Savage Mist Read online

  Xavier wanted to save the guard, but by the time he glanced back over to his unconscious body, it was bloodied and battered like that of the woman they watch die from the lobby. Xavier turned and ran back into the building through the double glass doors and sprinted through the lobby with the man in pursuit. He ran through the crowd of people who screamed and scurried for safety. The man ignored every other person in the lobby, speeding passed people as if he had a total loss of peripheral vision, with his rage fixed on his prey. Xavier ran through the lobby past the receptionist desk, and into a hall with 6 elevators. He skipped the elevators and opened the door at the far end of the hall to the stairwell and slammed it behind him. The man, giving chase with such a hard sprint, slipped and fell trying to make a hard left into the elevator hall. Xavier had been blessed with the few seconds he needed to lose the killer. He ran up several flights of stairs to the third floor, and into the offices to hide.

  The screams from the lobby as Xavier was being chased attracted the other killers who were outside unoccupied with defenseless victims. They poured through the doors on a search and destroy mission, picking off the slowest and most vulnerable people in the crowd. Some people made attempts to fight back, realizing there was nowhere to go once face to face with the savages, some of the bigger men chose to make a stand. The savages were freakishly strong and fast but still human. If bones were broken they could be slowed, if their skulls were crushed, necks were broken, or they were wounded fatally anywhere, they could be killed. This would prove to be more difficult of a task than it seemed as they out lasted the average person in endurance and it was certain death if you were attacked by two at once. No one in the lobby was prepared for a fight to the death. All who stood their ground fell and their blood pooled together to transform the lobby into a sea of red.

  The teen from the bus, recognizing early on that he needed to flee the lobby, took off toward the elevators. The black woman picked up her son and followed behind. The three ran to the elevator hall and pressed the call button to go up. They waited anxiously and in fear as the doors to elevator number three opened slowly, they ran in and the teen hit the button for a random floor above them, then frantically pressed the “door close” button. Just as the doors began to close, a man suddenly appeared in the doorway, the teen jumped back in the elevator and the woman screamed and clutched her son. It wasn’t one of the savages, it was Jake.

  “Let me in, close it, hurry up.”

  The doors closed and slowly muffled the screams from the lobby. The car began its ascent to the 15th floor of the 24-story building.

  Xavier ran into one of the offices, a law firm, the employees were staring out of the window down onto the street in dismay. One of the men turned around and saw Xavier standing near the office reception desk.

  “Were you out there?” the man asked.

  Xavier nodded. “I’m being chased by one now, but I might have lost him on the second floor.”

  The law firm employees stared at Xavier, they whispered over to one another while refusing to take their eyes off him.

  “You need to leave.” one women said.

  She feared Xavier may bring them trouble, she was right, but she was only delaying the inevitable. Xavier knew he couldn’t stay there long, the savages were surely working their way up the floors and the employees looked prepared to forcefully remove him from the office. He decided to try his luck at the top floor and buy time to barricade himself in.

  “You guys should follow me to the top floor, so we can fortify ourselves until help comes.”

  They looked unsure, hesitant, Xavier couldn’t afford to be patient. He ran out of the office and pressed the call button to go up on the elevator. He waited and looked back at the office, no one followed. Elevator number 4 arrived.

  The teen, Jake, the black woman and her child rode the elevator for what seemed like an eternity to the 15th floor, not a word was spoken, just fear and worry on their faces. The young boy trembled in the arms of his mother, his face wet with tears but his cry was quiet and whiny. The black woman was too shaken up to calm him, she just carried him and stared at the elevator doors, hoping for a miracle on the other side. The teen quickly shed his backpack and took the headphones from around his neck, put them in his backpack and put the bag back on. He took out his cell phone and prepared to make a call as soon as the doors opened and he got a signal. Jake just observed the three, but remained silent.

  The car arrived on the 15th floor and came to a slow stop, a soft bell sounded, and the doors opened to reveal a bloodied dead body lay directly in front of them. The black woman gasped and began to press the button to close the door in a panic. Jake and the teen stood back waiting for the door to close. They heard what sounded like people running toward them from around the corner. The woman put her son down behind her and pressed the button for the top floor and prepared to defend him. The door began closing and a woman dived in the elevator striking the lower legs of the teen and bringing him to the floor, a man jumped in directly on top of her and began beating her. The black woman grabbed her son's hand and turned to run out of the elevator, only to see multiple savages running down the hall in a convex mirror outside the elevator. The doors closed, trapping the 4 with the savage and his prey.

  The woman was a brunette professionally dressed in a black blouse and a tight tan business skirt. She was about 5’5” with a thin build. The savage was in business attire, a full dark gray suit with a matching tie, clean cut, probably never committed a crime in his life. Something happened to him today that turned him into an unforgiving murderer.

  Jake grabbed the savage from behind in a choke hold and rolled on to his back. The savage flailed and kicked wildly striking the teen on the floor and the young boy. He began to work his way loose as Jake was losing his hold; the teen jumped up and grabbed hold of the savages left leg. It took all his might just to hold one leg.

  “Help him” Jake screamed.

  The black woman moved her son closer to the door in the corner by the elevator controls and tried to grab the right leg. The savage kicked her in the chest and knocked the wind out of her. Nearly incapacitated, she rolled over on the savage’s lower body and tried to use her body weight to help subdue him. The battered brunette got up and started feeling and searching the floor of the elevator car frantically,

  “Where is it? Where is it?” She said in frustration.

  Jake struggling to maintain a poor choke hold on the savage, tries to wrap his legs around him. At 54 years old, he didn’t possess the flexibility, strength or endurance to keep the hold. He let out a growl as he gave his last bit of energy to keep the savage from escaping. Just as the old man's muscles failed him, the brunette spotted what she was looking for, a kitchen knife. It had slid away from her when she jumped in the elevator and Jake rolled on top of it when he pulled the man off her. The handle was partially exposed from under Jake’s lower back area. The brunette pulled it from under him, gripped it with two hands and raised it above her head. The teen and the black woman struggled to keep the savage’s legs under control and were fighting a losing battle, the little boy frozen stiff, watched as the adults fought for their lives. The brunette plunged the knife into the center of his chest, aiming for the heart. She pulled it out and repeatedly stabbed the savage until his movement ceased. The elevator arrived at the top floor, and the doors opened.

  The doors on elevator number 4 opened and Xavier was face to face with the terrified elderly couple that was on the bus with him earlier. He stepped on the elevator and looked at the controls, the couple had already pressed the button for the top floor. The doors closed, and the elevator began its ascent.

  “You guys made it out of the lobby?”

  The couple, scared out of their minds, looked at Xavier. The man responded,

  “We saw that man chase you from the street, after what the other one did to that lady, we figured you for dead.”

  “I managed to lose him in the stairwell, did everyone else get
out of the lobby?”

  The man shifted his gaze to the floor,

  “It was pure madness, and those people they just… killed, it was so violent. We couldn’t run, we had nowhere to go. We just stood in the lobby and watched as people died all around us, we just watched....and waited. We looked around and noticed they were all busy killing. They hadn’t noticed us yet. I grabbed Meredith’s hand and we tiptoed to the elevators. If there was ever a time I could say God was watching over us, it was today.”

  The elevator stopped at the top floor.

  The Watcher

  Michael pressed the magazine release button on his 9mm pistol and ejected the magazine into his free hand. Fifteen rounds. He pushed it back into the magazine well, pulled back the slide and released it, securing a round in the chamber. He placed the pistol in his hip holster, covered it with his shirt and walked over to his bed. A gas mask, night vision goggles, extra ammunition and other provisions were laid out neatly. He inventoried them and placed them into a black backpack.

  A knock at the door was followed by a deep voice, “Cavanaugh, time to rollout.” the voice said.

  “Yes sir,” he responded calmly.

  He threw the pack over his shoulder and left the room. A large white man stood outside the door waiting for him, it was George Mackie. He stood about 6 and half feet tall with broad shoulders and a strong build, like that of someone who worked on a farm all their life. Michael looked like a child in comparison, standing only 6 feet with a slim, but muscular build. He had short black hair, brown eyes and a chiseled jaw, more suited for GQ magazine than mercenary work. But nonetheless, that was his profession.

  “You know your mission?” George asked as he walked alongside Michael down a long corridor.

  “No sir.”

  “You’ll be our eyes and ears on the ground, any changes or developments needs to be reported back immediately.”

  “I know where I’m going, but I don’t know why.” Michael said.

  “The first phase of the operation is already underway, once you and other assets are in place, we’ll begin containment.”

  “What are we hoping to accomplish?”

  “Just what our government seems incapable of doing, defending the homeland against an actual threat.”

  “I was told this was a reconnaissance mission, but the details are yet to be revealed to me.”

  “Right. So, you know you’ll be perched atop the Columbia tower to monitor activity along with several other assets in downtown Seattle, what they probably didn't tell you was what you’ll be looking for.”

  “That tiny bit of information would mean the world to me sir.”

  “Chinese”

  “With all due respect sir, we’re talking about downtown Seattle…”

  “You won’t be looking in the streets, you’ll be looking for them in Elliott bay.”

  “Elliott bay? So, the rumors were true?”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  “So, in addition to satellite surveillance, you’re deploying assets to monitor the invasion?”

  “That’s where things are going to get complicated, Seattle is going dark.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’ll have communication through a private satellite; all other forms of communication will be dead.” he looked at Michael intensely. He needed to get a read on how he would handle the rest of the information. “The people can't know what we are about to do.”

  Michael looked puzzled, he didn't understand what his outfit could possibly do to counter a foreign invasion.

  “Sir, you mean to tell me that our own armed forces haven't intercepted the Chinese?”

  “That’s correct.”

  Michael clinched his fists and came to stop on the hall, forcing his superior to turnaround loom him in the face. “Why the hell not?”

  George hesitated, scratched his chin, and then looked Michael in the eye. “Because they haven't been ordered to.”

  Chapter 2

  The bell on elevator 3 sounded and the stainless-steel doors opened to reveal a breezy dusty hallway. The floor was apparently under remodel and the weekend meant no contractors were present. The black woman rolled off the dead man's lower body, crawled over to her son and squeezed him tight.

  “Are you okay Charles? Are you hurt sweetie?”

  “No, I wanna go home mommy.”

  “Shhh, did y'all hear that?”

  The teen stuck his head through the doors to take a peek.

  “I heard something moving around.”

  Jake had rolled the body off him and stood to his feet. He reached for his lower back, the fight had taken a lot out of him. He turned to the brunette who sat in the rear corner of the elevator with a tight grip on the knife, and extended his hand. She looked up and reached for his help, she trusted him, he saved her life. Jake pulled the woman to her feet, she adjusted her skirt and fixed her hair remaining ladylike as if it were instinct or as involuntary as a heartbeat.

  The teen stepped out of the elevator, through the elevator hall onto the large floor and surveyed the area. There was no furniture, no offices and most importantly, no people. It was noisy, cold and breezy, the windows were blown inward, explosions and gunfire could be heard out in the distance, subtle screams could be heard in between passing fighter jets and helicopters. He walked around the elevators which were in the center of the floor to the opposite side, the windows were intact. He unlocked his cell phone and attempted to make a call.

  Jake walked over to one of the blown windows to look out, smoke rose from several points in the city, the street below was filled with people running, trapped in cars, fighting...dying. The brunette walked over to Jake and stood next to him.

  “Sheila, Sheila Anderson. Just thought you’d want to know the name of the very thankful person you saved.”

  “Well, name’s Jake, Pierce. It was a pleasure.”

  “We officially disagree on the definition of pleasure, but I am very grateful you were there.”

  “Wasn’t all me, you got some fight in you, you survived on that floor all by yourself?”

  She began to go into detail about her encounter with the killer.

  Sheila was in the restroom when an explosion interrupted nature's call. She jumped when she heard it and braced herself against the walls of the stall to her left and right. She waited for a secondary blast or anything to follow the initial blast, but nothing followed. She had felt several rumbles when she first entered the restroom but thought nothing of it. She reached for the toilet paper, finished her business, stood up and pulled up her skimpy underwear. She opened the stall door and walked to the bathroom exit. She pulled the door open and a gust of wind rushed her face and blew her hair back. It caught her off guard, she put her arm in front of her face then she scanned the office.

  Sheila was forced to come in this weekend and help prepare payroll documents that were behind schedule. Her boss, Mr. Levy, and two other accountants were also present. She walked through the office searching for them. As she approached the blown-out windows on the west face of the building where the two accountant’s desks were, she saw the legs of one of them showing from behind the workstation. She ran over to check on him, he wasn’t moving. She put her ear near his nose and mouth to check for breathing, nothing, he was gone. Two desks down along the same side of the office, she saw the other accountant, Steve, sitting against his desk on the floor, he was breathing extremely heavily.

  “Oh my God, Steve, are you okay? Don’t move, I’m going to call an ambulance.”

  She picked up the phone on Steve’s desk and dialed 9-1-1, she got a busy tone. She tried again, still nothing. Steve began to sweat profusely and started babbling and slurring his words. Unable to make out what he was saying, she tried to calm him down and comfort him.

  “I’m going to go find Mr. Levy and try calling for help, I need my cell phone, I’ll be back.”

  She left Steve and ran to the receptionist’s desk at the front of the office
away from the windows.

  As Sheila approached the receptionist’s desk, she saw Mr. Levy crawling on the floor toward the office kitchen.

  “Mr. Levy are you okay? Let me help you up.”

  He reached up to swat her arms away and then collapsed on his face. He was drenched in sweat and breathing as heavily as Steve was.

  “Okay, just stay put Mr. Levy, I’m calling for help.”

  She ran to the desk and picked up her cell phone. As she dialed 9-1-1, she noticed something coming toward her out of the corner of her eye; it was Steve at full sprint, he lunged and tackled her. They collided with the desk, falling onto the chair and rolling onto the floor behind her desk with her head and torso underneath it. Steve began beating her but couldn’t extend his arms far enough to get a seriously damaging blow.

  As she lay under the desk with Steve on top of her pummeling her wildly, she began trying to wiggle her way from under the desk. As she reached with her right arm, clawing at the carpet trying desperately to inch her way into the open, she felt something sharp under her hand, a pair scissors. She picked them up and reached over her head, grabbing a handful of Steve’s hair with her left hand and yanked his head sideways. She drove the scissors into his left eye and pulled them out. He didn’t even flinch, instead he head butts Sheila two solid times before she could get her arm back between them. She used her left forearm to create space between them and stabbed him in the other eye.

  Steve didn't make a sound, he just fumbled around reaching for something on Sheila to grab a hold of, so he can continue beating her. Sheila tucked her left knee to her chest and managed to get a foot on his hip. She pushed with the leg just enough to give her room to get the other foot up, then she kicked as hard as she could with both legs. He stumbled against the chair and fell over on his side. Sheila quickly scooted out from under the desk and crawled a few feet away before standing up to run from the now blind killer. She ran to look for Mr. Levy but when she arrived at the spot where she last saw him, he was gone. He had been heading for the kitchen right before he collapsed, she ran there to find him.