Chapter 6: Bound

A town under siege...

Dolores Fink watched the news, waiting for something pleasant. She sat with her dead husband’s gun on the coffee table. She drank hot coffee spiked with Jack.

“…radiation leak at Fermilab. Once the largest particle accelerator in the world…” A drone shot of the massive circle of Earth, looking like an ancient earthwork, appeared while the man spoke. It was an old video, shot during the day. It was night outside her window, and the wind whistled as it found a small seam in the window frame.

The news flickered to a video, much of it blurred out, of some figure smashing through glass and howling. It tackled a woman and held her in its teeth like a cat would carry its kitten. The video stopped and zoomed in on the creature’s face. It was blocky and pixelated. It smoothed out, and she could see the sparse hair coming from its chin.

“…in unrelated news, a video prankster, going by the name of Dewy, released this shocking video to the world. Some mass hypnosis seems to have taken place. Eight women, claiming to be at the yoga class when it happened, shared similarly doctored videos and wild stories. Ms. Collins, a DuFlock County local, shares her experience with us via video call.”

“Mrs. Collins,” the old lady said. She was shaking, holding her dog in her arms. “This is madness. This city is going to hell! There were never dead bodies when I was growing up, no naked bears or yoga classes…”

The picture on the TV died. Then the lights went out. A tornado siren began to scream from outside the window, and her neighbors began to shout and yell. Someone set off fireworks in the parking lot beneath her window. It sounded like gunfire, hundreds of rapid-fire shots, and they illuminated the inside of her apartment. She sipped from her coffee. Somebody threw their weight against her door. She set down the mug and lifted the pistol. It was already cocked.

Dolores felt the collective weight of human fear in her building. There were hundreds of units and thousands of people. The air had a sting to it, a rising tension. The door shook again.

“I’ll shoot!” Dolores said. She kneeled on the carpet and rested her arms on the coffee table, the muzzle pointed at the door. The chain lock rattled as it was knocked again.

“Dolores!” a familiar voice yelled.

“Officer Delude?”

“Dolores, let me in!”

“Why didn’t you say so?” She grunted as she stood. She had the thought that she should join a yoga class. Mrs. Collins seemed weaker than she was.

She unchained the door and twisted the handle. She peeked out and was pushed aside as three men in black uniforms, strapped with grenades and pistols, carrying rifles as long as her arm, rushed in.

“What is this?” she asked. Delude’s large arms held her still. His hand traveled down her forearms. The touch made her warm, and she swallowed as he took the automatic from her fist.

“It’s outside,” Delude whispered. Two men stood at the window with her plants. They eased the pane up and removed the screen. They stood sideways, hoisting their guns up below their chins.

Delude pushed something into her hand. She looked at them. Bright orange earplugs.

“Better put them on,” Delude whispered.

Dolores pushed them into her ears. She winced when one of the men at the window adjusted. Her cactus fell out of the window.

“Shit,” one of them said. Before the pot hit the ground, the pair opened fire. The explosions were concussive and made her eyes wobble. Delude pulled her head into his chest. The men in black let a string of automatic bullets fly, and the sound was that of the devil’s zipper.

Delude walked her, holding her head against his chest, into the bedroom. She went to the window when he released her and threw back the sheer drapes. The cars in the parking lot were riddled with holes. She saw two black rifles protruding from the building that faced hers, and the faces of her neighbors who lived across the parking lot. The night sky was bright, a full moon hanging in a cloudless sky. She pressed her forehead to the glass to look down. She saw her cactus on the pavement below, the pot shattered.

“My cactus,” she said, as the men in the window fired again. She felt the window rattle against her forehead. She watched the sparks erupt from where the bullets hit. The men in the opposite building fired when the men in her house stopped. They were focusing on a large white van. Its rear panel was Swiss cheese, and gasoline leaked out from under it.

“Raven two requesting clearance for HE device, over,” one of the men said.

“Raven two, request accepted. Use caution. Over.” A voice on Delude’s radio replied.

She heard the bright singing of a blade being pulled from a scabbard.

“Raven two deploying HE, over.”

“Get down,” Delude said, putting his hand on the back of her neck. She caught a glimpse of the device arcing towards the vehicle. It looked like a can of Coke, leaking smoke as it spun. Delude pushed her down and covered her body with his own. The explosion shook the building, putting cracks in the ceiling and littering the bedroom with glass. Dolores peeked out the empty window. The van was upside down and looked like it had been run over by a steamroller and then charred in a barbecue. Flames licked up from all around it, and then the cars beside it popped, throwing smoke and flame.

“Did you get the bastard?” someone crackled over the radio.

“No sign of life.”

“He was under the white van, correct?”

“We saw him disappear under it.”

“Is he dead?”

The radio was quiet.

“Raven two, update, over.”

“HE deployed. Suspect’s cover was blown. Minimal damage to the surrounding buildings. Raven One is scanning with thermal. Cat One and Cat Two are covering our blind spots. Agent Vulture is…” Raven Two turned. “Vulture?!”

“In the bedroom, sheltering the homeowner, over,” Delude said into his radio.

“Agent?” Dolores asked, looking at the man. She noticed his outfit. It was black like the men who had entered. He had a balaclava looped around his neck. He had on gloves and armor that were woven into the sleeves of his clothing. A large pistol was on one hip, and a knife that was nearly a sword hung on the opposite side. A strange cross dangled from a silver chain around his neck. The top was connected to the left end of the cross beam, and the right end of the cross beam was connected to the bottom.

“You believe in God?” she asked, looking up from the necklace.

“I don’t know. But I do know there are devils,” he replied. He pulled the balaclava over his nose.

“What’s going on?”

“The less you know, the better. I’m sorry, Dolores, but you’re going to have to come with us.”

“HQ, this is Raven One,” the radio crackled. “Dogman spotted running north on Pokipse.”

#

The hood Delude placed over Dolores’s head smelled of spit and cigarettes. She twisted her neck, trying to get away from the fabric.

“Steady girl,” Delude said. “Gotta keep it on until we get you somewhere safe.”

“Let me go,” she said, “let me go and pick up my plants.”

“Your plants will be there in the morning,” Delude said, “but right now you’ve got to come with us.”

“You take an old woman from her home, in her nightgown, and make her walk outside in her house slippers. Who are you? You’re not the man I know.”

“Oh, stop it, Dolores. You know me plenty. I’ll explain it to you later.”

“Later? For fuck’s sake, Delude-”

“We’re by the van. I’m going to lift you into the back.”

“Can you take the hood off?”

“Once you're inside,” Delude said. He lifted her. He walked her to a bench. “Sit.”

She sat. He pulled off her hood. She was in the back of a van, much like the one they had just blown up. A white shimmering moonlight came through the cracked rear door. There were other people there. There was a Mexican family, young, with a small crying child. Two other black people looked young enough to be in high school. There was a white man who held his skinny arms across his stomach. He looked young as well. Dolores wondered how old someone would have to be for her to consider them middle-aged.

“We’re bringing you somewhere safe,” Delude said. He lowered his scarf and smiled at the young family.

“Are we not safe in our home?” the young woman asked, rocking the child.

“Not right now,” Delude said. He opened the door just wide enough to get out and jumped onto the pavement. The door slammed shut, and a bar squealed as it was set, locking them in. There were no windows or lights in the van. The baby whimpered, and the white man began to murmur to himself.

“What’s going to happen?” the young black girl asked.

“Only God knows, honey,” Dolores said. She took the girl’s hand in her own and closed her eyes as the van began to move.