The Azrael: Surviving the Outbreak (18 page)

“This is nothing.”  Taliah smiled and laid her head on Mario’s side as they walked.  Mario concurred with Taliah.

“Damn dude.  That’s fucked up.  Here, this is your room.  I tried to clean up a bit.  It was Scoop’s.”  Chico shook his head and walked away.

“Thank you Chico.”  Mario said touching Chico’s shoulder as he left.

“We did our best.  Didn’t we?”  Chico said pausing and looking into Mario’s eyes.

“We did.  It’s changing out there Chico.”

“Yeah.”  Chico agreed, turned and walked away.

A few hours later John and Savanna entered the room with Samson following behind.  Doc was just finishing up with Taliah.

“Didn’t I tell you to stay in your room John?”  Doc said shaking his head at John.  “Stubborn son of a bitch.”

“Hey, I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t.”  John said to Doc.  He laughed and shook his head as he left.  Samson trotted in and put its snout on Taliah’s lap.  She petted him and looked for the gunshot wound.  “Doc removed the bullet and patched him up too.”  John said.

“Hey boy!  You saved me.  Thank you so much.”  She hugged him and he licked her cheek.

“Lookin’ better John.”  Mario said pointing at the bandages and his high spirits.

“Apparently Taco only grazed me on the side, fat ass.”  John shook his head rubbing at his gunshot injury.

“Seriously man, you tackled a dude out of a window today and you’re standing here talking to me like nothing happened.  You’re a badass.  Savanna, this man loves you.”  Mario said patting John on his back.

“I know he told me, my fly.”  Savanna said rubbing her fingers through his hair and kissing him on the cheek.

“She’s worth dying for.”  John said hugging her.  Mario looked into Taliah’s eyes and thought the same thing.  She smiled.

Long Trip Back

Giselle and Ethan had to move with stealth to avoid being seen.  Ethan wasn’t moving too quick with soiled clothes either.  As they neared the YMCA Giselle caught a hint of blood and Azrael in the air.

“Quick, get down, over here.”  She said calling him behind a car that was in the parking lot of the YMCA that had a view of the front door, it was open.

“What’s wrong?”  Ethan asked trying to see something.

“The door shouldn’t be open Ethan.”

“Maybe they were airing out the building.”

“No, something’s wrong, I can smell it and hear it.”  Giselle said licking her lips.

“Smell what?  I don’t hear anything either?”  He asked.

“Don’t worry why I know, just know that I know.  There’s a sizable herd inside.  They’re looking for something.  I found it.  All isn’t lost Ethan.”  She said jogging towards the door in a crouch.  He followed behind curious at what was happening.

“What are you doing?  If you know they’re in there why are we going in there?” 

“I need you to stay behind me at all times.  Don’t lose me or you’ll die.  Do you hear me?”  Giselle said looking into his eyes.  She took her sunglasses off and tossed them on the sidewalk in front of the building.  “Look into my eyes.  I need you to trust me.” 

“I trust you Giselle.”  Ethan said looking into her milky gray eyes.  She turned around and started to enter the room.  During the walk she filled the magazine of her silenced pistol with the other half of the rounds from the magazine she pulled from before.  The moment she entered she encountered three Azrael that were sniffing the air near the table where she ate before she left.  She quickly shot all three with perfectly placed shots.  She was using one bullet per Azrael for efficiency, however she needed to be accurate and she was.  They dropped knocking over chairs and the table.  It wasn’t the most successful stealth shooting she’s done but they were down.  She listened.  Ten more to go, they were near an eleventh heartbeat in her bedroom, a normal heartbeat.

Giselle moved through the building tactfully heading for her room.  Four were in the hallway and charged in as they saw her walk in.  She shot four shots, three dropped but the fourth kept running.  She slowed her breathing and concentrated.  She fired the next shot and it dropped but her pistol’s slide was locked to the rear, she was out.

“Going unsuppressed.”  Giselle said in a whisper as she placed her silenced pistol in her bag.  She removed the pistol from its holster and took it off of safety moving forward.  Ethan stayed close behind her watching the Azrael twitch on the ground nearby as he stepped passed them.

In front of her room six Azrael banged on the door punching holes in it.  It was only a matter of time before they destroyed the door completely.  Among the group was an elderly woman, a middle aged woman, a middle aged man and a little girl.  Giselle didn’t make it back in time.  Her inhaler mission had been accomplished in vain.  The alpha saw her.  It was the alpha from the IANG building, his skin was orange and it remembered Giselle.  It shrieked a horrible noise pushing the others out of the way as it charged in.  She was fed up with this particular Azrael.  She raised the pistol and fired off five shots just at his skull causing it to cave in on itself as it dropped twitching.  She continued to fire at the others that followed without precision.  Her pistol’s slide locked to the rear, she ejected the magazine and inserted the next and continued to fire until she was empty again.  The hallway was littered with unrecognizable faceless corpses that twitched and jumped from muscle spasms.  She had exhausted the remainder of her bullets, but this moment she was finished with being efficient.  She wanted to destroy this time.  She wanted to eliminate everything.

Giselle dropped the pistol on the ground and walked towards the door.  She kicked the bodies away from the door so she could open it.  She looked in and saw nothing; however she could hear a heartbeat beating fast.  She could smell the boy inside, it was Steven.

“Steven, it’s Giselle.  I’m coming in.”  Giselle said reaching inside unlocking the door and opened it.  She walked in and didn’t see him.  She listened for his heartbeat and breathing, it was coming from the closet.  She walked over and found him sitting in the back of it pulling his knees into his chest with his arms around them.  His eyes were blank and he was rocking.

“Steven, it’s okay.  I’ve killed them all.”

“Did you kill the little girl?”

“Yes”

“Doris, Kelly and Brian too?”

“Yes, they’re all gone.”

“They were nice people Miss Giselle.  They were nice people.”

“I know they were nice people Steven.  Unfortunately Sweetie, nice people don’t live long out here anymore.”  Giselle said squatting down and running her fingers through his hair.  He looked up at her and saw her eyes, her gray Azrael eyes.  Her face was splattered with blood and her veins were throbbing.

“But you’re nice people Miss Giselle.”

“No I’m not.  I’m dangerous Steven.”

“Only to the Azrael, to us you’re a nice person.”  Steven said sitting up on his knees and he hugged Giselle.

Ethan walked in.  “What happened here?  Was this boy here by himself?  Did you leave him here by himself Giselle?”

“No, the family of fresh turners out there, they were with him.  They were good people.  That’s what happens to good people these days.”

“The inhalers?”

“For the little girl out there with them.  Guess I can toss those.”  Giselle said rubbing Steven’s head as he continued to hug her.

“Don’t.  I’m sure someone else where you came from may need them.  Don’t make the trouble in Snyders a waste and you saved me.  You can’t save everyone Giselle.”  Ethan said looking at the bodies outside that were lying in a puddle of blood.

“Who’s that?”  Steven said lifting his head up and pointed at Ethan.

“This is Ethan.  He was at the drug store and was real sick.  I got him some medicine and brought him here.”  Giselle said.

“He seems nice.  Is he going to die out here too?”  Steven looked up at Giselle as tear trails were down his cheek. 

“No, no one else is going to die.  I will never leave you out here alone again Steven.  I promise you.”  Giselle said kissing Steven on his forehead.

“Both of your pistols are out of bullets, what’s your plan?  You can’t protect us without bullets, can you?”  Ethan asked a question she hasn’t answered herself.

“I don’t know Ethan.  I got carried away back there.  It won’t happen again.”  Giselle said standing up, unfastened the clips that were around her thighs, unclipped the belt from her hip and dropped it on the ground.  “Get your things Steven, we’re leaving.  Ethan, there’s a tub in the room down the hall.  You can clean yourself up and there should be clothes in the room that were Brian’s.  We have water pressure.  However the water heaters aren’t working.  So the water may be cold.  We’ll be outside.”  Giselle said walking out of the room and activated the distress beacon for a cleanup crew to make this facility operational again.

Giselle hopped in the truck and Steven was not far behind.  Steven tossed his things behind the front seat and slid in the middle seat and closed the door.

“Where to now?”  Steven asked.

“Well, we’re pretty low on gas.  I’ll see what I can scavenge from these vehicles in the parking lot.” Giselle said.

One SUV was almost at full, but was parked a good ways up the street boxed in by a traffic jam full of cars.  The exterior cars were picked clean though.  Giselle managed to fill up a five gallon canister several times.  Her truck was topped off and she placed a full five gallon can of fuel in the back of the truck for future use.  She managed to find one more five gallon container filled it up and tossed it in the back as well.  It was far more successful than she expected.  Maybe her luck was turning around, she thought.  She hopped in the truck again.  Ethan was back all cleaned up and seemed in better spirits sitting next to Steven.

“Off to Chicago.” She said.

“Chicago?  I heard there was a community that survived there.  I thought it was some sick joke though, since the population there is massive.  I’d imagine Chicago was the first city in Illinois to be overrun with those damned zombies.”  Ethan said.

“It was one of the first cities attacked in the state.  But by the time it reached us we had already established a military presence that managed to hold off the initial push.  Those that weren’t fighting destroyed bridges that led to the city, built walls and managed resources.  Most of our good well trained soldiers were killed at first, learning how to fight those things.  The Azrael were stronger than us, healed from their wounds instantly and lacked fear.  We had plenty of fear to pass around.  The central, northern and eastern districts are still intact.  We lost the southern one, also known as The Sunlight District.  There are less large buildings there so the ground level received more sunlight.  It made sense to me.”  Giselle said explaining Chicago. 

Giselle started the truck and headed to 52.  She crossed over Rock River and had to backtrack a bit on backroads in order to get on the CKC toll road.  The highwaymen did a good job clearing out the traffic on that highway that led straight into Chicago.  The Azrael herds found little value travelling on that particular highway due to the lack of human squatters.  Although at every toll station they encountered a small herd.  After a few encounters the side view mirrors were taken off, the hood was pulled off and the tailgate was pulled down spilling out one of the 5 gallon cans of fuel.

After a few hours of driving Giselle finally encountered the 88 and 290 interchange, however that stretch of road was blocked by thousands of cars that littered the highway.  She detoured south and turned off onto 34 deciding to take the back roads into Chicago.  34 turned into Ogden and it was a good decision.  She managed to squeeze around a few vehicles that blocked her way.  She drove through Douglas Park and turned onto West Roosevelt Rd, the only bridge not destroyed that entered Chicago.  Union Avenue was turned into a massive wall that surrounded the entrance to the city.  At the Roosevelt Gate several armed guards were stationed in riot gear and automatic weapons.  One of them greeted Giselle and she presented her Highwaymen identification card but kept her eyes down.  He verified the photo with her and asked about the passengers. 

“Just stragglers I found out there.  I’m taking them in for cleansing and checking them in at the Highwaymen Suites until a suitable residence is available.”  Giselle said cordially.  It used to be a Holiday Inn Suites.  He waved her through and she passed through as the other three kept a careful eye on the vehicle’s movements.  She was at the home stretch of the trip.  She turned left onto South Desplaines Street and in minutes she was pulling into the Highwaymen Station.  The boys were sleeping so she shut the engine off and shut her eyes.  It was six hours before daylight, so she took the opportunity to sleep.  She blindly felt for her lock, she felt that it was still locked, and succumbed to her fatigue.  She was back, finally, she was back.

Leaving the Park

Mario awoke early as usual and packed his things.  Taliah was sleeping well with Samson under her arm.  He noticed Mario was moving, lifted his head and raised his eyebrow to look at him.

“It’s okay boy.  Get some sleep.  I’ll be right back.”  Mario said putting his hand out and pulling it down.  Samson laid his head back down and closed his eyes.  He exhaled a loud audible sigh.  Mario exited the room and Chico was posted up outside.  He was armed and not surprised to see Mario this early.

“Guarding our door so we don’t leave?”  Mario asked.

“No, keeping my brothers from killing you.”  Chico said.

“Makes sense.  Thanks Chico.”

“Hey, you saved my life out there in the woods.  I owe you bro.  Besides, it was an order from Clip.”  Chico said hitting his chest with his pistol.

“About an hour after daylight, we’re heading out.  Anything to eat around here?”  Mario asked.

“Yeah, downstairs in the cafeteria we got food.”  Chico said aiming his pistol towards the direction of the cafeteria.  Mario patted Chico on his shoulder and walked towards the cafeteria to see if there was anything worth eating there.

“Can you grab me a bacon egg and cheese biscuit?”  Chico asked.

“Are you serious?”

“No, you’ll be lucky if you get a half a cup of bland as shit grits dude.”

“Asshole”

“Hey, it was an opportunity and I took it.”  Chico said laughing.

“Yeah, good one.”  Mario laughed and headed for the cafeteria in search of something to eat.

The cafeteria was empty, literally empty.  There was no food out anywhere.  He entered the kitchen area and found dirty dishes, trash in trash cans and a refrigerator.  He opened it and a waft of mold and rotten food caused him to gag.  He shut the door and wondered what these people ate.  In the storage room in the back he found cases and cases of canned foods.  He grabbed about two dozen cans of Vienna sausages, placed them in his pack and brought them back to his room.  He tossed one to Chico and he caught it with a smile.

“That’s my shit dude.  Thanks.” Chico said opening it up.  He smelled the contents and sighed with delight.  In seconds the can was empty and Mario heard a sound of the can hitting the floor.  Mario turned around and Chico saw his reaction.  “I’ll get Alecia to clean it up.  That culona got Scoop killed. Keep that B busy doing something besides flirting with the new blood.  Fucking puta.”

Mario walked in and shut the door.  He tried to close it quietly and when he turned around Taliah was sitting up wincing.  “Where’d you go?”  She asked and Samson moved his head on her lap and looked up at Mario raising his eyebrow.

“I got something to eat.  It’s not much, but it’s something.”  Mario said and tossed two cans to Taliah.  She caught it and showed a can to Samson dancing it around with her hand.

“I got breakfast boy.  It’s, uh.”  She looked at the label.  “Some small doggies, not like real doggies, but hot dogs, just very little ones.” She said gesturing something small with her other hand. 

Samson licked his chops and barked.  She opened up the can and dug her fingers inside pulling one out.  She crushed three of them on the ends while she managed to pull one out.  She dangled it over him and he licked his chops again looking intently at the treat.  She dropped it and he caught it in his mouth swallowing it instantly.  He looked at her awaiting another one.  She placed the can on the ground.

“There you go, you can get the rest.” She said and Samson stuck his snout in the can licking his tongue inside pulling out the others.  He pushed it around the room crawling under the bed until he pinned it in the corner and finished it.  She popped open another can and pulled out one for herself and ate it.  “Mmm, not bad Mario.”

“Not the healthiest choice but its decent protein and the flavor is okay.  I got more in the pack for the road.  We should get ourselves together and head out soon.”  Mario said grabbing the rest of his things and repacked his rucksack as efficiently as possible. 

“Well, get out so I can get ready.  Go check on the others.”  Taliah said hopping out of the bed and walked over to the bathroom and shut the door.

“All right then.  Someone’s bossy in the morning.”  Mario said and began to leave.

“I heard that Mario.  I get it from you.”  She said.  Mario laughed and walked out the door shutting it.

“She kicked you out.  At that age.”  Chico said shaking his head.

“What age?”  Mario asked.

“Teenage girls dude.  She reminds me of my lil sister.”  Chico smiled and put his hands on his shoulders.  “She’s getting close to that age.  Boys.”  He added and Mario smiled and nodded.  He walked away and forgot about the reality that she is a little girl.  She’s been through so much.  She’s been stripped of her innocence.  He hoped that she hasn’t lost all traces of it.  He knocked on John and Savanna’s door which was down the hall still in eyesight of Chico. He looked back at him and Chico waved and gestured a sex motion.  Mario smiled and put his ear on the door. He heard nothing and shook his head.  Chico shrugged and looked disappointed.

Mario placed four cans of the Vienna sausages in front of the door and knocked again and walked back to his door.  As he turned and walked a few steps the door opened.  He turned around and saw John at the door in his boxers.

“What’s up man?  It’s, uh” John looked at his watch. “Early as fuck.  What’s wrong?”

“I brought breakfast.”  Mario nodded towards the cans on the ground kicking them lightly.  “We should be going in an hour or so.”

John rubbed his eyes and squinted as he squatted reaching for the cans.  Mario noticed all of the scars along with the new injuries on his body.  “Hey, I haven’t had these things in forever.  Thanks Mario.”  John said grabbing two in each hand and stood up.

“Who’s that?”  Savanna asked walking to the door in a midriff t-shirt and panties.  John turned around and saw what she was wearing.

“Put some clothes on woman!”  John said shutting the door in Mario’s face. “Sorry Mario, we’ll be out in a few minutes.”  Mario smiled and headed downstairs.  He sat in a chair outside that overlooked the Douglas Park Lagoon.  Two armed guards with AR-15’s were talking in Spanish when he walked out.  He heard a few derogatory terms about his ethnicity, being Puerto Rican.  He ignored them and enjoyed the view eating another can of Vienna sausages.

Mario thought of his mother, Isabel Martinez.  She was Puerto Rican and grew up in the same neighborhood where he grew up.  She met his father at Sergio’s, a fancy Italian restaurant in Manhattan.  It was shut down due to involvement in mob activity not long after they met.  Javiero Cortez was stationed at Fort Hamilton.  He was a combat medic in the army.  He was hoping to get out and start a family if he met the right girl.  Isabel was picking up drinks at the bar for her girlfriends and ran into Javiero ordering drinks for his army friends.  He was dressed sharp and was having a good time before he was slated to leave on a tour to Vietnam.  Unlike most of his unit, he was not drafted.  He was working at the hospital in Fort Hamilton as troops were coming back to be processed out due to injuries.  He thought that if he was in the war he would have been able to make a bigger impact.  He volunteered to be transferred to Vietnam a few months before they met and he was scheduled to leave that weekend. 

Sparks flew immediately and Isabel and Javiero found themselves in a hotel that night.  Isabel had never gone to bed with someone that soon before, but it just felt right.  She knew that he was leaving for Vietnam so maybe that was why she did it so quickly.  They kept in close contact via letters for months.  After three months she told him that she was pregnant and he was ecstatic.  He told her that after this tour he would be getting out to settle down with them.  Mario was born on March 9
th
1972.  She sent pictures to him.  After weeks of more letters and pictures delivered the letters were returned unopened.  She contacted his unit’s commanding officer and the only thing he told her was that he was missing in action.  His body was never recovered and no information about capture was ever released.  Isabel stayed in the same house hoping that he would come back one day.  When Mario entered the Special Forces he tried to look into his father’s disappearance.  He found nothing to prove he was killed, captured or left the country of Vietnam. 

Mario looked at the green algae covered pond and wondered if his father’s body was laid to rest in a place similar to this pond. 

Clip stepped outside and dismissed his guards.  He sat next to Mario and spoke.  “So you’ve brought change in LSD Mario.  José was an asshole who was blinded by an idea that we could hide from the Azrael.  He was a fool to think that things wouldn’t change.  I was tired of hiding like some bitch, dude.  I want to fight those fuckers.  You’re a warrior, holmes.  You’re making a difference out there.  LSD can make a difference again.  We may have been killing each other over turf and shit before all this craziness happened, but we protected those that lived in our kingdom.  We bled for our family, holmes.  LSD or not, you are protected in our kingdom.  You are family, esé.  If you ever need anything, we’ll be here.  We’re getting rid of that fucking zombie pool and placing traps in the woods.  Your shit was tight.  Anyway, we’ll be here.”  Clip said grabbing Mario’s hand and pulling in for a bro hug.

“Same here Clip.  If you need anything, we’ll be in the Chicago Central District.  It should be safer there if you want to come now.”  Mario said.

“I’m good.  This is my kingdom now.  I think I’ll rule it for a bit.”  Clip said with a smile and walked inside.

John, Savanna, Taliah and Samson exited with their backpacks loaded and ready to go ten minutes later.  They followed Ogden to West Roosevelt Road with very little Azrael encounters.  They approached the Roosevelt Gate and were interrogated by the guards.  John and Savanna provided their Highwaymen identification cards and introduced their guests.  They were on a list that the guards had posted at the guard shack and were let in without issue.  They reached South Desplaines Street and travelled north heading for the Highwaymen Station.  They entered the building exhausted and in need of a shower.  Timothy Yuen met them at the door and John introduced Mario and Taliah.  He provided them with a voucher to stay at the Highwaymen Suites along with two bowls for the dog.  Instructions on the cleansing and debrief were discussed and scheduled for later that afternoon.  Living in normality was foreign to Mario and Taliah, but it was appreciated for once. The Azrael have taken so much from everyone these days.  It’s time to take it back.