by P. T. Hylton
And then there was this crazy plan of Alex’s. As soon as she'd explained it, he'd immediately disliked it. There were too many variables, too many ways it could go wrong. Two things had convinced him to agree to the plan.
First, he knew that Mark and Aaron were selfish bastards who cared about their own safety above all else. Those two would send wave after wave of their soldiers after Jaden and his team, never daring to risk their own physical safety until the fight was truly over. Unless Jaden wanted to fight his way through the remaining two hundred Resettlers, he needed to find out Mark and Aaron’s location. This seemed like the best option to do so.
Second, and even more importantly, Jaden didn’t totally trust his own judgement in his current condition. Daysickness messed with a vampire’s mind as well as his emotions. Small things could seem more important than they really were while crucial details were easily overlooked.
Since he couldn’t trust himself, he had to select someone else to trust. He’d chosen Alex. Though he didn’t know her well, he had seen evidence of her rash, sometimes immature actions. But he knew that was a byproduct of her passion. She was battle-hardened and a capable warrior with experience planning and executing missions.
So, even though he didn’t love the plan, he’d decided to follow it. The most difficult part was still to come: trusting Alex and the GMT in battle.
Igor led the way, Firefly dangling from his hand. As they reached a cross section, Igor slowly began walking to his left, just as he’d done at every other cross section. Even from the back of the group, Jaden could see Firefly relax just a bit.
Wrong way. Igor turned back and started down the right-hand path. Firefly immediately began wriggling, desperately trying to get free. It was the strongest reaction he’d had thus far. They were close to Firefly’s masters.
Igor paused, glancing back at Jaden. The older vampire nodded, and Igor headed into the tunnel to his right.
He’d only made it a few steps before a rifle’s crack split the air. At the sound of the gunshot, Igor dropped Firefly and jumped back, ducking to safety around the corner.
The rifle fired again, and Firefly let out a muffled shout.
“Wait!” one of the vampires called. “I think that’s the captain!”
The sound of ten pairs of boots slapping against the tunnel floor filled the air, and Jaden grimaced. These new vampires were like a pack of wild dogs. A vampire should be able to move almost soundlessly, but these new bloods had no idea how to use their abilities. And clearly Mark and Aaron didn’t consider teaching their progeny a priority.
The thought of it stoked the fire of anger already raging in Jaden’s chest. Turning a human and teaching it the ways of the vampire was a sacred duty and it should not be taken lightly. In his long life, Jaden had only turned three humans, and each time he’d dedicated the following hundred years to their education. That was why he now had an army of skilled warriors instead of this rabble of armed dullards that were barely better than Ferals.
Jaden felt sorry for the Resettlers. They hadn’t asked for this. He hoped he wouldn’t have to kill too many more of them, but he wouldn’t hesitate if the situation required his application of the deadly arts.
“Don’t let them get the prisoner!” Igor shouted.
The Resettlers moved fast, grabbing Firefly and pulling him deeper into the tunnel.
Natalie sprayed a few rounds in their general direction to sell their pursuit. She even chased them a little way down the tunnel.
Igor called after them, “Don’t let them get away!”
Jaden put a hand on his shoulder. “I think that’s enough.” Then he raised the radio to his mouth. “Alex, they took the bait. Just make sure they don’t wiggle off the hook.”
“We got this, Jaden,” she answered. “We’ll let you know when they stop.”
“We’ll be ready.”
Natalie trotted back toward them. When she reached them, she turned to Jaden. “What do we do now?”
“We do the thing we’ve become so good at over the past few centuries,” he answered. “We wait.”
22
Alex and Owl watched as the red dot on their display stopped directly below them.
“Think this is it?” Owl asked.
“Let’s hope so,” Alex replied. “The sun isn’t going to be up much longer, and we need to finish this before night falls and things get way more complicated. Facing a vampire army during the day is bad enough. When night arrives, these guys are going to be unstoppable.”
They watched for another thirty seconds, making sure the dot wouldn’t start moving again, then Alex radioed down to Jaden.
“They stopped,” she said. “I think we got them.”
He answered immediately, “Roger that. Give me a moment to move in and confirm.”
As they waited, Alex looked around the area. They were parked in the middle of a large intersection where two wide roads crossed. Glancing around, she saw four manhole covers, one near each corner. Good. Multiple ways down meant multiple points of attack.
Still, she didn’t love the thought of descending in a spot where Mark and Aaron could see them coming. They needed something that could serve as a distraction.
“What’s the plan, Captain?” Ed called from the back. “Are we going down to kill some vampires or what?”
“Hang tight. It shouldn’t be long now.” She thought a moment. “Owl, remember that palace in Las Vegas?”
“The one where we almost died under three tons of sand? Yeah, I have a vague recollection. Why?”
“I’m wondering if we could use the same approach here.”
Owl stared blankly for a moment. Then she got it. “Alex, we don’t know exactly how large that room is down there. It would be guesswork. Assuming we could do it at all.”
“Well, you are smarter than I am. Give me your best guess.”
Owl looked around. “I think that the tunnels meet up here. Theoretically, I think it’s doable.”
Alex was about to respond when her radio crackled to life.
“Alex, the army is gathered in a large room. I’m going to see what I can do about clearing out the army so you can take out Mark and Aaron. You up for the task?”
“Get the Resettlers out and we’ll take care of those two bastards.” She paused a moment. “Think you could give us ten minutes before you make your move? I have a really dumb idea.”
“Ten minutes, no more. We’re losing daylight, and you don’t want to face Mark and Aaron at night.”
Alex couldn’t disagree. She remembered Firefly’s story about how those two had taken out three hundred Resettlers in a matter of minutes. “Roger that. And make sure your vampires are out of the room before you send the signal. We’d hate to accidentally kill your people.”
“I would also hate that. Wait for the signal and then attack. Good luck, Alex.”
“Same to you, Jaden.” She turned to her team, wishing she’d thought of this plan sooner. They’d have to move quickly now. “Owl, drive the transport about a block away. Chuck and Wesley, use your cutters to get down a foot or two into the street and fill it with enough explosives to collapse a tunnel. Everyone else with me.”
The team got to work, moving quickly, aware the signal from Jaden could come at any moment. Alex didn’t know if the explosion would allow enough sunlight down into the tunnel to make a difference, but it would be one hell of a distraction and it might give them an alternative route from which to attack.
She just prayed Jaden could come through on his end of the plan to draw the Resettlers away. The whole point of this was to save the Resettlers, and it would sort of defeat the purpose if the lot of them died in a hail of gunfire.
When Wesley and Chuck finished cutting their hole in the pavement, they loaded it with explosives from Wesley’s pack.
“This might be overkill,” Wesley said.
“This is the rare case when I say better too many explosives than too few,” Alex replied.
“Then I guess we’re ready,” Wesley said.
Patrick and Chuck waited by one of the manhole covers, and Alex and Ed waited by another. Wesley and Owl stood by a third manhole cover, ready to climb down as soon as the explosives blew in the pavement.
They were in position and ready. All they needed was the go signal from Jaden.
Firefly groaned, unable to get any words out around the gag in his mouth, though his body desperately wanted to shout. He had information that could possibly help his masters, and everything from the metal rods through his limbs to the shoulder wound he’d sustained when his own soldiers accidentally shot him took a backseat to that.
His orders had been to get information on Jaden and his team’s whereabouts. Now he had that information, and his body needed to obey.
But all that came out were muffled grunts.
Jaden had done a thorough job stuffing Firefly’s T-shirt down his throat. If Firefly had still needed to breathe, he’d be in serious trouble. As it was, the lack of air bothered him far less than his inability to speak.
Two of the Resettlers carried him, one supporting his legs and the other lifting him by the shoulders. As vampires, they were each certainly capable of carrying him alone, but both probably wanted credit from their masters for bringing him back.
They entered the wide area where Mark and Aaron waited, surrounded by over one hundred of their soldiers. The rest of the army must have been searching the tunnels, Firefly figured.
The large, circular room had a raised walkway around the perimeter. The rest of the room was an open area, presumably where rainwater gathered, fed by the three smaller tunnels before flowing out of the larger fourth. Two sets of stairs led up from the main area to the walkway.
The two masters stood on the raised walkway, their backs to the wall, observing the room in front of them. From their perch, they could clearly see the entrance to every tunnel.
As the vampires carrying Firefly entered, the Resettlers all raised their weapons.
“Don’t shoot!” the vampire carrying Firefly’s legs shouted. “It’s us. And we have Firefly.”
Mark and Aaron squinted down at Firefly’s sorry condition.
“What the hell happened to you?” Aaron asked.
Firefly tried his best to answer but he was still unable to speak with the gag shoved down his throat.
Mark said, “Get that crap out of his mouth and get the metal bars out of him.”
The soldiers did as they were commanded.
Firefly groaned in pain as they pulled the metal rods from his arms and legs. As soon as they were out, he tried to stand, but he quickly fell back down. The gunshot wound in his shoulder was already nearly healed, but his legs and arms would take longer to recover.
One of the soldiers, a man Firefly recognized as Dustin, pulled him to a standing position and helped him maintain it.
Mark frowned down at him. “Give us a report, Captain.”
Firefly told them how he had located Jaden and his team, along with the GMT from New Haven.
At the mention of the GMT, a murmur ran through the room. Every one of the Resettlers respected the GMT, and most were just realizing they might have to fight them. Jaden and his vampires were an unknown quantity to the majority who hadn’t faced them the previous night, but all of them knew the GMT. And they were clearly afraid.
After Firefly explained who the GMT were to Mark and Aaron, the two vampires scoffed.
“Vampire hunters, huh?” Mark asked. “Please. They’re human. We have nothing to fear from them. Tell us what happened next.”
He told them how he had killed Robert, which brought a smile to their faces, and how he’d been captured, which removed those smiles. He explained that the GMT had left the tunnels and was headed back to Agartha.
When he finished, Mark turned to the soldiers who’d brought Firefly back. “How did you manage to rescue the captain?”
One of the soldiers responded, “We heard them coming down one of the tunnels. As soon as they rounded the corner, we opened fire and they dropped him.”
“Nice work. At least someone around here can do something right.” Mark glared at Firefly.
Aaron thought for a moment. He looked at the soldiers who had brought Firefly back. They must have been around twenty years old, and they didn’t have the look of battle-hardened warriors. “Doesn’t it seem a little strange that these children got the drop on Jaden and his vamps? And that he’d abandon his prize so easily? Something’s not right here.”
As Aaron finished speaking, something whizzed through the air and landed with a metallic clink in the middle of the room.
Every eye turned toward it, spotting the grenade a split second before it exploded.
As soon as the grenade exploded, Jaden surged forward, rushing through the tunnel and into the room where Mark and Aaron’s vampire army was gathered. He quickly scanned the area and saw the effect of the grenade he’d thrown was even more devastating than he’d expected.
Alex had given Jaden the grenade as well as the tracker. As much as Jaden enjoyed keeping things simple with his sword and his fists, he had to admit that a little technology was nice to have occasionally. After the infestation and the complete failure of technology to save the humans, Jaden had soured on it, but perhaps it was time to give human tech another chance.
He’d instructed his vampires to avoid killing the Resettlers whenever possible, but it looked like the explosion had taken out at least one of them. Eight others were on the ground with various injuries. Apparently New Haven’s brand of grenades were quite a bit more powerful than the ones Jaden had used back in the pre-infestation days. They must have an excellent weapons department turning out all these little gadgets.
The rest of the vampires inside the room reeled, momentarily stunned by the thunderous explosion on their already daysick heads. It didn’t feel so great to Jaden either, but at least he’d been prepared.
Two guards stood between him and the main part of the room, and they’d been far enough from the explosion that they still had their wits about them. They raised their weapons as Jaden charged.
Even though the purpose of this mission was to save the Resettlers, Jaden knew he wasn’t going to be able to get out of this without hurting a few of them. He held a sword in one hand and his other one was empty. He swung at the guard on the left, and his blade cut cleanly through the vampire’s wrist. The hand fell, and Jaden snaked out his own hand and snatched the gun before it hit the ground.
The other guard trained the barrel of his weapon on him, and Jaden had no choice but to defend himself. He quickly removed the vampire’s head.
His way cleared, he spun toward Mark and Aaron. He’d only get one chance at this. Though it was Alex and the GMT’s job to take care of Mark and Aaron, Jaden wasn’t about to let this opportunity slip by. He rushed forward, bringing the pistol he’d stolen up as he ran. He took aim at Mark and fired.
A vampire leaped into the air, throwing herself in the path of the bullet. The round struck her in the chest and she tumbled to the ground. Jaden fired three more rounds in quick succession, but two vampires dove in front of Mark, protecting their master.
Jaden cursed silently. That was it. He was out of time. If he messed around in here much longer, the vampires would swarm him. As it was, he was already going to have a difficult time making it safely back into the tunnel. Thankfully, every eye in the room was on him now. Attacking one of their masters had been an excellent way to get their attention.
He turned and booked it toward the tunnel from which he’d emerged. Every vampire had been focused on staying between Jaden and the masters, so his path was clear. He quickly reached the tunnel and ducked into it.
“Get him!” Mark screamed. “There are over a hundred of you. Take him down!”
The rumble of one hundred pairs of boots hitting the ground in unison shook the concrete.
“Time to move,” Jaden said as he reached his waiting friends.
His vampires fell in step behind him, racing down the tunnel. Only Natalie held back for a moment, peppering the approaching vampires with gunfire to keep their interest and sell the retreat.
As he was running, Jaden heard Aaron calling in the distance.
“Wait!” the vampire master yelled. “This could be a trick. You twelve, stay here and protect us in case Jaden doubles back.”
Damn, that wasn’t good. Alex and the GMT’s job had just gotten a whole lot harder.
Though trusting humans to come through in a pinch hadn’t always paid off for Jaden in the past, he didn’t see how he had much choice this time. He raised his radio to his mouth. “Alex, we got most of them out, but twelve are hanging back with Mark and Aaron.”
“We’re on it,” Alex immediately replied. “You just keep moving. See you when this is done.”
Jaden clipped the radio to his belt and hoped the GMT was as good as they thought they were. They were about to face fourteen vampires.
In the distance, Jaden heard a howl. Dozens of more howls responded to the call.
Those sounds could only mean one thing. The Ferals were joining the fight.
“Blow the lid off, Wesley,” Alex ordered.
Wesley hesitated just a moment, scanning his teammates to make sure they were in position. “Fire in the hole.”
He hit the detonator.
A massive explosion rocked the street, sending asphalt and concrete shooting in all directions. It rained down around the GMT like hail. They all huddled behind cover and waited for the debris to stop falling.
Alex ducked her head out and saw Wesley’s explosives had succeeded in opening a massive crater in the road. As the last rocks clattered to the ground around them, she called to the team. “Let’s move!”
She didn’t have to ask twice. They’d grown antsy listening to the explosion and gunfire below the street as Jaden drew the soldiers away, and now they were primed for battle. At Alex’s orders, they sprang into action.
