The Azrael: The Reckoning (17 page)

Jason rolled over and his face pressed against the side of the tent creating an entertaining visual for Mario outside sitting by the fire.  He was heating up a tin cup of water that he planned on filling with a package of oatmeal.  The material stretched and form fitted over every crevice and feature on Jason’s face.  After a few seconds of huffing into the tent Jason awoke in a panic flailing around while attempting to get up.

“I can’t breathe!  I can’t breathe!  Oh shit…”  He cried out as he gave the tent a good beating.  He eventually realized his surroundings and calmed down.  An audible zip piqued Mario’s attention and he glanced over while sipping a cup of green tea.  Jason’s head poked through as he stood up wearing the tent around him.  His eyes were heavy and his face was droopy.

“What you cooking Mario?”  He asked looking over at Mario’s tin cup.

“Don’t worry, I got yours heating up over there.”  Mario pointed his cup of tea at a larger tin cup of oatmeal near the fire.  “You like apple and cinnamon oatmeal?”

Jason’s eyes sparkled and he struggled to unzip himself out of the tent.

“Do I ever.”  He responded as he emerged from the tent looking like he stole a child’s outfit still wearing Mario’s spare workout clothes.

Mario laughed spilling his scolding hot tea in his lap.  He stood up in a hurry as he attempted to dry off and cool the water that was already soaking into his pants.

“Shit!”  He muttered as he winced from the pain.

“That’s for laughing at the incredible growing man.”  Jason stood tall like some superhero.  “So, you got a plan worked out yet?”  Jason stepped out of the tent completely and sat on the available cinderblock near the fire.  He picked up his cup of oatmeal and started eating.

“Well, I’ve been watching the entire area for the past few hours.”

“How long have I been sleeping?”  Jason interrupted.

“Only twelve hours.”  Mario smirked sarcastically.

“Oh, good.  I didn’t want to sleep in.”

“What’s sleeping in?”  Mario countered.

“Fourteen, sixteen…”Jason began to smile.  “Hah, just fucking with you.  Damn I was out.”

“You started snoring pretty loud the fourth hour in.”

“No I wasn’t?”

“Yes you were.  I had to push your big ass over to avoid drawing the Azrael.”

“Sorry about that.  Been sleeping alone lately.”

“I see.”  Mario glanced down and sipped his tea.  He sat back down next to the fire hoping that it would dry his pants quicker than the breeze.  It was quiet for a few minutes.  “So, I’ve been watching the area and it looks mostly clear other than the group in the building we blew up.”

“You blew it up.”  Jason corrected.

“I blew it up.”  Mario agreed.  “We should be safe heading back to take out that herd without drawing much more during the process.”

“Same strategy to round ‘em up and blow ‘em up?”  Jason asked.

“Unless you can think of something else?  We should use what works.”

“I don’t think we can be one hundred percent sure that we’ve lured them all out.  What if, and this may sound crazy, we lure them to the top floor. Evacuate the building of everyone alive and then bring that motherfucker down with them in it.”  He mimed a building collapsing with mouth sound effects and finished with a big boom noise.

“You just want to blow up a building don’t you?”  Mario asked and Jason nodded giddy like a child.

“I don’t know.  What if we miss someone that’s injured up there or unaware of the plan and can’t hear us as we try to evacuate the building?  I don’t know Jason; so much could go wrong with that plan.”  Mario shook his head dismissing the plan.

“Or…”  Jason looked up to his left trying to draw out a thought.  “Instead of luring them out and blowing them up, which would be awesome by the way, we just bring them outside the city all together?”

“A little less crazy, doable, less chance for people to get hurt.  Not a bad plan Jason.”  Mario raised his cup in approval.  “Whatever we do we need to do it soon.  I’m still worried about John and Savanna.”

“All right, I’ll get my shit together.”  Jason finished his oatmeal and stood up to gather his stuff.

“Oh yeah, on top of your bag I picked up something for you.  I found them on the floor below us.”  A set of clothes that would fit Jason better was folded neatly on top of the bags.  “Couldn’t have you showing up dressed like a clown.”

“Thanks Mario, although I’ve grown fond of the midriff.”  Jason laughed and they both finished their morning routines and packed up the remainder of their items.

*

Meanwhile, John sat next to the pile of furniture in a deep sleep despite the constant banging and shaking that went on behind him.  The morning light peeked in the window and assaulted Savanna, waking her from her sleep.  She opened the one eye not facing the side of the assault as the other one closed tightly.  She grimaced and arched her back as she stretched.  Her vision was blurry and as her eyes focused she saw John sitting with his back facing the pile of furniture and his head was down.  He appeared exhausted.  The rise and fall of his chest comforted her more than the blood that was on his clothes.  What happened while she slept?  To the left huddled near the elevator, the rest of the people in the lobby were either sleeping or quietly chatting amongst themselves.

The sound of tapping, crunching and squeaking furniture came into her senses little by little. How long had she been sleeping?  Where were Mario and Jason?  Would they ever leave this place or were they all doomed to live out the rest of their lives awaited to be infected. Well, not for her.  They’ll just eat her to the bone.  The thought of being someone’s meal frightened her.  Her ankle was broken.  She was now a burden.  She knew John wouldn’t leave her to be eaten.  He’d die trying to keep her safe.  He’d sacrifice everything if he had to do so.  If she was already dead then he’d have a chance at escaping with his life.  He would be sad but he would be alive.  The moment of suicide faded away when an arm moved above the pile of furniture.  It reached around wildly and grabbed a leg from a table pulling its body through scratching and gouging its skin while doing so.  The Azrael were coming inside.

Savanna reached for her gun belt and it was gone, probably to make her more comfortable while she slept.  Hanging on a chair ten feet away was her belt and her Beretta.  She didn’t want to scream to excite the people, while exciting the Azrael further.  She still had time, not much, but some.  She fell off the couch with a thud and dragged herself over towards the chair.  The pain of her ankle amplified as it struck the hard floor.  She cringed from the pain as it throbbed up her body.  With much effort she sat up and the belt was beyond her reach.

“Come on!”  She spat under her breath.  She reached further to no avail.  “Short people struggles.”  She muttered under her breath and tried to balance herself and lift herself up with the good leg.  It was an exercise she remembered doing when she dabbled in yoga.  She accomplished the feat and gently placed her other injured leg on the ground.  Any weight on the swollen ankle shot sharp pains up her leg.  She pushed in the bale and removed her pistol, disengaged the safety, aimed and shot a hole through the skull of the Azrael.  It tumbled down the pile of furniture and landed next to John.

“Shit-fuck!”  He cried out as it landed next to him.  The gunshot broke him from sleep but the Azrael woke him the fuck up.  “I’m up, I’m up.  Fucking ass-breathers.”  John’s eyes were still bloodshot and his mind was still not fully disengaged from sleep.  The rest of the people inside were now fully awake and concerned.  Savanna kept her gun aimed at the hole the Azrael emerged from.  John turned towards the top of the pile and slowly walked backwards towards Savanna.  He removed his pistol and pointed at the same spot.

“Thanks Babe.”  He kissed her on the cheek.

“I’m just glad I woke up when I did.”  She added.

“No shit.  So, how’s the ankle?”

“Broken, hurts like hell.”

“You should go sit down.”

“I’m up now.”

“But you’re still recovering.”

“I’m fine.”  Savanna glared up at John.

“You’re adorable when you try to look tough.”

“I’m not trying, I am tough.”

John busted out into a laugh.  “Sure, Babe you’re tough.”

“What do you mean by that?  You know John; you don’t always have to be so damned insensitive all the time.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Then how did you mean it, huh?”  She snapped.  He had nothing.  “Exactly, just being an asshole to be an asshole.”

“You can be tough if you want.”  John conceded.

“Oh, now I can be tough when I give you shit about it?”

“Uh, no…um, yeah.  I don’t know what you want me to say?”

“Fuck you John.”

“Why are you making this so fucking complicated?”

“It’s not complicated.”

“What’s not complicated?”

“What the hell are you talking about John?”

“I don’t know.  Why are we arguing?”

“Because you’re a dumb fuck.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.”  He joked sarcastically.  She laughed.

“I hate you.”

“No you don’t.”  John smirked and they started to kiss.  It began to get a bit steamy.

“Ahem.”  The doctor interrupted while reaching for her pistol.

“I wouldn’t uh.”  John warned.  She glared at the doctor.

“Alright then, Just be careful.  The drugs may affect your fine motor skills.”  She continued to glare at him.  “Fine!”  The doctor began to walk away.  “Both of them are crazy.”  He mumbled quietly.  She heard him and smiled at John.  He winked at her and movement above the pile caught their attention again.  He pointed his weapon back towards the hole and removed the safety.

“Conserve your shots Babe.  Shoot only when you have a shot.  Even if that means letting them in.  This might be it.”  The worry on his face was genuine.  She smiled.

“We’ll be fine.  I’ve got a good feeling we’ll be fine.”

“I think that’s the drugs kicking in.”

“Don’t ruin it John.”

“Sorry.”

Savanna focused on the head emerging from the pile and shot its brains out before John could steady his aim.

“That’s two for me.”

“Well that makes us even then.”  He drew attention to his clothes.  She smiled and took another shot killing another.

“Three.”

“You distracted me!”  John asserted and examined intently for signs of movement.  They won’t die as long as there were still bullets in their guns.  Question was if they had enough bullets for what awaited them outside.

*

The steady gunfire down at the lower floors caught Giselle’s attention.  There was a standoff going on downstairs.  The massive herd that they narrowly escaped would keep trying as long as there was uninfected beyond those doors.  The virus was persistent.  She hoped whoever was down there had enough rounds to keep them out while she thought of a better plan than winging it.  That’s what her brother would say.  However, looking back on her past struggles she found that more often than not she was in fact winging it.  She reached in her bag and pulled out the grenade her brother made.  An aroma of urine excited her senses and caused her nose to fidget.  Did the Azrael piss on it as they were excited by its activity?  It didn’t smell like Azrael fluids.  It was from a woman.  Why she knew that troubled her.

“Are we going to help them?”  Jane questioned showing concern about the gunfire below.

“Probably, but I don’t want to take chances with the children.”  Giselle glanced over at the kids.  They were playing with a tablet that had a quarter charge on it.  Giselle found it next door and assumed that it would do well to entertain them while they decided what to do next.  She didn’t like winging it with children.  She remembered how that didn’t work with Jessica and she seemed like a big kid to her.

Mario and Jason disengaged the traps and descended the stairwell.  They moved out of the building while keeping a close eye on threats.  Within a few minutes they were rounding the corner and entering the alley where they blew up the herd.  Weak gunshots escaped the battle damage building.  Sounds of grunts, hissing and banging puked out of the back of the building in a garbled echo.

Mario had an uneasy feeling as he approached the building.  Something was not right.  He made sure his crossbow was fully armed and urged Jason to remove his pistol.  An Azrael in a back window of a building on the left side of the alley stared at Mario.  It was massive and released a howl that shook the window.  It leapt through it shattering the glass with eight Azrael close behind nearly as big as the Alpha was.  Mario shot a bolt at its head and it pulled its enormous arm up in time blocking it.  It drove in and stuck through the other side of its forearm.  It ran at them at a diagonal snaking pattern.  The others followed mimicking the Alpha’s movements.

“What the fuck are they doing?”  Jason called out.

“Evolving.  Run Jason.”  Mario insisted while shooting two more bolts.

One of the trailing Azrael caught a shot in its throat and it fell to a knee grasping at its neck.  Mario replaced the bolts with three yellow tipped bolts.  He had a plan. He wasn’t 100% positive that it would work but if he didn’t try something, then they both were going to die.  Even though he wasn’t a faith driven man he looked to the sky and prayed that it would work.  He turned the crossbow on its side and released all three bolts at the same time aimed at the Alpha leading the group.  It attempted to dodge but one of the bolts connected hitting the Alpha’s right knee and dropped it to the ground convulsing.  One of the others caught a bolt in their side and was sent rolling on the ground as the electricity seized its muscles.  Three more made contact and tripped over the two as they tumbled on top of another writhing like bacon.  The remaining three slowed down and noticed the others immobilized.  The biggest of the three snarled, returned its gaze on Mario and continued its pursuit.  Mario hoped to have stopped all of them but five of eight wasn’t bad.

“Three left following.”  He hollered out ahead to Jason.   He paused, gave Mario a wicked grin, activated and tossed a grenade towards the three.  He waited until they were on top of it.

“Pumpkin Spice Latte!” He hollered into his watch causing the grenade to explode sending pieces of the three in random locations.

“Whoa!  Voice activated grenades?”

“New model.”

“Pumpkin Spice Latte?”

“Figured I’d never need to speak those words ever again.  Don’t want those exploding inadvertently using normal words.”

“Let’s go finish off the ones being shocked.”  Mario ordered and walked leisurely towards the group and placed silver tipped bolts on the crossbow.

The Alpha glanced up at Mario’s eyes as its muscles were clinching tightly.  The other four were foaming at the mouth and completely immobilized.  Mario put a silver tipped bolt in the skulls of each of the four foaming at the mouth.  Their bodies continued to seize but their minds were gone.  Jason twisted a suppressor on his pistol and walked over to place a quiet bullet in its head.  A fatal mistake was made as he moved in closer since its head was moving wildly.  It knew what Jason was doing.

“Shit, keeps moving on me.”  He stepped even closer.

“Jason stop!”  Mario noticed too late and the Azrael reached over and grabbed Jason’s leg sending him into cardiac arrest.  Before Mario could get a shot off the Azrael bit into Jason’s calf.  As the teeth bit into him a bolt severed its head to the spine.  The change process began as soon as it came and while convulsing, Jason slipped into death.  His body fell limp and only moved as the electricity continued to jolt through.

Mario, dumbfounded with the reality that he lost yet another comrade, subconsciously placed a silver tipped bolt on the crossbow.  The electric shock therapy settled into a low hum until extinguishing entirely. 

Jason’s eyes opened sluggishly.  The indication of the Azrael infection washed over his blue eyes masking it with a dull gray film.  He studied his hands and moved them around as if he were high on drugs.  His focus was blurry; however, his mind seemed lost and distant.  Mario aimed the crossbow at Jason’s head.

“I’m sorry I failed you Jason.”  He released a tear from his eye.  Jason lethargically squinted up at Mario and placed his hands out towards him.  He grunted, however his intentions were not to kill.  Mario almost missed it, but when Jason grabbed the crossbow with his hand and placed it on his head, he knew something was different.

“Are, are you still in there Jason?”  Mario stammered.

Jason looked up at him and nodded.

“Do you want to eat me?” 

Jason nodded yes. 

“Are you going to?” 

Jason shook his head, no.

“Can you stand?”  Mario asked.

Jason surveyed the area while attempting to get up but was struggling with full mobility.  His head bobbled back and forth. He appeared drunk. Drool developed and splashed on the ground next to him.  He released a saddened moan as he moved his hand and arm like a ninety year old man on heavy medication.

“Want me to help you?”

Jason’s head slowly bobbled and lifted up towards Mario.  He shook his head, no.  He pretended to mime biting his own arm at an exhausting rate.  He observed Mario for a response.

“Afraid you’re going to bite me?’  Mario asked and Jason nodded with approval.

“I understand.  Are you tired?”

Jason nodded a yes.  He sat there appearing as if the world was spinning and he couldn’t get up.  He eventually looked fixedly at Mario, pointed towards the hole in the back of the building and grunted.

“Want to go there?”

Jason shook his head, no.

“Want me to go there?”

Jason nodded with approval.

“I can’t leave you here.”

Jason glared into Mario’s eyes and grunted.

“I’ve seen this before Jason.  Not from the beginning, but I’ve seen those like you out there.”  Mario pointed beyond the buildings.

Jason grunted.

“You can go on relatively normal.”  Mario failed to mention the Alpha that hunted and killed the one he saw alone, that acted like Jason.

Jason shook his head, no.

“If I go in the building will you be here when I get back?”

Jason concurred and indicated towards the hole again slow and steadily.

“Fine, I’ll be back.  Don’t get yourself shot.”  Mario ordered and headed for the building.  He glanced back and noticed Jason watching him.  It broke his heart to leave him out there alone lost in the world.

Mario investigated the stairwell noticing about a hundred Azrael gathered and pounding on the door ahead.  An occasional gunshot reverberated through the stairwell indicating they were still fighting.  He thought of a plan that Jason had mentioned and inspected the garage floor for an answer to his problem.  Tucked in a corner, under a white tarp, he found his solution.  A 1968 Barracuda, fully restored, sat untouched by the world’s war-torn landscape.  He slid his finger along the top of it as if petting a beast, a beast that he will ride through the city leading angry infected zombies away.

Mario didn’t notice an alarm blinking inside; a device by today’s standards would be just a steady drain on the vehicles battery.  The door was unlocked.  He smelled the leather as he sat inside, greeting him with a welcoming aroma from the past.  He pulled the vinyl below the steering wheel, climbed below and attempted to start the car.  As he struggled to locate the wires, the keys dangled in the ignition striking his head.  He didn’t expect it to be unlocked.  He certainly didn’t expect it to have the keys in the ignition.  He marveled at his luck and turned on the beast expecting the battery to be dead or the gas tank to be empty.  Neither was true and the beautiful machine grumbled to life and purred like a lion in the jungle.  The echo of the engine rattled the dashboard and sang to the garage like a deep voiced banshee.  He backed it up, noticed the locks were all unlocked and pushed them down to keep the Azrael from pulling them open.  He gently rolled through the garage and carefully moved down the hole and waited.  It groaned and vibrated until eventually settling into a steady rumble as he stopped.  He noticed Jason still sitting down and watching him.  He raised his arm up at Mario.  He flashed the headlights in response. 

It was time to play keep away.  He revved the engine as loud as he could, spilling exhaust behind him towards the hole in steady waves of billowing smoke.  In his rearview mirror he spotted them charging in, angry at the noise and disturbed into frenzy.  He revved the engine once more and gently moved forward leading them away from the building.  He had to speed up slightly to keep the fast ones from catching him but the steady revving kept the group coming.  He passed by Jason and the herd ran by without pause in hot pursuit, screaming and hissing towards Mario’s Iron Steed.  He eventually leveled out at about 24mph, keeping a safe distance while still moving slowly enough for them to keep their interest.  He picked up a few herds on the way that escaped dark corners of the city.  Some struck the side of the vehicle causing it to shake, but the weight of the machine designed when cars were not encased in aluminum or plastics, kept it from tipping.  Mario maintained their attention and continued on until he was a few miles from the main gate.

Once Mario felt as if the herd was safely away from the city, he placed it in second, third and then opened up the engine as he hit fourth gear.  It sang to him with a high pitch whine as it screamed through the streets at eighty-five.  He felt the adrenaline pumping through his veins and beamed with excitement.  Satisfied with the drive he decelerated and began his turn around.  He quietly purred down the road as he returned to the main gate.  He picked up the radio at the checkpoint station and urged someone to man the gate.  A woman answered and transferred the information to the security team.  Before Mario left the entrance to the city he observed five heavily armed men approaching the gate. 

After the security force reset their checkpoint, activated all of the cameras and alarm sensors they were good to go.  Mario showed them his identification and they waved him through.  There may have been a few more herds inside, but the majority of the place was dead quiet minus the purr of the Barracuda.  He returned to the alley and worried that he made a wrong turn.  He shut off the engine, exited the vehicle and wandered down the alley.  Jason was gone.