Chapter 18: The Mercenary's Touch

Brown

Razor dropped down from the high rock with a quiet thud, landing firmly on the wet gravel and stepped right beside me. Up close, his big frame cast a huge shadow that completely blocked out the two weaklings standing in the mud.

The moment he stepped into the light red drizzle, Mavel and Ginger instantly took a few big steps back, their eyes wide with fear and caution.

"Who the hell are you?" Mavel barked, his pitch-black eyes glaring up at Razor. "What are you doing here?"

Razor didn't even blink. He adjusted the strap on his heavy tactical vest, keeping his voice low and cold. "That’s none of your business. In fact, I should be the one asking who you two are, and why you’re trying to jump a woman at her own gate."

"It’s none of your business either!" Mavel yelled back, trying to puff out his chest like a tough guy even though Razor was way bigger than him. "Get out of here! Brown is my girlfriend!"

I let out a cold, sharp laugh, stepping slightly out from behind Razor's back. "Ex-boyfriend! And to be clear, we were completely done before this whole sickness even started! What are you trying to prove right now, Mavel?"

Mavel’s face twisted in anger as he looked back and forth between us. "Who is he to you, Brown?! What is he doing here?! Have you been cheating on me with him this whole time?!"

I looked right at him with a mean smile. "And even if I was, so what? Can you stand there and tell me you haven't been cheating on me with Ginger this whole time?!"

Mavel froze, his mouth stuck open to spit out another lie—but before I could even finish my sentence, Razor reached over, wrapped his arm around my waist, and pulled my heavy frame tight against his chest.

The moment our bodies touched, a sharp, crazy spark of heat shot straight through me. My whole body started to shake, my chest heaving as a strange, deep power hummed between the two of us. It was like two massive forces hitting each other—his system was built strictly for killing and fighting, while mine was built for saving and healing. Being this close was almost too much for my system to take, making me pant for air like I had just run a race.

[WARNING: DUAL-CORE COMPATIBILITY DETECTED!]

[FOREIGN SYSTEM SIGNATURE IDENTIFIED WITHIN INDIVIDUAL "RAZOR".]

[ANALYSIS: HIS SYSTEM IS ENGINEERED FOR DESTRUCTION & SLAUGHTER. YOUR SYSTEM IS ENGINEERED FOR PRESERVATION & REGENERATION.]

[ALERT: PROXIMITY TO A SLAUGHTER-TYPE SYSTEM WILL CAUSE INTERFERENCE. DUAL-CORE RESONANCE MAY EITHER SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCE YOUR CAPACITY... OR PERMANENTLY DAMAGE YOUR SYSTEM CORE.]

[USER DIRECTIVE: PROCEED WITH EXTREME CAUTION. CHOICE OF ALIGNMENT IS YOURS. FOR IMMEDIATE SURVIVAL, UTILIZE HIS TACTICAL INTERVENTION TO ESCAPE SUBJECT MAVEL.]

I held onto Razor's arm for support, totally panting as he stared down at Mavel with zero fear.

"Yeah," Razor said, his deep voice cutting through the patter of the red rain. "She's my girlfriend. So now... move."

"No!" Mavel screamed, going completely wild as the bad chemical in his blood took over his brain.

He lunged forward like a crazy animal, trying to show off his strength and yelling at Razor. "Leave her alone! She is mine! And this fortress is ours!"

As Mavel charged, Razor didn't even pull out his knife or gun. He just stepped right into his path, threw his heavy arm out, and grabbed Mavel straight by the neck while he was still in the air.

THUD!

Using his raw strength, Razor slammed Mavel backward hard. Mavel went flying through the air and hit the muddy gravel path several feet away, sliding into the dirt.

Razor narrowed his eyes, watching him slowly scramble back up to his feet. "You don't look normal. You don't look like the other sick people out there. You're turning into something bad. Get out of here before I put a bullet straight through your head."

When Ginger saw Razor throw Mavel around like a ragdoll, she completely lost her mind. She ran right past Mavel, dropped to her knees in the mud, and started crying out to me. "Please! Brown, please just take me! You can leave Mavel! Just take me inside, I'm clean, please!"

Razor didn't even waste a second looking at her. He turned me around by my shoulder, guiding me toward the truck door. "Get in. I'm driving."

He turned his head back slightly toward Mavel, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "If you try stepping one foot inside this place, I’ll make sure you don't even have a head left on your shoulders."

Mavel stood totally frozen in the mud, completely scared of how strong Razor was. He held his sore neck and glared at us in silence while Ginger backed away from him in fear.

Razor slid into the driver's seat beside me, started the heavy engine, and I hit the remote gate button on my belt. The huge metal blast doors opened up, and he drove the truck straight inside Mount Ironwood before locking the doors shut behind us.

The second we walked out of the truck into the hallway, Rex started barking loudly at Razor, his fur standing up because he could feel how dangerous Razor was.

"Rex, quiet! Down, boy!" I called out fast, stepping in front of Rex to calm him down.

Without wasting any time, I ran over to my security screens to check the outside cameras.

On the screen, the red rain was coming down harder. We watched as Ginger gave Mavel a hard shove, her face pale with total horror as she realized he was turning into a monster. Scared that he would bite her, she turned around and ran down the mountain all by herself, screaming into the fog.

Mavel didn't even follow her. Instead, he walked right up to the camera lens outside the main gate and stared straight into it.

I hit a switch on my desk so we could hear his voice over the speaker.

Mavel looked right at the camera glass, his voice sounding raspy, broken, and full of hate. "If I turn into a monster like you said... I will make sure I come back for you with everything I've got, Brown! Because you wouldn't help me! I will break down these gates, I will bite your throat, and I will turn you into one of these monsters right next to me!"

He turned around and started walking away down the gravel path into the red mist.

Through the screen, we watched his body start to twist. His neck made gross, loud cracking sounds, snapping back and forth with every step he took as the poison inside him was slowly wiping out whatever human part he had left.