Madman's Monster Read online

  "Well," the guard continued as he moved out of view, "I say it's necessary." The guard pulled the gun from its holster and raised it up, pointing it at the table.

  The white coat must have heard the intent in the guard's voice because he did turn around at that point to face the guard, "Then you explain to Whelan why you risked breaking his pet pony with extra tranquilizers while he was still safely strapped down on the gurney."

  "I-I," the guard's voice wavered as he turned and looked at the white coat. He seemed to consider that for a few seconds before his arm dropped and he holstered the gun.

  The first man nodded, "Good. Now shut up and let me work." There was the sound of multiple clicks and taps as something electronic whirred to life next to him.

  He waited, immobile, afraid to even take in a deep breath as the extra movement might draw their attention.

  "C'mon, dammit. Reboot already...There we go!" the white coat practically cheered as a computer illuminated and a chime sounded as it restarted itself. "Okay let's see what we are dealing with here."

  He listened as the man in the white coat tapped the buttons again and guessed he was mumbling through some kind of checklist when the guard's face suddenly appeared over him.

  "Anyone home in there?" The guard's eyes were cold as they peered down at him and, although he didn't recognize the man's face, he knew he didn't like him. In fact, a rage began to build deep inside his core and, unbeknownst to Mr. White Coat or the guard, he instinctively began to clench and unclench his fists in response to the rage.

  He couldn't stop himself from opening his eyes and glaring at the guard, who gasped in response.

  "Um, doc?" the guard said, stepping back as he spoke.

  "It's not nice to taunt the animals, you know." the white coat chuckled.

  "Yeah right, but Doc, what's wrong with his eyes?" the guard sounded as though he was about to scream and run in the opposite direction.

  "Hmm? What's that about his eyes? Why do his..."

  The white coat suddenly appeared in his vision and froze at the sight.

  "My God!" the White Coat gasped and was jolted back to his equipment. He hammered a couple clicks onto the keyboard and began to stammer, "Oh no, his readings are spiking! Why the hell would that...?"

  The guard cut the white coat off in mid-sentence, "Okay, that's it. Night-night time."

  He saw the guard step forward and raise the gun, pointing it directly at his neck.

  "Wait!" the white coat called out.

  "What?" the guard sounded angry but he held back from pulling the trigger, and turned his head to face the White Coat.

  "There's something else...I can't..." the words caught in White Coat’s throat as he began to cower away from the table.

  "What?!?" the guard yelled at him, "Tell me what the hell is happening."

  "Get away from the table!" the white coat yelled right back.

  "What! Why?"

  "Get away now!"

  The guard looked back down at the enormous immobile man as he lay quietly on the table with only those horrifying eyes showing any sign of life.

  "Doc, I don't..."

  White Coat interrupted, "The electricity to the table restraints is down! He can get free!"

  And then the rage that had been building inside his core exploded. Before he had even realized he had moved, his left arm twisted and tore through the heavy metal restraints as easily as if they were tissue. The guard cried out and tried to adjust his aim on the gun, but the feral man grabbed the guard’s forearm, and pushed the guard’s hand with the weapon off to the side, so that it pointed harmlessly away.

  "He's got me!" the guard screamed and tried to twist free of the fingers encircling his arm. The patient squeezed tighter and, kicking one leg, breaking the restraints free from where they had been secured to the table. The guard’s voice was still screaming, almost like background noise, but now he screamed in pain instead of fear, as he tried to use his free hand to pry up the fingers that his trapped arm.

  Their experiment wrenched his other arm free, pulled the restraints from his head and neck and turned to see the white-coated man fumbling with a keypad by the only door. He frowned as he watched the man repeatedly slide something through a slot on one side of the keypad. It was a clumsy and panicked performance, which might have been why the red light and buzzer kept sounding, while the door remained locked.

  Something told him that he couldn't let the man get out of the room. He had to stop him, but how? He tried to sit up but the final restraints around his chest and waist prevented it. He grabbed the one around his chest, which was by far the largest and heaviest of all the restraints and pulled. This time the metal resisted and groaned as it bent under his power.

  As he strained he felt something like two sticks shatter in his other hand and the guard shrieked a high-pitched cry that almost sounded inhuman. He turned to see the guard’s hand and upper forearm limply flopping between his thumb and first finger like a deflated garden hose. He frowned at the sight, until he realized the guard was desperately trying to get the rifle off his shoulder with his other arm.

  He released the guard's limb and, as the guard's body started to fall, the giant man's big hand recoiled and then shot back out like a serpent, grabbing the guard by the face. His palm shattered the guard's nose as it hit and his fingers held the front of the guard's skull like an NBA star palming a basketball.

  The guard tried to scream but both the blood in his mouth and the pressure of the steel hand that held him muffled his pathetic sounds. His attention returned to the chest restraint and he strained again for all he was worth until the heavy metal clamp broke free from the table. It was nearly four feet of heavy steel, weighing nearly thirty pounds, but he held it as if it were made of balsa wood.

  A light beep sounded and he saw a small green LED light shining on the keypad in the distance. White Coat desperately pulled at the door as the sound of electronic latches disengaged, but the freed man flung the piece of metal he was holding at the back of the departing man. Although the door was partly open, when the restraint slammed into the back of his head with the clang/thud of impact, the white coated man went sprawling lifelessly forward, halfway through the door and he lay prone only half out of the room.

  The big man ripped the waist restraint away with significantly less effort than before and sat fully upright. He could feel a strange vibration in his other hand and turned to see that he had literally crushed the skull of the guard as he held him. His fingers had partially dug into the guard's head in five areas corresponding to his fingers while the man's skull had given way beneath the pressure. All that was left of the guard's head was a deformed pulpy mess, and his body was in a death spasm as nerve endings fired chaotically for a few more moments before the body simply hung limply from the huge, partially clenched, fist.

  He let the guard's body fall to the floor and looked at his hands in confusion. Deep inside he knew he shouldn't have been able to do what he just did, but another part of him reveled in the fact that he had. He peered down at the dead guard and a slight smile formed on his face. He was glad the guard was dead. He couldn't remember why he should be happy about it, but he was nonetheless.

  He stood up from the table and walked to where the man in the white coat was lying. He was face down in a shallow pool of blood that was slowly expanding outward as the restraint had carved a deep gash through the back of the man's skull just above the hairline. When it hit him he had probably died instantly.

  Instinct made him kneel down and check the pockets of the lab coat, removing whatever he found. There were some small examination tools that he couldn't make sense of, but nothing that he felt he should keep. He was about to rise when instinct again told him that he couldn't walk away yet. He hadn't found what he was looking for. He scanned the body, but nothing seemed to be necessary, until he checked the man's hand. There was something around white coat's wrist that he thought he needed. Carefully he unfastened the leather strap and l
ifted the object off the corpse's arm. He looked at the round shiny object that sat between the two straps and watched as one of the little lines ticked it's way around the circle. There were symbols around the perimeter of the circle that seemed very familiar, but he couldn't understand their meaning. Something told him to hold the object to his ear and when he did he thought the rhythmic ticking sound was soothing to him.

  Yes, he thought, he would keep this thing.

  He tried to fasten it to his wrist the same way the white coat had been wearing it, but it was far too small and barely wrapped around one side of his wrist. Reflexively he reached to his side, realizing he was trying to store the watch in his clothing and it was only then that he realized he was naked. The constant pain the restraints were pouring into him, combined with the added discomfort of immobilization had so preoccupied his senses that he never realized his state of undress. He wasn't cold or feeling particularly vulnerable, but the idea of clothes meant that he would have a place to put things he wanted to take with him. He looked at the corpse and knew the man was too small for anything he was wearing to fit, so he walked over to where the guard's body lay. This man was bigger, but still far smaller than he. He searched through the man's clothing and found several items located in different pockets all over the man's body. He kept a lighter and a small multi-tool because, although he didn't realize what the objects were, once again, instinct told him they were important. He also found that the man was wearing very stretchy clothing under his uniform. It took longer than he would have liked but he removed the shirt and shorts, which were made of a thin stretchy material, that stretched to his size as he pulled them on. They fit tightly against his body, but still had some room left to expand so he wouldn't rip them when he moved, and then he collected the multi-tool, lighter and watch. He dropped the things into the gun’s holster he had taken from the guard and then he pulled the belt out of the belt loops on the guard's pants and cinched it around his own waist. The holster clipped onto the belt tightly and had a flap on it that snapped closed and would prevent the loose items inside from falling out.

  He stood and looked around the room for anything else he wanted to take. Seeing nothing worth taking, he made his way to the door and stepped over white coat, being careful not to step in the blood that now spread over three feet beyond the body. Looking down at the blood he saw a small, mostly white rectangle floating on the surface of the pool. He knelt down and lifted it out of the crimson fluid, wiping it clean as best he could. There was a small picture of the white coat on one side, along with several words that made no sense to him, and a wide stripe that ran along the horizontal length of the rectangular object. He remembered that it was this object that the white coat had been sliding back and forth on the keypad when he was trying to leave the room.

  Now he could use it to escape.

  Chapter 11

  The flight to Houston was as routine as any air travel can be, which usually meant the preparation before the flight was far more hectic than the flight itself. Lei and I had thrown the barest necessities into two carry-on bags and made it to the airport in less than an hour. I felt under prepared by leaving in such a hurry, but I knew that we were going to have to buy whatever gear and/or weapons necessary once inside our destination cities, so all we really needed were a few spare clothes, passports, cell phones, money and, most importantly our "medicine." I told myself repeatedly that there would always be time to acquire everything else.

  "So what's our first move?" Lei asked as we walked out of the terminal in Houston.

  "You hungry?" I wasn't actually asking if she needed food. I wanted to know if she had enough of the serum in her system to keep her through the long drive to the military base.

  She shook her head, "I'm good. You?"

  "Good. Okay let's grab a cab."

  "A cab!" Lei spun on me her face aghast.

  We had already talked about this. It had started as a conversation about hiring a car as opposed to renting one. Lei wanted to hire a limousine for the long ride out. When I said no, she did her best to convince me otherwise. Lei doesn't like long car rides, unless she can spread out and relax in such a way that only a limousine can accommodate and she began to preach to me about frugality versus style and, failing that, followed her sermon up with several innuendos about the possibilities that would be available to us with the privacy glass.

  "Lei," I said in response, "we're going to a military base. No one goes to a military base in a limousine unless they're the President. If we show up in one of those it might give the wrong impression."

  "What?" Lei replied, "that we're important? That we mean business?"

  "That we are a bunch of pompous civilians who think more of themselves than the men and women in service to this country," I responded.

  "That's ridiculous." Lei had this ability of dismissing anything to which she couldn't muster a decent comeback.

  "No it isn't. It is a very valid point and one that might make the difference as we are arriving unannounced and unexpected," I said and crossed my arms in front of me to show her how determined I was on this point. "We are not, I repeat, NOT getting a limousine."

  Three hours later I had the limousine drop us off in front of the guard gate of Fort Bragg. What can I say? She was right about the limousine, it really made for a pleasant ride. We walked to the gate and were greeted in an official capacity by the pair of guards that were stationed there. They were friendly enough, but were also quick to inform us that the base was off limits to civilians unless escorted or invited by military personnel. It was at that point the MP noticed Lei. She had changed out of her miniskirt into something more professional, which for Lei meant some kind of fantasy executive secretary. I have to give the MP credit as he really tried to keep his eyes on me, but I thought the poor guy was going to fall over when Lei looked up at him over her rimmed glasses and smiled.

  I pressed while the guy was "off balance."

  "We're private investigators out of Nevada and were hoping to talk to someone about this man." I showed the MP the photograph that Dimitri had initially shown me from the file. "I believe he is stationed here at the moment, correct?"

  The MP's eyes darted off of Lei and to the photograph. His brow furrowed slightly and his eyes focused on the picture. The way he was able to so quickly focus on the photo told me he knew the man.

  "I am not at liberty to discuss the people who are or are not stationed at this base."

  "No problem," I said in as friendly a manner as I could manage, "just put us in touch with whoever has the authority to talk to us."

  The MP's eyes rose to meet mine as he appeared to consider something before he said, "I.D.'s please. Both your driver's licenses and your private investigation credentials." The MP held out his hand as we pulled the requested items from our pockets. He then took them inside, saying something to the other soldier on guard with him.

  It took nearly five minutes before the MP returned and handed us our stuff.

  "Colonel Hatch is usually the officer who accepts the press and other civilian liaison requests. He isn't available at the moment, but if you'd like I can give you his contact information and you can set an appointment."

  I shook my head. "We're kind of on a tight schedule here. We can conduct our investigations in other ways if you and your people aren't going to help us," the MP frowned deeply at that as I continued, "but it would really make everyone's life a lot easier if we could talk to someone. Is there anyone else that we could talk to?"

  The MP smiled, "I said, if you'd like to set an appointment with the usual officer who handles such matters I can provide you with that information. I did not say that there was no one else you could talk to."

  The sound of the gate opening sprang into my ears and I looked to see a topless jeep driving around a troop transport truck and pull forward to stop just inside the entrance. The driver stepped out of the Jeep and, even though the man was wearing sunglasses I immediately knew who it was because he lo
oked just like his picture.

  "Hello," the man spoke calmly, warmly but with a slight wariness in his voice, "I'm Major Robert Larson. Was I right to be informed that you were looking to talk to me?"

  I nodded and extended my hand in greeting to the Major. Larson shook hands with me and Lei as I made our introductions and thanked him for taking the time to talk with us.

  "Not a problem. My trainees are all out on exercise and the lieutenants can supervise them well enough for now." The Major cut a lean and powerful figure. He wasn't a particularly tall or large man, but his chiseled features and easy confidence gave him the presence of someone who was not to be taken lightly.

  "So," the Major continued after the initial greetings had finished, "what's this all about?"

  I turned to Lei and she handed me the manila file with pictures and information of the John Doe, which I passed on to Larson. He looked confused as he held his hand out to accept the file, but took it, opened it and began to read before quickly and calmly shutting the file.

  He looked up and I thought I saw the slightest crack in the man's demeanor, "I think we might want to talk in my office." Larson gestured to the Jeep. "Would you both come with me?"

  I nodded and thanked him again before walking to the Jeep and climbing in. Lei was right behind me and was pouring on her charms. The men in the guard gate were openly staring while Major Larson looked but seemed otherwise unaffected.

  Interesting.

  Chapter 12

  We rode in the Jeep with Larson until we arrived at what looked like little more than a trailer park home. I was surprised at how silent the Major had become as we rode through the base. He hadn't seemed the type to be at a loss for words when we met, so either I had misread the man or he was deep in thought about who we were and how to handle us.

  The man's personality seemed to return as we all climbed out of the Jeep and he politely invited us into the trailer. The room inside was a small but comfortable office, complete with a file cabinet along one wall and various framed photographs covering almost every other blank spot on the remaining walls.