The Azrael: Surviving the Outbreak (9 page)

Communications

Jason entered the Highwaymen Station positioned at the mouth of Chicago that faced west.  It was conveniently placed at the elbow of 290 and 94 at the old Greyhound Station. It looked in remarkable condition considering the state of everything else in this world.  Artistic pictures of the Azrael were on the walls like artwork.  A picture of Jason along with the other five original Highwaymen team was on the back wall behind the main desk a girl was sitting behind.  It was taken just before they left for the Sunlight District.  ‘Sentimental as always’, he thought thinking about Simon.  He approached the front desk where a chipper young girl greeted him.

“Hello Sir, Welcome to The Highwaymen Station, How may I help you?”  The young girl spoke with excitement.

“Yes, I, uh, my name is Jason Stone and my sister Giselle left on a trip three days ago.  Here is my documentation.”  He handed his Highwaymen identification card to her and she took it.  “She should have reported in by now.  Have you heard anything?”  Jason said with a worried look and a hard voice.

“Um, well, I can’t release that kind of information.  If you take a seat, someone will be with you shortly, Mr. Stone.”  The girl responded comparing the photo of Jason on the id to his face and pushed a button next to the desk.  She scanned his id under a handheld scanner and gave it back to him.  He sat down and studied a 10’X 14’ close-up photo of an Azrael hanging on the wall he faced and it brought shivers down his spine.  Five minutes later a set of double doors opened to his left.  Two men exited them and walked towards him with a purpose.  Both were unfamiliar to Jason and he couldn’t help remembering their details.  He had a photographic memory which was his main asset to the Highwaymen.

“You should come with us Sir.  We have private information to discuss with you.”  One of the men said with a monotone voice wearing a sky blue buttoned up blouse, a nice set of tan slacks and a clean shave.

“What the hell man?  What’s going on?  Why can’t you just tell me here?  Is she okay?  My wife, Jessica, is she okay too?”  Jason asked as he stood up.  The men escorted him back within the double doors and briefed him on what they knew.  Jason sat down and listened in a large black chair.

“So, we lost connection with Giselle Johnson once she arrived at Mount Carroll.  She stopped checking in on the secure cell network two hours before her scheduled arrival.  We’ve yet to establish communication with her since then.  Last night we received a beacon of someone breaking in to the safe house in Chadwick.”  The other man said.  His wild red hair and scraggly beard didn’t quite match up with his finely pressed black suit.

“It’s gotta be her.  She’s stopped there several times before.  Did she check in then?”  Jason asked with a bit more excitement in his voice.

“No, she didn’t.  This morning we received scattered motion alarms surrounding the area and within the safe house.  It’s been overrun since this morning.  After reviewing her file we did notice a trend of this safe house along with another on the northern scenic route that she visited frequently.” 

“Which is why we are even bringing this up to you at all.”  The clean shaved man interjected.

“However, we don’t have any solid evidence to prove it was her or if whoever it was made it out of there alive.”  The bearded man said while he reviewed several documents and charts.  He handed them over to Jason and he looked at them with disapproval.

“She got out of there.  They didn’t get her.  And I know she didn’t let them get Jessica, she’s her new sister in law.”  Jason hoped for the best, stood up and reached for a handshake.

“If you hear anything, let us know.  If we find any new information regarding your sister and wife, we will contact you immediately.”  The bearded man said shaking Jason’s hand.

“Okay, thank you.”  Jason said and began to leave as Simon entered the building.

“Hey, Simon, it’s been forever.  How the hell are you?”  Jason said greeting an old friend.

“Things are changing Jason.  Come by and see me later.  Maybe we can get you back out there again.”  Simon said with a smile and entered the room Jason just left.

“Will do, I’ll think about it.”  Jason grinned and left the building. 

“Call a meeting.  Gather all of the Highwaymen and call the investors.  I’ll be in my office.”  Simon said handing the clean shaved man a recall list with numbers and addresses. 

He shut the door and sat in his chair at his desk.  To his surprise a phone was vibrating in his desk.  He unlocked and opened the drawer, there was a phone in there that he knew nothing about.  He answered it and a man spoke.

“Hello Mr. Killbrook.  You must be asking yourself, why is this phone in my desk and who is this calling me.”  An old heavy voiced man with a Japanese accent spoke.

“Yes, I am thinking those exact questions.  I’d like to add, how did you get this phone in my desk?  It was locked when I arrived and I know it wasn’t there before I left last week.”  Simon questioned the man.

“I cannot reveal our methods just yet Mr. Killbrook.”  The man said.

“Call me Simon.”

“Hai, Simon, I work for an organization that works in the shadows.  When your outbreak happened, your government contacted us.  Our organization works with clients across the globe.  However, when this happened, the threat to the entire world was the issue.  We have been made aware of your recent  financial support problem you are dealing with.”  The man said well informed.

“I still haven’t discussed this with our people yet.  How do you know already?”  Simon asked.

“I told you that we operate in the shadows Simon.  Our methods of information acquisition is but a scratch on the surface as to what our organization can bring to you and your Highwaymen.”  The man said with a hint of arrogance.

“So, what is it that you want from us?  What do we have to offer you that you don’t already know or have?  What’s your angle Sir, um, I don’t even know your name.”  Simon asked.

“My name is unimportant, but my organization is familiar to you.  Also, the reason why you know about us is the want that we have.  We are
Faibu tanken no bēru
.  We have met with Ms. Giselle Johnson before.  However, we were unable to complete our experiment with her.” The man said.

“I haven’t studied Japanese in a few years, did you say something about five daggers?”  Simon asked.

“Hai, the Veil of the Five Daggers.”  The man responded.

“Wait, that’s very familiar.  Let me…”  Simon searched his file cabinet and found Giselle’s file, it was one of the thickest ones in the group.  He leafed through the pages until he found the entry from the Sunlight District.  He found it.

“Ah, five daggers in a star pattern discovered in the Sunlight District.  According to her accounts and I quote,
those assholes ambushed me, kidnapped me and left me to die duct taped to a chair
.  Was this you?”  Simon asked.

“Hai, it may have looked like we left her to die, but she was more than capable of surviving anything that attacked her.  Also, we knew that you were coming to help her.  Your supply trucks have gone to good use and our training facilities have been restocked for years from those supplies.  We thank you for that, which is why we feel obligated to fill you in on our information.”  He said.

“Obligated?  People died trying to retrieve those trucks asshole.  We all barely escaped with our lives and you stole the very resources from us and you left Giselle tied to a chair to get our trucks.  The trucks were your main objective, weren’t they?  You just used us to get them out for you?”   Simon asked.

“The trucks were but an additional benefit to our main objective, Simon.  Ms. Johnson is more important than all the supplies within those trucks.   Her genetic DNA sequence is extremely unique.  It contains a perfect gap to receive the virus’ RNA.”  The man said.

“What are you saying?  Did you start this outbreak?  Is this some sick joke?”  Simon asked.

“You are losing focus Mr. Killbrook.  We are scientists like yourself.  You can’t believe that you and Dr. Schwinn are the only people trying to figure out this virus problem?  We all know that this virus was man made, do we not?”  He asked.

“Yes, we know that.”  Simon responded.

“It is a weapon, nothing more, nothing less.  However, the way this weapon wages war is not black and white.  The gray matter blurs the two.  Maybe a cure is not the answer, but using the virus against itself could in fact be the answer.”  The old man said.

“So, how does Ms. Johnson fit into this?  You can’t believe that I’m just going to hand her over to you.”  Simon said defensively.

“Of course not.  You are a man of integrity.  She will want to come with us.  She will have questions.”  He said.

“What did you do to her?”  Simon asked.

“We only provided her with a means to accept the virus.  We did not inject her with the virus itself.  Her job involves being among the Azrael.  The risk of being bitten is extremely high among the Highwaymen and that is the sacrifice you all have made to help discover ways to survive the Azrael.  It was only a matter of time until she was bitten.  It has happened Mr. Killbrook and she has changed.  However, she doesn’t understand what has happened.  If she comes to us she can be among others, like her, who have been ascended into a new evolved version of themselves.”  He said choosing his words wisely.

“She’s been bitten?  Why are you telling me all of this?”  Simon asked.

“Hai, because I know you will provide her with the choice.  You are not only an ex-Highwaymen but you are a scientist as well.  You know what I am asking of you.  I will keep in contact.  Don’t bother keeping this phone.  It will be unusable as soon as this conversation is complete.  Thank you for your time Mr. Killbrook.”  The man hung up.  The phone made a weird beeping sound that began to slow down.  Simon tossed the phone away thinking it would explode like those old spy movies.  As the beeping stopped, it was silent.  He waited, nothing happened.  He walked up to the phone.  The screen was cracked from being struck by the corner of a chair.  The phone was dead, didn’t turn on at all. What the fuck is going on here?

Recall

The red phone rang waking John.

“Hello, this is John Masterson.”  He said with a rasp in his voice.

“Your presence is requested back at the Highwaymen Station.  Mr. Simon Killbrook has scheduled a meeting that you are required to attend.  If any other Highwaymen are with you, deliver the same message to them.”  A man spoke that sounded like Timothy Yuen.  He was one of Simon’s data analysts.  Their job was mostly involved in monitoring the data received from the surrounding safe houses.  They also received calls from Highwaymen from the field as they checked in.  It was a very demanding job involving long hours.  It allowed them to collect data about the Azrael that didn’t involve them directly being outside the gates.  Just like the Highwaymen had volunteers that were selected and trained for their job, data analysts were volunteers specifically trained for collecting and translating Azrael activities.  Very few made the cut, because the data collected wasn’t just numbers.  Photos and videos of encounters often ending with death were analyzed as well, that type of medium was often more valuable than black and white numbers. 

“When is the meeting Tim?”  John asked.

“On Wednesday at 0900.  Be at least thirty minutes early so we can have everyone settled in and ready to start on time.  Eat something before if you have the time.  It’s going to be a long meeting.”  Timothy said with his usual monotone voice.

“Okay, we’ll be there.  I’m bringing in an extra body to the meeting.  He’s got new information concerning the Azrael that is pretty damned important.”  John said.

“Very well, make sure that he is aware of the cleansing and debriefing process he will need to undergo before the meeting.  I’d advise getting here a day early to ensure he is cleared to attend the meeting.”  Timothy added.

“Got it.  I’ll let him know.  Shouldn’t take longer than a day if we leave today.”  John said.

“Thank you Mr. Masterson.  Be safe.”  Timothy ended the conversation.  The phone went dead.  A voice chimed in.

“So, we’re leaving today?  I’ll wake Taliah up.  Maybe she can help me make breakfast.”  Savanna said over the line that was connected to all the red phones in the rooms.  She hung up the phone.

“I hate it when you do that, ninja woman.”  John said but the phone was silent.  He hung up shaking his head.  He forgot to isolate the call to his particular phone after he answered it.  It was done by pressing a red button on the side of the phone.  However, it blended in with the phone chassis so it was easy to forget.  Whoever designed the fucking thing failed to realize this design flaw.  He got out of the bed, cleaned up and dressed. 

Mario hung up the phone as well.  Monitoring all forms of communication to and from his location was a habit he took an interest in.  It was a habit that had saved his life on more than one occasion.  Plus, his life wasn’t the only one being kept in thought.  Taliah had become his responsibility since he saved her from those hillbilly rapists.

Mario was already dressed and sweating from his morning workout.  He had been awake for several hours and just returned from a morning run around the safe house.  It was also a perimeter check.  He couldn’t depend on whatever system John activated after his interrogation with him last night.  When Mario heard that they shut off the monitoring devices around the campus once they discovered the thing about the power lines, he flipped out.  John said that it saved on power, which allowed them to watch movies in their rooms.  Mario insisted, with his knife, that he reactivate the system.  They didn’t need to watch movies while those monsters were out there.  Besides, the power thing with the Azrael was only a theory.  There was no real hard evidence to confirm that it would keep their attention forever.  It was a risk he would not take that could get Taliah bit.  He knew that he would be fine, but he couldn’t protect her at all times, especially there.  There are too many places where the Azrael could hide, not like a two man tent. 

He made his way downstairs and entered the cafeteria.  He could smell eggs and toast cooking.  It looked like Taliah had been up early as well.  He imagined that it would still be difficult to sleep, even with such comfortable arrangements.  She had been through a lot and he knew that staying busy was healthy for her.  She greeted him as he entered the kitchen.

“Good morning Mario.  I saw you running outside when I woke up.  Well, I was up for a bit before and got up to get ready.  I saw you and thought that you would like a hot breakfast after your run.” She smiled and stirred up the eggs.  The eggs were from a carton that was in the fridge and the bread was almost too moldy.  She picked out the green mold on them and grilled the rest of the slice.  She already had a plate ready for him in the microwave.  It wasn’t plugged in; she just used it to keep the heat from escaping.  It had been in there for only a few minutes.

“Thank you Taliah.  It smells delicious.”  Mario sniffed the air and smiled.  She pointed towards the microwave.

“Yours is in there.  I hope it’s warm enough for you.  There’s no power to those outlets so the microwave won’t heat it up.”  She said shrugging.

“It’s okay.  I’m sure it’s warm enough for me.  I’m surprised the grill still works.”  He opened the cabinet below the grill and noticed a propane tank.  “Ah, propane, that makes sense.”  He said and closed the doors and opened the microwave pulling out his breakfast.  It was still hot, he smelled it and beamed.

“Glad you saved me?  I can cook more than just eggs and toast, not much in these cabinets though, lots of chocolates, chips and cookies.  Not the healthiest selection in this place.”  She said opening the cabinets and showing Mario all of the snacks.

Savanna walked in with her hair a mess and John was in shortly after.  It looked like they just finished having sex and Mario shook his head with disapproval.  It’s not the best idea to sleep with the person you work with, especially on a job where remaining vigilant is imperative.  However, it wasn’t his place to point out everything wrong with their training.  They were civilians with no real military background.  He should expect flaws in their combat readiness.  However, he didn’t have time to train them right now.  Maybe that is a job he could have when he arrives in Chicago, he thought.  He greeted them.

“Good morning John and Savanna.  Looks like Taliah had made us some breakfast.”  Mario said.

“I stopped by your room to see if you wanted to help me with breakfast.  Looks like you beat me here.”  Savanna said with a grin.  Taliah waved at them and flipped over some toast.

“Smells amazing in here.  Can’t wait to dig in on those eggs.”  John said licking his lips.

Taliah enjoyed doing something normal for a change and served breakfast to the group.  Over their meal, John discussed the plan that involved immediately leaving after breakfast.  Mario didn’t reveal that he listened in on the conversation.  John didn’t leave anything out of the conversation which brought some trust towards John in Mario’s mind.   Taliah was concerned about being poked and prodded during the cleansing process but she didn’t mention it to anyone.

“Do you have transportation?”  Mario asked.

“We had a truck, but we rolled it a ways away.  It’s jacked anyway, the axle’s snapped.”  John said.

“And, that’s the only vehicle available?”  Mario asked confused since he seen plenty of vehicles from here to the woods.

“Of course there are other cars out there.  Problem is that we have drained all fuel from what’s surrounding us for fuel for the generators.  That was done within the first week we acquired this place.  Since then we’ve modified the generators to accept solely ethanol fuel.  Very few cars out there could operate on just ethanol fuel.  We’ve tried.  Trust me it’s a waste of time.”  Savanna said.

“Well, you could do it, but it eats away at the fuel tank being that it’s 100% alcohol.  It runs the vehicle hard and you might get lucky enough to make it there.  Another problem with that is ethanol is difficult to acquire around here so we use it sparingly.  Our generators use one gallon in a week due to the use of other power generating methods like wind and solar panels we have installed.”  John interrupted.

“I haven’t seen one wind turbine nearby?  How are they being used?”   Mario asked.

“The power lines that run in parallel with the power company’s lines feed our safe houses that extend passed the suburbs.  They also are connected to a cluster of wind turbines southwest of here.  A small group of Highwaymen were tasked to maintain that stretch of land.  Another decent size safe house is manned there as well.  They also provide us with the ethanol we need, harvesting corn in a fully gated environment.  The sound of the turbines spinning keeps those bastards away too, so it works out for us all.”  John said.

“Do we have any ethanol available to use?”  Mario asked.

“Haven’t had any shipments in a while.  Only fuel we have now is what’s in the tanks of the generators.  The renewable power seems to still be operational.  You think it’s worth it Mario?”  John asked.

“No, never mind.  I just wanted to give Taliah a break for a change.  She’s been through a lot.”  Mario responded.

“I’m fine Mario.  I got a couple showers in and some clean clothes on.  I feel safe just being near you.”  Taliah added.

“Well, you won’t smell clean for long.  Here put this on.”  Savanna handed Mario and Taliah a small bottle of the masking agent.

“What is this?”  Taliah opened the top and sniffed the contents.  “Whoa, that’s awful!  Put this where?”  She asked.

“It’s a masking agent we discovered a few years ago that hides our scent from the Azrael.  You get used to the smell of it after a while.  You put it directly on the skin.”  Savanna said.

“I’ve used mud and grass that seemed to do the same thing.”  Mario added.

“No, it’s okay, I can wear this.  At least I don’t look dirty and homeless with this.  Sorry Mario.”  Taliah said applying a light coat of the agent on her skin.  She handed the bottle to Mario.

“Sure, I’ll give it a shot. “  Mario applied the agent on his skin and handed it back to Savanna.  She and John doused themselves in the stuff.  They had no problems with the odor.

“Like I said, we’re used to the shit.”  John said with a smirk to Mario.

“Explains the aroma I smelled when I first met Savanna.  I thought…”  Mario said and was interrupted.

“Hey, I keep that part clean asshole.”  Savanna defended herself quickly.  John laughed and nearly choked on the last bite of eggs he was eating.  His eyes were watering and he took a sip of water to wash it down.

“I fucking love this guy.  Alright, let’s get moving.”  John said standing up and patted Mario on the back.  He shook his head in amusement and headed for his room.  “Pack your shit we’re leaving in thirty minutes.  Meet back here.” John added grabbing Savanna’s arm and helped her out of her chair.

“Aren’t we packed already?”  She asked.  John smirked and they left the kitchen area towards his room together.  “Thirty minutes is exaggerating it a bit.  More like…”

“Shut up woman.”  John interrupted and the rest of their conversation was inaudible as the door fully shut and they disappeared down the hall.

“What was that all about?”  Taliah asked.

“Interesting couple there.  Come on, let’s clean up here and get your stuff packed.  Mine is already filled and ready.  Always ready to leave at moment’s notice.”  Mario said cleaning up the plates and wiping the table.

“Okay, but I don’t have a backpack or anything to store my things.”  Taliah said lost in thought as she concentrated on cleaning one spot on the table.  There was a dried up spot of food that needed more than a rag to remove.  She continued to wipe at it anyway.

“Don’t worry, I got you.  In the second room to the right of yours is a backpack.  I took the liberties of placing a few items in there that I thought you could use.  We’re gonna be fine Taliah.”  Mario said with a smile.  Taliah stopped scrubbing the spot and dropped the rag.

“Thanks Mario. What would I do without you?”  Taliah hugged him and a few tears escaped her eyes.  She wiped them away before she exited the hug.  She hoped that he didn’t notice, but he did.  Her eyes were red and glassy.

“It’s okay.  Just stay close to me and nothing is going to happen to you, I promise.”  Mario said holding her chin up and wiped away a rogue tear that she couldn’t stop from escaping her eye.  “Now let’s get going, sooner we get moving the sooner you can clean off that masking agent.”  Mario said leading Taliah towards the doors.