Children of a Lesser God

Chapter 187: Compound

Of course, his rage fit lasted all of about five seconds before he calmed down. After all, Laz knew that getting mad wasn't going to solve anything, at least not yet. There is a time and place to be angry and this wasn't it.

He already figured out who had taken Leona, it was just a question of where. They must have been ready to jump her as soon as she came in since Laz knew that Leona would have fought even harder had she been given the chance. The problem came from not being prepared to being jumped at home, something that Laz hadn't even considered.

He was still way to soft to survive in this new world.

Although Laz was worried about Leona, he knew she would be able to take care of herself, at least in the short term. He was more clear than anyone as to exactly how strong and tough she was. It was simply a matter of how calm she could remain under the circumstances. Telling someone what to do in the case of being attacked, kidnapped, abused, etc. is incredibly different from actually being in that situation.

Either way, that was how things are. Laz did another sweep of the house and found a back door had been broken open, allowing them access to the house. This wasn't the kind of town where there was a large crime rate so although people locked their doors, they didn't have alarms or cameras. After all, those things cost money that most people didn't have to use on that.

Laz sensed a car pulling up and walked outside, having finished with his search of the house. There was nothing there. He thought for a bit about where Leona and Reggie's mom was and figured he should put the question to Ruby when he got in the car since only she could contact Dee.

Opening the door, Laz sat in the front passenger's seat and saw Vivi with a half smile in the back seat while Ruby had a dumbfounded look on her face.

"What?" Laz asked.

"She. Can. Talk..." Was Ruby's only response.

"Well, it's not really talking per say... but yes. Is that a problem?"

"She's a talking dog..."

:And from what I've smelled from before, you're a talking blow up doll. What's your point?: This remark from Vivi got a glare from Laz who then turned back to Ruby, only to find that she hadn't been the least bit bothered by the insult. Maybe because she was still too stunned form the fact that Vivi could communicate with them.

"And?" Laz asked.

"And... this isn't a problem for you?" Ruby asked, trying to get thing's straight. Laz reached back and opened up the door while Vivi jumped out, already knowing what he wanted.

"I guess I got used to it. She's been talking for almost two years, give or take?" Laz said, thinking it over.

"She could always talk? Then why didn't she say anything?" Ruby had been over to the camper a few times and Leona had been over many times. Despite that, it wasn't like Vivi had ever said hi or anything.

"She's rather reluctant to talk around people until she gets to know them... In fact, she didn't even talk to me at first. I had to hear it from someone else even though I was the one who found her. Or, she found me, depending on how you look at it." Laz thought about back then when he only learned from Marlene that Vivi could communicate. He really only realized it was his fault later as he never really tried to talk to her first.

At this point Vivi had got done sniffing around the house and came back into the car. Using her back paw, she pulled the door closed in a rather human way before planting her butt on the seat.

:There were three different smells besides Leona's from around the same time. Seems like she had just gotten inside and closed the door when the attackers fired while rushing her. Had she reacted fast enough, she would have been fine. But her smell trail shows that she hesitated and didn't move at first. After she was hit though, she sent at least one of them flying before the drugs took effect and knocked her out.: Vivi explained to both of them, transmitting her words at both Las and Ruby.

Laz nodded while thinking where as Ruby just stared blankly. She finally woke up enough to add her thoughts.

"She must had tried to understand what was happening before moving to protect herself. That's pretty common with newbs.".

"So where is she?" Laz asked Vivi.

:I'm not a bloodhound you know. The smells in the house were pretty easy to figure out since there was no breeze or anything. But as soon as they got outside they dragged her into a car and took off. That basically cut off any trail.:

"So now what?" Ruby asked, more worried than anything.

"I know who took her, I just don't know where they took her..." Laz said feeling a bit lost.

"Let's try their home first. I'm sure I can get someone there to give us details," Ruby offered with a strange gleam in her eyes.

"I don't know where he lives... oh right... you can figure that out. Fuck me..." Laz said knowing that he forgot that Ruby had connections in this area.

"His name is Brian and he's the mayor's son. I don't know a last name..." Laz said while thinking about murder.

"That's easy enough, hang on..."

"Also, get in contact with Dee again and have her ask Reggie to do something about his mom coming home and finding this. The last thing we would need is the police called." Laz said.

:I'm not sure if I should mention this, but it might be important.: Vivi said while looking at Laz.

"What's up?"

:There was at least one infected among the attackers... and they smell somewhat familiar.:

"What? How so? Someone we know whose and infected?" Laz racked his brains while Vivi went on.

:Yeah. I smelled him on you, the night you came back from the warehouse. I'm not totally sure as it was faint since you had changed your clothes which made the smell fade. But it was someone you came into close contact with that you didn't kill considering they were in this house.:

"Someone I didn't kill? Wait a sec..."

"Ok, I've got his home address." Ruby said after a few moments. She quickly started the car and flew off, making her way towards where she found that he lived.

"You want to stick your head out the window?" Ruby asked Vivi who was sitting in the back as though she was enjoying the ride. Although Ruby hadn't reacted to Vivi's comment earlier, it wasn't as though she forgot it. She just had to wrap her head around things first while also being worried about her friend. Now that they had a target they were aiming for to save Leona, she had started adapting the the situation.

:Want me to stick your head through the windshield?: Vivi didn't have many interactions with people, minus Kennedy and Marlene. What she did have was hours upon hours of watching dramas, rom-coms and other various types of TV and movies. As such, she wasn't someone who was shy about a fight.

"Ho ho... looks like someone's having some issues. Need to go to the vet?" Ruby smirked while turning the wheel, drifting past a stoplight and almost slamming into oncoming traffic.

:I'm sure they would be much more interested in a bitch like you as opposed to a sweet thing like myself, but thanks anyway.:

"Are you two done?" Laz said while reaching into his pouch. He slowly pulled out Last Rites while grabbing the last few additional clips he had. In most cases, his ability would be the best way to handle a problem. His one limitation though was that he lacked range with it and had no idea as to what he was going to walk into. It was sometimes better to threaten with a gun and get someone to talk than it was to burst into flames and expect them to still stay sane. Most normal people weren't able to adapt to that kind of experience.

"She started it..." Ruby replied while checking her phone and gps. Vivi just sat in the back while wearing an innocent look, as though she had nothing to do with it. Laz was actually somewhat amused by Vivi's actions as he had known her for a long time now and this was probably the most animated he had seen her get with someone else. It was rather funny, but he would never express that out loud.

"Were here," Ruby said as she slowed down, only to freeze up. Her reaction was pretty much the same as Laz's and Vivi's once they saw the place.

The entire house, or more accurately mansion, was set back off the road almost a quarter of a mile down a long, flat driveway. From where they sat, all they could see was an almost ten foot brick wall with a gated entrance that was being patrolled by heavily armed guards. Laz couldn't help but had a flash back to when he and Kennedy went to that party at the prick Tommy's mansion. Compared to that place, this one was a bit lacking. But then again, he wasn't trying to take on the whole place.

"Damn. I knew this place was huge... but damn..." Ruby remarked while taking in the view. They had pulled over in front of the house and across the street, allowing other cars to pass. It was fortunate that the road itself was busy, otherwise they would have stood out a lot more.

"Did you get layout info?" Laz asked, wondering if she had the info like when they raided the warehouse.

"No. There are prints registered from when the house was originally built, but there had been a ton of expansions that were never logged."

:Heh, useless. So we are flying blind?:

"I will punt your furry little ass over the wall. I'm sure there are some guard dogs in there that would love you all night."

:You sure your not just tempted yourself, bitch?:

"Why you little..."

"ENOUGH!" Although Laz had raised his voice, it wasn't to the point of yelling. Despite that, the car shook with the force of his word and both girls quieted down. Laz then turned to Ruby,

"What did the original prints look like?" Laz asked. Ruby showed him the layout on her phone that she had gotten from the planning and zoning department's network. Despite the uselessness of the info, something was better than nothing. And in most cases, some things would remain as a base and have other things built on to it. At least as far as he knew. Seeing the original build, the only thing that happened to catch his attention was the large, foundational basement. As far as Laz knew, something like that would remain no matter what changes happened on top.

"You need to be careful..." Ruby said while taking a closer look at the guards.

"What's up?" Laz respected Ruby's opinion on this and knew that if she didn't have a worry. she wouldn't say anything.

"Those guns... they aren't civilian issued guns... And the way these guys carry themselves. There is no slouching or laxness in their bodies. Something like that isn't taught in security guard training or even police training. That's something that only military training would address."

"You're saying these guys are ex-military?"

"No. I'm saying that this is the house of a standing mayor. Despite it being a smallish town, that still makes him a government person. And I did my checks. This guy only became a mayor recently from not having been in government at all. Plus he is rich. You add these two facts together and you've got someone who is starting a career in politics."

"I don't..."

"It means that this is a spring board for jumps to places like congress, whether that be state or federal. And these guys have connections in place before hand. These aren't some low life bangers with pea shooters. Those are high powered rifles that will rip through even your dense flesh. That also means that if you can't be totally quiet, then this is going to blow up... and big."

At this point, even Vivi was listening while thinking to herself. She understood what Ruby was trying to say. If Laz went on a kill streak, then he was going to bring the feds down on himself. If Vivi thought it would work, she would convince him not to go and they would just drive off tomorrow. But she knew that Laz was far to loyal for to do something like that. It was part of the reason she loved him. And also why she hated him at times.

"Then I guess I will just have to be a super ninja, huh? Just relax, drive down the street a bit and wait for me here. I will be back soon," Laz said with a smile as he got out of the car. Before they knew it, Laz had disappeared, making his way quickly and quietly down the side of the wall and around the corner.

"He's just charging head first into it without even a plan. Even our newest members know better than to do something so stupid..." Ruby said out loud to herself.

:How's about you shut that beak and think of some way to be of use then?: Vivi commented while pulling out a phone from who knew where. Very quickly, a blue light shimmered on her body and she changed from the tiny little wolf girl into the adorable young teen version of herself. She quickly started sending out texts while Ruby just sat in the drivers seat with her mouth hanging open.

After sending out a few texts, Vivi quickly aimed the phone at Ruby and took a picture before saying,

"Hmm... I wonder how I should edit this? Let's see what kinds of things we can shove in there..." Just as Vivi was laughing while opening the editing program, Ruby attack, going right from the front seat to the back while grabbing for the phone.

"WHY YOU LITTLE FUCKING..."

"FUCK YOU GRANDMA..."

Neither noticed the faint strand of spiritual sense that spread briefly over the car before vanishing.