"Aw, so sweet. Clearly I am not easily forgotten. I could take my time with your friend, you know, run the blade over his abdomen and let his guts drop out on the floor as you watch him die slowly." The doctor laughed, "Hell, given enough time I could even skin him alive. It would take him days to die, and all the while you will be sitting there waiting for me to come out."
The doctor extended his arms and gestured around the room, "This is a laboratory. There's a water source in here, as well as I.V. bags of glucose for my experiments, so I bet I can outlast you, but even if I can't, I guarantee that your friend won't make it."
I held Lei tighter and she rested her forehead against my chest as I asked, "Chris? Anything?"
I couldn't see Chris shake his head, but the tone of his voice was enough despite his words, "Still trying."
"And you can tell your friend to give up on the computer. The system is mine."
I looked back to the doctor, but movement on the far side of the room caught my eye. There was a blur of movement and then the doctor's body was wrenched to one side as something massive hit him. I have no idea how Zach beat the flash box's effects, but he was operating again at full steam and was slamming the doctor repeatedly against the heavy glass. Amazingly the doctor seemed to be ignoring the damage each blow was sustaining on his person, and he swung his scalpel at Zach's chest, carving a horrible gash diagonally from the top of his left pec to the base of his right. Zach reacted to the trauma and punched the doctor hard in the chest. We could hear ribs shattering as the doctor flew back into the glass and his body fell to the floor. Again the frail man got up and charged crazily at Zach, but Zach caught the wrist that held the scalpel and squeezed. The doctor turned his eyes to his wrist watching as his bones were pressed against each other until they were crushed to splinters, but he didn't scream in pain. Instead launched a kick up into Zach's groin that staggered the big man making him let go of the doctor’s ruined extremity.
The doctor was wheezing and red foam was starting to bubble up and out of his mouth as he tried to distance himself from the monster he had created, but Zach recovered from the blow and quickly drove the doctor to the floor. Zach sat on top of the doctor smashing a fist into his head once, twice and then a third time, until the doctor lay motionless on the floor of the chamber.
Frowning and out of breath, Zach stood over the doctor and gazed down at the unconscious man as his chest rose and fell with each labored breath. Zach looked around the room and began walking toward the observation room. We three were smiling, but Zach was still wearing that emotionless look on his face. The blood from the gash in his chest had completely saturated the clothes he was wearing and his face was getting pale. He mouthed some words but they were in a language none of us could understand.
I pushed the button on the microphone and asked, "Zach, do you know how we can unlock the doors and get you out of there?"
Zach tilted his head in that confused puppy manner again, but then seemed to comprehend what I was saying as he pointed to the console next to the computer. There were a series of dials and gauges that appeared to be monitoring the pressure, air quality and proper seal of the laboratory chamber. There were several switches as well but there was no way to indicate which one might be the key to an "Unlocking" mechanism for the lab.
Zach was pointing to the switches and Chris slid the chair over and looked through the glass.
"Do you know which switch?" Chris asked.
Zach nodded and pointed.
Chris placed his fingers on the first switch and looked at Zach, who shook his head "No."
Chris moved to the next and repeated the process as Zach continued to indicate that he was touching the incorrect switch. Finally Chris seemed to find the right one as Zach nodded in the affirmative.
Chris looked at me and I shrugged my shoulders back at him. I knew what Chris was thinking. Something didn't feel right, but I couldn't think of what the problem might be. I turned to Lei, who I found staring at Zach with a concerned look on her face.
"Lei?"
She shook her head, "I don't know."
Then a surprising force rocked the entire building. The electronics blinked on and off before righting themselves and all of us staggered a bit as we looked around in surprise.
"What the hell was that?" I called out.
Chris moved back to the computer and opened the security system. A black and white image flickered to life on its screen, relaying a picture of the outside jungle, which was either on fire, or scorched to blackened ash.
"That looks like a big explosion, but what went off?" Chris asked as he panned the camera around.
A thought occurred to me and I said, "Can you aim the camera up?"
Chris nodded, "Sure but all we'll see are the tops of trees."
We all watched the image as the camera slowly panned up to reveal a large hole in the jungle’s canopy and empty sky beyond. Well, almost empty...there was one white vapor trail carving a line into the sky and its source was obviously our location.
"Someone shot a Goddamn missile at us?"
Lei nodded, "Or at the camp."
"Shit, do either of you have my two way radio to Larson?"
Chapter 56
"You there Major?" Steve's voice came from the speaker of the two-way radio that Larson had attached to his belt. He had been wondering if Steve and the others had survived the initial missile strike, and now felt a slight degree of triumph at the sound of Steve's voice.
Rogers had heard it as well and he raised the barrel of his pistol so Larson could see it in his peripheral vision.
"Don't answer that," Rogers said in a calm, but warning tone.
Larson shook his head in disgust, "You aren't even going to let me warn them?"
Rogers frowned, "They're in the hot zone. You know as well as I do that it means they are to be considered contaminated and can't be allowed to leave without being cleared first."
Larson growled, "And, as there will be a 30,000 pound bomb about to land on their heads, they're certainly not going to get the chance to be 'cleared' first."
Rogers smiled, "Looks that way."
Steve's voice called out again, "Major? Are you there? What just hit us?"
Larson ground his teeth as he steered the Jeep around one of the many large holes in the dirt road.
"Pat, this is so wrong. You haven't been out that long, man. My God, we would never have abandoned anyone like this when we were in the same unit."
Rogers smirk faded and his eyes dropped just a bit at those words, but then he said, "People change, Major."
Larson turned his head away from the road for a split second to ask, "Is it really that simple for you?"
"Of course not!" Rogers exploded, and Larson worried that in the sudden anger he might pull the trigger by accident. "This goes against everything I believe in, but those three...whatever they are, aren't really our people or our concern."
"And what about Zach?"
Rogers paused, "We never really knew Zach did we? I always wondered how that big bastard was so damn good without any formal military training. Turns out he was one of them all along."
"One of them?"
"Some kind of goddamn monster."
Larson purposely shifted the steering wheel, aiming the Jeep toward the nearest and deepest hole in the road. The front of the Jeep dipped severely and then shot up in a violent bounce that caused both of its un-belted passengers to come out of their seats. Larson was prepared for the jolt and had readied himself, but Rogers careened wildly around in the passenger chair and was forced to move the gun away from Larson in order to brace himself. Larson whipped his right arm out and struck Rogers' wrist, sending the gun flying backward out of the Jeep. Rogers responded by throwing a short punch into Larson's face with his left arm, but when the blow caused the Jeep to veer off the road he stopped trying to fight.
Larson slammed on the brakes and grabbed Rogers with both hands, but to his surprise Rogers merely held his hands up i
n surrender.
"I don't want to fight!" Rogers screamed wide-eyed and frantic, "We can settle our differences once were out of the area!"
Larson ripped the radio from his belt, "Steve! Come in! Steve!"
Initial static turned into a tinny but clear voice, "We're here Major! What's going on?"
Larson told them everything, including the impending MOP strike.
When Steve's voice returned it was calm, but tight, "How long do we have before the next set of missiles?"
Larson turned to Rogers, who promptly answered, "They're probably already on the way. The idea will be to break through the trees to get a clear visual of the target so they can be as surgical as possible with that MOP."
"Did you get that?" Steve asked after Rogers stopped speaking.
"Yeah," Steve replied, "What happens after the next missile strike?"
Rogers spoke up without prompting, "Satellites will confirm the blast site as being fully exposed, or not. If not, then more missiles will rain down until they get the exposure they are looking for, and then the MOP will follow."
Steve asked, "How long between missile strikes?"
Rogers shrugged, "Maybe ten minutes?"
"Okay, going to sign off now."
"Steve!" Larson nearly screamed into the radio.
"Yes?"
"I...I don't know how...I'm sorry this happened."
There was silence on the other end for a beat and then, "If we make it out you and I will be having words, Major."
Larson knew there was zero chance of Steve, Lei, Chris or Zach making it out of the blast zone, but he nodded saying, "Understood. Good luck."
The radio went silent..
Chapter 57
"They're going to blow us up," Chris said with a certain degree of humor in his voice.
"Lei and Chris, you get to the villagers and get them out of here! Try to get them as far away from this place as you can!"
I didn't know why I was bothering. We had no transportation, even if we managed to survive the missile attack, there was no way we'd survive such a massive explosion.
Chris looked at me, "Kinda pointless, no?"
I shook my head, "Maybe it will take them longer to level the place than they thought. Maybe it will give us enough time."
Lei looked at me and shook her head defiantly, "If this is the end I'm not leaving you."
"Dammit," I cursed and knew that when she wanted to dig in her heels on something, it was nearly impossible to change her mind.
"All right," I surrendered, "At least gather up the villagers and get them running. Who knows? Maybe there will be a miracle and somehow they make it." When neither of them moved I sighed, "Can you two at least do that for me?"
Chris was up and moving in an instant, but Lei stepped to me and lightly kissed my lips, "What are you going to do?"
I shrugged, "Try and get Zach out of there. Give him a chance too."
Lei nodded and caressed my face with one hand before turning and running after Chris.
I turned to the observation glass and saw that Zach had been watching us the entire time. He made the same motion again at the electronics console and I walked to the switches that Chris had been in front of before the missile strike had hit us.
I looked at Zach, "Okay big fella, which one do you want me to hit?"
Zach pointed again and I placed my hand on the switch. Again the feeling of wrongness shot through me and I paused before flicking the switch. I have never been particularly intuitive. I trust my instincts, of course, but this was different. My instincts told me when there might be danger lurking in a dark alley, or whether or not an enemy was packing a gun. This was more of a feeling like I had forgotten to do something but, for the life of me, I wasn't going to remember what it was.
I looked at Zach even though I knew he couldn't hear me without my pressing the transmit button on the microphone, "Is this the switch you want?"
I hoped my body language would convey what I had said well enough. Zach just looked at me for a second and then nodded.
I nodded as well, and flicked the switch. Instantly the main lights shut down to be replaced by red lights, and a siren came through all the speakers. Shocked by the sudden noise and light I stood abruptly and tried to find the source of it all. My head cleared a second later and I realized that the switch I had thrown was the culprit and tried to push it back into its original position. The switch clicked back into place, but the process that had started didn't shut itself down.
I looked to Zach, and through the blood red color that was in his eyes I could tell he was staring right at me. I ran over to the microphone and pressed the transmit button, "What did I just do?!"
Zach was the picture of calm as the sound of a generator hummed into life. I looked around, but saw that nothing had changed inside the observation room. Zach walked over to where the doctor was lying on the floor of the lab. The big man grabbed him by his shirt and dragged him over to the computer terminals. Zach lifted the doctor with one hand and set his gangly body in a chair and spun the chair to face the display screen.
I could hear the doctor wheezing with every breath as the laboratory side of the sound system was open and the doctor's deep voice sounded raspy when he spoke, "You're pumping the virus into the chamber?"
Zach just looked at the doctor without responding.
The doctor coughed and spat out a mouthful of bloody foam, "Heh, going to kill me with my own creation hmm? Think that you'll survive because I've given you the vaccine already?" The doctor began cackling, which was probably about as close to an actual laugh he could muster with those broken ribs.
A dark green mist started flowing from the air vents and the doctor turned to look at it and smiled.
"Well then, the joke's on you." the doctor's teeth were pink from the blood he had coughed up, "I gave myself the vaccine as well." Then he inhaled deeply, or tried to, and then exhaled with a theatrical sigh, "Ah, fresh as a mountain breeze."
Zach just watched the doctor for another couple of moments as I frantically began flipping switches, hoping that one of them would either stop the process or open the door.
When Zach finally moved, he dipped one of his large hands gently into his pocket. When he removed it, pinned between the two fingers, was a small square of paper that I could tell immediately was the passport photo of Pha, his adopted daughter.
The doctor looked confused when Zach held it out for the doctor, but he took it and frowned at the picture. Realization came across the doctor's face and he made a show of dropping the picture on the ground and then gently stepped on it with one foot.
Zach looked down to where the photo had landed before rearing back and launching a kick into the doctor's leg that shattered the knee joint beyond any hope of repair. The doctor yelped in surprise, but then smiled at the giant that loomed over him, "Yeah? Fuck you!" he then pointed to his head, "Can't feel a thing."
Zach cocked his head again as the green mist stopped flowing from the air vents and hung ominously in the room like a cloud of green smoke. Then he brought his foot back and stomped down on the doctor's other knee. This time the joint was so ruined that the lower leg bent in an abnormal direction, but the doctor didn't even cry out this time.
The doctor shook his head, this time apparently unfazed by the trauma that had just been done to his body, "Nope, still nothing."
Zach looked around the lab and his eyes fell on the flash box on the table where the doctor had set it down. The doctor seemed to follow his gaze and a sudden realization seemed to come to him as his face lost all of its color, his eyes went wide with fear and his mouth quivered as if speaking, but no words emerged.
Zach resumed his looking around the room as if waiting for something, and then the viral cloud in the room began to swirl. Air was being forced into the chamber and a new mechanical humming started.
The doctor looked around the room and panicked. He tried to get up from the chair, but had forgotten that his legs were ruined an
d completely incapable of supporting his weight, regardless of whether he could feel the pain or not.
"NO!" he screamed over and over as he tried to drag himself across the floor.
Zach retrieved the flash box and calmly walked over to the observation glass. He stood right in front of me and gently rapped on the glass to get my attention.
I looked up from the computer console and the buttons that I was haphazardly pressing over and over to no effect. I pressed the transmit button on the microphone, "Zach what's happening? How do I get you out?"
Zach shook his head at me and pressed one huge hand against the glass.
I looked at the hand, and then at Zach's face and saw pink tears falling from his eyes. They weren't blood tears, really, they were more like regular tears tinted slightly by blood, and when I saw his eyes they had lost almost all of their redness. Zach eyes were now an amber yellow, just like mine, and the sight of them sent emotions running through me I had never felt before.
I pressed my hand against the glass on top of Zach's, imagining I could feel the warmth of his hand through the heavy glass. Zach's head moved in a barely perceptible nod, and he pushed off of the glass walking to a spot in the room where the doctor still appeared to be attempting to drag himself.
Surprisingly the doctor had covered a decent amount of the distance and Zach knelt in the space, waiting as the doctor continued his attempts to crawl despite the ruined knees and recently dislocated shoulder.
He was only a few feet away when an audible ticking sound came from the speakers as another gas filtered into the room.
A mechanical voice called out:
"Final decontamination procedure initiating in 5..."
I felt my own tears falling from my eyes, as the mechanical woman continued her countdown.
4...
The doctor screamed in desperation, holding out a hand to Zach in what seemed to be a wordless plea for his life.
3...
Zach looked at the hand and then extended his own. In his hand was the flash box and he aimed it at the doctor.
Madman's Monster Page 36