Chapter 156 - The One That Got Away (1/2)

Seeing Laz walking towards them looking like he was taking a stroll was almost too much for the remaining thugs. Even Jimmy froze for a second before he screamed the first thing that came to mind,

”RUN!”

Without even looking back, Jimmy took off towards the back. Seeing their leader take off, the rest of the guys couldn't process what had happened right away and lost a valuable few seconds. Laz, seeing Jimmy take off, didn't hesitate to start running towards the frozen group who stood there like lambs waiting to be slaughtered. He also stopped hiding his abilities. With his lava like blood over flowing, the black flames rushed out from Laz's entire body, charring the concrete floor where his feet hit the ground. As soon as he reached the group, he started swinging.

One punch hit the guy closest too him, sending him flying with a caved in chest. The black flames engulfed him seconds later, not even leaving a corpse.

An open back handed slap sent another flying with his head twisting around, the flames soon engulfing him too.

Another was caught from behind by Laz while running and just flung to the side without injury at first. The screams he made as his body was light ablaze from the black flames that couldn't be put out seemed to act like jet fuel, causing the others to speed up.

A few of the smarter ones figured out that Laz was running in the direction that Jimmy had headed and turned quickly, heading towards different exits.

The slaughter continued in the rain of blood, fire and screams as Laz chased Jimmy while thinning out the herd in his way. By the time there was no one else in front of him, fifteen more puddles of human goo littered the floor as Laz caught sight of Jimmy and picked up the pace.

”FUCK THIS STUPID DOOR...” Jimmy screamed while trying to bash it open with his body.

The door that Jimmy was trying to leave from just so happened to be the same one that Fred had escaped out earlier. It was also the one door that no one was guarding from the outside due to how far away it was and how remote it was. In terms of escape, Laz and Ruby had thought it was the least likely to be used, so they had opted to have Ruby guard the main escape path while Leona took the other side one. Besides which, the door appeared on the prints to look more like a small latch than a full blown door. It had only been converted as an escape root when Jimmy and his boys moved in. Laz had been responsible for making sure people didn't circle around him and head out the front door, which was why he had burned up the first three attackers. People normally subconsciously avoided stepping in piles of questionable substances that were the actual remains of their friends.

The reason the door was currently jammed was thanks to Fred. Fred had always been a rather paranoid person. Due to this, once he felt like he had escaped, he didn't want anyone following him. So after he exited the door, he spent just enough time to jam the lock closed before taking off. It was this that gave Laz enough time to catch up with Jimmy.

Hearing Laz's foot steps behind him, Jimmy turned around just in time to see the masked Laz appear in the hallway. Although there was no place for him to run, Jimmy put his back against the door and pulled out a hand gun that he had kept on himself while aiming at Laz. Laz wasn't the least bit worried. Jimmy's hand was shaking so much it was impossible to think he would even be able to aim, much less pull the trigger. Laz knew that Jimmy's will had already been mostly broken.

”Just... just... forgive me... please. I know a lot of people. I can get you whatever you want. Money, drugs, women, any age you could ask for... just please...” Jimmy started begging even while aiming at Laz. Laz couldn't help but smile under his mask.

”Far, far too late for something like that. You could have let it go, but you didn't. You tried to kill me. That a can forgive. But you failed and that was your own mistake. But you also tried to hurt those around me... those I care about. That was the final nail in your coffin.” Laz remarked coldly with his gleaming blood red eyes.

”You're one of them, aren't you?”

”Good guess.”

”They are going to come for you. For all of you. The feds are going to lock you all up into the deepest, darkest hole they can find. You will rot away or be used in labs for the rest of your god damned life you freak. But I can help. My people, the ones who've been backing us... they can help you...”

”Heh heh heh heh,” Laz laughed at this. Anyone willing to help someone like Jimmy would sell him out the first chance they got, much less stick their own necks out the help someone who was infected. Laz couldn't help but wonder if Jimmy had something wrong with his head to think a bribe like this would work.

Coming up on Jimmy, Laz didn't even bother to remove the gun from his hand. He just stood barely one foot in front of him and smiled. Jimmy immediately dropped the gun while trying to shrink himself as much as possible.

”What... are you going to do...?” Jimmy asked through his shaking teeth.

”I want to know where that other bastard went?” Laz asked, thinking about the escaped Fred.

”That other bastard? Fred?” Jimmy asked.

”That his name? Then yeah. Him.” Laz responded.

”I, uh...” Jimmy was wracking his brain for what he knew, but he also knew that if he answered truthfully, his usefulness would run out and he would be dead. Therefore he was trying to come up with a lie. Laz saw right through this in a heartbeat. It was a typical villain type of behavior.

”Alright. Well, let's make this simple. First, let me explain something. When a fire is hot enough and it burns you, it will scorch your nerve endings first, making it so that you don't feel a thing. You see, when your guys were screaming earlier, it wasn't because they were in pain, it was because they watched their bodies become liquefied and weren't able to stop it. Second thing you should know, since your entire head is encased in bone, your brain will actually be decently protected so that even when your eyeballs melt and you can't see, you will still be fully aware of what is happening.”