The Azrael: The Reckoning (12 page)

“Will they fit?”

“Does it matter?”

“Kind of.”  Jason mumbled while stretching out the shirt, squeezing into the sweats, and tearing into the hooded sweatshirt as he wiggled into them violently.  Mario heard threads snap as he put them on.

“You can keep em.”

“Oh, thanks.  It’s a good look for me.”  Jason bragged as the sweatpants’ legs stopped just past the knee and clung to his frame awkwardly.  The hoody pressed his stomach tightly and offered visual on his midriff.  His belly button flattened and elongated.

“I bet you’ll pack more clothes next time.”  Mario gestured towards Jason’s outfit.

“Or bring taller friends.”  They shared a good laugh and continued to work around towards the alley where they started.

Moments after the last piece of furniture was added to the barricade the soldier noticed a tapping noise.  It was a controlled tapping coming from somewhere.  “Everybody quiet.”  He shushed the group in a loud whisper.  Everyone held their breath and listened for something.

Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap

“What’s that?”  The middle-aged woman asked.  The sequence was varied but constant like some code.

“Is that Morse code?”  The doctor asked as the taps continued following the same pattern.

“I think it is.”  The soldier agreed.

“What are they saying?”  The middle-aged woman asked.

“I don’t know.  I never learned it.”  The soldier admitted his lack of training.

“What good are you then?”  The woman murmured.

John finished writing down the message on paper and folded it while the others were baffled at the hidden code.  He walked over and handed the paper to the soldier.  He led him to a corner away from everyone else as he read the message.

“Is this what they’re saying?”  The soldier whispered to John in disbelief.

“Yes.  Just keep your voice down, we don’t need everyone to panic.”  He motioned the young soldier to quiet down.

“Are you sure?  You could have made a mistake.”  He asked.

“I’m a hundred percent certain that is the message.”  John asserted.

“Do you think it’s coming from the floor above us?”  The soldier asked looking above for a sign of some sort.

“Hard to tell.  If it’s coming from the ventilation then it could be any floor.”

“Shit.  That’s fucking awful.”

“Yeah, I know.”  John confessed.

Unexpectedly the middle aged woman snatched the paper out of the soldier’s hands and ran off with it like some grade school child.  “This is what they were sneaking around and talking about behind our backs.  There will be no secrets kept from us.”  The woman squawked as she scampered off with the message.  She read it and her hand went to her mouth immediately.

“Is this true?”  The woman asked in shock.

“It’s what the taps were saying.”  John admitted.

“It says that the foster floor including the daycare center floor had been breached and there are Azrael children all over the place.”  The woman wept as she read the message, knowing that grandchildren of hers were among the children at the daycare center.

“Johnny!  No, not Johnny…”  A couple cried out in unison.

“Sandra?  My little girl.  There’s no way.  She’s too sweet.”  A man wept in disbelief.

“Tommy and Jenny, did they make it out?”  A young woman approached John wild eyed.

“I don’t know ma’am.”  He shook his head.

Most of the adults there who had children had them enrolled at the daycare center ten floors up.  It had boasted a high level of protection from Azrael attacks.  However, no one was prepared for a breach in the building’s infrastructure.  The morale was going to shit fast.

As if to make things worse a loud screaming outside the doors sparked panic.  “Someone needs our help!”  A man yelled out running for the barricade.  Seconds later hundreds of footsteps were pouring down the stairwell towards the noise.  “It’s too late.”  The man shouted sounding defeated as he slowed down and dropped to his knees.  The scream continued to call out to the Azrael.  John could tell that the Azrael reached the source.  The screams persisted and remained constant but muffled as they surrounded the source in confusion.

“It’s one of Jason’s noisemaker grenades.”  He commented in a whisper that was loud enough to carry across the room.

“But it sounds like a woman screaming?”  The soldier asked quietly.

“More realistic of a draw for them.  They’re trying to lure them outside.”  He confirmed.  “Everyone just needs to stay calm and quiet and we’ll get through this.”

Hundreds of feet descended the stairwell and slowly faded into the distance as they exited the building chasing a new target.  The noisemaker slowly weakened its scream level as it eventually ran out of power.  All was quiet and no one knew if any Azrael were left inside the building or not.

“Is it safe?  Are we safe?”  A man asked eager to know their fate.

The families with infected children continued to mourn their loss.  An audible cry by the parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins and siblings wrapped the room in a blanket of sadness.  For an hour a peaceful but defeated morale hung over the people on the Lobby floor.  John knew most were at the end of their rope.  The monsters outside had finally stripped them of the last ounce of joy they had left in this world.  His assumptions were verified when he heard a gunshot from the other room.

A woman stricken with grief and shock found a pistol in the drawer of the desk in an office and took her own life.  She lied there still holding a picture of her husband and two boys.  None of which were on the floor they were on.

As if an outbreak of suicide spread, three more gunshots echoed throughout the floor.  It was the end of the rope for lots of them.  Unfortunately for those still alive, the repetitive gunfire brought attention from the remainder of the Azrael in the building.  Lots of footsteps rushed down the steps.  Not as many as before but enough to worry John.

In seconds the doors to the Lobby were shaking and buckling from nearly fifty Azrael striking them.  The furniture that braced against the doors shook and rattled.  People began to scream out in fear.  It only excited the Azrael further and quickened their date with death.

John removed his pistol from its holster on his hip and examined the condition of it.  He made sure he had a full magazine and made several more available for reload.  He stood in front of Savanna lying on a large comfortable couch not eighty feet from the pile of furniture in front of the door.  Everyone else retreated to the back of the lobby near the elevator doors that served no purpose during a power outage.  However, it was the furthest part of the Lobby away from the front doors.  The soldier stood by John offering support.

“So, uh you’ve killed hundreds of these things?  Any tips?”  He asked seeking to soak up some bravery through battle stories.

“Sure, kid.  Just aim and shoot.”  John answered knowing Mario must have told him, probably to give John some merit for the leadership role.

“That’s crazy.  Are you a Highwayman?”  He asked.

“Sure am.  Look kid, you’re kind of making me nervous.  Why don’t you go protect the people by the elevator?  I’m sure they’re scared shitless and need a bit of a confidence boost right now.”  John insisted trying to get rid of the young soldier.  He was gonna get himself killed trying to be some kind of hero.  Also, he only had one extra magazine for his pistol.  He was going to run out on the first ten that came in the door.

The door started to warp and splinter as the mad crowd of Azrael beyond the doors banged on them in a wild frenzy.  Their stench started to seep into the room and John knew that they would be through very soon.  His only plan was to keep his fire focused on the doors, killing them as they revealed their ugly fucked up heads.  Maybe the Azrael bodies could pile up enough to keep the others from coming in.  So he hoped.

The left door started to shatter and splinter even more as a hole large enough for a body to fit exposed an Azrael squirming through.  It snarled and bit air as it wiggled past.  John took the first shot and missed.  He paused, controlled his breathing and gently released the next shot splattering the Azrael’s skull and painting the door with blood and brains.  Pieces of brain stuck to the wood.

“Fuck yeah!”  he celebrated.  Its body was pulled through the hole and two more pushed their way in.  It slowed them enough for John to get two headshots on three bullets.  Their lifeless corpses remained as a third pushed its way in.  Its head was hidden behind their bodies and it was pushing the furniture beyond the door.  The pile slowly pushed away from the door.  John shot several times in hopes to hit it but there was no shot capable of hitting the bastard.

“Fuck!”  John conserved the rest of his bullets and held his fire.  He knew if he allowed the Azrael to move the barricade out of the way then they were done for.  He wouldn’t be able to shoot fast enough for the amount of Azrael that would pour in at a time.  He noticed the doctor’s bag and grabbed it.  He rummaged through it until he found a scalpel.  It was small but extremely sharp. 

John took in a deep breath and exhaled knowing his next action may get him bit.  He turned to Savanna, kissed her on the forehead and ran towards the doors.  He clumsily climbed the furniture until he reached the top.  The others in the room wondered what the hell he was doing and whispered amongst each other with theories of his actions.  The smell of the Azrael made him gag.  The furniture pile continued to move a centimeter every second as the large Azrael behind the two bodies pushed harder.  He caught visual on the Azrael pushing and could smell its shit-breath.  Goddamned ass-breathers, he thought.  He climbed over the dead Azrael that still twitched as he touched them.  It startled him at first, thinking they were going to get back up and bite him.  They were the walking dead; it wasn’t a stretch of the imagination in the least bit.  He mustered enough courage to pull himself over them.  Once he found himself in a good position he braced himself and jabbed the scalpel into the skull of the large Azrael.  He removed it and blood sprayed back all over him.  He continued to drive the weapon in its skull about forty times in succession as if he were shanking a snitch in prison.  Blood sprayed back at him after every strike as if it were under pressure waiting to explode at any moment.  The pushing ceased and the goliath of a man fell limp blocking the door with his mass even more than the other two had before.  He was wearing a soldier’s uniform.  He was probably one of the guards for one of the other floors.

John tried to slow down his breathing as he carefully climbed down the furniture pile.  He attempted to push the furniture pile back towards the door and it didn’t budge.  He looked over at his solder on his floor and wished he were the same size as the offensive lineman wedged in that door behind the furniture pile.  Standing five foot six, his soldier was a bit on the Napoleon size.  He lowered himself to the ground sitting on the floor and leaned his back on a bookcase that lay on its side facing the door.  He watched Savanna sleep peacefully as he slowly regained his strength.  The doctor appeared next to him and was taken aback at his appearance.  John was startled by the old man since his focus was on Savanna.

“Fucking Christ Doc!”  He spouted as he pointed the scalpel at the old man in a quick defensive action.  The doctor gently removed the scalpel from his hand.

“Sorry I startled you.  I was just concerned if you were bit after that crazy stunt you just pulled.”  The doc looked John over and wiped layers of splattered blood off of his face, arm, shoulder and chest with a white towel from the housekeeping stack near their station.  He had no cuts or open wounds.  “That was either the bravest thing I’ve ever seen or the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen.  Son, you’ve got a death wish.”  The doctor advised, shook his head, wiped the scalpel off, cleaned it in alcohol and placed it back in his bag.  He nodded at Jason and returned back to where the others were.

“A little bit of both Doc.  A little bit of both.”  John muttered as the doctor walked away.  He noticed the doctor explaining what happened and that he was okay.  The crowd looked troubled but also relieved. The soldier gave John the thumbs up. John put his right hand up and nodded at him. 

Sounds of the Azrael pounding on the door slowly returned into John’s mind.  His body shook as the furniture pile continued to rock back and forth.  He bought them a bit more time.  Savanna continued to sleep peacefully.  He’d fight to the death for that woman.  John smiled, lowered his head and joined her in the dream world.

Mario and Jason hurried through the streets moving quietly and stealthily.  They returned to the alley where they started and noticed it had been cleared out.  Mario broke into a three story building nearby and took to the roof for a higher vantage point.  The building was empty minus the occasional cat hunting for rats and mice.  Mario reached in his bag and removed binoculars, an enhanced digital spec ops grade, he acquired back at his last command.  The zoom feature was astounding and he scanned the area for Azrael activity.  He finally located the massive herd that they lured out of the building earlier.  They were heading outside the city’s gates probably drawn to something blowing in the swift brisk breeze that swept throughout the city.  Night was overtaking the landscape and signs of life throughout the city were indicated by candles flickering within windows.  Jason explained another security feature of the city to Mario.  It involved regulated power usages for everything except ventilation and medical equipment at night.  It also helped conserve power while keeping the Azrael unaware of human activity from far distances.  People still used candles but they were prohibited after 10:00pm.

Shadows that once grazed corners and hid alleys now swallowed the city in its entirety.  It was too dangerous to continue their plan in the dark and Mario decided to camp out on the roof for the night.  They reinforced the door exiting to the roof with two-by-fours from a now empty pigeon coop.  They removed the nails with a hoe that was used on a small makeshift garden on the roof, straightened them out and reused them for holding the two-by-fours in place.  They drove in the nails with small bricks.  Mario rigged a snaring trap to empty cans to alert them and Jason attached a blinder grenade to another snare that would ignite if someone or something got caught in it.  Jason located clothes hanging on a clothes line in the far corner of the roof.  They would fit his body a bit better than his current situation but were wet, stained and smelled like mildew.  He thought better of it and stuck with his current outfit.  A small shed nearby looked like someone lived there at some point.  Upon further investigation its occupant was found face down on a heavily soiled mattress with a syringe a quarter filled with bleach in it lying next to him.  The stench was overpowering and after a few seconds Jason was running out trying to control his body from retching.  He got his shit together and returned to Mario’s tent.  He had a small fire going that wouldn’t be visible from the ground. He was heating up a pot full of chunky vegetable soup from a can.  The aroma eased Jason’s stomach and caused him to salivate.  He sat down next to Mario on a cinderblock.

“Smells delicious.  Where did you get that can?  Find it inside?”

“I’ve had it for a while.  Was saving it for one of those shitty morale in the dumps days.”

“It’s definitely one of those days.”  Jason agreed.

“Sure is.”  Mario and Jason gazed into the fire dancing around and below the pot.  A few minutes passed with silence.

“You can’t hold yourself responsible for those things out there Mario.  They are the monsters out here.  You didn’t kill those people, the Azrael did.”

“Yeah.”  Mario just stared at the flame flickering and popping from the wood.

“We’ve killed over a hundred while luring hundreds more outside the city.” 

Mario continued to stare at the fire and sighed.

“You can’t let a mistake eat you away.  I know I’ve had plenty.”

“Did your mistakes give the Azrael the opportunity to kill and turn hundreds of people into infected zombies?”  Mario objected talking to the fire.

“We didn’t know what to expect out here.  It’s a savage, cruel world and we have to live in it.  There’s no manual for how to survive this thing.  We have to write the fucking manual.  Rewrite it several times if we have to.  I don’t know if the day will come when all of this will come to an end.  I don’t know if I’ll be alive when that day comes.  All I know is with all of the shit going wrong in the world somehow we’re still alive.  We’re alive for some reason Mario.  We’re still here today giving the Azrael a swift kick in the ass, because that’s what we do.  We’re fighters.  We’re reminding the world that we haven’t given up yet.  They may take our wives from us.  They may take our children from us but God damned it Mario we’re still trying.  We’re still fighting.”  Jason paused a second.  “I guess what I’m trying to say is that the key is to never stop fighting.  The world needs us.”  Jason spat as he spoke towards the fire as if he were scolding a former version of himself.  The veins in his neck were stressed and his eyes were distant.

“Damn.  That was a pretty good speech.  You just come up with that?”  Mario turned towards Jason.  He looked into Mario’s eyes.

“I’ve been telling that to myself every day since I found out about Jessica.”  Jason maintained his stare into Mario’s eyes.  They were glassy and he was moments from a full blown meltdown.  He looked back at the fire and wept.  He released a wave of emotion he’d been holding up for weeks.  The smiles and jokes aside, Jason was still broken and fragile.  Everyone was these days.  Mario let him release his pain in silence.  After a minute or two Jason began sniffling and snot bubbled in his right nostril.  Mario brought out two large tin mugs and poured the soup into each one.  He handed one to Jason.

“Thanks Mario.  I don’t’ know what that was all about.”  He mumbled while wiping the snot off of his nose with his sleeve.

“It’s alright.  Yup, you can keep the clothes.”  Mario cracked a smile as he looked at his mug of soup.

“Old man’s got jokes.”  Jason laughed while more snot shot out of his nostrils, flung towards the fire and put it out for a moment.  The fire came back to life moments later.   Mario noticed and they both laughed hysterically for a few minutes wiping tears from their eyes.  It’s the little things in the world that keep people going and even smaller things that keep them smiling.