by P. T. Hylton
The Savage World Box Set
Books 1-3 of the Vampire World Saga
P.T. Hylton
Jonathan Benecke
Contents
The Savage Earth
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Epilogue
The Savage Night
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Epilogue
The Savage Dawn
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Epilogue
Authors’ Note
Copyright © 2019 P.T. Hylton & Jonathan Benecke
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, events, or locales is purely coincidental.
Reproduction in whole or part of this publication without express written consent is strictly prohibited.
Thank you for supporting our work.
The Savage Earth
The Vampire World Saga Book 1
1
Alexandria Goddard hoped there’d be trouble. She didn’t say it out loud, of course; none of them did, but when you spent your life training to fight an enemy, it was only natural that you’d hope to meet them now and again, if only to bump chests and show them you meant business.
Her commanding officer, Captain Brickman—CB to the team—apparently had other ideas.
“This is a quick mission. We should be in and out in no more than a couple hours. We’ll stay on the east side of the building, in the sunlight. Even still, I don’t want you taking any chances in there.”
Alex sighed. CB was a good commanding officer, but he was cautious to a fault.
They were standing in the hold of the Ground Mission Team’s ship. Alex cast an anxious glance at the still-closed cargo door. She wanted to get this show on the road.
“Our Engineering department is in need of a certain kind of heating element,” he continued. “Just so happens that this heating element was part of a common household appliance back in the day.”
He held up a tablet and passed it down the line, so all five members of the Ground Mission Team got a good look. It showed a picture of a small, boxy appliance with a glass pitcher nestled inside it.
“It was used to make a hot, bitter drink called coffee. Apparently, they were all addicted to it, and nearly every kitchen had one of these things. Your goal is to go from apartment to apartment, grabbing as many of these as you can. Working together, we should be in and out in two hours.”
Alex nudged Drew Layton, the man sitting beside her. “Wanna make a bet on who bags one of these things first?”
Drew chuckled. At thirty years old, he was five years older than Alex. He’d been on the team three years longer than her, and he never missed the opportunity to give her a hard time. “How about we go for total count? You might be quicker than me, but I’ll bet I put you to shame long-term.”
Alex grinned. “You’re on. You’ll be buying drinks tonight. Again.”
“You got lucky last time. If it hadn’t been for my shotgun jamming, I would have won.”
“It’s the poor carpenter who blames his tools, my man.”
CB shot them a look, and they fell silent. “Drew, Firefly, and Alex, you’ll be going down. Simmons and I will stay topside. Any questions?”
“No, sir,” the team said in unison.
“Good. Let’s go to work. If you would, Owl.”
The pilot’s voice came through their earpieces. “Roger that, Captain.”
The cargo door began to open with a mechanical whir, and Alex stared out at the ruins of what had once been the city of São Paulo, Brazil.
Dorothy “Owl” Fowler’s voice came through their earpieces again. “São Paulo was the twelfth largest city in the world and the largest city in the western hemisphere.”
“Do we have to do this now, Owl?” CB asked.
“It is sort of tradition, Captain,” Simmons said.
Alex glanced at him. She knew Simmons well enough to be sure he wasn’t happy to be staying behind on this mission, but he wasn’t the type to complain. He’d do his job and hope for a better assignment the next time out. He was a true professional.
“Fine, get it over with,” CB said.
“The city’s population peaked around thirteen million before the infestation,” Owl continued. “The official language of Brazil was Portuguese, and the city’s official motto was I am not led, I lead.”
“Somebody take away her almanac,” Drew joked.
The cargo door finished opening, and Alex leaned out and looked down at the city below. They were hovering one hundred feet above a skyscraper that seemed to be mostly intact. Even from up here, Alex could see that plant life had reclaimed most of the city. The streets were a patchwork of broken pavement with trees growing through the massive cracks, and ivy clung thickly to the face of most of the structures. The top section of
the building directly below them was clear of ivy, which was part of the reason they’d selected it.
“There’s no way for us to be sure of the structural integrity of the building,” CB said, “so we’ll hover here and lower you down. Ready to roll?”
Alex was more than ready. She clipped the rope to her vest and prepared to be lowered down.
Drew grabbed her arm. “Wait for me on the roof. It’s not fair if you start working before I get down there.”
“I know. You need every advantage you can get.” She stepped out the cargo door and hung suspended in the air, the decaying city of São Paulo stretched below her. The wind was brisk up here, and it whipped against her fatigues. Even still, there was something peaceful about hanging midair, neither on the ship nor the surface, but somewhere in between.
Her feet touched down on the concrete roof, and she unclipped the rope from her vest. As the other two were lowered down, she looked for a place to secure her rope. They’d be rappelling down the side of the building from here. By the time Firefly and Drew touched down, she was ready to begin her descent.
Her two teammates soon joined her on the building’s edge.
“Ready?” Firefly asked.
Alex briefly considered whether she should have included Firefly in the wager, but she quickly dismissed the thought. He wasn’t interested in such things. He was probably busy moping that he wasn’t going to get to blow anything up on this trip.
“Ready,” Alex said.
Drew and Firefly leaned back and began carefully rappelling their way down the structure.
Alex waited another moment, enjoying one last look at the city before going to work. She pulled out a pistol, took a deep breath, and leaped backward over the edge.
She’d gathered fifteen feet of slack in her rope before jumping, and she quickly dipped past Drew and Firefly. The rope went taut as she reached the bottom of her slack and swung like a pendulum toward the building. She raised her pistol and fired three quick shots into the window in front of her.
She crashed through the shattering window feet first and swung into what had once been the living room of a luxury apartment. Her feet touched down lightly on the still-beautiful hardwood floor. Sunlight streamed in from the floor-to-ceiling hole that had until moments ago been a window.
Alex quickly located the kitchen. Sure enough, the appliance CB had shown them was sitting out on the counter, ready for the taking. She took the duffle bag off her back, unzipped it, and stuffed the appliance inside.
She touched the radio strapped to her chest and spoke into her headset microphone. “That’s one. What’s taking you guys so long?”
Over the next hour and a half, Alex, Drew, and Firefly worked their way down, apartment by apartment. They stayed on the east side of the building, where the morning sunlight shone strong. The layout of every apartment was nearly identical, so they were able to move quickly. Only a few kitchens didn’t have the appliance, though occasionally, they had to go digging through the cabinets to find it.
Alex shoved another coffee maker into her duffle bag, twisting until it fit, and the zipper still closed. “Captain, I’m full. Sending my bag up.”
“Roger that,” CB said in her earpiece.
She reached out the shattered window and grabbed the rope dangling from the ship. For a woozy moment, she rested her weight on it and looked down twenty stories to the broken streets below. Then she attached her bag and gave it two quick tugs. The bag began its ascent toward the ship.
“Shame you have to wait for them to empty your bag, Alex,” Drew said in her earpiece. “I’m on number forty-three.”
Alex cursed softly. She was only one ahead of him now, and this level was just about cleaned out. The sun was rising fast, which meant they were losing their direct sunlight into the building. CB wouldn’t let them stay down here much longer.
She grabbed her rappelling rope and leaned out. A shadow from the next building fell across her face. Glancing down, she confirmed the next level was draped in shade.
Two gunshots split the air as Drew entered his next apartment. A moment later, he proudly proclaimed, “Forty-four. All tied up.”
Screw it, she was done waiting. CB could lower the bag to her on the next level down. She checked her rope one more time, then leaned backward out the window and hopped down, out of the sunlight. It felt five degrees cooler in the shade, and goosebumps sprang out on her arms as the icy wind licked her skin.
She looked up and saw Firefly on the side of the building two floors above. He glanced down at her, a curious expression on his face, but he didn’t say anything.
Alex shot the window and entered the apartment. It suddenly struck her that this might not be an altogether wise move. They’d been making one hell of a racket all morning, and now she was stepping out of the safety of the sunlight.
She raised her pistol, doing a quick visual scan of the living room. She appeared to be alone.
The appliance wasn’t on the counter in the kitchen. Crap. Was she risking her life for nothing in here? She started digging through cabinets.
CB’s voice came through her earpiece. “Alex, what’s your twenty?”
She pushed aside pots and pans but came up empty and moved on to the higher cabinets, keeping one eye on the living room for movement. “I dropped down a level, sir.”
“Are you in the shade right now?” CB’s voice betrayed his concern.
“A little. But I’ll be back in the sun in a moment.” She opened the cabinet next to the refrigerator and hit pay dirt. The cabinet was stuffed with a handful of appliances, and there, in the back, was the one she was after. She knocked the others out of the way to get to it.
“Don’t be an idiot, Alex!” CB said.
“Captain, I’m sending up another bag,” Firefly said.
“Okay, I’m calling it,” CB said. “We’ve got enough. You three head back up.”
“Forty-five,” Alex said triumphantly.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Drew said with a moan.
Something in the living room moved, and Alex spun toward the motion, pistol raised.
The living room was empty now, and yet she was almost sure she’d seen something.
She backed toward the window, keeping her gun trained on the living room. “Where are you, you bastard?” she whispered.
As she reached the window and clipped herself in, a low, animalistic growl came from somewhere deep in the apartment.
“Alex, you coming?” CB said.
Alex’s heart was racing. She stepped off the edge and hung in the air, never taking her eyes off the apartment’s dark interior. “I’m all set, Captain. Let’s go back to New Haven.”
2
Two hours after returning to New Haven, Alex headed to a bar called Tankards, out near the agricultural district. It was a long walk from the GMT headquarters, but it was worth it for the quiet and the anonymity. To get there, she had to pass through Sparrow’s Ridge, the neighborhood with the densest population in the city, and through the Hub, the center of all things, where the most important members of society lived in more spacious quarters.
The bartender, Louie, gave her a friendly nod as she entered, but didn’t say a word. That was part of what she loved about this place. Louie understood that people weren’t coming here for lively conversations with him. People came to this inconveniently located bar because they either wanted to be alone or wanted to have a conversation away from the prying ears that were all too prevalent in the busier sections of town. Keeping secrets in New Haven was difficult.
Alex headed straight for a large table in the corner. She knew Drew, Firefly, Owl, and maybe even Simmons would be along shortly for a drink. The team needed to wind down after a dangerous mission like the one today, and they nearly always ended up here, in an unspoken, unplanned practice that was becoming a tradition.
The bar was nearly empty tonight, and it was quiet enough that Alex could hear two men at a nearby table talking in hushed t
ones.
“It’s a pipe dream,” the first man said. He was heavyset and spoke in a low, rumbly voice.
“Maybe it was,” the other said. He was short, thin, and had a truly impressive mustache. “Now we’ve got Fleming on our side. Resettlement is a very real possibility. It could happen in the next few years.”
The fat one scoffed.
“Mark my words,” the one with the mustache said. “Councilman Fleming isn’t like the others. He’s gonna make things happen.”
Alex did her best to ignore the conversation. The last thing she wanted to do when she was supposed to be unwinding was to think about politics. Still, it was always there in the background, whether she chose to think about it or not. The City Council was in charge of the GMT and approved everything, from their budget to their missions. She saw the direct impact of the decisions the Council made up close and personal. She and her teammates were weapons that the Council aimed to help achieve their ends. So maybe she should care a little more about politics.
