Zedd's Time

“So what you got on this guy?” Webb, his wound now tended to back at the station, said to Eliza.

“We printed him, took his DNA, didn’t give us a name but a whole list of unsolved crimes, mostly murders.  One was even a high-ranking policeman a while ago.  It’ll be enough evidence to put him in Edgeways for life.”

“Can I talk to him?”

“Why?”

“I might be able to get him to give up Charles.”

“He won’t.”

“If he’s looking at life, of course he will.  He’ll be looking for a deal.”

“No way.  You’re wounded, you should just go home and recover.”

“He’s cuffed, isn’t he?  What’s he gonna do?  Please just let me talk to him.  At least let me find out if there are more assassins after me.”

“No, leave him alone.  As soon as we can, we’re turfing him.”

***

After completely disregarding this order, Webb approached the interrogation room and surreptitiously unlocked it, before entering.

Inside, Zedd sat, handcuffed to his chair, with a blank expression upon his face.  As Webb quickly sat down, he didn’t even focus on him.

“Listen here Zedd,” Webb said.  “Charles sent you, didn’t he?  Tell me.  You listening?  It was the Mad-King, wasn’t it?”  Zedd’s face didn’t even change.  “They’ve linked your fingerprints to a bunch of other murders.  You’re going away for life unless you admit that Charles put you up to it.  I can make you a deal.  All you have to do is co-operate.”  Still nothing.  “Do you even have a brain in there?  Fine.  At least tell me whether Charles has got anyone else after me.  He would want me to know that, right?  That’s the kind of guy he is.  He told me he sent you after me coz he said that I deserved to know because it concerned me.  He felt it to give me a sporting chance.  Do you see?  He wants you talk.  So what do you have to say?”

Zedd just stared at him with vacant eyes…like a zombie, causing the highly annoyed Webb to head for the door.

“Fine, enjoy the rest of your terrible life,” Webb said before storming out.

***

Zedd was led to his new cell by a guard, who opened it, shoved him inside, before closing it again.

Another inmate was already there, lying on a bed.  Upon seeing Zedd, who was just standing there emotionless, he got off his bunk and approached him.

“You look familiar mate,” he said.  “Ain’t you King Charles’ hound?  My boss submitted to the Mad-King and so I was forced to an’ all.  I’m here for drug smuggling.  How about you?”  Zedd said nothing.  “Probably murder, eh?  Sorry mate, but I’m having trouble remembering your name.  It’s something weird, isn’t it?  Begins with a ‘Z’, I think.  C’mon, help me out here.  Who are you?”

Zedd remained silent, he simply grinned.

***

As a guard wandered past Zedd’s cell, he glanced inside to see the prisoner lying dead on the ground in a pool of blood while being feasted upon by Zedd.

“Oh my God!” the guard cried out in disgust.

Zedd raised his blood caked face and stared at the guard with pure bloodlust.  The guard hastily unlocked the cell and as soon as it was open, Zedd dashed forwards with an inhuman growl.

***

Eliza and Webb stood outside Edgeways Prison around the dozens of police vehicles, which now surrounded the exterior walls of the complex.

“What exactly happened?” Webb raised his voice to be heard over all the commotion.

“We don’t really know,” Eliza said.  “There was a report of a riot occurring a while ago but it seems all quiet and we can’t contact anyone inside.”

“On the same day Zedd gets locked up there.  Have you entertained the possibility that it’s more than a coincidence?”

“Well let’s find out.”

“What’s the plan?”

“A tactical team is about to go in to scout out the situation and report back.”

“Let me go in with them.”

“What?  No damn way.”

“But-“

“No.  I’m not backing down.  You’re staying with me.  You got it?”

“Yes ma’am.”

***

A SWAT team entered the prison grounds through the tall gates, running forwards past the exterior yard while staying alert.

Once inside, the team walked through the dark prison with no one in sight before the leader decided to report back to Eliza on his radio.

“Superintendent?” he said.  “We’ve got no one here.  My team will move deeper and try to find out what happened here.”

“Head for the control room,” Eliza’s voice said.  “That’ll be a good start.”

“Affirmative,” he put his radio away before addressing his men.  “Let’s go.”

***

The squad entered the control room to find two dead guards, their blood smeared on a few of the many monitors, each showing CCTV footage from throughout the facility.

On several of the monitors, butchered corpses lay.

“Oh my,” the squad leader breathed before reaching for his radio.  “Ma’am, we’ve found some guards.  They’re in a bad way.  This really doesn’t look like a riot.  Seems like something’s been chewin’ on these guys.”

“Sir?” a squad member said.  “Look at this.”

The squad leader approached the monitor his subordinate was directing him to.  The black and white image showed one of the halls of the prison, with cells lining both sides.

Lying half inside one of these open cells, an inmate lay struggling.  He was trying to escape the grasp of an unseen entity inside the cell and was screaming silently as he was pulled back inside at a terrifying rate.

“Let’s get down there,” the squad leader said to his horrified team.

***

The SWAT team ran through the prison, their leader stopped at a closed cell and briefly shone a light inside upon a cowering prisoner.

“What’s going on in this place?” he demanded but the inmate just continued to whimper and the team moved on.

They travelled past several bodies, some were guards, some were prisoners, all were dead.

They arrived at the cell they saw on the monitor and cautiously approached.  A deep groaning could be heard within, making them falter.

The squad leader peeked inside and shined his torch upon Zedd chewing on the neck of the now dead prisoner.

Zedd was stripped to the waist, revealing a scrawny skeletal body pockmarked with many old healed bullet wounds and as he was illuminated, he looked up into the light and snarled.

***

Outside, Eliza held the radio while listening to the screams and gunshots emanating from it.  She looked over at Webb in concern as the gunfire died down.

“Hello?” she said.  “Can you hear me?”

Inside the prison, the radio lay in a pool of blood, Eliza’s voice calling through it, “Is anyone there?  Sergeant?  Report in!”

“What should we do?” Webb asked her.  “Send in another squad?”

“I suppose we need to.”

One of the policemen of the original SWAT team then stumbled through the gates, his face completely covered in blood, along with most of his uniform.  He dropped his rifle just before falling to the ground along with it.

“We need a medical team!” Eliza called out.

Medics rushed forwards and lifted the man onto a gurney before wheeling him away.

“Send in two more units!” Eliza ordered.

The gurney was taken round the back of an open SWAT van, where a lone police medic tended to the man.

“Where are you hurt?” he asked.

The policeman lying on the gurney continued to hold his hands close to his blood drenched face but only moaned in response.

“Hold on,” the medic said, leaving a towel on the man’s chest before turning away to retrieve something from his medical bag.

Meanwhile, the wounded policeman calmly sat up and used the towel to wipe the blood away from his face to reveal the smiling face of Zedd.  None of the blood was his.

***

As more SWAT teams assaulted the prison, the police medic lay dead and unnoticed behind a car, his throat ripped out, while the van started to drive away.

Zedd drove the van through the night with a manic grin fixed to his face as he removed his borrowed SWAT helmet and tossed it onto the passenger seat.