Madman's Monster

by Michael Louis Weinberger

  Timberland let out a battle cry that was more of a roar than an actual word, and lunged with the knife, but to his surprise, the enormous figure just lazily slapped it aside, and with enough force to potentially break bone. Timberland backed away and readied himself for an attack when the first of his team arrived at the ruined wall of the hut. The "Pet" spun away from Timberland and grabbed the new arrival by his gun arm, wrenching downward and dislocated the man’s shoulder. Timberland could hear his teammates joint pop as the gun dropped harmlessly to the floor. His teammate screamed in pain, but only for the briefest of moments as the giant encircled the man's neck with his left arm, twisted and squeezed. The sound of the man's neck breaking was more like the sound of bubble wrap being popped than a crunch or repetitive crackling. Timberland didn't wait to watch the aftermath but dove for the fallen gun, grabbed it and aimed to fire when a foot from the giant caught him in the chest to send him soaring backward through the rear thatched and broken wall of the hut.

  This time when Timberland sat up he spat a mouthful of blood onto the pieces of the hut that surrounded him and watched as the "Pet" turned to confront the rest of his team as they charged in.

  ***

  Lei and I ran as fast as we could but, due to our inexperience of traveling over such wild terrain, we couldn't pick out the easiest path in order to keep up with Larson. He was nearly thirty yards ahead of us when he reached the tree line and disappeared into its foliage. As Lei and I reached the edge of the tree line we heard the report of a pair of gunshots that sent us to cover and stopped us in our tracks. Quickly we looked at one another to make sure neither of us had been struck by a bullet, and cautiously proceeded into the tangle of jungle trees, resuming our trek toward where we believed the village to be.

  It only took a minute to see the outline of the village beyond the trees and Lei and I crouched behind a large, gnarled, and exposed root to watch as people darted back and forth between their thatch huts or scurried to get away, leaving at least one man lay twitching on the ground.

  Something from the corner of the village was crawling out of the ruins of what must have been a former hut, and then limped back and into the cover of the trees that surrounded the village. Less than five feet in front of us came another gunshot from where Larson had taken up position to fire. I had to blink in surprise as, despite how close he was to where Lei and I crouched, I never would have known he was there. The man was very, very good at his job, regardless of his injuries.

  I pointed out the man escaping into the trees to Lei, "I'm going after that one, let’s see if we can take one alive. You help Larson with the crowd control."

  Lei didn't even bother to nod her understanding, as she immediately moved forward toward Larson until the Special Forces commander held up a fist for her to stop. Once I realized that Larson was aware of Lei, I made my way around the jungle trees in the hope of cutting off the escaping...whomever he was.

  ***

  Timberland worked his way painfully to the edge of the village and turned to see how his men were faring against the freak when, suddenly, one of the team jerked wildly to the side and fell as a gunshot exploded from the other side of the village. All heads turned to look where the shot had originated, but no one from the village could be seen. The shot had apparently come from the far side of the village near or past the tree line but it wasn't until the second shot rang out and another one of his people fell dead to the ground that Timberland realized he wasn't dealing with an armed villager. The shots were too well placed for any farmer.

  Then an unfamiliar Caucasian man wearing military camouflage while aiming an AR-15 moved out of the tree line and knelt to fire another round. Timberland watched as a third member of his team crumpled when his head burst as the round blew the side of it away. The remaining six members of his personal security team opened fire, forcing the new arrival to take cover back in the trees, as a barrage of bullets headed his way.

  Timberland tapped his earpiece and found it to be miraculously still functional despite his many trips through the walls of the hut.

  "Unknown hostiles have engaged! Retreat to the compound and regroup!" Timberland yelled the order and watched as each of his team immediately changed direction, heading for the tree line that they had originally come out of. One of his team, a woman who was a particularly wonderful marksman, slipped on some loose dirt and was grabbed by the giant freak before she could regain her footing. Without effort or consideration the freak tossed her bodily back toward the center of the village with such force that she bounced several times before coming to a stop almost thirty yards back and away.

  He considered moving to help, but suddenly was mesmerized by another stranger who ran from the forest and charged at the fallen woman. The stranger was also woman, looking more like she belonged in a red California lifeguard's swimsuit, as opposed to the hiking gear she was wearing, but when she reached his teammate the sight turned so surreal that Timberland couldn't turn away. The woman literally leapt onto his fallen teammate and began clawing at her with her fingers like she was some kind of a bear. It looked comical until larger and larger streaks of blood began flying with every slash. It was just too much to take in, so Timberland followed his own orders, retreating into the jungle. He had barely made it into the trees when his path was cut off by another man, also dressed in what looked like urban hiking gear.

  "And where do you think you're going?" the man said almost laughingly as he blocked Timberland's path.

  It didn't take a genius’ intellect for Timberland to realize he was going to have to go through this man, as opposed to around him. He reached first for his sidearm, which wasn't in its holster, and then for the K-bar that he had managed to slip back into its sheath, before he was kicked in the chest.

  Timberland crouched down and spread his arms wide in preparation for his attack, while the man in hiking gear shifted his feet and circled to the right. Timberland knew that each of them were looking for the opening that would give them an advantage. Timberland saw the opportunity he was looking for as the man in the hiking gear stumbled ever so slightly on an exposed tree root, and he leapt forward with a snarl while slashing with the knife. Unable to dodge or shuffle out of the way, the man was forced to block the oncoming knife with his arm. Timberland tried to twist the edge of the knife around to slash the man's arm as he pulled the blade back in, but the man had regained his footing and spun back and out of range. Timberland didn't let the man rest, as he darted forward, feigning a strike at the face, but shifting mid-strike to drive the point of his knife in low for an incapacitating wound at the opponent’s legs.

  The man seemed to take the bait as he lifted his arms to block the strike at his face, but moments before Timberland would have driven the blade of his knife to the hilt into the man's thigh, the man lifted his leg and leaned back allowing the knife to pass harmlessly through empty air.

  Panic filled Timberland as he realized he had overextended his thrust and was caught off balance as the man pivoted and brought the heel of his boot back down and around in a powerful kick. Timberland did the only thing his momentum would allow and he rolled forward past the oncoming booted foot and into the man. The man's leg did strike his head, but the blow came more from the thigh are as opposed to the heel or shin, which reduced the power behind the impact. Unfortunately Timberland was also too close to properly slash or stab with his knife, so he pushed off with his legs, driving his shoulder into the man's abdomen and sending him to the jungle floor.

  Timberland immediately fell on top of the man driving his knife straight for the man's throat. The man saw the attack coming and twisted so the knife drove deep into the soft earth beneath the spot where his body had been. Then the man's hand whipped out and grabbed at Timberland's wrist just as the knife was pulled free of the ground and Timberland shifted to point it at the man's face. He pressed down on the knife with the point mere inches from the man's eye, but the man beneath him was so strong that the blade made no further dow
nward progress. Timberland tried to shift his weight as he lay on top of the man and he put his other hand behind the blade to add the extra force of both arms and even more of his body weight behind the stab. Yet incredibly, despite the added leverage, the man beneath him compensated for the difference and started to push his way out from under the point of the blade. The knife rose slowly away from the man's eye and Timberland growled as he desperately tried to push the blade back down again.

  ***

  It was all I could do to keep the knife away from my face as I held onto the guy's wrist and kept him from stabbing me in the face. Then he started thrashing around like a wild animal, which lessened the direct downward pressure but made it even more difficult to hold on to him.

  What was going on? I should have been able to take this guy apart, but he was moving faster than a regular human and also seemed stronger than his physical appearance would have otherwise suggested. I could hear Lei calling out to me from the distance, and I supposed that the rest of the people who were strangers to the village had retreated, but that didn't help me in my current predicament.

  I brought my leg up and wrapped it around the man's waist while shifting my weight and rolled both of us over. It was a neat little trick I had learned from one of the martial art instructors at the police academy, and it left me sitting ontop of my opponent in a dominant position. The quick shift in leverage had also enabled me to pin his wrist to the ground and I raised my fist for the punch that would have sent him to sleep when his head darted to the hand which I was enforcing the pin, and he sank his teeth into my forearm.

  I cried out with more shock than pain, and couldn't help but to see a beast pinned beneath me, instead of a man. He took advantage of my moment of confusion and managed to kick me off of his body sending me rolling down the path and away from him. I deliberately rolled with the force of my fall, and sprang to my knees in preparation for the attack I was sure was coming, but the man was gone.

  I stood and ran forward a few steps, but quickly stopped to listen for the sounds of the guy running through the dense foliage and giving away his position, but all I could hear was the background sounds of Lei and Larson, as they called out to me from the village.

  I looked down to my arm and saw a perfect semi-circle of teeth marks where the guy had bitten me. The bite was deep and it bled a little, but I ignored it as my particular physiology left me insusceptible to infection, which is what normally would be the only concern. I tore apiece of my shirt away and wrapped the bite to staunch the bleeding in any case.

  Lei called out again and I answered with a quick, "I'm okay!"

  I was going to turn and walk back to the village but couldn't keep myself from taking one last look into the trees. That guy had been too strong, too quick and too...what? My head searched for the right word, but all I could come up with was, “wild.”

  He clearly had been well trained, but I still should have been more than a match for him, yet he had held his own against me without much difficulty.

  What the hell was going on?

  Chapter 30

  I wandered back into the village, as many of its inhabitants began emerging from wherever they had been hiding. I watched as mothers hugged their children and men gathered in small groups over the bodies of the men Larson had shot. They were whispering to each other, and then looking at us, before turning to what might have been the largest man I had ever seen, both in height and stature, who was moving gracefully throughout the village. Once my eyes had settled upon the man I couldn't look away. Even Lei, who was perched like a bird of prey over the woman she had subdued, couldn't maintain my attention. The guy was even bigger than Alpha, who was one of the most imposing figures that anyone could ever hope to gaze upon.

  It wasn't just the man's size. I had seen athletes, basketball players mostly, who grew to such proportions, but there was an air about him that simply couldn't be ignored. He also seemed strangely familiar to me, but I quickly brushed that thought aside as I saw Larson slowly approaching the giant.

  Larson kept his weapon trained on the man, but his eyes weren't focused on aiming as he made his way forward. The giant saw him coming and froze, hands clenched in fists, and his whole body tense as if ready to spring.

  Finally, when he was less than ten feet from the man, Larson lowered the rifle and his voice cracking as he said, "Zach?"

  The giant looked surprised at the name and his head tilted in a fashion similar to the way dogs will tilt their heads when confused.

  "Zach, it's Rob," Larson engaged the safety on his rifle and let it hang loosely in his hand as he spoke to the giant. I watched nervously as Larson came within striking distance of the massive arms the giant possessed.

  Larson had apparently found his friend, but the reality that the man who stood in front of him may no longer be the same friend he had known previously didn't seem to register with Larson.

  I looked to Lei, who looked back, as if asking if this was the man we had come to find, I shrugged my shoulders and took a step in her direction. As soon as I moved the giant swung his head in my direction, and I got a clear look at the man's eyes.

  I gasped at the sight, because those eyes didn't look human. They were blood red where the whites should have been, and the circle of each eye, that should have been his iris and pupils, were totally black. I felt a fear erupt from somewhere inside of me unlike anything I had ever felt before, and in that moment, I was more terrified than I had ever been in my life. I wanted to run away, or fall to my knees and curl up in a ball to hide. But instead I just stepped back and looked over to Lei who had been watching me. The color had drained from her face when she saw my reaction, and she immediately turned to see what had affected me so. When she realized what I had seen her reaction was even more severe than mine, and as I watched she encircled her arms around her middle and begin to shiver.

  It was an old woman who broke the spell for all of us. I remembered having heard her voice in the background, calling out to her people who had begun to follow the commands and requests she had been giving to them. Then she walked right up to the giant and took his hand with Larson watching her curiously, as she pulled the big man the couple of steps closer to stand in front of him.

  "Drop rifle on dirt," she recommended quietly and with authority to Larson.

  Larson didn't have the rifle raised and he looked confused, but the woman spoke again in the same severely broken English, "He is focus on rifle. Can't see you, only it."

  Larson looked from the old woman to the man he called Zach and shrugged his shoulders while dropping the rifle where it landed softly on the ground. Instantly the giant reacted and looked to the rifle and then back up to Larson’s face. A smile broke out over the big man's face and his mouth began to move as if trying to speak, without being able to form the words. Larson began smiling as well as he walked forward and extended his hand to the giant. The man, Zach, looked at the hand and extended his own. Larson's hand disappeared completely inside the giant's who was smiling fiercely as he pulled Larson in and embraced him in a manly hug, complete with slaps on the back, and a sound that I took to be a laugh.

  Larson accepted the hug , but was letting out grunts of pain with every back slap he received. When Zach finally let him go Larson seemed to finally notice the man's eyes. He had a much less visible reaction than Lei or I had, but it was clear from how his smile faded and his expression turned to concern that it did have an effect on him.

  "Oh Zach, what did they do to you man?"

  "Come," the old woman said, "we talk."

  Chapter 31

  The five of us sat around a small fire inside one of the huts as the woman, who we were guessing was possibly the village elder or something akin to that, made us tea. Every time one of us tried to speak she would shush us and tell us to wait until the tea was ready.

  Larson was staring at the man he knew as Zach, who happened to have nearly every inch of his skin marred by scar tissue that looked only recently healed.
His face was spared to a degree, but there was still evidence of trauma that made it clear his visage wasn't completely unscathed.

  When the kettle started to whistle, the steam erupting from its spout made a little cloud, the old woman removed the tea and expertly shifted the kettle to each of us and poured the precise amount into a small bamboo cup. Larson, Lei and I all stared with fascination at her casual catering to our needs, before she ended her formalities by sitting down next to Zach and patting his knee.

  "So," she began in heavily accented English, "we thank you for help against demons, but you not here for them, yes?"

  Demons? I thought, what did she mean by that?

  Larson spoke before I could ask, "Yes, we came to find Zach," and he pointed to the big man who began to sway as he knelt before the fire. The old woman kept her hand on his knee and inclined her head in Larson's direction.

  "Why you want find my son?"

  That statement left everyone speechless.

  "Ho! I ask question," the old woman had sounded protective of Zach when she had called him "Son." Now she sounded as if she was getting angry at us.

  Larson found his tongue first, "Sorry, but...your son?" He looked at Zach who began to slump his body forward as if fighting off falling asleep, "I'm sorry ma'am, but I don't understand."

  "Shah, shah, shah..." the woman waved her hand in apparent disgust, as she rose and shuffled her feet to a small set of drawers that appeared to have been carved from the trees that surrounded the village. There were only two drawers in the piece and she opened the top drawer and felt around inside. We could hear pieces of metal or glass clinking softly together as she manipulated her hand inside the drawer, before she closed the top drawer and opened the bottom one. Her hand dipped inside and immediately pulled out a manila envelope, holding it to her chest with one hand as she closed the drawer with the other.