Chase Baker & the Humanzees from Hell (A Chase Baker Thriller Book 8) by Benjamin Sobieck Page B

Bizarre was robbed and destroyed for nothing.”
    Hadn’t thought of it that way.
    Helper 10 lowers the .45. It’s still unsure what to do next, so I push it to see things my way.
    “Help us. Show us where Doctor X keeps the Iceman, and I promise you’ll see you’re not alone,” I say.
    “…help us?” Helper 10 says. “You…are Helper Us?”
    The poor thing’s logic is so simple, I forgot to check my vocabulary. It thinks I’m one of them, the Helpers.
    “Yes. Yes, of course. Helper Us,” I say. “And Helper Us needs Helper 10 to find that Iceman.”
    Helper 10 drops the .45 to the ground and kicks the gun toward me. It gives the ESEE-5 a light toss. I pick both up, happy to be reunited.
    “But first, show Helper Us where that prick Doctor X is,” Hillary says. “We need to have a quick word with him.”
    Helper 10 slips the AK across its chest and racks the gun’s charging handle. “Will…show…come with,” it says.
    With that, our motley crew of a shit-stained adventurer, an unfortunate entrepreneur, a troop of irate chimpanzees and a human-ape hybrid super-soldier with a machine gun head back into the main cave to pop a mad scientist jacked up on an invincibility serum in order to prevent World War III.
    Just another day at the office.

 
    26.
     
    The Jeep, flat tire and all, thankfully still rests at an awkward angle inside the main cave. Missing, however, is Doctor X, which is curious since I’m looking at nothing but rock walls.
    Did he take off on foot down the two-track road that leads into the cave?
    Helper 10 offers another option. It walks over to the long table full of computers and lab equipment. Slinging the AK over its shoulder, Helper 10 turns on a computer and types something on the keyboard. A panel of wall, perfectly disguised within the rock, slides open to reveal another hidden passage. This one looks more like an office hallway than a dungeon.
    I need to stop calling Helper 10 an “it.” This thing is more advanced than most people, but I don’t know what other term to use.
    “Come,” Helper 10 says and points to the passage.
    Our bizarre corps heads down the hallway, weapons at the ready. I give Hillary the ESEE knife, figuring the .45 is too quick to satisfy her feelings toward Doctor X. I let Helper 10 lead the way, expecting a surprise from Doctor X to jump out and take us down at the knees. Nothing materializes. We walk down the hallway as if we own the place.
    The hallway curves to the right. Helper 10 raises a hand for us to stop while it sneaks up for a preview of what’s ahead. It gives us the all-clear, and we continue on into what I’d call a control room. Wall-to-wall monitors and computer screens illuminate heaps of spare medical gear in blue-tinged outlines. Perched in the middle of it all like mold on a blueberry is Doctor X. He raises the SKS rifle as we approach.
    The chimps go nuts at the sight of Doctor X, but they keep their distance. Despite their newly found freedom, they’re still fearful of the person responsible for so much agony, even if they could easily overpower a 150-year-old man holding an outdated gun.
    “Oh, my dear Helper 10. You’ve come to kill me have you?” Doctor X says as if Hillary and I don’t exist. “I suppose you know that I could live forever provided I receive my daily injections, but that not even an invincibility serum can help an old man lying on the ground in 100 pieces.”
    Helper 10 keeps the AK on Doctor X. Its eyes betray its inner turmoil. It’s confused again.
    “Make that 200 pieces,” Hillary says, her hand squeezing the handle of the ESEE knife.
    “True, I can’t take you all with me when I die,” Doctor X says. “But I can take one of you. Helper 10, your betrayal will not go unnoticed. I brought you into this world. I can bring you out of it, too.”
    I’m ready to pull the trigger on the .45 and put an end to Doctor X’s grandiose monologues, but Helper 10 does something shocking. In one fell