Chapter 3

With no way to give Dave a proper burial we had placed him in the back of the alley and draped a white cloth across his face. Tom gave his corpse a prayer. I folded Dave's arms across his chest as Tom finished.

"Amen"

Tom signed the cross, knelt down placed his cross necklace against the cloth and kissed it. Putting away his necklace and standing back up he and I go back inside the restaurant with Dave's things.

We settled down in the office and started going through the items. Dave had the basics most people walked around with nowadays; cell phone, wallet, and keys. His phone was broken, no helping that, his wallet though had a bunch of business cards and pictures. Dave was a father apparently from the what the pictures told us. His wife was of Asian descent, canted eyes, straight black long hair and narrow chin. His daughter had that cute look only children can have, black curly hair like her father and eyes from her mother. I Flip the picture around I see their names written there.

"With our love, Shirley and Jaina"

"The right thing to do would be for us to inform them of Dave's demise."

Tom said in a heavy tone, he was downcast and looked very tired.

"I'll see if he saved the contact on his memory card, but I doubt they will answer the phone."

Recovering the memory card I dialed the home and cell number but got no answer from either.

"It's been a long day Isaac, get some rest, I'll lock the restaurant down."

"Don't forget the backdoor"

Tom leaves the office and I grab a blanket from the shelf before leaving for the booths at the front of the restaurant.

Tom's really too nice sometimes, keeping blankets and stomach medicine around for late night drunks. One day he'll get robbed by one of them . . . Or I guess not . . .

I snag my backpack and find a socket to charge my phone. I turn in for the night.

I wake up to my phone alarm blaring the opening rift to "Welcome to the Jungle". I go to grab my phone only to slam my hand against the edge of a table.

"Oww, fucker!"

I sit up to find myself in Tom's restaurant as I slowly recall yesterday's fiasco in my sleep deprived state.

"Welcome to the jungle! We got fun and games."

I turn off the alarm and the phone goes back to sleep. Turning it on I check my messages, seeing a few I start flipping through.

Teresa had been messaging me all night, keeping me updated on her situation. Seems like she's safe at her workplace so far. The latest message was from three in the morning, seems like she passed out after it. I also got a few messages from Tere's boyfriend Marc.

Thank you saved contacts, Marc aka Marcus, aka Marcus Fitzgerald.

He texted some garbled up message that from which I can decipher said something about saving Teresa or something, best of luck Marc

I also got a few messages from my co workers but I could care less about them. Finally I reached my last messages, also the earliest, Derek's.

I've known Derek for as long as I've been in America, and him me. Well, slightly longer actually, we both arrived on the same refugee ship. We got to know each other and he gave me my name, been friends ever since.

The texts read

'The newsroom is going insane, we're getting a lot of people calling about monster sightings. We got some earlier in the week too, out in the countryside, police told us not to report anything until they get a better picture.'

'The police are getting a lot of radio traffic, I think I heard one of them say something about monsters. A few officers locked themselves into an office, they're arguing about whether or not to call the military in.'

'Mr. Kyle wants to broadcast this, big scoop, police are guarding the equipment. The officers came out, one of them is running off with a cell phone in hand, the rest are telling us to report for everyone to go home and lock the doors. Seems like quite the emergency.'

'We're told not to go anywhere, the police are also confiscating phones and other devices now. If there are people still here I'll be on the third floor, office 23, second door on the right, same knock. If not, you know where.

I let out a breath of air I didn't notice I was holding in.

"Well shit, at least Tere is still safe. Derek's News office is quite far north of here, Tere's warehouse on the other hand is just a few blocks south west."

So who do I go to first?

While contemplating I hear footsteps from the kitchen and Tom pops into view.

"Nice to see you up and early, I whipped up some breakfast if you care to eat."

"Did you make macaroni and cheese by any chance?"

Tom lifts an eyebrow questioningly.

"Nevermind, thanks."

I get up and head for the kitchen. A blast of aroma hits me as I open the door. Displayed on the counter was dish after dish of hearty breakfast foods; crispy bacon, eggs in any way, assortment of breads, sausages, cold cuts, cheese, I can’t even list it all.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Wow, how long have you been cooking Tom?”

He walks up behind me and pushes me in.

“Since last night, couldn’t sleep so I did what I knew best.”

“Are those deviled eggs? And hollandaise sauce? Fresh bread?”

“Yes, yes, now shut your mouth and start eating.”

After stuffing myself full of delicious food I sat back and started pondering over my next step.

“What’s on your mind?”

Tom asked with his broad back turned to me. He quietly stirred his pot of soup, waiting for my reply. We stayed like that for a few minutes, him cooking and me just sitting there. I gave in first.

“Tere’s in trouble and so is Derek. Last I heard they were both stuck at work. What should I do?”

Tom grunted in acknowledgment and continued to cook, moving from his pot of simmering soup to a large oven where he was slow roasting some chicken.

“Tere’s a strong girl, she’ll be fine. Derek is probably hiding in some place, he was always good at sneaking about.”

Taking out the chicken he started taking it apart deftly with his knife.

“So . . . What should I do?”

“The way I see it you’re not saving anyone until you save yourself.”

Tom washed his hands down and started pulling vegetables from the fridge. Leafy greens and heirloom tomatoes.

“God shows mercy to those who deserve it. This could be a trick of the Devil or the end of times.”

Tom finally stops his busy hands and stares me down.

“Isaac, you may not be a believer in God, but your actions have many times shown your devotion to His teachings. If this is indeed the work of the devil, God will guide you and protect those you love.”

Tom goes back to preparing food leaving me time to think a bit.

All that fancy religious chatter and I’m no closer to figuring out my next step.

Letting out a breath of air I stand and leave to the front of the restaurant. I begin to scan the room, figuring out what I could potentially use on my trip to whomever I would head to first.

An hour so later Tom steps out from the kitchen. He hands me two large plastics bags.

“Here, you’ll need this. I know you better than you think Isaac, I’ve watched over you kids for the past 14 years. Even though neither of them need help right now it doesn’t mean they won’t in the future.”

He walks over to the bar and starts to dig through it.

“And knowing you Isaac, you’re going to rush out, unprepared to face whatever evil lurks in the shadows to get them home.”

Tom stands back up with a large metal briefcase about four feet long and two feet tall in his hands. He sets it down on the counter and fiddles with the locks.

“So I won’t tell you what to do. Because you already know. Go save Derek first, he probably has no food at hand and he can’t defend himself, violence isn’t in him, bless his soul.”

The case pops open and he turns it around.

“Now then, pick your poison boy.”

Inside that metal case held an armoury. An Ak-47, Beretta M9, Glock 18, MP 9, flash grenades, smoke grenades, and several knives.

“How? Why? Tom, this, this is . . . How did you get your hands on all of these?.”

Utterly flabbergasted I stumble through my question. Tom gives me a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes, his face seemed to darken as he answered me.

“You’re not the only who has seen war boy.”

I stare at him in shock. I never told anyone except Tere, how did he know?

“Every man comes back changed. I may never have met you before but I can see it in the way you walk, in the way you speak, and in the way you approach life. Now then, let's get you ready”

Two more hours passed. Tom showed me his weapons and how each one worked during this time. We also planned out my approach and ran through a few other ideas. I asked if he was coming along, he refused to join me and said that he could do more here.

The sun was at its peak when we finished equipping me. I took the Glock with its detachable stock, a Bowie like knife, a diving knife, the revolver I first had, and a smoke grenade. My backpack also held the food and some extra ammo. The weight reminded me of a time long ago but I squelched it before it could bother me.

“I’m off Tom”

“May God be with you.”

I step out from the back, to my left was Dave's corpse and to my right was the way out of the alley. I turned away from the grisly reminder and headed out to rescue Derek.

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Hey guys! Sorry it took so long :P  Life has been pretty rough lately, I won't bore you with the details but I'll just tell you that it's work issues and family emergencies at the same time.

Hope you like this one, I think it might be a little clunky since I didn't get to write it all out consistently. 

Peace! Kilsikon7