The Other Side of the Tracks

Posted on July 5th, 2007 by Jaybo.
Categories: Jaybo.

MOONLIGHT

Issue 1 – Chapter 6

David caught the subway and made his way towards The Pen to release Eddie and begin another day’s work.  He attempted to use a different route everyday as he was instructed, sometimes backtracking over his own path two or three times, but in the end there were only so many ways to skin a cat.  He was assigned a different order every week on where and when to enter and exit the underground facility. The Pen had many entrances and exits but he only knew of the ones he was told about. 

Once, by chance, he had seen a fellow Handler on the street and followed him for a time out of curiosity to see where his entrance and exit point was.  From a distance he followed him into a run down motel.  On the third floor at the end of a hallway, the Handler entered a closet and closed the door.  Five minutes passed and David decided to check it out.  When he opened the door, there was nothing but a mop and a bottle of bleach.  He had looked for the entrance, pressed what he thought might be panel doors.  Nothing moved.  Later when he got to work, he was severely reprimanded for his actions.  How they had known, he had no idea, but from that moment on he knew The Pen’s eyes were everywhere.

As he turned down an open-ended alley to ensure possible tails weren’t hiding among citizens, the voices in his head began to return.  He reached into the brown leather jacket and pulled out the pills.  He opened the top and threw two back on his tongue.  Their bitter taste caused him to wince and grit his teeth.  He swallowed them dry and looked over his shoulder.  No one there.  He jumped in a back alley door enclave for a few minutes and waited.  When he peeked out, there was still no one.  He continued his way to the warehouse entrance where the elevator would return him to his partner.

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Eddie was reading in his room when the latches released on the steel door.  He put the book down and waited for the door to open.  The Pen may have called them apartments, but Eddie knew better.  In the end they were just comfortable cages.

The door swung wide and David stood there with his hand still on the identification pad to verify him as Eddie’s partner.  The technology used to open the apartments was second to none.  There was a hand scan, eye scan, biorhythm analyzer, and voice identification.  If any one of the four failed, the facility was placed on shut down and guards would flood the hallways of the already well-guarded Wolf quarters.

“Morning Eddie,” David said.

Eddie stood up and stretched.  “Morning.  You ready for another day?” 

David noticed the concrete hole in the wall and the supporting rebar twisted inside it.

“What’s that,” David asked.

“That?  That’s nothing,” Eddie replied and pushed back the thick brown fur on the top of his head.  Though years had gone by, he still maintained many of his human mannerisms; vanity being his favorite.  He attempted to change the subject.

“How was sleep,” Eddie asked and walked past David into the hallway.  He couldn’t wait to get out of the room.  David looked at Eddie as he passed then back into his apartment and then back to the chunks of concrete piled on the floor.  “I pissed myself again.  That’s how sleep was.”  Eddie didn’t respond.

“Come on, let’s go,” Eddie said.  David was still looking into the room.

“You wanna talk about that,” David asked pointing to the concrete.  Eddie had great respect for David, and both knew each other in and out.  They were the best partners either had ever had, but right now he had no desire to talk.

“Nope, I sure don’t.  I want out of this hallway.  Let’s go.”  Eddie turned and walked away, leaving David to follow a few steps behind.  He decided he wouldn’t push the subject now.  Eddie was always cranky in the morning, or in this case afternoon.

The Pen was bustling with Wolves and their Handlers as the shift change began.  Eddie and David headed for the elevator that led to the Briefing Room.  Updates would be discussed (including their early morning encounter with a certain demon in the park), and the days schedule and orders would be passed out. 

Eddie and David entered the freight elevator with two other sets of partners: Michael Hattenbaum (the only Jewish Handler David knew of) and his light-brown partner Henry McGavin and Handler Steven Rodriguez along with Wolf Owen Cook.  The Wolf McGavin was known to have a short fuse and a bad attitude.  The elevator was tense with his presence.  The scars on his body reflected the countless scraps he’d gotten into with other Werewolves within the confines of The Pen.  His previous Handler had died on duty and many believed this was a major cause for his problem.  Hattenbaum’s ability had matched with McGavin and since then the Wolf had been less trouble; however, you wouldn’t believe it with the intensity bellowing from his yellow eyes.

The elevator carried them down to the 4^th level below the Pen.  There among the many hallways that led to many unmarked doors was the Briefing Room.  They entered the circle-shaped room and looked for a seat.  The room was roughly 50 feet in diameter and the ceiling rose 20 feet to a dome shape curving to the supporting walls.  The seats where the Handlers and Wolves sat looked down onto the floor as if it were an arena.

After five minutes, two guards entered and Colonel James followed.  He was dressed in his fatigues and his silver-plated Colt .45 hung from the left hip just above the knee.  He was clean shaven and square jawed.  Everything was straight and in place.  If there were a living embodiment of what a U.S. soldier was supposed to look like the Colonel was a leading candidate.

“Good afternoon gentlemen,” the Colonel announced from the center of the room.

“Good afternoon,” the Handlers and Wolves responded.

“The Overnights were quiet,” Colonel James said.  He was getting right to work.  “We had one red-zone elimination.  Carter and Francisco, I’ll need your report by the end of the shift.”

A response wasn’t necessary from them.  The Colonel didn’t allow time anyway.

“At twenty-three hundred hour last evening the Merricks reported a vision of a black rouge Wolf in BHK3496.  The Merricks have witnessed him numerous times before, but never in such great detail. You’ll find his file in the briefing we are passing out.  Two city workers were murdered and upon further investigation we discovered another forty-two civilian bodies in a Stacking within the tunnels.”

The Briefing Room was a vacuum of silence.  Stackings were expected with urban-based Wolves, but the sheer number of murders without discovery was highly unusual.  The guards who accompanied the Colonel began to distribute briefs.

“The size of the Wolf is estimated at 12 feet.  He is all black with white forearms; we believe the white arms are more than likely due to damage to his human skin rather than random fur coloration.

“The Merricks lost him shortly after he reached his Stacking.  Once a unit arrived, we attempted to follow his trail underground, yet are still unable to discover tracks or entrance and exit points.  This leads us to believe he has a vast knowledge of the sewer system and subways tunnels below the city and has been traveling within them for quite some time.

“Gentlemen, all indications point to him being a D-Class Wolf.  He has above average intelligence and in human form is extremely large.  We estimate he is close to 7 feet tall and well over 325lbs.  We are beginning a search through the tri-state areas driver’s license bureau to search for matching descriptions.  However, for as long as he has stayed hidden from our view we doubt we will find anything as an identifier.

“Effective immediately you will place all other cases and hunts on hold until further notice.”  The Colonel slapped his hand with the manila briefing folder.  “As of now, you are all units within Operation Blackbird and are on the hunt for this murderer.  Are we clear?”

“Yes, sir,” the Handlers and Wolves acknowledged.

“Your separate assignments within the Operation are in your briefs.  Read them and be ready.  Any questions?

No one said a word.

“Dismissed.  Good hunting gentlemen,” the Colonel said as he turned to leave.

The Handlers and Wolves rose from the chairs and left the Briefing Room for another night on the prowl.

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