“Help? How?”
Hannah pointed back at the conference room. “Right now he’s in there trying to convince them to change the way they do things here. That they don’t have to treat us like slaves.”
Louise’s laugh had a bitter edge. “Like that’ll happen.”
Hannah didn’t bother to argue. She knew it wouldn’t do any good. They would just have to see for themselves, once Alek succeeded. She held out the envelope. “Will you please give this to Phyllis for me?”
“Phyllis? Which one is she?”
“I never learned her last name,” Hannah admitted. “She’s tall and skinny, with really short hair. She talks a lot. She was on the janitorial staff.”
“Jewish girl?”
“Yeah.”
Louise looked down at the envelope and shook her head. “She’s dead.”
Hannah stood there, still holding out the envelope, and stared at Louise. “What?”
“There was a riot,” said Louise. “Damn fools tried to stage some kind of uprising. But it didn’t faze the vampires none. All they had to do was open the doors.” Her face twisted into a mask of anger. “They let them in. Those sons of bitches let the zeds in.”
Slowly, Hannah lowered her arm, crumpling the envelope in her fist.
“Those of us that made it back to our cells in time were the only ones that made it. Then we just had to wait it out while the vampires cleaned up the mess.”
“I’m sorry,” Hannah said, her voice thin and hollow. She didn’t know what else to say.
“Yeah, well, don’t be sorry you made it out of here. Or else you might have joined your friend.” Louise went back to her sweeping. Hannah just stood there, staring down at her letter, the elation she’d felt moments ago with Alek already a distant memory.
Behind her, the doors opened and closed. Alek came out alone. He didn’t look at her. She could tell by the way he just stood there that something was wrong. Then he spun and kicked the bench so hard it almost came unbolted from the floor. “What’s wrong?” Hannah asked, hurrying toward him.
“They want to shut us down.” He was so tense he practically vibrated with fury. “They’ve ordered me to turn all of the human residents at the base over to Esme. It seems a portion of her population was lost in a riot, and now her production is down. They want to make it up with our people. That’s what this entire thing has been about.” Again, he kicked the bench.
Hannah flinched. “They didn’t just get killed in a riot.” She pointed back at Louise. “She told me. Esme fed them to the shamblers.” Angry tears burned her eyes. She swatted at one as it escaped down her cheek. “Phyllis is dead.”
Alek looked at her. “Your friend?”
She nodded, glumly. “What are we going to do?”
He looked down the hall at Louise, then glanced at the conference room door. “Not here.” He took her hand and led her back the way they’d come. On the way, he pulled a walkie-talkie from his pocket and made a call to Captain Burell. They waited for him on the roof, and only when the chopper approached, the beat of its blades providing a sound buffer between them and prying ears, did Alek lean down to her ear. “We fight.” He pulled back to look at her. “Right?”
“We take her down,” said Hannah.
Alek gazed at her as the chopper landed, blowing her hair in her face. He pushed it out of her eyes, and nodded. “We take them all down.”
He squeezed her hand, and it felt like some of his strength and conviction transferred into her with the gesture. As she climbed into the chopper, Hannah knew she was ready for this war.
FORTY-ONE
It started raining before they landed. As a bolt of lightning lit up the interior of the helicopter, Hannah jumped with fright and said a prayer that they wouldn’t experience another crash. “How long until we land?” she asked.
“We’re close,” said the Captain. “Don’t worry. I’ve flown in worse conditions than this.”
That didn’t do anything to ease the tension she felt. Only when they were safely on the ground did she unclench her fists from the straps that held her in her seat.
Zach met them at the landing site with umbrellas, although with the wind picking up the umbrella he was using didn’t seem to be doing him much good. “How’d it go?” he asked as they climbed out of the chopper.
“Not good.” Hannah took one of the umbrellas and struggled to open it against the wind. “They want to shut us down.”
“What? When?”
“If Esme had her way,” said Alek, “they’d already be here. But we’re in luck. The hubris of the elders gives us time to plan. They expect us to surrender. They think we have no choice.”
“Do we?” asked Zach.
Alek’s only answer was to clench his jaw. “I need you to gather everyone,” he said. “Emergency town hall meeting in the auditorium in one hour. I don’t care if people are already in bed, get them up.”
Zach nodded. “I’m on it.” Without another word, he headed off to sound the alarm.
Alek turned to Hannah and the Captain. “We need to arm everyone. We should gather weapons. Automatic weapons, machine guns, rocket launchers… things that can damage them so badly it will take a lot of time to recover. We’ll pass them out at the meeting, and you’ll have all day tomorrow to make sure everyone knows how to use them. Look for bayonets, too. Knives, anything that can pierce the heart or cut off heads. And grenades.”
“Alek, are you sure about this?” asked Hannah. “You’re talking about killing your own people.”
“You are my people,” he said. “Everyone here, you’re my family. And I’m going to protect you, or at least make damn certain you can protect yourselves. Besides, they’re the ones who declared war on us.”
Hannah nodded. “Okay, then. Let’s get to the armory. I’ll meet you guys there. I need to go change out of this dress.”
An hour later, they were assembled in the same auditorium where only hours earlier they’d held the memorial service. The same faces filled the seats, now a mix of sleepy, confused, and curious, where before they had been somber and sad. The weapons they had gathered lay piled on the stage behind them.
Paula was one of the last to enter, carrying a sleeping Noah. Chris came in behind her, and found seats for them as she came down to the front. “Zach wanted me to tell you that he’s working. He thinks he’s too close to stop now. He set up a temporary lab in the basement of the old jail house. He said he thinks he’ll be hidden well enough down there to keep working until they find him and make him stop.”
Alek nodded. “Thank you, Paula.”
Hannah reached out to smooth Noah’s hair. “How is he?”
“He’s great. We played until he was tuckered out. This little angel can sleep through anything, it seems.”
Hannah smiled. “Paula, tomorrow night I want you to take him and get underground with Zach. Just stay hidden, and keep him safe.”
“Why? I wish somebody would tell me what’s going on.”
“We’re about to,” said Alek. “If you take your seat, we’ll get started.” As she headed to her seat, he raised his hands and called everyone to attention. “I know you’re all wondering why we got you out of bed and insisted that you come here tonight,” he said. “As you know, earlier this evening I was summoned to a meeting with the vampire High Council. These are the rulers of my race, and the ones who decide what happens with the camps. What happens with you.”
“What did they want?” asked someone from the crowd.
He paused, taking a deep breath before saying, “They want to shut down this camp, and my research, and ship all of you to the local prison.”
The auditorium erupted with cries and shouts of protest, people hurling questions and angry epithets at Alek. He tried to call them to order, to no avail. Finally, Hannah had enough. She hopped up on the stage next to the big pile of weapons. “Hey!” she screamed. When that didn’t get their attention, she took out her weapon and fired a shot at the ceiling,
causing acoustic tile to rain down on the stage.
That got their attention.
“You people know Alek,” she said. “You know everything he’s done for you. Do you really think he’s going to let this happen? Listen to him!” She looked down at him, and nodded.
He gave her a look of appreciation, with a touch of admiration, before turning back to the crowd. “They’ll send forces tomorrow night to shut us down and transport everyone to the prison. They’ll most likely arrive shortly after sundown. They’re going to expect us to cooperate and come quietly. They won’t be expecting us to fight, but that’s what we’re prepared to do. The question is, will you fight with us?”
A hush fell over the auditorium. After a moment, Chris spoke up. “How do we fight vampires? You guys are, like, invincible.”
“We’re hard to kill,” Alek admitted. “But if it were impossible to kill us, we wouldn’t have been gathered here for a memorial earlier tonight. Stab us in the heart, cut off our heads, blow us to pieces or burn us and we die just like anyone else. Bullets don’t kill us, but they slow us down, and a lot of bullets can stop us, at least temporarily. It takes time to heal from multiple wounds. Time, and blood. And they’ll have strict orders not to kill or feed on any of you. That gives us an advantage."
Another murmur went through the auditorium as people took a moment to talk it over. Alek gave them a minute, then hopped up on the stage with Hannah. “Here’s what’s going to happen,” he said. “Everyone who is willing and able to fight will spend tomorrow getting comfortable with these weapons. Then we’ll hole up in the old fort. All we’ll have to do is hold them off until sunrise.”
“But then what?” asked Paula. “Won’t they just regroup and come back with a bigger force?”
“Maybe,” admitted Alek. “Or maybe they’ll decide we’re not worth the trouble, and leave us alone. Maybe they’ll be willing to listen to terms. Or maybe—hopefully—Zach and I will be able to complete the vaccine before they return again, and then we won’t be confined to the base.”
“Maybe,” said Paula. “But what if they decide we’re not worth the trouble, and so they should just kill us all?”
“Then we take as many of them with us as we can,” said Alek. “Look, this is not my decision. I’ve never imposed my will on you, and I’m not going to start now. If you’d rather surrender peacefully and go to Esme’s camp, you still have that option.”
“To hell with that,” shouted Chris, and Paula nodded in agreement as other voices shouted their assent.
"All right, then,” said Alek. “We’ve got approximately sixteen hours to get ready. I want those with military training to pair up with civilians and go over weapons and combat maneuvers. Hannah also has weapons training, so you can ask her if you need help with shooting. Anyone who has strategic training or experience, with me.”
As people began to pair up, Alek turned to Hannah. “I guess we’re really doing this.”
“Are you sure you’re all right with this?”
“Yes. I just hope I’m not leading them all to slaughter.”
“Leading them to slaughter would be letting them go to that prison without a fight. Esme would probably kill us all eventually, if she got the chance.” She reached out and took hold of his arm. “We have to win this, Alek.”
He nodded. “I know.” Then he let out a frustrating groan. “The timing couldn’t be worse. If Zach thinks we’re so close to a breakthrough, I should be with him in the lab.”
“Then go.”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m not going to incite everyone to battle and then leave them without making sure they’re as prepared as possible.”
“Alek, we’ve got this. Besides, it’s not like almost everyone here doesn’t have combat experience. We’ve all had to fight off shamblers at some point.”
“Maybe so, but shamblers aren’t intelligent, and they don’t have any pride at stake.”
“But like you said, there are more ways to kill a vampire. Or at least slow them down. We should put together a team to set up booby traps. I think guerrilla warfare is probably our best bet.”
There was that look of admiration in his eyes again. “You’re amazing, you know that?”
Hannah smiled. “Right back atcha.”
He was leaning in to kiss her when the doors at the back of the auditorium flew open in a swirl of wind and rain. One of the volunteers who had helped to rescue Alek ran inside, dripping wet. He barely kept his footing as he approached them, slipping and sliding on the tile, his face pale and frightened.
“What is it, Tim?” asked Alek. “Don’t tell me they’re here already.”
He shook his head. Keeping his voice low, he said, “I don’t want to start a panic, but we spotted a twister on the ground. It’s headed this way.”
FORTY-TWO
Alek and Hannah exchanged glances, then Hannah hurried to take Noah from Paula while Alek addressed the assembly. “All right, everyone needs to stay calm and head to the storm shelters. A tornado has been spotted on the ground. Each shelter holds about twenty people, so don’t crowd each other. Everyone come to the front and get a weapon, then follow me.”
Panicked voices filled the air, but to everyone’s credit, they stayed calm and followed directions. Hannah grabbed an automatic rifle to sling over her shoulder before following Alek out the door.
Wind and rain whipped around her, so thick that she could barely see where she was going. Noah started to shriek in fear and confusion. Alek took off his already rain-soaked jacket, then took Noah from her and wrapped him up in it. He grabbed her hand and led her to the first of the shelters, a row of plain, white, shed-like structures that dotted the camp near the barracks. He shoved open the door and handed the baby back to Hannah before ushering people inside. Paula and Chris were among those who joined her in this shelter before Alek started directing people to the other buildings.
They didn’t have long. The wind was already so strong and so loud that even when they shouted they could barely hear each other over it. Alek pushed Hannah inside and showed her how to bolt the door. “These things were tested for winds up to 300 mile per hour, so you should be fine, but everyone should get down and cover their heads.”
“Where are you going?”
“Zach’s still at the lab. I have to go get him.”
“But there’s no time!”
“I’ll make time.” He grabbed hold of her face and kissed her, quickly but passionately.
“Be careful,” she told him, a little breathlessly, as he let her go.
He nodded. “You be careful when you leave the shelter. Who knows what you might find out here. Try to stay put until I can come back for you.” He kissed her again, then shut her inside.
The others knew the drill. They were already seated along the walls of the shelter, knees drawn up and ready to duck and cover their heads if necessary. Hannah took a seat next to Paula, who was murmuring a prayer for everyone’s safety. Noah’s cries were almost deafening in the echoing confines of the shelter, and Hannah did everything she could to sooth him. Otherwise, everyone kept silent as they waited.
A long, tense moment passed, and then they heard what sounded like a freight train bearing down on the camp. Hannah wrapped herself around Noah and said a prayer for Alek. Please let him make it inside, she repeated over and over in her head. She wondered if vampires could survive getting carried off by a tornado, and consoled herself by deciding that they probably could.
All around them, the building started to vibrate and rattle. Children screamed and added their cries to Noah’s as adults whispered words of comfort. Everyone braced, and prayed, and waited.
Then it was over. The building went still, and the sound of wind departed, leaving only the soft patter of rain hitting the roof. Everyone in the shelter began to relax, raising their heads to look at each other, scared expressions melting into relieved smiles. They made it.
“We should stay put a while,” said Hannah.
“There could be more.”
They all settled in to wait. After a while, people started to lament their lack of a weather radio, or of radio stations to report what was happening.
To Hannah’s surprise, Chris moved to sit next to her. “Chris,” she said, “I’m so sorry about everything.”
He held up a hand to stop her. “I just want to tell you that I really like you, Hannah, and it sucks to see you with the doc. And I’m kind of pissed off that you didn’t tell me about the two of you.”
“I swear, Chris, nothing was going on between us while we were going out.”
“Look, I get it. We went out twice. I thought we’d be going out a lot more, but it’s not like we had a commitment. But still... like I said. It sucks, and I’m pissed.”
“I know. I’m really sorry. I never wanted to hurt you, and I don’t blame you for hating me.”
He leaned his head back against the wall of the shelter, and just sat there like that for a moment. Then he blew out a long sigh. “I don’t hate you.”
“It’s okay. You’re allowed to hate me.”
“But I don’t,” he insisted. “And I get it. I can’t say I’m too surprised. Doc’s a good guy, and I figured it would just be a matter of time before you figured that out.”
“You are a good guy, Chris,” she said. “I hope you know that.”
“Yeah.” He gave her a wry smile. “Just not good enough.”
“Chris—”
He cut her off. “No hard feelings, okay? We all need to stick together. We don’t have the luxury of holding grudges against each other.”
Hannah resisted the impulse to lean over and kiss his cheek. She figured that, under the circumstances, the gesture wouldn’t be appreciated. So instead she simply nodded, and they sat in silence for a moment. Noah had finally calmed down and was about to fall asleep in her lap. The weather sounded like it was calming down outside. She’d thought Alek would’ve been back by now. “We should scout out what’s happening outside.” She looked over at Paula. “Do you mind?”
Dominion of the Damned Page 24
