Siege At Freaktown Ch. 19

Sailing through the dark river on a moonlit and breezy evening, human passengers

onboard a private yacht, partied hard with music loud enough to keep the fish, if any, wide awake for miles, along with the consumption of alcohol. Others would go someplace private to smoke a joint or two. At the stern of the yacht, a young couple decided to ditch the party and make out instead. Neither cared if anyone was watching or filming them, and were in the mood to start their own little party. They would soon be interrupted by thumping sounds exactly where they stood. When the young lady looked for the source, she regretted ever doing so.

The young man stayed put seeing what was unfolding before him while his lady friend screamed back inside, alerting everyone and abruptly stopping the party. What they all saw was disturbing, horrific, and may haunt them for the rest of their lives.

"What the hell?" Said one man.

"What are they, aliens?" Asked one woman.

The river was a graveyard of floating bodies belonging to the citizens of Freaktown. There were hundreds or possibly more, bumping right into the yacht one at a time. Camera phones were taken out, filming the river of unspeakable carnage.

"Is that a child?" One man asked, spotting a small corpse resembling a child, whose species he could not identify.

Other corpses of children floated by along with those of senior citizens, all different from one another. Many were filled with bullet holes while others were burned, leaving a charred smell strong enough to make everyone onboard puke. A few passengers manage to do just that overboard, running to the other side of the boat without hitting the floating corpses. Soon more dead appeared on their side, leaving the yacht completely surrounded. They didn't realize they threw up on the bodies until it was too late.

"They're everywhere," said one passenger, "they're fucking everywhere."

"I gotta get out of here," said one woman, growing hysterically. "I need to get out of here. I can't stay here."

"Babe," said her date, "take it easy."

"No, I want to go home! You take me home right now!"

"You're embarrassing me."

"Take me home now!"

"Will you calm down?"

"I'm not staying here!"

"Over there!" Someone yelled, pointing straight ahead.

The crew's attention would be drawn to a certain island town, blanketed by thick, ravaging flames. They would soon learn the bodies had come from that particular location. Everyone flocked around filming the entire event, unaware of the crisis that had taken place on land.

"My God," one woman said. "We, we need to call someone."

The stranger was brought inside with hands cuffed behind his back, and met with a lukewarm reception. He was booed, spat on, cursed at, and had objects thrown at him while being escorted into the warehouse office. Carlos told the stranger to have a seat and closed the door behind him, focusing now in calming the agitated crowd.

"Kill the human filth!" Yelled one in the crowd.

"Hang him and burn him!" Yelled another.

"Listen up!" Carlos shouted. "Everybody listen up! Now I know you want to see this guy suffer, but he had a reason for being here."

"He killed our families!"

"Our homes are gone!"

"Kill him now!"

"Yeah, fuck the flesher!"

"Bring his ass over here!"

It was enough to lead these people into battle, but to prevent a possible lynching would seem even more of a challenge for the young lieutenant.

"Lovely night for a lynching," said Helena, "and I've seen many in my time."

"Oh, I hope it won't come to that." said Carlos, "I don't have the time."

"Where you going?"

"To speak to our guest. I want to know why he came here willingly."

"You need a hand?"

"No, this interrogation requires a good cop only."

"I thought I was the good cop?"

"In your dreams. Hold the fort while I'm in there."

"I'll do my best."

On his own Carlos entered the office, greeting the stranger sitting comfortably on the folding chair Helena had used before.

"Who are you?" The stranger asked.

"I'll be asking the questions," said Carlos. "You got balls coming here all by yourself. Either you have a death wish or you're just plain stupid. So, which is it?"

"I want to talk to whoever's in charge."

"Well, you're in luck because... here I am. Please to meet you, whoever you are."

"Glen, and I only want to talk to you."

"Just me?"

"It's important, and you need to listen."

"Well, I want to talk to you, and I suggest you answer my questions because I have a mob out there who wants to lynch your ass, and I don't know how long I can hold them back. So tell me, why are you here?"

"I'm here because... I can't do this anymore."

"Do what anymore?"

"Killing you people. I thought this was a righteous cause; that we were doing the right thing for a better future for humankind."

"Looks like you thought wrong."

"I'm not gonna lie to you, but Bennett has lost his mind. His plan was to wipe all of you out, but now he's taken it to another level. He doesn't give a damn about the town; he never did. He wants to burn it all down. All that talk about saving the land for humans was all bullshit. Nothing but pure bullshit."

Carlos knew Bennett was crazy and full of hate, but to be this maniacal to turn an entire town into a wasteland became a more concerning matter in this war.

"So," he said, "let me get this straight. Your so called leader has lost it, am I right? And you're here because why, you want our help?"

"I'm not looking for help," said Glen, "the man is psycho, and he's going to do whatever it takes to get the job done."

"So, why tell me? Why come all the way out here just to tell me that? If he's such a problem, why don't you deal with him and be done with it?"

"Because he killed my brother. He was the only family I had, and he wanted out but Bennett didn't allow it. He shot him in the back, right there in front of me; in the fucking back. I just stood there and did nothing. Nobody else is willing to stand up to him. Too many of them either remain loyal to him or are too damn scared. To him, we're all expendable."

"Which one are you?"

"What?"

Carlos could hear the crowd quieting down a bit during his interrogation. Even so he knew nothing would please them more than tearing his prisoner a new one, after all they went through.

"Which one are you?" He asked. "Are you loyal to him or are you afraid of him?"

"Bennett once told us," said Glen, "the only person you should be afraid of more than God... is me. So yes, I am afraid of him, and I had to leave after he killed my brother. Then I followed one of your own flying off all the way out here. Don't worry, I didn't tell anyone else of your location."

"I find that hard to believe. Three of your buddies managed to sneak inside and killed many of us."

"I had nothing to do with it."

'Whether you did or not means nothing at this point. Bottom line, you signed up for this, to slaughter men, women, and children. You all did because you believed every word you were told by Bennett. He fed you every conspiracy bullshit he came up with and you didn't question it. You thought he was a prophet, is that it? Did he tell you he was sent by God to save mankind from extinction?"

"Not exactly."

"Did you really think he was going to reward you for a job well done? Were we really a threat to humankind or to you?"

Carlos was so fed up that he thought about raising his voice in a fit of rage. He was sick and tired of being in the company of death, and the toll it had taken on him for the past several hours.

"Look," said Glen.

"I'm not done," said Carlos. "All it takes is one little lie to get people like you riled up, and you just fall in line without a fucking care in the world. It's all the same. I've had my share of racism in this town. I was called meat sack, flesher, rotten meat; whatever came to mind, and it was all because I was human."

"Wait, was human?"

"That's right. Your friends killed fourteen of us, posing as vampires. I nearly became number fifteen, but I was brought back with a new lease on life. You could say I'm part of the pack now, and I have the ability to outlive your troubled ass."

Carlos thought about trying out his vampiric abilities on Glen to intimidate him. Instead, he grabbed hold of his shirt, looking right into his eyes, almost nose to nose, and letting Glen know he didn't have much time left. Carlos didn't need to scare him the way Helena does with her own interrogations.

"So, you give me a reason," he said, "why I shouldn't end your life right now or hand you over to them? Nothing would please them more than to see a young flesher like yourself, pulled apart piece by piece, and having your entrails hung for decoration."

"Look," said Glen, "I know you all want me dead, and you have your reasons, but believe me, Bennett is the one you should be worried about, and if you want him, I can give him to you. I have all the locations well guarded, the number of people he has on standby; the works. Now, you have my phone; it has everything you need."

As the crowd noise outside died down, Carlos pulled out Glen's phone, checking out exactly what he said. Every photo told him everything he needed to know about Bennett's forces. The young lieutenant never thought in a million years one of Bennett's people would turn on him.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked. "Are you doing this for revenge or forgiveness? You think you can atone for all the lives you ruined?"

"I'm not looking for atonement, forgiveness or even redemption. Revenge? Maybe. I am willing to give up my soul to pay for my crimes. I don't have anything left to lose, so do what you want to me."

Carlos had a good mind to give him up to the others, but that would make them no different from Bennett and his people. The young lieutenant grew anxious to look at that phone, and see the blueprint that may put an end to Bennett's reign of terror.

"For your sake, you better be right about this," he said.

"I have no reason to lie now," said Glen. "I'm your only hope."

Glen's phone was carefully looked at, studying every location Bennett and his men were in position. Snipers stood at the ready and the one hospital standing was heavily guarded and used as a base.

"What do you think?" No Face asked.

"It looks legit," said Carlos.

"Or we might be looking at another massacre."

"I doubt this guy came all the way out here just to tell us where exactly we'll be ambushed. He's more afraid of Bennett than he is us."

"I don't trust him," said Furball.

"I don't like it either," said Seta. "They probably know we're coming."

Tek remained silent throughout the discussion. With the young lieutenant alive and well, the officer was thrilled to have his friend back, but it didn't change the fact that fourteen were killed and he only suffered a shot off ear. If he wanted some form of redemption, this was the time and the place to let everyone know he is willing to continue the fight no matter how difficult it might get.

"Fuck it," he said, finally breaking his silence.

"Something on your mind?" Carlos asked.

"Fuck it. I say we take our chances and just get it over with. I don't want to stay here all night getting bored or waiting to die. Let's do it already."

"Sounds like you're in a rush. Should I be worried?"

"Not at all, but leaders are supposed to make tough decisions to get things done. That's how you win a battle."

"Wise words, Tek. Who told you that?"

"You did, back at the precinct."

"I did? I must have been caught up in the moment when I said it."

"It's time for some payback," said Gemini's right side.

"Yeah," said her other half, "I kind of liked B-Man."

"It's your call, lieutenant," said No Face.

"Waiting for your orders," said Helena, "sir."

As leader, Carlos needed to make a tough decision even if his crew had their doubts, and in perfect timing Tek reminded him of that. He felt the confidence brewing in him and thought this was the break they were looking for.

"Saddle up, people," he said. "Alright, listen up, we're doing this. I know we've lost good people but their deaths will not be in vain; I promise you. You're not dying for nothing. You're fighting for freedom and you're fighting for survival; the right to live and be who you are."

The crowd paid close attention and agreed with everything he said. Count Vargas listened in high up on the rafters.

"They may call us freaks," said Carlos, "and they may call us monsters, but those people out there, hunting us and destroying our homes are the real monsters. They started this fight, and you can be damn sure we're gonna finish it. You can't call me a flesher anymore, and after my transformation, you'll have to address me with a new insult."

"Prince of darkness?" Someone suggested, giving everyone a big laugh.

"No, I don't want that. You can call me friend, brother or a loved one. All this time I was just a lowly human trying to fit in, and it took awhile for all of you to accept me. That makes me a part of your family and mine. So let's win this war or die trying, but we'll do it as a family."

The entire warehouse exploded into cheers and screams. It went on for some time until it died down once the plan to attack was addressed. Carlos gave the word to Goliath and Gemini to take their forces to the south side with the Harpies providing air cover, and to retake the hospital occupied by human hands.

Sergeant No Face and Furball were ordered to attack the north side with Duncan and Dragona providing cover from above.

"Tek", Carlos continued, "you, Seta, and the rest of your officers, take your group and head for midtown. Bennett is in there somewhere and we need to find him. Hel and I will join you shortly, and Stax, I know I've told you many times, but I need you to cause some damage."

"Consider it done, sir," said Stax.

They all rushed out of the warehouse heading towards their appointed destinations.

Everyone else stayed in their positions, guarding the warehouse with the mayor's son in charge.

"Where are we headed?" Helena asked.

"You and I are going to visit the sewers."

"The sewers?"

"We're going to need some heavy hitters in our team."

"From the sewers?"

"From the sewers, carino."

"Wonderful. My evening just got even better."

Helena was out the door as Carlos looked up, seeing Count Vargas on the rafters giving a nod of approval. Carlos nodded right back and headed out.