There is something wrong with those affected by the infection. They were different from other, normal people. Laz felt the normal people were still that, normal. They were like the standard herd, those who just roamed around all day, eating gra.s.s, playing, and wasting time. The infected, the ones who had gotten sick, become naturally different. They became like the large predators of the jungle, running around, hunting, fighting. Death means less to a predator, for they see death every day. Death surrounds them as a means of life. The only connection they have is to their own family, which they will give up their lives to protect. Tonight, Laz decided to push his humanity to the back and fully embrace the instincts within.
There was a final type to address, but Laz didn"t know how to do so. Who are those chosen? How are they different. He knew Vivi didn"t know since he had asked her, but the drop dead gorgeous alien girl with the questionable need to kill Laz repeatedly seemed to understand it. It was simply that she didn"t seem to want to explain. It wasn"t just how they operated their abilities differently that Laz was talking about, but also how their person was different. Laz knew they didn"t fall into the normal category and it seemed like they felt different than predators, leaving Laz confused on just what kinds of people they were. That wasn"t something that could be figured out in the short term, so Laz put it aside for now. For the moment, he was focusing on the doors to the warehouse that seemed to be drawing closer as he walked faster.
A quick spread of his spiritual sense showed that there were at least fifty people inside, all spread out. It was hard to get an exact number since there were just so many people moving around and they didn"t exactly have strong fluctuations to get a reading off of. It was kind of like looking at fish in a pond and trying to count them. No matter how fast you go and how many you see, there is no way to be sure. The one thing Laz was sure about was that Leona and Ruby had gotten into position on the agreed upon exits on the east side and the rear. If anyone came out of those doors, they would be handled.
Despite Laz"s earlier bravado, he himself had hesitation in his heart. He felt like he was about to cross a line that there was no going back from. It was a true turning point in his life and it made things that much more real. All of the warnings he had given to Leona had also been the shackles that were present within him. But he knew that this wasn"t going to be the last time something like this happened. Laz would not lie to himself or even pray to a G.o.d who he felt had abandoned him, asking for comfort. Instead, he would steel the emotions inside of himself and hope that when he wakes up tomorrow, he would still be himself.
Although the large metal warehouse had large doors for bringing in good, Laz was able to sense were a guy was standing next to a smaller door, apparently as a door guard. Without hesitation, he moved to the door and knocked on it. A small viewing door slide open.
"What?"
"I"m here for the party."
"p.i.s.s off kid." The small door slide shut, leaving Laz standing there with a smile, his face mostly hidden by the demon mask. He could only a.s.sume the guard thought he was playing a trick. He knocked again, causing the little sliding door to open again.
"If you don"t f.u.c.k off right now kid, I"m going to come out there and kick your a.s.s." The small window slid closed once again, leaving Laz smiling still. He knocked one more time.
This time, instead of the small door sliding open, he heard the sounds of locked springing open. A large, heavy set man with huge muscles and many tattoos opened the door and stepped out while looking down at the immensely smaller Laz who was still smiling at him.
"You got some brain damage kid? Too late to regret it now..." The large bouncer reached over to grab Laz, but Laz reacted just as quickly. Reaching his hands up, he grabbed the bouncer"s wrists just as he was about to grab Laz"s shirt. Seeing this boy grab him was enough to make the bouncer start to laugh, even as he started to reach forward again. But try as he might, the bouncer couldn"t move his arms. He even tried his best to jerk his arms a few times, but his wrists were locked into the iron vice like grip of Laz"s hands and they weren"t going anywhere.
After trying to fight Laz"s grip a few times, the large bouncer started jerking around more and more as he started loosing his cool. Seeing as how he couldn"t move his hand, he suddenly lunged forward with his head, attempting to headb.u.t.t Laz.
BAM!
The tall, muscular, tattooed bouncer felt like he banged his head against a brick wall and started seeing stars. In fact, he had hit so hard, the man suddenly lost his footing as he fell to the ground. Or at least he would have had his wrists been free. It took the bouncer a few seconds to recover himself as he glared at Laz with a large dose of fear in his eyes. The man tried to stand back up, but found that Laz"s hands had shifted, causing his entire body to stay planted on his knees.
"What do you want?" The bouncer finally asked, seeing that Laz hadn"t made any other moves.
"Now we are talking. Is your boss Jimmy here? And that weird guy who hits s.h.i.t hard?" Laz didn"t know how to describe the infected within Jimmy"s group and this was the best he could come up with.
"Yes.... YES.. Yeah. They are inside," the guard finally got out. Noticeably large beads of sweat had started rolling down from his forehead after having his entire body forced down to the ground. He knew that if he wanted a chance to survive and get help, he needed to be really forthcoming with any info he had.
Unfortunately, that was simply his opinion as Laz had no intention of letting him go after finding out the two of them were both inside. Before the man could utter another word or even beg, black flames erupted out of Laz from his hands and quickly engulfed the large man, burning him into a pool of liquid before he could even scream out. It was the only mercy Laz would offer this night.
Laz continued inside, taking his steps slowly. He could tell there had been no movement. Glancing around, he noticed a monitor attached to a camera and a dvr that pointed outside the building. Without a thought, Laz destroyed the dvr with his black flames and continued on.
The entire warehouse was like a base of sorts with the only people being present were those of the gang. It was a cesspool of s.h.i.t from top to bottom. Drugs, booze, hookers, even a fighting ring. Jimmy was sitting on a seat overlooking the entire warehouse like a king admiring his kingdom. The only difference was that he was not happy in the slightest and it was clearly shown on his face. He was still waiting to hear back from the guys he had sent to kill the guy from the night before, but he hadn"t gotten a response back yet. Considering they only had to kill one guy, they should have at least called in by now to tell him that it was done or that they were still waiting, but so far he had heard nothing and no one was responding. The skinny weak looking guy was sitting next to him while sipping a drink with one hand while the other was fondling a young looking girl with the other. The girl looked pitiful with one black eye and makeup running down her face, but she was clearly trying her best to not make a sound no matter how hard the skinny man pinched.
"It will be fine boss. There is probably bad reception in the club and they are still waiting," the skinny infected rea.s.sured Jimmy.
"You better f.u.c.king hope so Fred. After that s.h.i.t you pulled the other night we"ve lost all respect thanks to the G.o.d d.a.m.n videos that were posted." Jimmy was getting sick and tired of Fred. Although he had his uses in the beginning, Jimmy found that Fred wanted to take advantage of everything and not do anything in return. Jimmy was considering just how to make this a.s.shole go away quietly. After all, he was part of the gang no matter what he did and it would look bad for the guys if Jimmy just disposed of him. In turn, Tom was considering trying to remove Jimmy from his position as leader. Fred was tired of being controlled and felt that Jimmy was way to conservative in leading the gang. Fred felt that they could be so much more.
Although both men had their schemes, they both still needed each other right now, so things had to be put on hold. Down on the floor, one of the newbies was in the fighters ring with one of the veteran members, getting his a.s.s beat while the onlookers cheered. Some of them were shooting up while others were just drinking. A few guys were even f.u.c.king the prost.i.tutes while being cheered on and filmed by their friends. Fred couldn"t help but look on and dream about the day that he controlled this little kingdom while Jimmy looked at Fred in disgust, clearly aware of his thoughts. At first, Fred never showed such ambition, but as the days went by, he was getting worse and worse at hiding it.
Just as everyone was stuck in their own little worlds, Laz walked in from the entryway. He took a quick look around the round and started counting the people present to make sure he knew how many he was looking for at the end. Basically, he wanted to see what the body count would be.
Seeing the out of place guy walk in in a mask, Jimmy immediately focused on him as his already frowning face froze. Next to him, Fred noticed the the change in Jimmy and took a look himself, only to discover that their target had appeared at their front door. Fred"s brain shut down as his hand that had made it"s way up the girls skirt went limp. Fred didn"t know how to react. Even though his face was hidden, the pale white skin and small frame made Laz easily recognizable.
After getting his power and receiving the upgrade, Fred felt that he had gained an almost unbeatable power. He was like a one man wrecking crew. He basically caused compressed air to wrap around his body like an armor and when it hit something, it exploded out. He had even used this ability on a person before, causing them to explode like they had a piece of c4 shoved up their a.s.s and then ignited. It was the most thrilling moment of his life and he had done it several times since. In fact, he was planning on blowing up this girl on his lap later after f.u.c.king the h.e.l.l out of her. For Fred, it was the perfect end to the night. Yet now, this ill omen of a man had shown up on their doorstep. Fred immediately came back to it once he got excited about his hobby and looked over at Jimmy.
"Didn"t you send someone to kill him?" Fred asked as though Jimmy was an idiot. Jimmy glared back at Fred but didn"t say anything before turning back over to look at Laz. Jimmy was far more experienced than Fred and knew that if Laz was standing in their warehouse right now, then that meant that not only had his guys failed, but it looks like they had sold him out. Since Laz had come alone, he could only be here for one thing.
"Where are my guys?" Jimmy yelled down over the music and noise.
"Most are still alive and under arrest," Laz answered back uninterested. He as actually looking at the pitiful state the girls were in and thinking if he had it in him to kill them when the time came. He couldn"t leave a witness.
After Jimmy had yelled, the entire place became quiet and everyone looked on. Some of the guys knew who Laz was immediately and had strange looks on their faces. They couldn"t figure out why he had shown up.
"What do you want to turn around right now?" Jimmy asked, surprising everyone, including Fred. The older guys knew their boss for many years and this was the first time they had heard something like this. Their boss was afraid.
"Too late for that now," Laz replied and stopped looking around. Most of the guys were armed and there were several pieces sitting around withing reach for those that weren"t. He knew this wasn"t going to be easy.
"Kill him.." Although Jimmy tried to keep steady, his voice shook when he gave the order. He felt a primal sort of fear coming off this young man. It whispered things into his head, warning him, telling him to run. It took everything he had to not do just that.
Three of the thugs stood up, bringing their drinks with them while knocking over the girls that were keeping them company. Standing in front of Laz, they looked like a wall of leather, filth and malice. Since the boss gave the order, they would beat this kid to death. In fact, this was the best kind of fun for these guys. They felt that killing someone with a gun was anti climatic. They much preferred the feeling of using their hands.
Laz didn"t say anything as he looked up at these three, his mask covering most of his face so that his expression couldn"t be read. The three looked like they would fight each other first to decide who got to kill Laz when they suddenly stiffened up. Looking down, they noticed that Laz had moved at some point and was standing within inched of them, using them to block everyone else"s vision of him. He then quickly swung his fist out in an arc while igniting the black fire, hitting all three men"s chests at the same time. Just like before, they barely had time to open their mouths before the black flame engulfed their bodies, melting them into puddles of bodily fluids in almost an instant.
The others, including Jimmy and Fred, looked on in horror as the three men who were perfectly fine before, melted away into nothingness. The entire warehouse stopped moving, as though it were actually a picture, frozen in time.
The scene finally came back to life as the eye sockets on Laz"s mask suddenly glowed an eerie blood red light.
"That"s four..."