The Azrael: The Reckoning by Jesse Gagnon Read Free Book Online

Museum.
    She treaded lightly as she tried to obtain her night vision.  She squinted in attempts to see better, but it was of no use.  The rooms slowly shaped themselves revealing chaos everywhere.  There were a few bodies that were eaten to the bone minus parts that were in boots or around the waist clung close by a belt.  The sounding alarms in the distance slowly increased their presence.  The sound of a stress ball hitting a container of paper clips on the ground startled her.  She nudged it by mistake earlier.  She increased her movement, tripped over a chair that was knocked over and fell on top of a filing cabinet that in turn knocked over slamming to the ground.  The sound echoed throughout the building.  Her eyes widened as she listened for something to come searching for her.  Her heartbeat pounded rapidly in her chest.  After waiting a few minutes hearing only sounds of distant alarms she finally stood up and carefully trekked towards a dim light that exposed the exit of the building.  The alarms increased in intensity and she immediately identified them as the Azrael Breach Alarms.
    This was all her fault.  She had gotten all of these people killed due to her own selfish desires, she thought to herself.  She exited the museum finally and inhaled fresh air.  The brisk breeze blew her hair wildly and immediately caused goose bumps to decorate her arms and legs.  She struggled to gain her composure as her teeth chattered from the sudden drop in temperature.  She located a black fleece jacket hanging on the back of a chair and put it on.  It slowed the teeth chattering and she continued to observe her surroundings.  Blood was everywhere except on a folding table that had a box of donuts on it.  She hadn’t eaten in a long time.  Her stomach chimed in on cue providing an intense growl.
    “Fuck it.”  She muttered to herself, grabbed the entire box and started to eat one by one.  She was about to lick her fingers when she realized her hands were covered in Azrael blood.  She didn’t believe that ingesting it would infect her but she didn’t want to take chances.  She found some hand sanitizer and doused her hands and face in the stuff.  She wiped away the dirty liquid with a wad of paper towels that was on the table next to the donuts.  She got some of the sanitizer in her eyes and it burned.
    “Shit!  God damned it Jane.  Get it together!”  She hollered at herself.  Her eyes burned but at least it killed whatever could infect her.  So she thought.  Her nose was running, her eyes watered and she felt like she deserved another donut.  She picked up the box and carried it with her as she limped towards the center of the city stuffing powdered donuts and chocolate eclairs in her mouth.  One of her pumps was missing.  She noticed that as her left foot clanked and her right foot plopped.  She kicked off the other pump in a fluid motion as she walked and traversed barefoot through Chicago eating donuts during an Azrael outbreak.  She wondered how ridiculous she might have appeared and decided that she gave no shits about it.
    The streets were quiet and there were no signs of the Azrael or any human activity.  Body fluid painted the streets and sidewalks.  Blood, piss, and chunks of flesh littered the landscape along with random shoes, bags and valuables.  She found a nice expensive purse filled with ration vouchers and a piece of cheesecake wrapped in parchment paper.  She ate the cheesecake and stuffed the vouchers in her bra.  By this time she was down to her last custard filled Boston cream donut.  As she bit into it custard oozed out and she tried to catch it as it fell.  She laughed at herself with custard on her nose and upper lip.  She looked back up.  In an alley between two tall buildings she noticed shadows moving.  As she focused, the shadows multiplied and were heading straight for her.
    “Shit!”  Dr. Barnett sprinted away towards a grouping of cars that