Alpha Male (7 page)

"Why are you the only one who chooses to disturb me after these things?" she asked, spinning back around with a file in her hand. "Everyone else gets it, you know?"

"I guess because you let me," he said, flashing an arrogant smile that annoyed her.

"Yeah, I don't know why," she said, flipping the file open.  

"Look, reporters are assholes," he said, leaning forward.  "And they have great connections, to help them stir up all this shit. Anticipating this stuff is a part of the job, and you did a great."

"Answer me honestly,” she said, staring him straight in the eyes. "Can we do this without him?"

“Alpha Male?” He paused for a moment, pondering her question. "If you'd asked me last week, yeah, but now, I don't know."

*****

Hundreds of cameras flashed as Alpha stepped out of the stretch limo wearing a black tailor made costume and mask that mimicked a tuxedo.  He smiled and waved while presenting his hand to his date, Candice. She took his hand and held her dress while stepping out onto the red carpet.  Her smile was large and undeniably real. With one look, he could tell she was overwhelmed by the attention.

"Is it always like this?" she asked out of the side of her mouth, still smiling.

"Only when there's a beautiful woman on my arm," he replied.

She blushed, but the moment was lost when a rabid reporter swung his torso over the velvet rope and pressed his microphone into Alpha's face.

"Don't you think you should be out hunting for this "supervillain", rather than gallivanting around?"

Alpha didn't bother to reply. Instead, he walked forward, still smiling like it had never happened. Candice walked beside him, her arm locked around his, until they came upon a reporter on their side of the rope. He was an attractive young man, with short spikey blond hair and a silk suit. He smiled as they approached and spoke into his tiny microphone.

"And look who it is," he said to the camera. "The savior of this city, Alpha Male! And, it looks like the stud has a hot date this evening. Who is this fabulous—"

The phone in Alpha's front breast pocket started to vibrate, drawing his attention away from the handsome reporter. Pulling it out, he pressed the button to turn on the screen.

"One new text message from Rose” it read. "McFarlane’s Eastern loading docks, now!"

Without looking back, he flew off into the night sky. The spot lights swung back and forth, lighting up the darkness with their massive beams. He went up and over the tallest buildings and came down across town.

"McFarlane’s" was cut into a steel plate and hung up as a sign. Behind the wall, the place was empty except for a few massive tankers resting in the water and the police surrounding a parked moving truck. Their blue lights lit the place up like a midnight aquarium.

"What seems to be the problem?" he asked, landing behind Rose.

"Oh, cut the shit," she said, turning to face him with her eyes rolling. "You aren't some cartoon character."

"How may I help you?" he asked, with a goading smile.

She opened her mouth to speak, but the moving van shook. They all turned to look at the swaying vehicle. A screech of metal came from inside and then a thump. The outside of the van dented outward as the sounds continued.

"Everyone back!" Rose screamed to her men who all seemed stupefied by the event.

Alpha left her side and approached the van. He watched as the protruding bubbles in the metal got worse, further distorting the spray painted message left for him. "For Alpha-Male. With love." Beside that was a black omega symbol, ending the message as a signature.

Alpha watched, perplexed but still moving closer. As he approached, the officers began backing away, slowly at first, but that became a dead run.  Alpha was only a foot away when a roar rose up from inside. Alpha froze for just a second.

A fist punched through the metal and pulled, caving in the side of van. With both hands, the monstrous being tore a hole open and crawled out with a deep bellowing cry. In a flash, it had pulled itself from the shredded vehicle and stepped out in front of Alpha. Before the hero, stood a massive brute with deformed features and limbs. Its skin was the color of bubble gum while pulsing veins ran across its flesh. Sitting in its wide mouth were four rows of tiny teeth.

Without hesitating, the thing attacked the hero with a powerful blow. Alpha tried to block it, but the force was more than he had anticipated. It knocked him back a few steps but the powerful creature closed the distance just as Alpha had regained his footing. Alpha grinned as it charged.

Its next punch was a wild hook that Alpha dodged by stepping towards the thing. His forehead smashed into the lumpy flesh it called a face, but it didn't register the pain. Its tree trunk arms came down on the hero's shoulders, forcing him to the ground. Alpha grunted as his knees dug into the concrete, but came up fast with an uppercut. The thing was slimy with drool so his punch rolled off, but it stumbled back enough to give Alpha room to stand.

Regaining his footing, Alpha rushed in and punched it in the sternum. Both of its arms went straight out as its body flew back against a metal container. Its breath escaped its lungs in a quick cough as it smashed into the painted steel. The police all scrambled away, avoiding the battle at all costs.

Alpha flew towards it, but was met with a powerful foot to the chest. The hero fell flat on the ground, gasping for breath as the beast looked down on him with its dark puffy eyes. It grinned, flashing its diminutive teeth as Alpha put his arm up to shield its next attack.  It sat on his chest, pushing his arm away and began punching Alpha in the face repeatedly.

The hero’s head smacked into the ground, cracking the concrete below.  The beast raised both arms up with tight fists and slammed them down just as Alpha punched it in the throat. It stood and stumbled away with both hands at its throat, gasping for air. It choked and began to turn a light shade of blue, but then took a deep breath and shook it off. Both of its eyes rolled before focusing back on Alpha. It released a powerful scream and charged at Alpha again. The hero braced himself, but the force was too powerful. It tackled him, and rammed his body into the nearest police car. The four door sedan folded in two as they bent the metal. It still screamed as it punched over and over, beating on the hero’s head again and again. Blood ran from Alpha’s nose. He could taste it in his mouth as the hard pounding pushed his face deeper into the car. The thing stopped long enough to grab a sharp piece of metal, but as it went to stab Alpha, gun shots rang out. Five bullet holes appeared in its pig pink flesh and it turned towards the two police officers shooting at it.

Throwing the metal spike, it impaled one of the officers and pounced on the other. The man’s shattered legs collapsed under the weight, and went down. The creature ripped his arms from their sockets as the officer screamed and cried out for help. Taking one of the dismembered limbs, it began to devour the meat, pulling and tearing it from the bone, while looking around. Rose and her men watched in horror as it lifted the limb and drank the runny blood that poured from it. This distraction was enough for Alpha to grab a broken sign post and run the thing through.

It howled and arched back, gripping the metal protruding from its chest. Alpha grabbed the pole and slammed it to the left, and the right. The monster dropped to its knees with a low groan. Alpha looked down on it, breathing deep from the exertion. It looked up at him, tired and broken as blood drizzled from the opening in its chest. Tightening his fists, Alpha gritted his teeth and punched it in the face. Its head rolled with the punch and turned back, revealing its teeth with impotent aggression. Alpha brought his fist down again and again until its head tilted in defeat, and its breathing shallowed. Alpha took the metal and bent it around the creature’s body, locking its arms in place. Blood ran from its front and back before leaking from its mouth. The teeth were reddened with the fluid.

Alpha grabbed the creature and shot off into the air as Rose and the other officers watched.

"What the hell was that?" Mac asked.

"I don't know, but we need to cordon off this area," Rose said. "Who were the two officers..."

"Billy Williams, and Jerome White," Mac said.

"God damn it," she said, holding her head with her hand. She rubbed her temples in a circular motion. "Get word to their families," she said, and turned away. “Tell them, I’ll be in touch with them personally.”

Chapter Seven.

Ivy and Jon walked through the abandoned train terminal.  It was cramped with rickety hovels and plywood lean-tos, leaving little room to walk.  They had to shimmy past the destitute residents as they stood around, talking and yelling in angry voices.

"We didn't want this," one man yelled.

"You're damn right we didn't" said another as a wave of echoed sentiment rippled through the crowd.

"He feeds us and protects us. Eddy has cared about us when no one else would. You guys are just overreacting," replied a woman standing in front of them.

"Yeah!" said another.  

"Everyone please!” Ivy said. The crowd quieted, but many voices could still be heard. "This can't come between us. Remember, who else will take us? Eddy has his agenda, sure, but he takes care of us. We were homeless and now we have a home. A community.  We owe him our lives."

"He sent a monster to kill a hero. That’s too much! Stealing here and there is one thing, but this revenge kick is insane," replied a lady.

The group roared around Ivy and Jon, crowding in closer. Ivy felt suffocated as a dirty man yelled in her face. She exhaled in relief as a group of Omegas came down the tunnel towards them.

“Break it up!” said the teenaged boy, walking in front of the small group. He was wearing a dingy denim vest with the omega symbol drawn on to the chest. He had on a long sleeve red striped shirt beneath that with dirty navy khakis.  He had decorated his clothing with trinkets and items he had found in the sewers. Most notable was the plastic baby doll face sewn into his vest.

“Come on, break it up,” he said again, stepping into the crowd. “We all have complaints and we all know where to voice them. Eddy will see all of you later this evening. You can take it up with him then.”

The people all stopped and looked at the boy. He was tall, towering over most of the crowd by at least a foot. They all wanted to say something, but none of them did. Instead, they dispersed, leaving Ivy, and the other Omegas there.

“Thanks Keen,” she said, looking at the boy.

“I don’t know why you do this,” he replied. “They never listen to you. A group like this, they only respond to strength...to force. Why the hell do you think most of them are in this situation in the first place?”

“Don’t say that...” she said. “Your mother, she—”

“Don’t talk about my mother,” he said, nostrils flaring with anger.

“I’m sorry,” she said, looking down.  

“Come on guys,” he said, waving along the small gang of companions behind him.

“What the hell was that?” Jon asked, looking at her.

“I don’t know, I just…” she started.

“Don’t,” he said. “I know what you’re going to say. There’s no reason to apologize so much.”

“I know!” she said, clenching her fist. “It’s so compulsive; like I can’t even control it. We should get going.”

“What do you think is going to become of all this?” Jon asked, walking beside her down the long tiled tunnel.

“I don’t know, but we’ve been down here for years,” she said, her face lit by the construction lights strung up on the walls. “We’ve been showing ourselves more and more lately. I can’t help but think Eddy’s planning something big for us.”

“Planning?” Jon asked, surprised. “A giant mutant just fell into his lap and he let it loose on Alpha Male. I don’t think it sounds like Eddy has much of a plan.”

“Either way,” she said. “He’s dangerous.”

“Yeah,” Jon replied. “I remember when he started this gang; when all the other gangs began to trickle down here. God, he was just a kid then, but they listened to him. His anger and ferocity—it was electric. Do you remember that speech he gave them?”

“I’ll never forget it,” she said. “He had me sold with just the promise of a better life.”

“The shitty thing is,” Jon said. “He’s given it to us, look at this place.”

As the words left his mouth, they stepped out of the tunnel and into the larger terminal that had become their home. The shanty town of plywood and scrap metal housed many hovels and shops. The air smelled acrid from the glowing burn barrels. Christmas lights were strung up and patched into illegal outlets to offer light.

“Look at this place,” she said. “It’s a fucking nightmare.”

“It’s better than what we had before,” he said, looking down at a bucket that collected fresh water from a leaky pipe.

“Yeah, it is,” she said, looking at him. “But it’s still not good enough. Eddy protects us, but he still has his plans. I’m worried that we come second to that.”

“Of course we do,” Jon said. “A fire doesn’t burn that hot without hurting the people around it.”

“Spare me the philosophy,” she said, rolling her eyes with a slight grin.

“What?” he said. “It’s true!”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

*****

Rose stood in the shower, staring at the cream colored wall in front of her. She didn’t see the soap scum that had built up, or the few random hairs that snaked around as the water hit them. She was so far away she couldn’t see anything at all. The hot water that ran over her naked body steamed up the entire bathroom, but she didn’t take notice of that either. The warmth seeped into her body, but it offered her no comfort.

“You OK?” her husband asked.

Rose jumped back, colliding with the wall.

“Rose, seriously. Are you OK?” he asked again.

“Yes Jim, I’m fine,” she said, annoyed.

“You’ve been in here for so long.  I was getting a little worried about you,” Jim replied.

“Everything is fine,” she said. “Just a long day at work. Give me a few minutes and I’ll be in bed.”

Fifteen minutes later, the door opened and she emerged into her bedroom. The lights were off, but she knew he was still awake. She could tell by the fact that he was lying on his back. She shut off the bathroom light and crawled into bed. The rigid give of the mattress was cherished as her tensed up muscles started to relax for the first time since she watched that monster kill two of her officers. She sighed with relief and closed her eyes.