Monster of the Apocalypse

by C. Henry Martens

  Still sitting apart, Deo was left to muse over his inner turmoil while Hey You invited Lecti upstairs.

  Lecti hesitated. “I can’t leave Deo.”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll just sit up there where we can watch over him.”

  A small table with two chairs in the shadows was a comfortable place to observe the lower floor. They spoke together in low voices, discussing and explaining their circumstances. Hey You spoke hesitantly at first. She had little experience at conversation, but Lecti made her feel comfortable quickly. Lecti learned about how Hey You hated her own name, why she dressed and smelled as she did, and verified Hal’s perversions. Hey You listened to Lecti speak about her father and the circumstances of his death, how they ran and found Toshi outside a small town south of Redding, California, and how they had traveled and survived. Lecti told Hey You that she should pick out a new name. It had not occurred to Hey You that she could do that.

  Hey You sipped from one of the two bottles of water she produced from a partial case on the floor. “I like that idea. I’ll have to give it some thought.”

  A nagging question was in the back of Lecti’s mind. She asked, “Did Hal really kill Toshi? He told us that the bikers did it.”

  Hey You thought about the conversation she had with the older biker. It was just yesterday morning. He woke her up early with a light tap on her door. How he figured out which room was hers was a mystery. He asked about Hal and if she was safe. When she denied being in danger, he seemed skeptical but let it go. He asked for a couple of bottles of bourbon, and since Hal was still asleep, Hey You got them for him. Stuffing the bottles into his saddlebags, he prepared to leave.

  “Aren’t you going to wait for your friends?” Hey You asked.

  “They’re not my friends,” he replied. “You sure you’re okay?”

  She nodded, and he rode off, up to the freeway entrance. Instead of taking it, he veered south into town.

  Hey You told Lecti about his early departure. Lecti was interested to know that he had not been part of the murder.

  Coming back to Lecti’s question, Hey You replied, “No, Hal didn’t kill her. She was dead when Hal looked in the room. They really did tell him that she was sleeping late. She was too old for him. He wants you, though. You’re young enough. You have to be careful.”

  Her mind working overtime, Lecti considered what to do. She knew Deo was serious about pursuing the bikers. Solutions to keeping them out of harm’s way seemed remote. Telling Deo that Hal was the one who killed Toshi would keep him from chasing the bikers. Deo would kill Hal, and that wasn’t a bad thing except that Lecti did not want Deo to kill anybody. He had never taken that step. For that matter, neither had Lecti. She had come close this morning. The odds of catching the bikers were slim. She could deal with that eventuality later, in the unlikely chance that it ever happened.

  Deo’s mind was past the biggest part of his grief. He was into revenge mode. The bikers were dead. They just didn’t know it yet. His age gave him a dangerous overconfidence, and his rage destroyed any chance of a reasonable perspective. He remembered something Hal had said, and began weaving it into a plan he was forming.

  Digging a grave was not part of Hal’s plan. He was fuming. Here were two kids, one an object of his desire, and he wasn’t able to acquire them. It was not likely now that he would be successful. Why had he failed? They could not be that smart or that lucky. He thought about turning the dogs on them in his anger, but he knew that it would just end up being a good way to lose his dogs. He would maintain his friendly demeanor and try to find an opportunity. He wasn’t giving up yet.

  At about three feet, Hal judged the grave to be deep enough.

  A body-sized bundle of canvas was laying on a gurney when Hal returned. The gurney was light and collapsible and would serve as a stretcher if they got into rough ground.

  These kids were encroaching on Hal’s territory. He resented them searching through his home to find what they needed. That they might have gotten help didn’t cross his mind.

  When Lecti and Hey You broke off their conversation, Hey You admonished once more, “Be careful. I’ll be watching, and if you get into trouble and I can help, I will.”

  As Lecti stepped onto the staircase, she reached out and took Hey You’s hand. “Thanks. I’ll be careful. You, too, you be careful.”

  Hey You stayed on the balcony. She wanted to ask if she could go with them, but a strange reluctance held her back.

  The grave was west of the hospital. It was an area that Hal began to use when burying his first victims. He tired after digging two graves and started dumping the remains in a wash to the north. Now, after setting the gurney beside the grave and lowering the body inside, Deo, Lecti, and Hal bowed their heads for a moment. Lecti detested the facade that Hal was projecting. He was scum, and Lecti couldn’t wait to exit his company.

  Returning to the hospital foyer, they remained quiet, wrapped in their own thoughts. There were so many thoughts, plenty to fill their heads without speaking and creating more clutter.

  It was getting late. Hal offered a meal, which Lecti was inclined to reject. They needed to eat. Finally Lecti offered to help Hal prepare it. That was the last thing he wanted. Hal was fully capable of using the drugs in the pharmacy to doctor their food. He realized that once again Lecti had dodged a bullet. They went to the kitchen together to fix the meal.

  Hospital kitchens were impressive. They were geared to producing mass quantities of food efficiently and still have the ability to specialize in satisfying the needs of patients with unusual dietary requirements. Hey You knew this from her studies, but Hal, and now Lecti, were only impressed because of the size, the massive stainless steel surfaces, and the quantities of hardware.

  Staying away from Hal, Lecti watched. She had no intention of helping to prepare the meal. She would not get that close to Hal. Her hand rested lightly on the butt of her holstered revolver.

  The reefers still operated on the solar energy from the hospital roof. The system was built to last and was simple to repair, so Hal managed to keep it running with little effort. Fresh vegetables from a garden on the roof barely filled one shelf. A small amount of fresh meat occupied a meat drawer. The rest held canned goods. Cans in a low temperature reefer stayed good much longer than on a room temperature shelf. Lecti did not see the drawer with preserved garden seed. It was seed from an organic source and intended for harvesting more seed as much as growing food. Hal was rich. His wealth was preserved food and the ability to grow more.

  Tuna salad on a bed of fresh lettuce, sliced tomatoes on the side soon filled three plates. It looked good to Lecti, and she hadn’t seen anything to make her suspicious. She wondered why there were only three plates. Either Hal was not going to eat or Hey You was on her own.

  Hal picked up a plate and started to leave.

  “Wait a minute,” Lecti objected. “Put that down and get a tray.” She wasn’t going to fill her hands and give Hal an opening.

  That was exactly Hal’s intent. He was stymied again. This little bitch was really getting under his skin. Once again he would have to create an opportunity.

  Lecti noted the position on the tray of the plate Hal had picked up. She followed him out of the kitchen and up the stairs, keeping her distance.

  “When we get up there, Hal, you put that tray down and back off.”

  If he had the option, Hal would have wasted her right then, other desires be damned.

  Hal put the tray on the center table where Deo was sitting. Deo paid no attention. He was lost in his thoughts and barely noticed.

  As Hal backed away, Lecti picked up the plate that Hal had originally selected. She chose another to put in front of Deo. Standing opposite the table from Hal, she indicated to him that the remaining plate was his to take.

  What Lecti had done was not lost on Hal. He smiled externally and fumed internally.

  They ate in silence. Hal had not had a chance to drug the food. Deo ate very little.


  As Hal failed, he became even more determined. He weighed his options, trying to piece the puzzle together to get what he felt he now deserved. He deserved Lecti simply because she was managing to frustrate him.

  The dogs weren’t his only option. The Uzi under the bar would at least satisfy his blood lust. He wanted more. Patience, he told himself, patience.

  Chapter 11

  “Where did Toshi die?” Deo suddenly asked. He turned and looked at Hal, leaning on the bar, his empty plate pushed to the side. “You said that you moved her body. Where did she die?”

  Noticing the sudden intensity of Lecti, Hal took his time replying. Was this his opportunity? He could lead them to another room that was set up as a trap. But knowing that Lecti was already on guard, he decided to pass up an attempt that he was reasonably sure would fail. It would just make her even more suspicious.

  “Okay kid, I’ll show you the room I gave them. It’s not pretty.”

  Deo didn’t like Hal. He really had no reason to suspect Hal other than having a feeling of unease whenever Hal was around. Lecti hadn’t discussed her earlier conversation with Hey You, so he didn’t know that Hal was not involved in the killing. Even without a conversation he could feel that Lecti loathed Hal. Beyond that, well, Deo just didn’t like him.

  Behind the door Hal opened was a large room. He would have cleaned it today if Lecti and Deo hadn’t shown up so early. The beds were a mess. One was a bare mattress and the other looked like it had been slept on without the covers being pulled back. A floor lamp and a chair were overturned. A bottle, empty, lay on the floor next to a bloody sheet. There wasn’t a lot of blood, but any blood was too much.

  Deo moved about the room, slowly, deliberately, gathering his thoughts as he gathered information. He could believe now that the bikers were responsible.

  Motioning Hal to enter the room, Lecti stopped at the doorway just as she did at the other room. She read this room, too. Her first concern was the lock on the door. It was a lock normally found on an office door. It only locked from the inside unless you used a key from the outside. If need be she could break it with her wrecking bar. The room confirmed what Hey You had told her. If Hal wanted to trap someone, he would not put her in this room.

  Stooping to pick up a trashcan, Hal moved to the sheets on the floor. He picked them up and stuffed them into the can.

  “Sorry, sorry you saw this,” said Hal. “I was going to clean it up. I didn’t want you to see it.”

  If they liked Hal and were not already watching him closely, they might have bought his show of sympathy.

  Deo looked at Lecti, “We’ll sleep here tonight. Tomorrow we’ll figure out the rest.”

  Lecti acquiesced without a word. She did not believe in ghosts or spirits so found no reason to deny Deo the chance to take this last night to feel close to Toshi.

  Hal would not have spent the night here for anything. He kept his bedroom fortified in order to keep the ghosts out as much as the living. Symbols from Christianity to the arcane crowded his safe room. More and more it seemed that spirits still found ways to come to him.

  Hal wished he had a way to contain the kids in the room as he left them. Closing the door softly, he was already deep in his fantasies.

  The night passed uneventfully.

  Lecti let Deo sleep in the morning and went to make coffee in the hospital atrium. She thought she knew what Deo’s plan was, and figuring out how to avoid it was her only option.

  Arriving soon after Lecti, Hal brought forth a full plastic bag and a hotplate. He decided to splurge this morning. It came to him in the night that good food might soften Lecti up.

  Chickens had managed to survive in Carson City. Finding them, Hal encouraged their survival with feed during the winter months. He caught a few using a trap baited with corn from his garden. They tamed quickly, though not completely, gave him eggs, and then fresh meat when they stopped laying. They were ferocious bug killers and protected more garden produce than they destroyed.

  The eggs were one of Hal’s true joys, and he loved to cook them. Sharing them this morning actually made him feel good. Bacon, bread, and butter in sealed, irradiated packaging from his freezer completed his menu.

  Surprised, Lecti sat opposite the chef. She watched Hal pull bacon strips apart as they thawed in the pan. Soon the air was filled with an aroma that she missed. The road was not a good place to find food like this. Hal pulled the sealed bread packages apart and placed the buttered bread on top of the bacon to warm. Immediately he cracked perfect, small eggs into a skillet of hot butter.

  “Go get your brother, Lecti,” he said joyfully. “It’s going to be done before he can get here.”

  Lecti could see the makeshift kitchen from the hallway and she kept an eye on Hal as she walked to their room. Opening the door, she was startled. Deo was already pulling the door open. He was startled, too, and they laughed. Perfect timing. He would not be late for breakfast.

  It was the first time Lecti felt relaxed since they had arrived here. Deo, too, seemed to be comfortable although somewhat introspective. The food did its work, and the mood was much lighter. Hal tried not to say too much, but he was enjoying himself and allowed himself to be part of the conversation. Gradually there started to be small silences. It was not awkward, just time to step the conversation up to more serious topics. They all knew this and avoided the change for a short time. Finally, Deo, being the most intent on making progress, turned the discussion.

  Looking at Hal, he stated, “You said something yesterday. Something about having resources. About being able to help us catch up to the bikers.”

  Lecti started. She had forgotten all about that. Damn.

  It was hard to control himself. Hal suddenly knew he had the opening he had been waiting for. He kept his face lowered, trying to be nonchalant.

  “Yeah, yeah, I might have said something like that. I know what you need if you want to catch them.”

  “Well, give it up,” Deo suggested, still lost in the camaraderie they had been enjoying. “They were riding motorcycles. How do we catch up?”

  Playing it out, Hal seemed to hesitate as though he wanted to save Deo from a harsh reality.

  “Look kid, are you sure you want to do that? You know Toshi deserved what she got.”

  He had almost gone too far, but he had also managed to set the hook.

  Deo’s eyes got cold and hard. Good humor was no longer in the building.

  “Nobody deserves what she got,” said Deo, ice in his voice, “and who are you to make that kind of remark?”

  Hal did not look at Lecti. He was afraid to give himself away.

  “I’m the guy who’s going to help you catch the bastards.” He looked up and met Deo’s eyes. “I’m the guy with what you need, the guy with resources.”

  “So give it up.” Deo’s hand moved to his pistol grip.

  “No, kid, no. It doesn’t work like that. Information like this is worth something. You’ve got to give me something. Something of value.”

  Hal moved his hand beneath the counter. His finger caressed the trigger of the Uzi as he pointed it at Deo. The thin wood of the bar would not hinder the deadliness of the weapon. It was now or never.

  He turned his head and met Lecti’s frightened gaze.

  Lecti knew what Hal wanted. She knew it all along. The unwavering stare let her know that she had lost. When Hal dropped his hand under the counter top Lecti knew he had something poised to kill Deo. If she didn’t give Hal what he wanted, Deo would be dead within seconds.

  “I’ve got something. Something you can have,” she said without dropping her eyes.

  Not realizing that a weapon was pointed at him beneath the counter by a psychopath with every intention of killing him, Deo was puzzled. He didn’t know what Lecti was talking about.

  “What, what do we have that he could want?” Deo asked, motioning toward Hal with his head.

  Still maintaining her focus on Hal, Lecti replied, “The camcorder. I
’ll even show you how it works.”

  “Deal,” replied Hal, barely able to control the grin forming on his face. He glanced at Deo and back to Lecti. She still met him with an unblinking regard.

  “I’ll be right back.” Lecti rose from her seat and disappeared into their room.

  She emerged seconds later with both of their packs, the rifle and the shotgun tucked under her arms. Dropping the packs she propped the rifle against the bar and placed the shotgun on the counter in front of Deo. She pulled the headset out of her pack nonchalantly.

  Lecti did not want Deo to know what was happening. She feigned an aura of unconcern and tried to figure out how to throw Deo off the trail.

  “Listen, brother,” she said evenly, “I’m going to give Hal something special. I figure that he’ll give us better information if he gets something of more value.”

  Deo looked puzzled.

  Hal couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Did she expect her brother to go for this? His finger tightened on the trigger.

  “I’m going to let him take some pictures of me.” Lecti tried to look coy. “I don’t mind. We’ll never see him again, and he’s an old man. It’ll make his day.” She grinned.

  If Deo had been in his normal frame of mind he might have objected, but he wanted the information, and he saw no real harm.

  Impressed and relieved, Hal could not fathom how Lecti had managed to divert Deo.

  As Lecti came around the bar carrying the camcorder, Hal told her to lay her knife on the counter, framing it as a request. He picked it up, twirling it blade up and admiring it.

  “Don’t want you to stick me after I give you what you want.” Hal said, smiling.

  Taking her arm and still playing with the knife, he led her toward the room she had spent the night in. Things were finally going his way.

  Lecti stopped at the door and turned. For a moment Hal thought she had changed her mind, and he might have to gut her here.

  “Deo, pick up the shotgun. If I take too long, shoot the dogs. Watch the door, and if Hal comes out first, shoot him.” She grinned at Hal. “Can’t be too careful.”