Serpent

by Trish Heinrich

  She shook her head to clear it of the images and then reminded herself that it had been them or the kidnapped women huddled in the dirty basement. If she had to do it again, she would. But still, it nagged at her, like a fly buzzing around her mind and reminding her that she'd broken a rule.

  I had no choice...I didn't.

  "Are you alright?" Justine gasped.

  Rebecca took a deep breath to refocus. "Yes, I took care of the men out there."

  "Can you get us out of here?" Zeke asked. "Our car is in the north parking lot."

  Rebecca looked at Justine, who was sweating and breathing heavily. Then back at Zeke, panic in his eyes.

  Tonight was supposed to go so much different. She'd had a plan, a goal and now this was throwing a wrench in it all.

  But if I get them to their car and send them on their way I can still do what I need to do tonight. And maybe I won't have their deaths hanging over my head when I wake up in the morning.

  She sighed. "Sure, let's go."

  They got out of that hallway and half way through another when Rebecca felt a tingle go down her spine. She didn't have 'powers', but she had a terribly accurate sixth sense, and right now it was going off like an alarm in her body.

  "Hold on," she whispered.

  She crept to where the hallway intersected with another one and peered around the corner. There were about half a dozen more men in dark suits there, waiting for them.

  "Is there another way out of here?" Zeke asked when she told him.

  "There's a back stair, but I'd bet they have that covered as well. Let me see if I can get them away from the door, then you two make a run for it."

  "Or I wait here while the two of you take care of it," Justine whispered, rubbing her stomach.

  "No, I'm not leaving you," Zeke said. "Besides, you're the fighter, not me."

  "It's the best way. If we try to make a run for it and get over taken, what then? Between the two of you I know you can take care of them. And if anyone comes, I've got my gun."

  "And only what, two more shots?"

  Justine smiled. "That's what extra bullets are for. I can handle myself, you know that. And if I wasn't huge and in pain I could fight beside the two of you. But, I need you to do this now. Please?"

  Zeke paused, then kissed her gently. "I love you"

  Justine smiled. "Go on."

  "This is lovely," Rebecca said. "But time is wasting."

  Zeke nodded and the two of them ran around the corner, straight at the six men.

  Rebecca had taken on this many before, though not often and those were usually the times she needed a few days bed rest after. She hoped this wasn't one of those times.

  Zeke was fierce though sloppy in a fight, and Rebecca had to admit she was grateful for the distraction he supplied.

  She took down the first man with a blow to the face from her baton and then ducked under the fist of a second man. He got a boot to the groin and a knee to the face, which sent him groaning to the dingy linoleum.

  Zeke took care of the third and fourth, though he took a vicious hit to the face and stomach in the process.

  Rebecca wondered briefly if his healing powers helped his own injuries at all before goon number five came at her with a long night stick.

  She ran at him and fell to her knees just as he swung the stick at her, sliding under the attack. Jumping up, she pivoted and landed a roundhouse to his kidneys. She was about to slam her baton into this face when he reached up and grabbed her wrist. He punched her hard in the stomach and tried to twist her arm out of its socket. She spun into the move and kicked the back of his knee. He went down but still had his long night stick. He swung and connected with her leg.

  Rebecca felt the bone in her knee shift and let out a yell.

  But the man paused, relishing his supposed victory.

  She punched him square in the face, breaking the man's nose. Then she swung her baton on his back twice, and finally into his face. The already broken nose splattered blood onto the floor and he collapsed.

  A hiss of pain escaped Rebecca's lips as she limped over to where Zeke had just taken out the last man.

  "I might need your services again," she said.

  "Sure, just let me get Justine."

  She nodded and sat down in a nearby chair.

  "You two coming?" she asked when Zeke was gone longer than he should've been.

  Zeke walked slowly around the corner, a crumpled piece of paper in one hand and the small Beretta in the other.

  "Oh Christ," she said. "They got her?"

  When he looked up at her, she saw the determined set to his long face, the glint of desperation in his eyes.

  Whatever they want with these two, he'll die trying to save her and what then? What happens to their child?

  Rebecca swore under her breath and shook her head.

  I guess Domino gets a reprieve tonight.

  "Heal my leg and I'll help you get her back."

  "These men they're...who they work for he's not...You could be making a very powerful enemy."

  Rebecca snorted. "It wouldn't be the first time."

  CHAPTER FIVE

  4

  Zeke's hands shook as he healed the strange woman in front of him. He'd seen some weird things, been involved in a lot of them. But he'd never seen a woman in a wig, a mask and a skin-tight suit with batons and fighting skills. That was a new one.

  But if she helps me get Justine and the baby back, it doesn't matter.

  She sighed. "Thanks. That's a handy power you have."

  "Yeah," he held out the note that had been left in the wheelchair. "This address, where is it?"

  Serpent looked at the paper. "It's south of here, in one of the more run-down parts of Jet City. People call it the Warehouse District."

  "How far? How long will it take to get there?"

  "Not long."

  The lights of fire trucks and police cars shone through the windows and Serpent grimaced.

  "Great, the police."

  "They don't know about what you do?"

  "Oh they do, but they don't like to admit it. They must've gotten word the shootings at the hospital."

  "And figured it was you?"

  Serpent's thin mouth twisted into a grin. "Something like that. Let's go before they find us and start asking questions."

  Zeke followed her, trying to keep his mind from thinking about what they could be doing to Justine. The note said they wouldn't harm her, but Mr. Fry and his cronies had never been the type to keep their promises.

  At the thought of them, memories lanced through his mind like knives. Flashes of a white room, needles, a burning sensation in his very bones. And then sleep so deep Zeke had thought he was dead. Then more pain, more needles.

  Always the same promise: this is the last, after this, you can go.

  But it was never true. Especially since Zeke had been one of the few who'd survived the experiments. He'd known the moment Mr. Fry had smiled at him, like a cat with a new toy, that he'd never be free.

  "You're too precious to lose track of Mr. Germaine. We have to protect you."

  The voice echoed in his head and it wasn't until Serpent hit him on the shoulder that Zeke realized he'd been standing still.

  "What's wrong?" she asked.

  "N-nothing...nothing."

  She eyed him. "I know you must be worried about her, and if this is too much for you..."

  Zeke shook his head, trying to convince her and himself that he wasn't about to become a catatonic blob. It had happened a few times before, when everything that had happened to him would come crashing in, like it had tried to do just now. In those moments, only Justine's clear, soft voice had been able to reach him. She'd been his lifeline to kindness and humanity.

  And now she's gone...No, not yet. Not if I can save her.

  He squared his shoulders. "No it's...I'm fine. Let's go."

  #

  The rain was falling so hard and thick by the time they exited the back stair
well that Zeke thought it was hail at first. Lightning forked the sky, and a few moments later, thunder boomed around them.

  "I hate riding in the rain," Serpent said. "I know, Jet City is a wet place, but still. It's hard to take corners."

  "What?"

  She pulled at his sleeve and ran toward a small, back parking lot. Zeke assumed this was where the doctors parked because most of the cars were quite expensive and nice.

  Serpent stopped at the end of the sidewalk that ran between the parking lot and hospital and took a dark green tarp off of a motorcycle. Zeke stared in shock.

  It was the kind of motorcycle he'd seen in footage from the war in Europe. The motorcycle had a small seat at the rear for a passenger and a small satchel that was clipped to the each side of that seat. It wasn't the large beasts that had sidecars on them, but instead looked sleek and light.

  Where did she get a German motorcycle? How did she get it, that's a better question.

  Serpent quickly rolled the tarp up and used chords to secure it in a tight bundle on the end of the bike. She climbed on and started the engine, its growling purr an odd contrast to the deluge around them.

  "Well? You coming?" she shouted.

  He climbed onto the back and put on the helmet that she handed him. Not sure whether to grab a hold of her bony hips or waist or the sides of the seat he hesitated.

  "On my hips would be fine," she said, as if reading his mind.

  The moment he was securely hanging on, Serpent darted off the sidewalk and through the cars. Zeke felt his heart jump into his throat as she turned onto the slick street a little too fast and the tires skidded.

  But Serpent didn't seem fazed. She opened the throttle even more and sped down the street. She zipped between cars and ran two red lights, all with an impressive precision and confidence.

  Zeke could feel the cool spring wind cut through his soaked clothes, and the hair stand up on his arm just as a lightning bolt pierced the night sky. The rain pelted him with a hardness that felt like ice. He was shaking in minutes, but wasn't sure if it was the cold or adrenaline coursing through him.

  The bright, clean storefronts and shining marquis faded. Street lamps began to become more and more dim, the stores were exchanged for houses with chipping paint and brown grass in the front yards. He could hear dogs barking as they rode past, and a few men sat on their front porches, smoking cigarettes by the glow of dingy porch lights.

  Zeke was about to breathe a sigh of relief that the rain had begun to lessen, when Serpent took a hard right and swerved onto the sidewalk.

  He opened his mouth ask what was going on, when a high, nasal voice reached his ears.

  "Slippery, slippery snake," it said.

  CHAPTER SIX

  5

  Timing was something Rebecca had never had much luck in, whether that was in life, love or as a vigilante. But just this once, she wished her luck would've changed.

  "Blast and damn!"

  "What?' Zeke asked.

  "Just stay with the bike," she said, putting the kick stand out and running into the dimly lit street.

  Standing there, blond hair dripping into his pockmarked face, was Domino.

  "You ran away," he said, his long knife in one thin hand. "And we were just getting started."

  "You want a rematch? That's fine with me."

  He laughed, loud and high. "I skinned a snake once, when I was a child. It was...mesmerizing."

  The crime scenes she'd arrived at too late flashed in her mind. Bodies devoid of skin, the smell of blood on rugs and walls and the knowledge that if she had been just a little quicker, had arrived just a little sooner those people wouldn't have been tortured and killed.

  The police don't have much evidence to link him to the murders. But I know it's him...if he gets out of those charges he'll be killing again.

  Rebecca's hands tightened into fists, her mind shutting out the rain, the people probably staring out at them from their windows, and the man sitting on her bike who was terrified for his family. There was nothing but Domino, and defeating him.

  For good, if possible.

  He charged at her, swiping the knife at her head. She ducked down and punched him in the stomach. Domino stumbled back a little but didn't drop the knife, which he tried to bring down on Rebecca's arm. She had no idea if it was still laced with something and she wasn't about to find out so she spun out of his reach.

  Domino smiled, his teeth yellow and crooked.

  "Afraid of this old thing?"

  "Of what's on it."

  He shrugged. "Variety and all that."

  "You mean you can't bring me down without a little help."

  That wiped the smile off his face.

  "I don't need help!"

  "Then get rid of the knife."

  "It's mine!"

  "Like I said."

  Rebecca feinted to the right and then kicked Domino in the knee cap. She could hear the crunch of his broken bones followed by a high pitched wail. She pivoted and tried to deliver a roundhouse to his head. But Domino caught her ankle and threw it away, intending to probably knock her off balance.

  He raised his knife over his head and Rebecca drove her shoulder into his solar plexus, tackling him to the wet cement. He still didn't let go of the knife, and Rebecca was finding it quite annoying.

  Sitting high on his chest, she delivered three quick punches to his face, blood appearing on his mouth and cheek. Domino tried to stab Rebecca in the side, but she saw it out of the corner of her eye and grabbed his hand. He punched her hard across the face and she fell off him.

  Domino jumped on her, and tried to plunge the knife into her chest. Rebecca grabbed his wrists, desperate to stop him. But her gloved hands were slick from the rain and she was having a hard time keeping them from slipping.

  That's when Zeke appeared over Domino's shoulder and delivered a sloppy, but effective, punch to his face. It was enough to throw Domino off balance and Rebecca reached up to shove him completely off her. But Domino rolled to the side, taking her with him.

  He landed on top of her again. Rebecca punched him in the side. She then grabbed the hand that still held the knife and, with one quick motion, she turned the knife toward Domino. It slid into his gut like butter.

  Domino stared at her, then down at where the knife stuck out of him.

  "You...You!"

  "Me," she said, punching him across the face.

  He fell off her, clutching the knife. With a crying grunt, he pulled it out.

  She stood over him and kicked him across the face, images of the eight people he'd skinned alive burning in her mind.

  "That's for Jake," she kicked him, blood pouring from his broken nose.

  "That's for Terese," she kicked him in the stomach.

  He cried out, a gurgling sick sound.

  "What are you doing?" Zeke asked.

  She picked Domino up by his shirt front and punched him as hard as she could twice.

  "That's for Thomas and Stella."

  "Serpent!" Zeke shouted.

  "That's for Derek," one more kick.

  "Stop! You'll kill him!"

  Domino laid in a puddle that was becoming more and more red by the moment.

  "And-"

  "Is this who you are?" Zeke shouted, stepping toward her.

  Rebecca looked up at him.

  His brown eyes were wide with fear and anger, she could see him shaking a little. Was it adrenaline or the cold?

  There was something so nakedly human about him, something that spoke of decency, right and wrong, mercy and compassion.

  She looked down at his hands, clenched at his sides. The hands that could heal.

  Then down at her own. They were swollen inside the reinforced gloves, a faint sheen of red on the knuckles.

  They were the hands of...what?

  "I have to," she said.

  To herself or to Zeke?

  "Why?" he asked, his voice more of a demand. "Is this what you do? Who you are?"
>
  Rebecca stepped around Domino to stand toe to toe with Zeke. He was about a foot taller than her, but that didn't stop her from intimidating him.

  "Are you judging me? When your wife was blowing holes in almost half a dozen men at the hospital?"

  "That's different."

  "To you! This man tortured and killed men, women and last night a little girl!"

  "Then let him go to jail for it!"

  "He won't! I've seen it too many times. He won't and then more will die."

  "You don't know for sure, do you?"

  Rebecca clenched her jaw.

  Damn him! Why am I questioning this?

  "I don't know you," Zeke went on. "But what I've seen tonight doesn't line up with what you're about to do."

  "You are right, you don't know me."

  Zeke put his hands up and stepped back. "Fine, then go ahead."

  Rebecca walked toward where Domino still laid. But when she was within reach of him, when she could so easily finish it, she couldn't move.

  Do it, you know what will happen if you don't. And you've done it before...

  "But that was different," she whispered.

  She bent down and turned him over. The stomach wound had made his shirt red with blood that was still flowing.

  He'll die from that wound more than what I do to him. If fate be kind, then let him live. If not...

  Rebecca stood and turned her back on him without a second thought.

  "Let's go," she said.

  Zeke hesitated.

  "What?" she asked, her voice sharp with impatience.

  She didn't want to stay and see what happened. Better to just get on with other things, the next job, the next villain.

  "The wound in his stomach. He'll die."

  "Maybe," she straddled the motorcycle. "Chances are the police are on their way already. Are you coming?"

  Zeke hesitated a moment more before kneeling down by Domino, his hands outstretched.

  "Don't you dare!" she yelled.

  "I'm a doctor, Serpent."

  "And he's a psychopath and a killer."

  Zeke ignored her and touched Domino's thin chest.

  Rebecca felt shame and anger course hot through her veins. For a moment she considered leaving Zeke there to save his wife and child on his own. But that was a step too far, even for her.