’s about another tray full of them on the table. She entered the kitchen. Samson was licking an empty tray on the floor. Simon had one ball in his hand from the ground and was wiping it off. He ate it.