The Not-So-Crazies [Ch. 4]

Blindfolded, hands tied behind his back. His mouth was duct-taped shut. Lights flickered overhead while making crackling and popping noises. Sounds you'd hear when a fire burned. Two sets of hands, one on each arm, were felt. They held his arms tightly. Eric had an idea of where he was headed. There's a reason the cannibals came to his cave home.

The two Albino Cannibals handling him opened the doors to the main laboratory where the Red Man was spending most of his time. It was where he performed his experiments, creating serums so toxic to any living organism, it could kill them. It was also a place where he held his prized creations.

The blindfold was taken off, and the tape ripped off of his mouth. He squinted his eyes from the bright light. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw the Red Man standing over by the metal table; the table where he experimented on human subjects.

"Eric," he said.

His hands were untied and freed. He opened and closed his hands a few times to get the blood flowing back through them. He rubbed his wrists and smiled and scoffed.

"Dr. Cross, how are you?" Eric asked.

Matthew had his back facing Eric. He was working on an obliterated male body. The body was almost unrecognizable to Eric. It took him a minute to realize that it was a man. When Matthew turned around, the entire front side of his white lab coat was doused in blood. Blood was dripping down onto the floor from the table. A bright light was situated right over the table to allow him to see what he was doing.

"Thank you A and B," Matthew thanked the Albino Cannibals that had brought Eric to the facility.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Next to the operating table, there was a small metal cart. In the jars there are smaller human parts stored in formaldehyde; a toxic preservation chemical. Arms, legs, and anything that wouldn't fit in a jar were wrapped in clear plastic bags.

"Just checking in," Matthew responded. He smiled faintly and rubbed his hands on the front of his coat a few times. "It's come to my attention that you're helping some people. Is that true?"

"What people?" Eric said. Matthew scoffed and smiled. He turned to his right, looking down at a tray. On that tray were surgical tools, and a bloody hacksaw. Picking up a syringe, he turned around to face Eric again. Pointing his finger at him, Matthew tsked and shook his head.

"Now, now. Don't lie. I thought we were friends?"

"Clearly, you're delusional."

"Is that how you see me?" Matthew questioned, "after I forgave you for terminating me? Ouch."

"I was doing my job."

Matthew nodded and rolled his eyes

Turning around, his back facing Eric again, he slowly inserted the needle into the body. On the floor was what remained of the man's head. Smashed and obliterated. A head from a different body was replaced. Replacement arms and legs had been stitched together.

"Tell me"Doing your job?" Matthew questioned, "doing—-your job?" he repeated. "We were on brink of understanding the artifact."

"What you were doing was–," Eric began explaining, suddenly being but off by Matthew.

"Unethical and inappropriate," Matthew interrupted, "were your words, not mine."

"I was only doing my job."

In one of the containment chambers, a female mutant began pounding on the glass. It startled Eric at first but didn't frighten him. If you were quiet enough, you would just barely be able to hear the mutant hissing and screeching; similar to the sounds Virginia makes. It would also lick the glass, showcasing its pointy sharp teeth and long tongue.

The other mutants that were in the room had fled. It had seemed as though they were scared of the mutant inside the chamber. Were they? Was that a sign of their weakness? Were they scared of the female mutant?

"Come," Matthew said, gesturing to Eric to come over to him, "Look."

As Eric approached Matthew, he stepped back and out of the way. Eric walked up to the table to see Matthew's new creation. The body was still very bloody. But it now had a head, arms, and legs.

"Magnificent, is it not?"

Elsewhere on the island, Joseph and Talen had come across a Village. It was located nearby a river and a cliff. It was surrounded by tall pines and birch trees. From initial first looks, it looked abandoned and vacant. There were effigies placed randomly around the Village. But these ones were different, they weren't like the ones with actual human body parts.

These effigies were made using animal body parts. Racoon heads, Deer heads, and alligator heads. They weren't intimidating enough to scare Joseph and Talen away.

"Let's find whatever we can. I have this feeling the village isn't abandoned."

Looking down at his watch, Joseph made note of the time: 4:49 a.m. Hours had passed since they first encountered a mutant; the Cowman and Cannibals. It's also been hours since Woody was killed. Dare I reiterate what happened to him? First stabbed with a metal spear, then having his head blown up by a stick of dynamite. Ouch!

"I have this strange feeling that it isn't abandoned," Joseph said.

Looking down at the ground, he saw footprints. Normal-sized and resembled normal human feet. No Cannibals or Mutants have come around here, he declared. Wherever they are on the island, it must be a safe place, right?

"Look," Talen said, "suitcases and crates, gas cans, flares. We could use shit like this to escape."

Joseph turned around in a full circle, getting a good look at their surroundings. Quiet, but windy. Trees creaked, but no sights of mutants or cannibals. Huts shaped a triangular shape, made up the majority of the buildings in the Village. In the middle of the village, there was a small, dead tree. Its branches were leafless and bare.

"Common," Joseph whispered, looking back at Talen over his right shoulder. "In and out. Got it?"

As they walked into the Village, they started scavaging through the suitcases, crates, and other things that looked like they could be of use. Oddly, there were FEDEX packages scattered around on the ground too. Their shipping labels had succumbed to the elements and are now unreadable.

With a swing of his ax, Joseph broke open a crate that was in one of the huts. Hanging from the ceiling, there were three nooses made of yellow-colored rope. When the crate was smashed open, unopened soda cans were discovered.

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He picked up as many cans as he could carry, which wasn't very many. The crate had been tampered with but wasn't looted. In total, there were ten cans. Joseph was carrying only four. As he turned around to walk out of the hut, he froze.

Talen was rummaging through a light blue-colored suitcase nearby. He was unaware of what Joseph had seen. On the other end of the Village, standing next to a hut, was a familiar-looking figure. It had the physique of a woman. Average height, slender, and poofy, unmaintained hair. In its hand, was a thick wooden stick.

She was staring at him, breathing heavily. The wind was masking the sounds of her breathing. That's why Talen couldn't hear it.

"Oh shit," Talen said. Joseph looked away from the figure and over to his left. "Score!"

"What?"

He pulled his hand out of the suitcase, revealing a small pistol. It was silver with a brown handle, closely resembling the M1911 handgun. He pulled down the magazine. It was loaded with eight bullets. Putting the ammo cartridge back into the gun, he slid them into his pants slightly behind his back, covering it with his shirt.

Joseph looked away, not caring so much about finding a gun. Staring straight ahead, he noticed that the figure was gone. To his left, he saw nothing. To his right, he saw nothing. Behind… nothing. She was gone.

You're imagining shit, Joseph. What you saw wasn't real. Your eyes are playing tricks on you, Joseph mumbled to reassure himself.

If it were real, it would've pursued him and Talen. By looting the Village, they were stealing from whoever lived here.

"A backpack," Talen said as he unzipped and opened the backpack, "Empty."

Looking up and over at Joseph, Talen told him to come over to him. As he approached Talen, he glanced once more to his right. Talen saw this, also looking over in that direction.

"What?" Talen questioned. Joseph shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

"Nothing," he said, "I thought I saw something."

"Only the essentials," Talen said.

Unbeknownst to Talen, Joseph did see something. He dismissed the whole being tired ordeal entirely. The trees creaked and swayed. Joseph handed Talen the sodas. SNAP!

"The fuck?" Joseph mumbled as he turned his head to his left, looking over at the forest treeline.

There was that sound again; SNAP! Talen stood up as he grabbed the gun. He cocked it, putting his finger on the trigger. He firmly held the gun as he aimed it over at the forest tree line. Joseph adjusted his grip on the ax, now holding it with both hands.

"Woah, woah, woah," a man's voice said. "There's no need for violence. We're not a threat."

"After everything that's happened, we've been tricked before," Joseph responded.

Walking out from the darkness of the dense forest were three men. Wearing normal, but dirty, clothing. The three of them all possessed bows and arrows.

"Just put your weapons down first please," the man kindly requested. "We'll do the same."

All together, everyone threw or dropped their weapons onto the ground.

"Now explain this to us," the man said, "Out here, in the dark of night? Why? Do you know the dangers that lurk amok?"

Talen and Joseph both looked at each other, shrugging their shoulders. They then both looked back over at the three men.

"Well aware of the danger thank you," Joseph said.

"Are you?" The man questioned, "anyway, come back to camp with us. There's food, water, and shelter. You'll be safe there with us until morning. We're not crazy like the others; we're the not-so-crazies."