The Crucible: A Lawson Vampire Novel (The Lawson Vampire Series)

by Jon F. Merz

  I thought I heard some crazy cackling laughter float down from on high. Probably Wei enjoying himself at my expense. The crazy fuck.

  But I couldn’t do anything about it. The spider mole had me pinned against the wall and try as I might, I could budge it. I must have looked ridiculous trying to flail about like I was. Laughable even.

  If I’d had the assault rifle still, I could have unloaded the full clip on the beast’s head. No sense trying to preserve ammo if I was in a life-and-death situation. Better to survive and scramble for bullets later. But again, that point was moot since I was pinned and the rifle was across the pit somewhere. I hadn’t even seen where it landed.

  The spider mole leaned into me even more and what little air I had left in my lungs got crushed out of me. Now I was gasping to get oxygen back into my system. Like a constrictor, the spider mole simply timed the gasps as I was breathing out and each time pinned me even closer to the wall in incremental inches of death. Things got cloudy then. I could still see the proboscis wavering in the air in front of my head. I could smell the stench of the spider mole’s breath. But all of that paled in comparison to how I felt slowly being suffocated. My ribs wouldn’t take much more of the pressure and I expected them to buckle and crack at any second. Darkness edged the periphery of my vision and every second brought me closer to blacking out completely.

  Then the onslaught ceased. I was still being crushed, but the spider mole stopped pressing forward. The proboscis stayed where it was in the air in front of my face. As stiff and straight as it had been, it now seemed to be going flaccid.

  Maybe the spider mole forgot to take his erectile dysfunction pill, I didn’t know. But I was somewhat grateful that I wasn’t actively being crushed. Or probed.

  I still had to find some way to break free, however.

  Needless to say, when the pressure suddenly released and I fell away from the wall sucking in glorious mouthfuls of oxygen, I was completely surprised. I continued gorging on air and only after running my hands over my ribcage and determining that nothing seemed broken, did I look up at the spider mole and see why it had stopped.

  I still hovered close by me, but the opaque row of eyes weren’t focused on me. The head was looking up at the ring at the top of the pit. The proboscis withdrew into the spider mole’s mouth and vanished. It seemed to me that the spider mole had suddenly lost all interest in me. Now, it’s attention was directed up toward the ring above the Abyss.

  Without warning, the spider mole started climbing the wall of the pit. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the assault rifle and grabbed it. As the spider mole climbed, each of its legs churning and chewing up dirt and stone, I followed behind it. The tactic was basically the same as infantry following behind a tank. I’d use whatever cover I could to get close to the ring.

  As we climbed, I dropped the mag and checked the number of rounds I had now. Three. Ugh. The good news was that it seemed like every soldier in the installation had the same weapon. If I could get into the ring without being killed, I could scoop up another soldier’s gun and use that instead. Plus, I was willing to bet that any soldier I dropped would have extra mags on him I could use.

  The spider mole made it up top faster than I could. I attributed that to the fact that the damned thing had eight legs all working at once whereas I had only two and I was still struggling to get myself feeling normal again. Being nearly crushed to death can affect your aerobic conditioning for a few minutes.

  Nevertheless, I made it topside within a couple minutes of the spider mole’s sudden appearance. Gunfire erupted from every angle as Wei’s men scrambled trying to fight the thing off. Bullets slammed into the spider mole, tearing out huge chunks of its body even as it started laying waste to the computer terminals and technicians and soldiers inside the ring. I spotted Talya already engaged in exercising her particular skill set. She cracked the neck of the trooper guarding her, then grabbed up his weapon dropping three more guards even as I sighted on my first kill.

  Wei and the Silencer were nowhere to be seen.

  And neither was Jack.

  I frowned and shot another Chinese soldier that was bringing his weapon to bear on me. He dropped and I rushed forward, grabbing up his gun and shooting another trooper.

  “Where’s Jack?” I called to Talya as she used the butt of her rifle to cream another soldier in the side of his head.

  “They hauled him away when the spider mole attacked,” she replied. Another soldier died as she punched two rounds into his skull. Bits of brain matter splashed the side of a computer terminal. Talya pivoted and continued shooting.

  The spider mole seemed to be in its own world of hell. It continued to attack, but the bullets were rapidly bringing it down. Flecks of skin and blood and guts littered everything. I turned back toward the pit and gasped.

  More spider moles were streaming up the sides of the Abyss heading right for where Talya and I and the rest of Wei’s men stood.

  “Moving!” I dashed for Talya’s position and slid in next to her as she dropped another soldier.

  “You okay?”

  I nodded. “More spider moles are coming out of the pit. We can’t stay here.”

  She nodded. “Wei took him down that corridor.” She pointed and I saw we hadn’t been down it before. It must have led somewhere. But where? Then I remembered that Wei had an exit that his men didn’t have. I looked up high above the ring and the Abyss: the helicopter pad I’d spotted earlier on.

  The rotors on the helicopter were already starting to turn.

  “Shit, he’s going to fly the coop.”

  “With Jack,” said Talya. She shot another soldier.

  We heard a chorus of screams mixed with the screeches of the spider mole army as it made its sudden appearance over the lip of the ring. Those soldiers closest to the front fell under a barrage of churning mouths and stabbing proboscises. Men were lanced through their hearts and tossed aside while others were torn in half by the razor teeth of the spider moles. Wei’s troops turned all their attention to the creatures and promptly forgot about me and Talya.

  “Let’s get out of here,” I said.Talya nodded and we backed away from the ring toward the corridor. A stray bullet splanged off the wall nearby and Talya gasped. A line of blood marred her right cheekbone. I kept us moving until we were behind a rocky outcropping. Then I checked the wound and smiled at her.

  “Looks like the round caused a chunk of rock to graze you. You’ll still be gorgeous.”

  She kissed me quickly on the lips. “I am so going to fuck your brains out later.”

  “You’d better,” I said. “Let’s get Jack and get the hell out of here.”

  Behind us, the sounds of battle continued, but we just ran down the corridor away from it. There wasn’t much we could do against the onslaught of spider moles and they were doing us a big favor by distracting all of Wei’s troops. All we had to do was reach Wei and get Jack away from him.

  At the end of the corridor, Talya pointed. “Elevator!”

  We slid into the car and turned. Talya punched the up button just as a lone spider mole starting screaming down the corridor in our direction.

  “Shit!”

  The elevator beeped.

  The spider mole kept coming. I brought my gun up and started firing. “Talya!”

  “I punched it!”

  The spider mole was ten yards away.

  My bullets punched its eyes out. It screeched, still rushing forward.

  The doors started to close.

  The spider mole proboscis jutted out and started stabbing the air before it.

  It punched into the elevator car just as the doors slid shut. The proboscis shot toward the floor, still pinned by the doors and then tore off as the elevator car ascended. The tip of the proboscis lay on the floor and twitched once before going still.

  I glanced at Talya. “Hungry?”

  She blanched. “Ugh. That is not even remotely funny.”

  “Looks like some
sort of fleshy dildo.”

  She eyed me. “You have a twisted mind, Lawson.”

  “No doubt.” I glanced at the numbers on the elevator wall and nodded. “How high up do you think?”

  “All the way,” said Talya. “That’s the only level they can launch the helicopter from.” She dropped to one knee and popped her magazine out, checking the ammo she had left. I did the same.

  “How much you got?” I asked.

  “Ten,” she replied. “Not exactly how I like going into a firefight.”

  “Better than me,” I said. “I’ve got seven rounds left.”

  “On the plus side,” said Talya. “I think we’re only going up against the Silencer and Wei. All of his troops seem to be preoccupied, thankfully.”

  “Those spider moles are going to destroy this entire installation,” I said. “There’s no way we can go back down there after this is all over with.”

  “The helicopter,” said Talya. “We’ll have to use it to get free.”

  I nodded. “You ready?”

  “Always,” she said slapping the magazine back home and checking her selector switch. “I’m going left.”

  “Got it,” I said inserting my own mag and bringing the butt of the gun to my shoulder.

  The elevator continued to ascend and then abruptly started to slow. I glanced at Talya. “I really hope the spider moles aren’t good at climbing elevator shafts. Otherwise this is going to take a lot more than seventeen rounds.”

  “Let’s get it done as fast as possible,” said Talya. “Wei’s probably got the roof opened already. Knowing him, he’s also probably got the place rigged to self-destruct.”

  “There’s a nuke reactor under the installation,” I said. “I questioned its reliability, but he can simply implode this place and ruin any chance of its exposure.”

  Talya nodded. “He’ll kill everyone in here to get away.”

  “With Jack,” I said. “He’s got plans for him.”

  “Wei’s always got plans,” said Talya. “And backup plans for those that don’t pan out.”

  “Well, I’ve got a plan, too,” I said.

  “Do you?”

  “Yeah, Wei and the Silencer need to die. Jack needs to live.”

  “I like that plan,” said Talya. “Let’s make it happen.”

  36

  The elevator door slid open ten seconds later and we both moved immediately. No sense setting up shop inside the car and risking bullet ricochets that could end either one of us. As Talya went left, I went right and engaged two targets as soon as I cleared the doors. They were two of Wei’s men standing by some type of terminal bank. I heard fire from Talya and I assumed she’d found her own targets.

  I moved ahead and sank down by the terminal, swapping magazines with the ones from the two men I’d killed. I slapped a fresh mag home and then put the others down my shirt for later. I glanced across the way and saw Talya doing the same.

  We’d emerged onto a steel grid catwalk that spanned over the Abyss far below us. I looked through the grate and could see the spider moles doing their work on the remainder of the people inside the installation. The scene looked grim. Even from this distance, I could hear only sporadic gunfire now. Spider moles scampered everywhere and the facility looked like it would easily be overrun by them in no time.

  It was a good thing we’d come up to this level. No one was going to survive down where we’d been minutes before. I didn’t envy any of the soldiers and technicians that had been left below. Their death was not going to be pleasant. Or quick.

  Talya gestured to me and pointed across the catwalk. I looked and saw that the helicopter had its rotors still turning slowly. I wondered what they were waiting for until I saw that the roof hadn’t been opened yet. That struck me as curious until I heard Wei’s voice barking commands. I risked a quick peek around the corner.

  Wei stood roughly fifty yards away banging on the keys to a computer terminal. The Silencer stood nearby with a pistol aimed at Jack’s head. She hadn’t spotted us yet, but I had little doubt that she knew we were there. After all, we’d come up here with guns blazing. And the Silencer wasn’t an idiot.

  The helicopter sat waiting for the roof to open and I could see a pilot seated inside frowning. The model of the chopper was a Harbin Z-9 and I knew it could carry ten passengers easily and make the border with Nepal without much problem. The chopper was our ticket to safety and freedom; we just had to get it under our control.

  Talya had her rifle butt in her shoulder and I gestured to me to join her. I timed my move when the Silencer was distracted by Wei slamming his hands down on the terminal and swearing loudly. I wondered if the spider mole attack had somehow disrupted the electronics in the facility.

  I slid in next to Talya. “What’s up?”

  “I can make the shot.”

  I frowned. “You want to take her out from here?”

  “Not her. The pilot. That’s first priority. If Wei gets that roof open, they’ll be able to escape. But I’m hoping neither Wei nor the Silencer knows how to pilot a chopper.”

  “Uh, do you?”

  Talya smiled at me. “I think it’s nice that I can still surprise you after all these years.”

  “Me too, but that’s usually in the bedroom.”

  She smirked. “Get your head right, Lawson. I can pilot that helicopter no problem.”

  “What about me?”

  “I’m guessing that as soon as I make this shot, the Silencer is going to be able to zero in on my location. But she’s only got a pistol. I need you to take her out.”

  “Done.” I pointed at my old position. “I’ve got a better angle on her there.”

  “We’ll time our shots,” said Talya.

  I nodded but then stopped. “Wait.”

  “What now?”

  “What if the bullets aren’t designed to penetrate the glass around the pilot? After all, this is specialty ammo. If I knew we had a full metal jacketed round, that would be one thing. But these rounds are designed to kill humans and vampires. I didn’t see the specs on whether they could penetrate reinforced glass or whatever the canopy is made from.”

  Talya’s lips pursed together. “Dammit, you might be right. But what choice do we have?”

  I shrugged. “A diversion?”

  Talya eyed me. “What do you have in mind?”

  “I sneak around to the pilot and take him out while you get the Silencer’s attention?”

  “Or I could take out the pilot and you could handle the Silencer.”

  I grinned. “Rock, paper, scissors?”

  “Fuck it,” said Talya. “I’ll handle that bitch. Just get your job done fast and then come back me up.”

  “Always.”

  She nodded and took a breath. I was dying to ask Talya about her past with the Silencer. No doubt it would be interesting, especially since I thought the Silencer had only really moved in circles that Talya didn’t. Then again, there were parts of Talya’s past that I didn’t even know about. Just as there were parts of my past she didn’t know.

  Talya shouldered the rifle and stepped out from behind her cover. “All right, let him go.” She aimed the rifle at the Silencer and motioned for her to move away from Jack.

  Wei looked up in surprise. I found it hard to fathom he hadn’t heard us come up here, but then again, his attention may have been focused on trying to escape. Surely he knew that the entire facility was lost.

  The Silencer didn’t look surprised. “Where is Lawson?”

  “Dead,” I heard Talya say. “Now let the boy go.”

  Jack looked like his old self again, which I was relieved about. I knew he might be able to assist Talya in taking care of the Silencer. But for the moment, I needed to work my way around the chopper and take out the pilot. I just needed Talya to get the Silencer looking away from where I was then.

  Talya moved to her left and the Silencer dutifully tracked her, keeping Jack positioned just so between them. If Talya tried to shoot,
the round would hit Jack first.

  “He’s dead?” The Silencer didn’t sound convinced. “How?”

  Talya shrugged. “Took a round down below. A spider mole then got to him before I could help him. He’s gone.”

  The Silencer frowned and glanced around. I hadn’t moved from my position figuring she would be careful. But as soon as she looked back at Talya, I moved around toward the back of the chopper. The tail rotor churned the air and helped conceal any noise I might have made on the steel catwalk. I felt the wind in my face as I tried to use the bulk of the chopper body to conceal my approach. I was twenty feet from the pilot’s door when I heard Wei shout suddenly.

  “They’re climbing the walls!”

  I looked down and froze. Apparently, the spider moles had seen movement happening far above them and decided there were more people who needed to be eaten. Namely, us. They were now engaged in a desperate attempt to scale the walls of the facility that would bring them up to the catwalk.

  Not good.

  With no time to lose, I reached the pilot’s door and yanked it open. The pilot whirled and to his credit, tried to backhand me across the face. I intercepted his arm and used his momentum to drag him free of the seat. His fault for not belting himself in yet. He tumbled from the seat and across the catwalk before I put two rounds into his heart and he lay still.

  At the same time, I heard commotion from the other side of the chopper. I came around with the rifle already up, but I didn’t have any sort of clear shot. From what I could surmise, Jack had elbowed the Silencer and managed to break free. The Silencer’s pistol careened off the catwalk and dropped into the Abyss below. I watched it tumble and became acutely aware of how close the spider moles were getting. They weren’t having an easy time; they would scramble up and sometimes tumble back to the bottom, but now they were using each other to climb up further on each other’s backs. It was only a matter of time before they reached the catwalk.

  Talya had a bead on the Silencer and was already squeezing the trigger. I couldn’t hear what she said but then when nothing happened, the Silencer reacted immediately.