Chapter 11: Witch's Brew
Fred took a position on one side of the door as Creeps took the other. They each raised the tasers that they had been given. Behind them four doctors followed; the ones who had been slightly wounded in the initial attack. The others had chosen to stay, tending to any patients who might be able to make it to the Medical Ward.
They nodded at each other before Fred kicked down the door. A plaque above it read Prison Kitchen. It was a necessary obstacle to get to the prison docks. Immediately a heavy steam hit Fred's face. His eyes burned with what he thought were a number of spices merged with the steam.
Creeps flicked his eyes toward the floor where a number of torn book pages had been stomped into the ground. Fred bent down to look at them. On the surface it was a history book on the Salem Witch Trials. The text and pictures however had been drawn over with heavy pencil drawings. Notes and diagrams were drawn in the margins. Fred could not make out most of it, but one word that kept recurring was Zombie.
Five bodies hit the ground behind him. Fred stood up, turning. The smoke was so thick now that he could barely see. An orange suited arm swung at him and he hit the floor.
Fred woke up hazy. He was tied to a chair in some kind of open room. His head was pounding. As his vision cleared, he saw more of the room, lunch tables and trash bins were arranged in neat rows. He stifled a gasp as his eyes drifted to five unmoving bodies, dangling by their feet from exposed pipes in the ceiling.
"It would be better if we could use him as well." A voice said in a southern accent with a Cajun twinge.
"No, the Liberator has requested his life be spared for the moment."
"Liberator?" Fred mouthed to himself as his head began to clear.
He scanned the room, trying to place the voices. Finally, he found two men, both in prison jumpsuits. One was wearing a black robe that seemed to be made from bed sheets. They were standing over large steaming soup pot. Both faces were obscured by grotesque masks, crudely carved from wood and painted green.
One of the men, the bigger one not in a robe, walked up to one of the hanging bodies, pulling a large kitchen knife from his belt. He raised the knife. Fred shut his eyes, terrified of what was about to happen. There was no sound for a moment and Fred dared to open his eyes. The rope had been cut, but the body was struggling as the large man carried it to his cohort. Fred could now see that it was one of the doctors, bound and gagged. The man pushed her down, pressing her face into the pot. She struggled as the steam wafted into her nostrils, then she went limp. The large man picked her up and lied her down on one of the tables.
"She'll be ready in about twenty minutes, bring me another." The robed one ordered.
The large man did this, and then repeated for two more. Finally it was just one left hanging, Creeps, Fred guessed from the dark suit. The giant was about to go for him when a knock came from the door. He opened it, letting in four other prisoners with guard rifles.
The four men shook as they entered, glancing at the bodies on the tables and at Creeps dangling from the ceiling. They were scared of them, Fred realized. These new men must be ordinary prisoners, and that meant that whoever had Fred tied up was probably from the psych ward. Fred racked his brains, trying to place these men, these methods. Nothing came to mind until he got a good look at the robed one's mask in the light. There was a long pointed nose and deep eyes. The chin was grotesquely jutting out. It was a witch's face.
"Zeb and Zeke Perkins" Fred whispered to himself. "The Witch and the Zombie."
"Captain Magnus says that he'll pay well for Jones." The leader of the four criminals said to the Witch.
"He has been promised to the Liberator." The Witch answered.
"Magnus thought you'd say that" The man replied, his voice growing more confident.
Fred noticed the lead inmate's fingers begin to slide along the safety of the rifle. The Zombie must have noticed it too because his hand began wrapping around the hilt of the knife again. Then the inmate behind the lead tapped his fellow on the shoulder and pointed to Creeps' hanging form. Both men nodded in excitement.
"What about him?" He nodded to Creeps. "How much for him?"
"One of your men" The Witch answered without missing a beat.
The inmates looked at each other with a mixture of fear and distrust. For a moment Fred though that they might actually do it. Then the leader put up a quieting hand and pulled two golden watches from his pocket, one wristwatch and one pocket watch.
"Magnus says that you guys like things with a history. The pocket watch is Blondy's over there. The other one belongs to his mentor; both are gonna be dead men soon."
The Witch took the watches, examined them for a moment and then waved the inmates towards Creeps. The leader pulled out a pocket knife and cut him down. 'That's my knife' Fred thought, 'and the watches, they must have Mister Fitzpatrick.'
Magnus, Fred tired to remember specifics. He owned a shipping business, when it had gone bankrupt he took to the seas as a pirate, attacking his own ships. He had also been in the Psych Ward now that Fred thought of it.
One of the armed inmates slung Creeps over his shoulder. They made a hasty wave to the Perkins cousins and hurried out of the cafeteria. The Witch pocketed the watches as they left. Then he turned to the Zombie.
"Take him to the Liberator. Then we will awaken the first of our army."
The Zombie lumbered over to Fred, cutting his bonds with scary precision. He pulled Fred up harshly; pushing him to a door in the direction opposite the way others had left. Behind him, The Witch continued to stir the bubbling concoction. Fred's hands were still bound behind his back as he stumbled along the prison hallway. More empty cells lined the walls. Above, another level of cells looked down from a balcony.
The Zombie turned him around a corner. A sign above the nearest door read Workshop. Fred's eyes lit up with a plan.
"You're a big guy" Fred smirked. The Zombie stayed silent. "I forgot, are you Zeb or Zeke?"
"Walk" The Zombie groaned, his voice empty and emotionless.
"Sorry, tired" Fred grunted as he head- butted backwards, barely catching the giant in the chin.
The brute twisted Fred around, grabbing him by the hair and pulling out the knife. Fred thrust his leg upward between the man's legs. There was a loud groan and the giant's fingers automatically released. Fred stumbled back, catching himself on the bars of a cell. The Zombie charged at him and he dove out of the way. The behemoth slammed headfirst into the metal bars with an echoing clang.
"Take that you son of a…" Fred's eyes widened as the Zombie stood back up, mask hanging of its face. "Ah Frak!"
The man tore the ugly mask from his face, still advancing. His eyes were blank, glazed over. His mouth hung slightly open, almost like he was in a trance or… zombified. Fred narrowed his eyes at the thought; the Witch had zombified his own cousin.
The Zombie raised the deadly utensil above its head. Fred braced himself, readying his body for whatever came next. The man lumbered over to him, prepared to strike. Fred raised his fists into a boxing position. Another step from the monster and then… he stumbled, legs twisting as he fell face first into the hard prison floor.
"That was… anticlimactic." Fred panted.
He kicked the knife across the floor. Then he took a set of sheets from the nearest cell and tied the man's arms and legs. He dragged his massive body across floor and into a cell then slammed the door shut, hoping that it would stay that way.
"Oh bravo Freddy" The speaker blared. "That was magnificent."
"I take it I'm speaking to the Liberator?"
"You are correct sir."
"So, is all of this part of your plan, the ghost clown, the zombies?"
"Of course. Every inmate here wants to repay their debt to me by delivering you. You're Saint Hannah's most popular resident."
"What's this all about?"
"Justice" The voice answered. "You've still got a chance to catch that boat, if the storm hasn't slowed it down. Run Freddy, you haven't got much time left. Oh, and watch out for the wild cards, some people in this place have no sense of loyalty."
Fred pulled the knife from the ground and tossed it at the speaker. It impaled, sparking before catching fire. Fred walked away, towards the prison workshop. It was time for some tinkering.