Protect All Monsters (6 page)

She turned the page and read on, unable to make sense of the strange picture.

The next heading read,
The Dead
.

The dead can return to life. There is no single or solid reason for their awakening. Our scientists speculate an assortment of causes. One, people didn’t always bury their dead in coffins or in the ground. People died without being discovered, and their bodies came back alive from a state of
soul unrest
. Earthquakes and flooding and other natural disasters are rumored to stir the dead from eternal slumber. A more educated reason: embalming fluid. The components of embalming fluid have been updated and changed time and time again because of the dead waking. The chemicals reanimate the brain, like a steroid, and stimulate life. This life can have two different levels of intelligence. The subhuman, dead for longer than a year, tend to rot out before they can do extensive harm to innocent civilians. They act out random and erratic behaviors. Violence ranges from cannibalism to mutilation. The other kind of dead are the freshly dead. They are functioning at a human level. Their skin can be treated and repaired to resemble normally functioning human beings. They do not crave violence, only the creature comforts of life: food, booze, sex and entertainment.

Dispatching the dead can be an irksome task. They can be dismembered and the brain removed, and they will still function. Douglas Findley, a Dutch scientist, boiled them down to blood and bile, and the substance slithered in liquid form. Don’t be mistaken: damaging the body can slow the dead down and save your life. True execution of the dead requires total incineration. The recently dead are harmless as long as their brains and bodies are medically preserved, but the extensively decayed must be approached with caution. They can be subdued with human meat and animal bodies. As long as they are fed meat on a regular basis, they will ignore you.

She peered out the window to rest her eyes. The ocean was as endless as it was entrapping. The werewolves were real, so why wouldn’t the dead be real? She was in serious danger, she kept telling herself. Her stomach churned, tightening in the anticipation of meeting the creatures she read up on. Richard said he expected great things of her. What would it mean to excel at the PAM Complex?

Having no answers, she read on to the next heading:
Vampires
.

Vampire
is an easy classification of this hybrid creature. They have existed as long as the walking dead. Vampires are human beings with severe forms of anemia. Their blood runs thin or not at all in their veins. There are cases throughout history that point to humans born without hearts, and they eat their mothers’ uteruses and innards during the birth cycle to keep their bloodstreams fed. This form of
hyperanemia
, as it was named by Richard Salvati in Rome, can only be subdued by the massive consumption of blood. Humans born without hearts are not the only deformation these creatures exhibit. The deformations that affect both sexes of vampires include the growth of wings, enlargement of teeth, enlargement of circulatory system, extension of fingernails, mutation of eyes (including the shape of iris and a heightened sense of sight), paleness of skin and strange formation of a sticky, viscous fluid at their legs and fingertips that allows for climbing. And the females harbor abilities that males do not. For example, the female can lactate blood to sup males back to life and feed their children. Females can go into heat and release a pheromone that will render any human—male or female—submissive. The males do not have sway over their hosts except by brute force and fear. Vampires can perish by a series of methods. Your bullets are coated with garlic. This stuns the vampires but cannot kill them. Sunlight does nothing. Vampires can only die if their hearts or brains are destroyed or they are starved of blood for three months. (Citizen, you can see why hunting vampires in populated areas would be as dangerous as it would be unwise). The only method to subdue the vampires is to give them what they want, and that is blood. A glutted vampire is a harmless vampire.

She thought back to the refrigerator compartment. The stock of human limbs and organs did have a purpose. They fed these creatures and kept them “subdued”. The situation became realer with each passage she read. This wasn’t a fabrication. Two years was long enough to be here, but Richard had debunked that myth. She would be here forever.

She suddenly wanted a drink at that open bar.

Finish reading first. I have to know everything.

The next heading read
Werewolves
.

Werewolves are also of human origin. The werewolves have only existed for less than thirty years. The popularity of dog breeds and conceiving unnatural mixes has been popularized by the AKC and other breeder associations. A group in southern Kentucky decided to manipulate dog DNA even further. The group consisted of animal rights activists. They were also multimillionaires with the facilities and the equipment to create mixed species. The group labeled themselves “Humans and Animals for Equality.” This group decided to swap dog DNA with human DNA. This would blur the line between human rights and animal rights. What’s fair and unfair? Where do we draw the line between animal cruelty and human punishment now? What was created in Kentucky is the pack of wolves pictured previously. They slaughtered the activist group. The bred wolves escaped the facility and continue to pop up in packs across the United States. Never cross the alpha male or alpha female. They are the most dangerous. But if you kill either, you render the group helpless, and the pack dissolves and becomes less of a threat. Werewolves can die like anybody else, but with enlarged bodies, they can take fifty bullets and still fight back. The shock of blood loss and the ceasing of bodily functions can take up to thirty to sixty minutes to set in. Escape to the panic rooms is the best mode of survival.

The slumbering group in the chamber were dogs and humans bred together. “That’s just sick. Activists are okay, but extremists are douche bags.”

There was one page left, and she was growing more and more anxious for a drink. Her stomach rumbled with hunger despite the unnerving information. It would take time to sink in, and she couldn’t starve herself in the meantime. She needed all her wits and strength.

The final section read
Ghosts
.

Ghosts are harmless, but they can serve as a distraction to humans. They can haunt their tormenters or those who crossed them during their living years. Ghosts are essentially reflections. They can manifest themselves inside mirrors, glass and anything reflective. Ghosts can channel their energy into speaking as well, though it takes them time to save up ethereal strength. Ghosts originate from a person’s soul. Souls are essentially ghosts. The soul is a battery, if you will, that is charged up fully during life, but in death, the battery is weakened and needs revamping often. Speculation of the existence of these spirits is focused on the electrical and sound waves that are shot back and forth across the country. The spirits residing in the dead are shaken free by so many hertz of sound waves. This is also an explanation as to how ghosts recharge themselves. Scientist Jorg Orback determined a ghost can hold as many as one thousand volts of energy at a time. Ghosts reside on the island because in collective groups, they are at their strongest, and they are always trying to reach out to the living. Here at the PAM Complex, we acknowledge their existence, and this is the probable reason why they stay with us.

Thank you for reading the above entries. This is as unbelievable as it is true. The evidence is at the PAM Complex. Upon entering the facility, you will be assigned a work area and receive a crash course in your duties. You will be equipped with weapons, a room and a map of the facility. Please reserve questions for the classroom. You will be taking a week-long course in protection and engagement of our unusual guests. Any further questions should be addressed to the seasoned staff under Carl Brenner’s command, director of the PAM Complex.

Addey tossed aside the file and stretched.

She decided to go topside for a hard drink.

Chapter Eight

The cafeteria on deck was an elaborate bistro and bar, like one out of a high-end cruise ship. Her original plan was to douse her palate in hard liquor, but then she caught sight of the row of sizzling rib-eye steaks in the dining area and couldn’t resist. She asked the rosy-cheeked chef wearing a dull expression for a well-done slab. The man added a football-size baked potato with a dollop of sour cream, sprinkling on chives, a wad of butter and bacon bits without her asking. The buffet set up nearby was anything but cheap or disappointing. Crab legs and lobsters were on display among jumbo and butterfly shrimp. Racks of barbecue ribs and homemade baked beans were beside the two-inch-thick steak burger display. There was an alcove with a female chef awaiting any command. The sign over the slot read,
Order Anything You Want Here
. She watched a man order an ice cream sundae and five freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

After gawking at the many food options, she sat down at a table and doused her steak in sauce. She then enjoyed an unimpeded view of the flat ocean.

This is the best meal I’ve had, well, since last Thanksgiving.

“You’d think this was our last meal before sitting in the electric chair.”

She had enjoyed one succulent bite before she was interrupted by the stranger’s comment. The man wore a safari hat, black khakis and a white button-up shirt. His embroidered breast pocket read
Herman
.

“You’d think so.” She turned her head up to him. She suddenly wanted company. “Have a seat, Herman. I’m Addey.”

Herman was African American with dark-coffee skin. He wore an astute expression, teacher-wise in the face. His beard was neatly trimmed, the color matching the downy white on his head. He placed a forty-ounce, tall glass of beer on the table as well as a plate that matched hers. They sat together quietly until Herman broke the ice. He pointed at the random individuals spread out around the seating area. She counted twenty people. Some were alone, others intentionally huddled together, chatting nonstop therapeutically.

“The food and booze are loosening us up,” Herman said. “But this isn’t going to be a fun ride once this cruise ship parks at that island. I haven’t stopped casing out this place. We’re forced to be here, and I haven’t forgotten that. Nobody’s safe. We’re here to do a job nobody else in the world knows about or wants to do.”

He set her attention to the couple at the table closest to them. “That’s Todd and Angela Weathers. They told me their story. They were on their honeymoon in Amsterdam. They were arrested trying to smuggle weed out of the country, and they were sent here on this crew ship. They’re a pair of hippies. Organic this and that, add patchouli, and presto, you’ve got hemp, you know what I mean? They’re only eating vegetables and drinking plum wine. Still being healthy. Even now.

“And then there’s Todd Lamberson.” He pointed to the man at the head of the crowded table jabbering on during a beer-fueled conversation. “He worked in Detroit, a serious crime district. He was shot up in a drive-by, and he spent six months in a private hospital. He didn’t get to see his wife and children ever again. They told his family he was dead. Closed-casket funeral. After convalescing, his ass was put on this cruise ship. Poor bastard.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I haven’t talked to everybody yet. I saw you and decided to ask you your story.”

She frowned. “I’ll give you the simple version after you tell me yours.”

He smiled with his eyes. “Hey, I’m only trying to make friends.”

“I’ll be your friend, so what’s the problem? Speak up.”

He slugged a quarter of his beer, then humored her. “I was a carpenter for twenty-two years. I survived without cutting off any of my limbs.” He dangled his fingers in front of his face. “I was with my wife when they took me. We were actually boating at Lake Michigan, what was a getaway, fun trip. Kelly drove us down there in her Winnebago. We came back from an afternoon of boating to catch a group of thieves ransacking the vehicle. Kelly screamed, and it was snap-of-the-finger fast what happened.”

His expression went to stone. “She was dead. Shot in the chest. I was shot two times in the chest, but they didn’t hit my lungs or any major organs. I’m like Todd Lamberson. I wake up in a hospital without a clue, and then they deliver me here. That’s the damage. Can’t do shit about it. They buried Kelly in Virginia, and I’m here. I’m dead on paper. Dead to anyone who cares.”

Addey shook her head. She’d done that a lot during the past thirty or so hours, and her neck ached. “So am I, Herman, and it sucks. It sounds like all of us are being exploited. After my brother died, I ended up here. He was shot dead in front of my face. Deke tried to rob the hotel I worked at because he wanted access to a wall safe. The manager had a different idea, and they both shot each other dead. Senseless. Then a fake police car and a fake police chief take me to a fake police station, and I’m inducted into this line of work. Two years’ contract my ass; this is forever.”

“How could they have it any other way?” He enjoyed another gulp of beer. “We might as well live life to the fullest regardless, as impossible as that seems right now.”

She shoved the plate aside. The bitterness coursing through her body snuffed her appetite. “I need a drink.”

She left the plate and Herman, but he was at her heels in pursuit. “Hey, I’ll join you.”