The Azrael: Surviving the Outbreak by Jesse Gagnon Page A

see if he can see his friend behind him.  He couldn’t see shit.
    “Yeah, yeah, had to take out a few.  These assholes are strong.  Got one dead beside me.  He’s still breathing, but his skull is blown in half.  It’s fucking crazy.”  Jason said.
    “Kick it out of the cab Jason.  We don’t know how long ago they turned.  Fresh turners are still dangerous even after the head is removed.  Something about how slow the body receives information from its brain.  Get it out of there.”  Simon said quickly.
    “Alright man, kicking it out.”  Jason said and as his boot touched the Azrael it grabbed his leg and squeezed hard as it attempted to bite him with a flaccid neck.  “The bastard is squeezing my leg, but the funny thing is he’s trying to bite me with a limp dick neck.”  Jason said laughing.  He continued to kick it and finally managed to get it out of the seat with him. 
    The road opened up ahead for a few miles and they managed to put some distance between them and the Azrael.  The gate to the Central District was in sight. Simon led the guys to the gate and they shut off their trucks.  A few Azrael approached the trucks as the men formed up tactically and took out the stragglers that ran in.  They were near the overpass of 55 on Martin Luther King Drive.
    “Okay, we do this my way.  Remember your training, engage only if necessary and be prepared to shoot each other if we are bit.  That is priority one. That’s why Antonio died, he couldn’t shoot Kevin.”  Simon said to his team.
    “It was his cousin man.  That’s a hard decision.  Trust me I’ll shoot you Simon.  Last thing we need is a Simon Azrael running around out there.”  John said with a laugh.
    “No shit.  I wouldn’t want to encounter one of those either.”  Jason said agreeing with John.
    “Glad to hear that fellas.  Okay, let’s get moving.”  Simon said leading them into the shadows of a building nearby.  They moved quietly and searched each building for signs of activity.  A few hours into the search the morale of the three started to diminish.
    “I don’t know man.  She’s gone.  Maybe she went deeper into the district looking for us.”  John said thinking about their training.  They were taught to relocate to a known location of allies if moving solo.
    “We’re not done searching yet.  However, the sun’s going to be setting here in an hour.  We need to find her before that happens, or we’re screwed.  We don’t have any night vision equipment or any flares.  I’ve already stood down the northern and southern teams since we found the gate.”  Simon said knowing that time has become an issue.
    “Wait, look there!”  Jason said pointing towards a window that had light flickering on the second story of the Mercy Hospital and Medical Center on the next block.  Within minutes the light vanished and nothing was in sight.
    “That’s got to be her.  Let’s check it out.”  John said as he darted towards the entrance.
    “Okay, but we need to be careful.  She may be up there, but who knows how many Azrael are in there that she had to avoid herself.  Let me take point.”  Simon said overtaking John and slowly entered the building.  The architecture was breathtaking, but very eerie.  The power was unavailable, and the smell of rotten meat soaked every pore of the place.  Simon located the stairway and entered cautiously.  Nothing moved, so he progressed through to the second floor.  The door was off its hinges and lay next to the opening a few feet with dents and gashes in the door.  It was horribly disfigured and laid on top of an unmoving body.  “Body, under the door.”  Simon whispered and pointed his flashlight and pistol at it.  The body didn’t move and upon investigation, the head was found several feet away in several pieces.  Simon moved through the door cautiously and caught a quick glimpse of a flashlight down the hall at the end near the northern