Hybrids: A New Species

“There’s three up ahead.” Isabella says as she unsheathes her thin sword.

Three of the Fallen have appeared. They stumble around the trees of the forest, going after their prey. They smell of rotting flesh and shit.

“Capture two of them alive. Kill the other.” Jack orders.

Isabella sheaths her sword, disappointed.

“It’s okay sister. You can get the next one.” Isabella’s younger brother, Damon, says.

He comes up behind him with two catchpoles, a device to capture animals, that they attained back at their camp. Damon hands one to Isabella and they get the attention of the Fallen. Pierce, the large muscular man, lifts his long heavy weapon, ready to attack the third Fallen Jack ordered to kill.

“Hey! Over here!” Damon shouts at the undead woman.

It shows its black teeth to him and begins heading towards him.

Isabella whistles at the other Fallen. The undead fat man has its attention to her now. It tumbles slowly toward her as well. The last Fallen, a man in a tattered suit, has its hungry eyes set on Pierce, as he’s yelling at it. Jack stands back, watching his people at work. He doesn’t seem worried. He believes they are more than capable of handling the situation. Damon quickly latches the net of the catchpole around the undead woman’s neck and tightens it. She’s captured!

“Shit you’re ugly.” Damon says to it as it struggles to attack him.

Isabella has her catchpole ready. The undead fat man comes in dangerously close. Isabella quickly lashes the net around its neck, and she tightens it quickly. She struggles as she tries to push the Fallen back. The large Fallen is stronger than it looks. Isabella is beginning to panic as she tries to hold back the fat man.

“Fuck! I can’t hold it down!” she curses as she puts all her strength in holding her ground.

At the same time during Isabella’s struggle, Pierce swings his large weapon at the Fallen with the suit. Its head explodes as the large metal spiked hammer blows right through the Fallen’s head. Chunks of black blood, rotting flesh, and brain matter is left everywhere, including on Pierce’s hammer.

“Dammit Isabella! Don’t kill it! Hold your ground!” Jack commands.

Isabella is being pushed back and she begins to lose her grip.

“Fuck!” she yells as she lets her grip go on the catchpole.

She immediately unsheathes her sword and makes a clean cut through the fat man’s head. Everything happens too fast. The dead Fallen lays on the ground next to Isabella.

Dammit! She thinks to herself.

Isabella turns to face Jack, with her head down.

“I’m sorry Jack.” she says with distress.

Jack approaches her and puts his hand on Isabella's shoulder.

Isabella gets on her knees, with her head still laying low.

“I’ve never disobeyed your order. But I couldn’t handle it.” she says.

Isabella is terrified. She fears Jack.

Isabella’s brother and Pierce watches them. Damon is still holding back the undead woman, and Pierce leans on his weapon.

“Get up girl.” Jack tells Isabella.

“I apologize Jack! Please-”

“I said get up!” Jack interrupts her.

Damon is glaring furiously at Jack. He looks like he’s ready to attack him.

Isabella slowly gets up, she’s trembling. She isn’t one to be fearful, however, she’s afraid of Jack. Like an animal showing its dominance with action, Jack has killed people who’ve ignored his orders or anyone who’s try to betray him. Isabella respects Jack and has never questioned his actions. She’s always obeyed and successfully carried out his orders. Until now.

Isabella only stood up to Jack’s shoulder. She looks up and moves her black hair away from her eyes to look at him. The sunlight through the forest trees glare off of Jack’s sunglasses. The red lens shined. To Isabella, it appeared he had red eyes like a demon. Jack removes his sunglasses, revealing his blue eyes. However, they were not the eyes of a frustrated man, but instead, they were tranquil.

“It’s okay Isabella. I’m not mad at you.” Jack said calmly.

Damon and Pierce are surprised. They’ve known Jack to not forgive anyone. Isabella is the first they’ve seen to receive mercy from him. Damon’s angered glare goes away, but he still carefully watches Jack.

Surprised by his answer, Isabella tries to speak but chokes up on her words.

“There’s plenty more of the Fallen roaming these forests. We’ll get another.” Jack tells her.

Isabella tilts her head down again, ashamed.

“I’ll capture the other one Jack. Or die trying.” she says.

Jack puts his sunglasses back on,

“I know you will.” he answers with his sinister smile.

Jack turns his attention to Pierce and Damon, who’ve been silently watching the entire time.

“Pierce!” Jack looks to the tall muscular man. “Hold the one we’ve already captured. It’s your job to make sure nothing happens to it.”

Pierce just nods to him, and he takes the catchpole from Damon.

The undead woman still struggles from its bindings and snarls. Jack turns to the direction of the dirt road they were on earlier.

“We’re almost there! We’ll grab another of the Fallen on the way to that fat cat’s house!” Jack tells the others.

They continue their way on the dirt road to a house in the mountains. A big house where a man lives, a man Jack desperately wants to see again.

The sun is setting, and the night is approaching. At the forests of the Rocky Mountains, a large mountain lodge rests. The home is a craftsman style with gabled roofs, broad eaves, is wood constructed, and two stories tall. Trees, grass, and foliage surround the lodge. Surrounding the entire area of the home is a brick wall with one entrance; a large metal gate with the initials “GM” The road leading to the front entrance is accompanied with the mountain’s forestry. Two men walk around in front of the lodge, both with assault rifles. One has an black AA-12, and the other wields a brownish SCAR-H. Two more men with AKM’s rifles stand behind the gate, guarding the only entrance to the mountain lodge.

“HELP!!”

A voice calls out in the distance. The first guard with a trucker hat looks out the gate.

“Hey, did you hear that?” he says.

“HELP!!” the voice calls out again.

“Woah look!” the trucker hat guard points out.

The other guard with a short red hair and camouflage pants comes next to his friend.

“I see someone up ahead!” He tells him.

Down the road, a man with messy black hair and gauges in his ears is running tirelessly.

It’s Damon and he’s exhausted.

Following close behind him, is an undead woman, coming in close.

“Holy crap, is that Damon? Quick! Open the gate!” the trucker hat guard says.

“Gary said no one comes in!” The other with the camouflage pants explains.

“It’s one of our guys!” The trucker hat guard says as he opens the metal gate.

The bottom scrapes against the concrete, making an unsettling noise. It sounds as if the gate hasn’t been oiled in a while. Both of the guards are outside of the gate now.

Damon gets closer to the entrance,

“Help! Please!” Damon frantically yells at the guard coming up.

The guard puts up his AKM to eye view level and prepares to shoot, however, Damon’s head is in the way of the Fallen’s head.

“Move so I can get a clear shot!” He yells.

Damon just keeps jogging closer, not hearing what he said.

“I said move you idiot!”

Damon gets closer, only a few feet away from the man with the trucker hat.

“Just shoot him alrea-”

The man with the camouflage pants sentence is cut short. The other guard with the trucker hat turns around to see his friend’s throat slit and bleeding to death on the ground. Standing next to the body is Isabella, smiling with her sword drawn. Blood drips from the blade.

Isabella points to the guard,

“You may want to turn around.” She tells him.

The man turns around, and before he can even react, the undead woman that was chasing Damon latches onto the guard’s neck. She bites into his flesh, ripping out his jugular. He tries screaming but it only comes out as gurgling. He chokes on his own blood. He falls to the ground and the female Fallen continues to rip through his neck, savoring the bloody meal.

Damon and Isabella meet up, examining the man suffering, choking on his own blood. He extends his arm out, asking for their help, but the two siblings just watch the gory scene.

“It’s a shame we had to kill him. He was actually trying to save me.” Damon tells his sister.

“We didn’t kill him brother. She did.” Isabella points out, gesturing to the undead woman consuming its meal.

Two of the other guards hear the commotion at the gate and immediately run to the scene. The first guard with the SCAR-H rifle runs through the gate to see two of his friends dead.

“You son of a” he says as he prepares to open fire on Isabella and Damon.

Before he can even pull the trigger, Jack unexpectedly comes up behind the guards and slits his throat with his knife. Thick red blood escapes his gullet and drops his rifle.

Jack picks up the rifle and aims towards the metal gate entrance. The next guard comes through but before he can even put up his rifle, Jack shoots him down. The guard flies back, painting part of the gate with sprays of dark red blood.

“Thank you Jack.” Isabella says.

“Grab a rifle you two.” Jack tells them.

Damon and Isabella grab the AKM’s off the dead guards.

“Pierce!” Jack yells out.

The large dark man appears from the thick forest. He has an undead man attached to a catchpole in one hand and an empty catchpole in his other hand.

“Ya?” he says with a deep metallic voice.

“Put the leash back on this one” Jacks tells Pierce as he points to the undead woman, still eating through one of the guards.

Pierce nods to him and lashes the catchpole around the Fallen’s neck. She growls, angered that she’s being taken away from her meal. Damon and Isabella reload and loot ammo from the dead bodies around them. The four enter through the gate, Jack still carrying the SCAR-H rifle, Isabella and Damon wielding the AKM’s, and Pierce holding two of the Fallen around the neck with the catchpoles. Some people with guns begin walking out the front entrance.

“Kill them all.” Jack orders.

Within the two-story lodge, a short fat man with thinning black hair and a tacky suit sits at his desk in a study, fiddling with a gold ring. The room is huge, with beautiful antique paintings on the walls, animal trophy heads, a gray marble floor, and a large window overlooking the mountains behind him. His name is Gary Maxmill and he’s nervous. There are gunshots in his home echoing. Another man stands next to him, with a black AA12 rifle. He’s guarding Gary.

“Shit! What the hell are they doing out there?” Gary says with a cracked voice.

“Should I go out there and help?” the guard asks.

“No. Stay here and protect me.” Gary orders.

The guard nods to him and looks to the closed double white doors leading out into the hall. The bloody screams of men echo through the home, and then suddenly, there’s silence.

Gary stands from his chair.

“Is it done? Did they win?”

There is more silence. It’s nerve breaking for Gary, the isolating noise. Then, there are footsteps. They’re coming up the stairs. It sounds like three people. The guard aims his AA12 to the door. The footsteps slowly pace. It sounds like a metronome; tap, tap, tap, tap. They stop. The guard licks his lips, finger ready on the trigger. Gary is sweating, not knowing whether it’s friend or foe that will come through those doors.

A door slowly opens.

The guard moves in closer, not losing focus on the entrance. Suddenly it swings open and two of the Fallen rush in. The guard begins to shoot at them. First one goes down after some shots to its body and a final one in the skull bringing it down. He turns his attention to the next undead. It’s only a few feet away from him, he pulls the trigger. Rapid shots go through its body. It flinches but continues to move.

“FUCK! Go down!” the guard yells as he pulls the trigger again.

Nothing comes out. He’s ran out of bullets. Now it’s close to him, close enough for him to smell the Fallen’s foul flesh rotting breath. He swings his AA12 across its head, knocking it to the floor.

“Destroy its head you idiot!” Gary furiously yells at the guard.

The guard stomps his foot to the Fallen’s skull. Black blood oozes from its eyes and the cracks of its skull. He’s breathing hard.

“Was all that commotion because of some damn brain-dead fucks?” Gary asks.

“Ah, Gary Maxmill.”

A smooth voice comes from the door. Both Gary and the guard look at the entrance. It’s Jack and he has his Desert Eagle pointed to them. Before the guard could even say a word, Jack shoots him in the head. The bullet cleanly goes through his skull, making Gary flinch at the sudden shot. Spots of blood from the shot lands on Gary’s face. He’s lost his protection. Gary’s expression changes from horror to confusion.

“Jack?” he says.

Gary hasn’t seen him since his last visit. It’s been weeks.

“What the fuck?! You broke into my home? Killed my men?”

Jack stands there smiling his usual twisted smile, with his gun pointed to Gary.

“It was going to happen sometime Gary.” Jack answers.

“You got some fucking nerve Jack!” he is furious. “How dare you come into my home and do this!”

Jack whistles, gesturing for his men to come up. There are sounds of footsteps coming up the stairs. Damon and Isabella walk in, they have assault rifles strapped to them and they’re covered in blood, but it’s not their blood. They stand to the right side of Jack.

“For fuck sakes. You’re telling me you and these two kids did this damage?!” Gary asks.

“Of course not.” Jack tells him. “Pierce! Get up here and bring the bodies!”

Bodies? Gary thinks to himself.

More sounds of footsteps are coming up the stairs, this time they sound heavier.

“You see Gary, I told my people here to kill everyone but to leave a few of them ‘undamaged’.” Jack explains.

Pierce towers in holding two lifeless bodies over his shoulders like bags of soil. Gary steps back, astonished by Pierce’s size.

“Holy shit.” He mutters to himself.

Pierce drops the two bodies on the ground in front of Jack.

“Thank you Pierce.” Jack says.

Pierce grunts, but nods to Jack a “No problem” gesture.

“He doesn’t say much. But he does what I ask.” Jack tells Gary. “You see, I would have used the two corpses that came in here at first, but it seems your bodyguard here was a better shot than I predicted.”

Gary looks to the bodies Pierce left on the ground.

“You said undamaged. Those are my men and I can see their pretty dead right now.”

“Indeed they are Gary.” Jack says “But take another look. No damage to the brain.”

Jack is right, the heads appear to be undamaged.

Gary sits back down on his chair behind his desk. He angrily looks to Jack,

“Don’t forget I own you Jack!!” Gary yells. “I gave you the supplies you needed! The men! The weapons! You wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for me! You would of have had nothing!!” Gary slams his chubby fists on his desk. “I OWN THESE MOUNTAINS!!”

There is silence. Gary is out of breath from his yelling. Jack, Pierce, Damon, and Isabella stare intently at him.

“But I guess you feel that you’re not getting enough. Fine Jack. You’ve made your point. You didn’t have to kill all my men to do so but I understand. How much?” Gary says.

Jack raises his eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Gary stands up from his desk and walks to a framed painting on his wall and removes it. Behind it is a wall safe. He turns the knob on the safe and it clicks. Gary opens it and pulls out a black duffel bag, it’s heavy. He drags it to Jack and unzips it.

“What the hell is this?” Jack asks with an annoyed tone.

“Ten million dollars.” Gary says as he fixes his wrinkled black tie. “It’s all yours.”

Jack looks at the money, then back at Gary. Suddenly, like an explosive going off, Jack laughs. His rich laugh fills the halls of the mountain lodge. Gary laughs too, but a nervous one. He didn’t expect this to be Jack’s reaction. After seconds of laughing, Jack calms down, wiping a tear from his eye.

“I have to say Gary. No one has made me laugh that hard in a while.” Jack says with a smile.

“You have a weird sense of humor Jack. But it’s true, I’ll share my fortune with you.” Gary explains. Jack’s smile immediately fades.

“Are you serious?” Jack says with a menacing voice.

“Uh, of course. I-” Gary’s sentence is cut short when Jack shoots him in the shoulder.

Gary falls to the ground, yelling in pain and holding his shoulder.

“What the fuck is your problem!” he screams.

Jack takes out a matchbox from his pocket. He lights the box up with one of the matches and drops it in the duffel bag. The bag slowly catches fire, burning the millions of dollars.

“NO! FUCK!” Gary yells.

He gets up so he can try to put out the fire. Jack shoots him again, but in his left foot. He falls to the ground, landing on his face, getting blood all over his tacky grey suit and face.

“You’re a sad, sad man Gary Maxmill. You really believe money means anything anymore? Have you been so deep in your luxury lifestyle that you have no idea what’s going on out there?!” Jack furiously speaks.

Gary looks up at Jack. The glow of the fire makes him look like a demon. He furiously glares at Jack, then he turns his attention to Damon and Isabella.

“You kids! How much is he paying you? What does he have on you?!” Gary tells them.

The siblings look at each other confused. Gary, on his knees now looks to Pierce.

“Big guy! You’ll be swimming in money if you kill Jack now!” The three look at each other, then they put their attention to Jack.

“Is this guy serious?” Damon asks.

Jack laughs hysterically.

“They’re not idiots like the men guarding your home or the men you gave me at my disposal.” Jack explains.

He walks up to Gary and points the gun to his greasy head. The short chubby man is shaking in fear. He’s too paralyzed to move.

“These people are loyal to me! They know I’m a true leader. They know you’re nothing but a sad man thinking he actually has any power here!” Jack says as he cocks the Desert Eagle.

“C-come on Jack. What do you want? I’ll give you anything, just don’t kill me. Please!” he begs.

“I need a vehicle. I want access to your supplies; Weapons, food, water, everything.” Jack demands.

“It’s yours, all of it! Please don’t kill me!” Gary cries. “Everything you’ll need is in my safe. Take it! Please!” Gary continues.

Jack gestures someone to check the safe. Isabella volunteers and walks over to the safe, looking through it.

“It’s all here Jack. Keys to cars, prints and maps to supplies within the house and the area.” she says.

Jack smiles, “So you hid your supplies? Very smart. Okay Gary, I won’t kill you.” He says as he puts his gun down.

“Grab it all Isabella.” Jack orders.

Isabella grabs everything in the safe and walks over next to her brother.

“Clear up the area. Burn the bodies and close the front gate. We wouldn’t want any of the Fallen to come in.” Jack tells his people.

They walk out the office leaving Jack and Gary behind.

Jack closes the door behind them and walks over to the office chair and sits down. He reliefs a sigh. The small fire in the duffel bag has grown, keeping the office warm. Gary looks to Jack sitting at his desk. He tries to get up but is too weak to move.

“I know you would tell people that you had a cure to this virus.” Jack talks as he leans back on the office chair. “I’ll admit, even I believed you at first. But unlike the other fools that blindly listened and followed you, I did my research. You can imagine my frustration when I found out you were lying.”

“Please Jack, help me.” Gary begs, trying to not lose consciousness.

“However! I found a cure Gary. And it will change this world.” Jack continues, ignoring his plead for help. “It does more than cure humans from the Fallen virus, it makes us stronger, it changes us, it makes us better in every way possible!”

Suddenly, the sounds of a ghoulish moan send shivers up Gary’s spine. He turns his head to the two bodies Pierce left behind earlier. They start to move, slowly getting up. Gary’s eyes widen with fear; he’s forgotten about them. He looks over to Jack again.

“Fuck! Jack please! Help me! For god’s sake help me!” He cries.

“A shame you really didn’t have a cure Gary. Maybe you wouldn’t be in this mess.” Jack chuckles.

The first Fallen spots Gary and begins crawling over to its meal.

“No, no, no, no! Please not like this.” Gary cries as he drags himself away.

The next Fallen gets up to its feet and has its sight on Gary as well.

“You said you wouldn’t kill me!” he pleads.

“I’m not going to kill you.” Jack says with his sinister smile. “They will.”

Gary’s heart sinks in his stomach, the betrayal and fear consumes him. He can’t muster up a word until a sharp pain strikes his leg. The first Fallen that was crawling has chewed into his leg. Gary screams in pain. He kicks it away, but then the other Fallen lands on top of him, ripping into his stomach. Gary is horrified, he’s too shock to scream as he witnesses his intestines coming out of his own body. The Fallen takes out Gary’s organs one by one, as if it’s separating its meal to decide what it will eat first. The next Fallen digs into Gary’s fat stomach as it too begins slurping up the small intestines. The pain is unbearable, and all Gary wishes for now is death’s sweet embrace. He looks to Jack and he feels lost in his own personal hell, with Jack having front seats to this gruesome show. However, Gary couldn’t understand what was more terrifying, the Fallen eating his insides, or Jack intently watching the horrific scene with a wide smile. His vision begins to blur, and then everything goes black.