Working with Monsters

Soren looked up at the clock on the wall then glanced at the window. Two of the cars were leaving. It had taken them almost an hour to search the area and clear it.

"Where did you put the van?"

"I drove it down the road and into the woods, it's not hard to find if you know what you're looking for."

Agent Issac reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys that he tossed to Soren. Soren caught the keys, a smile slowly spreading on his lips as he looked at his new treasure before putting the keys in his pocket.

"This will come in handy later. Let's head down."

"Are you really planning to create a sanctuary?"

Soren walked out of the bar as the floor panel moved back to reveal the stairs leading to what had been named the 'Dungeon.'

"Yes, it's clear from the news that things are getting worse. Before we know it there won't be any safe places."

"Are you sure you're not just doing it for…"

Agent Issac waved his hand, unable to say the word 'food.' Soren laughed and shook his head.

"You know, you're not the first person to ask me that. No, I'm not doing it just to turn the humans into food. It's not an altogether altruistic endeavor because at the top of my list I refuse to let my father win.

"It's petty, I know, helping people just to ruin his plans. I also don't think it's fair that so many innocent people have to suffer."

Soren looked down the stairs but did not move. His mind was replaying memories from the past. He let out a sigh and turned to Agent Issac.

"After my mother died, he had a dream. In this dream, she came to him and told my father that I was destined to destroy the world. It was his destiny to help me achieve this. What kind of fucked up shit is that? Everything he's done, all the people that he's hurt, all the horrible things he's done he can just put all the blame on me.

"When social services came to investigate? The bastard saw me calling for help as me saying he wasn't doing enough. That's why he took me out of school, it's why he kidnapped Jordan and did what he did to him. I don't even want to know what he thought I was saying when I ran away.

"I refuse to take the blame for his shit and I'll do whatever I can to ruin his plans."

Soren took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he began descending the stairs. This was the first time that he had shared how deep his father's madness was. It left him feeling relieved that he had shared it, and bone tired. I really hope the bastard isn't dead so that I can kill him myself.

The moment they reached the bottom of the stairs they could hear shouting coming from the hall. It was clear that some of the mercenaries had awakened. Fry and Ethan were sitting on the couch, both looking pale. Jordan was standing by the couch, his eyes locked on the two.

Soren was not able to see Avery at first, it took some searching to find him. Avery was on the right side of the room, sitting in a dark corner, arms hugging his legs and his face pressed against his knees.

"What the hell happened here?"

~The prisoners started making noise and Fry went to check on them. Figured they didn't need to see me right off the bat. One of them was bleeding and she lost control. Ethan tried to help and was barely able to control himself. Your human pet lost his shit and I've been busy keeping these two under control.~

"Would you mind checking on the one in the corner there? His name is Avery. I have to go deal with these two."

Agent Issac nodded his head and walked over to Avery. Soren turned his attention to the two sitting on the couch as he walked over. He let out a low growl that drew their attention. They could not bring themselves to look directly at him; Fry hugged herself and tears flowed freely, Ethan stared at his clasped hands, his body trembling.

"You're supposed to be getting better, not worse. Ethan, explain."

"I-I was ok until I smelled the blood. I didn't do anything, boss, when I realized what was going on I grabbed her and left."

Soren nodded then turned his eyes on Fry.

"Fry."

"I don't know… I smelled it and everything went dark. I couldn't… I couldn't think, or-or move."

"Ok. Obviously, I need to change a few things when it comes to your training. For right now, I want both of you to return to your rooms and stay there. Lock the door if you feel like you need it."

They stood up and Ethan wrapped an arm around Fry as they walked up the stairs.

~Thanks, Jordan. I was stupid and forgot how hard the early days are. If we're going to do this I'll have to push them harder. I can't allow weakness.~

Jordan glanced over at the two humans then back at Soren, eyebrows raised.

~That doesn't count as weakness, I'm building connections. He came back after everything he's seen. I have high hopes for him, I feel like soon we'll have a breakthrough and we'll have ourselves another family member.~

~Then we'll have more untrained evolved to deal with.~

~It's still better than the two of us fighting all the mutated.~

Jordan's shoulders shook in laughter as he walked off, making his way up the stairs. He planned on hanging out in his room to watch a new tv series he had discovered, and keep an ear out for the other two. Soren shook his head and turned his attention to Agent Issac and Avery, the latter of which was still huddled in the corner of the room.

"How is it?"

Soren kept his voice low and as soothingly as he could. Agent Issac looked up and shook his head.

"He's not responding to me."

Soren went down on one knee and placed a hand on Avery's head. He could feel the body shaking.

"I promised you that nothing would happen to you. They're still learning to control their hunger, but even if they had completely lost it Jordan would have kept you safe. He may not look it, but he's much nicer than I am."

"He didn't eat anyone."

Avery's voice was shaky, but Soren saw hope in the fact that he had spoken at all. He laughed and moved to sit beside Avery.

"That he did, Jordan has excellent control of himself. Both of us do, but we've also had years to work on it. Fry and Ethan haven't. How much do you know about what's going on right now?"

Avery moved his head to look at Soren while still resting on his knees. His eyes were puffy and red, his face was pale.

"We got a small briefing about it; people turning into zombies."

"The technical term is mutated. Due to a lab explosion, a virus was released that mutates human genes and turns them into feral monsters. A few days ago Fry was exposed to this virus and mutated. I just happened to come across her shortly after and brought her back.

"What I did essentially pushed her mutation further, basically forcing an evolution. A part of her is still that feral monster she first transformed into, but most of her is still like a normal human."

"Why are you telling me this?"

Avery leaned back, his head resting against the wall, and stretched out his legs. The color was slowly returning to his face and his expression was looking less dead.

"Knowledge. When you know what's going on it takes away some of the fear."

"We're mercenaries who were sent to capture you. We were told that if it was necessary we were free to kill everyone else."

"I know. What I did may have seemed horrible, but it was with a purpose. I know what your team leader knew, which means I know more about your mission and who hired you than you or the rest of your team.

"Even knowing what I know, I still don't plan on killing any of you if it's not necessary. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not human, I don't think like a human and I don't view the world the way humans do. That said, I'm not a complete monster."

Soren looked at Agent Issac as he spoke. It was not just for Avery that he was speaking. After a moment Soren stood and offered a hand to Avery.

"Better?"

Avery stared at his hand for a long time before finally taking it and standing. Agent Issac stood as well. At some point during everything the men who were locked up had gone quiet.

"Good. I need you to understand that you're no longer part of a mercenary team. You're with us now and that means you're protected."

Avery had a complicated look on his face but nodded his head nonetheless. Sometimes, to survive, people are willing to do just about anything, even work with monsters.