He lifted the organ to his mouth and ripped a chunk from the narrower end. That seemed to signal the resumption of the feeding frenzy for the rest of them as they returned to the feast. Simon chewed the raw meat and wasn’t surprised that he didn’t mind the coppery taste of blood; he didn’t mind the texture of raw steak.
Truth be told, he actually enjoyed it.
He ripped another bite from the organ then pulled the woman closer to him. He shoved the heart into her face and watched as she took a tentative bite from it. She chewed the bite slowly, her eyes locked to his. He ripped another chunk from the bloody muscle then offered her another bite.
Her simple mind was confused, but she took the offering, matching him bite for bite until the organ was gone.
Simon wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his arm, his eyes still locked to hers. She never moved, her gaze boring into his.
Without thinking, Simon reached out and ripped the threadbare remnants of her top away, exposing her emaciated form. His eyes took her in and he felt a familiar urge come over him.
Without care that he was being watched by hundreds of eyes, he spun the woman around and pressed her against the check-in counter. His hands ripped her clothing away, exposing the rest of her. He began to rut, satisfying this new blood fueled desire as the others watched.
As Simon thrust himself harder against her, he looked up and caught her reflection in the mirror behind the counter. She still had that dumb confused look on her face as she stared at her own reflection. For a moment, Simon felt anger overtake him. How dare she not respond to him?
He reached up and grabbed her shoulders, using the whole of her body as leverage as he slammed his body into her as hard as he could.
Her expression never changed, even when Simon climaxed and squeezed her hips painfully.
It was only after he was done and caught the confused stares of the others still watching him that he understood they had no idea what he’d just done.
He pushed away from the woman and tucked his unit away, pulling the zipper up as he stared back at his new crew. He leaned against the check-in counter beside the still oblivious Rager and shook his head. “I gotta get you fuckers fed if you’re gonna be my army.”
Again, the words that formed in his mind didn’t come out as he hoped. But he noticed one minor difference this time. They all seemed to perk up when he mentioned feeding them. He had their attention.
“You assholes hungry still? Didn’t fill up on your Manwich?” He was shocked that they seemed to respond even more. He turned and stared at the nude woman beside him. “You hungry too?”
Her eyes widened and she licked her lips.
Simon grinned to himself. Maybe THIS is their language? He pushed away from the counter and eyed the crowd. “Do you idiots understand me?”
They seemed more alert and a few stepped closer, almost as if approaching an angry dog that they hoped to befriend. Simon smiled broader and nodded. “Fine. If you assholes actually understand what I’m saying…follow me.”
He stepped through the crowd and wasn’t surprised when the throng fell into step behind him.
Chapter 6
Hatcher nearly jumped when a sentry ran into his office, his feet sliding out from under him as he tried to stop. “Hatcher! You gotta see this!”
He jumped from behind his desk and ran out the door. “What’s going on? Another attack?”
The sentry smiled at him and shook his head. “You won’t believe it unless you see it yourself, man.” He led Hatcher outside to the courtyard then pointed upward. “There!”
Hatcher squinted in the night sky, his eyes unable to make anything out. “I don’t…”
“Shh!” The sentry pointed to the sky then slapped a pair of binoculars to his chest. “Look and listen.”
Hatcher pressed the spyglasses to his eyes and strained in the night air. A dull roar was barely audible and he finally caught sight of the source of the excitement. Two planes flew high overhead, their port and starboard lights flashing red and green in the distance.
Hatcher lowered the binoculars and chuckled. “I’ll be a son of a…” He glanced to the sentry and smiled. “Somebody else is still alive.”
The sentry nodded as he shoved the binoculars back into their case. “Even if it’s military, that’s good, right? They’re going somewhere…so that means there’s probably even more people still alive, right?”
Hatcher nodded. “That would be my guess.”
Will Stanton appeared beside Hatcher. “Their contrails appear…different.”
Hatcher gave him a confused look. “Their what?”
“The vapor trail. A jet’s engine exhaust contains a large amount of water vapor.” He glanced at Hatcher then added. “Steam.” He pointed up. “At that height, the air is freezing. The water vapor is rapidly condensed into cloud like tubular formations.”
Hatcher shrugged. “So?”
“These planes’ exhaust is rapidly expanding.” Will handed him another set of binoculars. “Look again.”
Hatcher shook his head. “I wouldn’t know what I was looking at, Doc.”
Will gave him a tight lipped smile. “If I were to guess…” he lowered his voice, “I might be inclined to think that they were actually spraying something.”
Hatcher’s eyes widened. “You mean, like a cure?”
Will slowly shrugged. “That’s one possibility.”
Hatcher inhaled slowly and glanced back toward the complex. “Okay…um.” He pulled the sentry closer and huddled with Will. “Let’s keep this under our hat for now, okay? I don’t want to spread any false rumors that might get people’s hopes up.”
The sentry nodded slowly. “But what if it is, boss?”
“If it is, we’ll deal with it.” He turned to Will. “In the meantime, get on the radio, see if you can reach anybody. Maybe even those planes. If they say they have a cure, then we let the people know and we start making preparations for newly cured and probably very confused people.”
Will gripped his shoulder tightly. “We’ve never
