The Night Killers

by Senese, Rebecca M.

  “Don’t let me turn, Josh,” he said.

  “What?”

  “Don’t let me turn. Promise me you’ll take care of it.”

  Finally, Josh looked at him. The grief shone bright before a scowl hardened his features. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  “Promise me...”

  “You aren’t changing, you little prick.” Josh’s voice broke. “You aren’t.”

  “Promise.” Peter kept his voice hard as the tears rolled down his cheeks.

  “Peter...”

  “Promise. Dammit, promise me. Don’t make me go like mom. I’ll never forgive you for that, Josh.”

  His brother looked away, staring at the desert in front of them. The sun had cleared the distant hills. The sky shone a brilliant blue, deepening every moment. Faint wisps of cloud hung over the hills. It was going to be a beautiful day.

  “I promise,” Josh whispered.

  * * * *

  “Where do you think they’ve gone, Rick?” Sami’s voice was quiet in the back of the second truck. Raj was driving up front with Sister Theresa. Rick and Sami sat in the back, hunched under the canopy.

  They’d scrounged as much as they could from the van before abandoning it. A retrieval squad would come out and pick it up and dispose of the vampires’ remains. Sami had radioed the location of the nest to the Hell Hunters and the Scourge of Heaven squad was available as back up but Rick wanted to find Josh and Peter himself.

  The Night Killers took care of their own.

  Rick shook his head. “I don’t know, Sami. I wish Josh hadn’t run.”

  She touched his arm, running her chocolate brown fingers over the thick scar along his bicep. “You can’t blame him, Rick. Peter’s his brother. He’s been like a kid brother to all of us.”

  Rick swallowed. More like an older brother, he thought. He never caroused quite as vigorously as the rest of the squad, even the Sister. He always hung back a little, watching everything from some corner as though the partying and laughter were something he couldn’t understand. He made Rick feel protective but he wondered if Peter hadn’t been the one protecting them all.

  “We’ve got to find them, Sami. Only three days...”

  “Shh.” She pressed her fingers to his lips. “Don’t.” He saw the tears in her big, brown eyes and put an arm around her shoulder. She moved up against him, pressing her face into his neck. Her arms wrapped around him. He held her, stroking the long, thin braids of hair that fell to her waist. Her body trembled as she struggled not to cry. He’d seen her take down a gang of child vampires without batting an eye, lay out an entire room of drunken, marauding squad members while laughing uproariously. More than Josh, hell, even more than him, she was the coolest, most professional member of the squad. It made his soul ache to feel her tremble.

  “Heading into the desert, Rick,” Raj’s voice drifted back to him. “Moving pretty fast I’d say.”

  “Move faster,” Rick said. He knew that Josh had probably disabled the homing beacons on the truck but they still had the advantage of satellite technology.

  “Nothing out there but sand,” Raj said. “What the hell is he looking for?”

  What indeed, wondered Rick.

  * * * *

  At around noon, they got a blow out.

  “Fuck me,” shouted Josh. The wheel spun in his hands as he fought to keep the truck upright. Rubber squealed and sand bellowed in through the shattered windshield. He coughed, squinting, trying to see through the dust. A final lurch and the truck stalled, shrieking to a stop.

  “You okay?” he asked Peter.

  The young man nodded, tugging at his seat belt. Dust caked his face and hair, streaked on his chest. “I think so.”

  “Let’s see what happened.”

  They climbed out of the truck. Josh bent over the rear left tire. It was totally blown. He could see the sliding path of the truck as it had careened off the road onto the desert floor. The tire was totally shredded. This was no accident.

  “Ah, Josh.” Peter’s voice called from the other side of the truck.

  “This blow out looks all wrong,” Josh said. He headed around the back of the truck. “I think...” He stopped.

  “Do you now?” said the young woman holding the shotgun on Peter. She turned so she aimed between the two of them.

  Not a vampire, it was the middle of the day, Josh thought. Not a squad member either, her gun looked too old although meticulously cared for. What the hell was she doing so far from a domed city?

  “What are you doing here?” she demanded.

  “I was about to ask you the same question.”

  Brown eyes narrowed as she studied him. Wisps of hair danced around her face in the breeze, the rest was covered by the loose turban on her head. She wore worn brown pants and a faded khaki shirt under a beige jacket.

  “You talk,” she said. “I’m the one with the gun.”

  “We’re sight seeing,” he said. “A nice day trip in the desert...”

  “In a squad truck, with the windshield blown out? Try something else.”

  Josh swallowed. Oh, to hell with it. “My brother’s been bitten.” He forced the words out. “I heard rumors about a cure out here, before he can turn.”

  She looked from him to Peter, her eyes studying the young man. “He looks all right.”

  “It just happened before dawn,” Peter said quietly. His voice carried over the breeze, sounding calm and dignified. Damn him, Josh thought, he always sounded like that.

  The woman looked uncertain. The gun dipped a little.

  “Did you set the trap on the road?” Peter said.

  She glared at him and the gun lifted again. Dammit Peter, shut up already, Josh thought.

  “What are you hiding from?” Peter asked.

  The gun swung closer. Josh gauged the distance between himself and the woman. Even if she missed Peter, she still had time to swing on him and fire. He thought of the Uzi under the steering wheel and burned helplessly.

  “You’re a spotter,” she said. “Psychic. You can trail vampires. Maybe even read people a little.” Her eyes narrowed.

  Peter didn’t say anything. She looked back at Josh. The gun barrel lowered to point at the ground.

  “Follow me,” she said and turned away.

  Josh looked at Peter who shrugged and started walking. They followed her into the desert.

  They’d been walking for twenty minutes when the first cramp hit Peter. He doubled over soundlessly, dropping to one knee. Pain contorted his face. Josh rushed over to support him.

  “Hey, help,” he shouted at the woman.

  She stopped and turned, hesitating before she moved toward them. She stopped five paces away, out of Josh’s reach.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “It hurts,” Peter panted out the words.

  “Have you eaten today?”

  “We haven’t had time to stop for brunch,” Josh snapped.

  “Not eating makes it happen faster,” she said. She pulled something out of a pocket and tossed it to Josh. “Feed him that.”

  Josh unwrapped it. It was some kind of prefabricated food bar. He handed it to Peter. Peter took a bite, chewing with great distaste. He swallowed elaborately. Josh jostled him to take another bite. Peter swallowed again, tried to open his mouth, then pushed Josh away. He staggered a few steps, then dropped to his knees, vomiting into the dust. Josh ran forward to hold his head.

  The woman watched without expression. Her eyes were cold when Josh looked up at her.

  “Are you going to just stand there?” he said.

  Peter stopped heaving and climbed to his feet, wiping his mouth. “I’m okay,” he whispered. He stood, swaying.

  Josh clenched his fists. Rage surged inside him, masking the wailing grief. He wanted to smash something, preferably the bastard vampire who’d done this but he’d settle for the smug little bitch in front of him. He took a step forward.

  The gun barrel sprang up. “I didn
’t bite your brother,” she snapped, “but I might be able to keep him alive if you stop acting like an asshole.”

  He stopped. His heart pounded and his mouth went dry. Fear chilled his spine. He was afraid to hope.

  “How can you help me?” Peter asked weakly. “I’ve only got two and a half days.”

  “I need twelve hours,” she said. “It might be enough. Come on.”

  She led them down into the ground.

  * * * *

  Her name was Lucy Cerkasins and she had lived in the underground laboratory for close to ten years.

  From the distance, the entry to the lab was undetectable. Only a small shrub distinguished it from any other patch of ground. Climbing down the ladder felt like a descending into the depths of the earth. Peter couldn’t see anything beneath his feet and once the lid swung shut, he felt swallowed by the darkness.

  The sudden blindness after the brightness of outside made him hesitate, but Josh was climbing down almost on top of him. He had to keep moving. Sweat trickled down his sides, not only from the exertion. Odd, he normally didn’t mind darkness. Of course, this was anything but normal, and he only had a few days left before darkness would be all he had.

  Stop it, he thought. That isn’t helping.

  By the time his feet hit bottom, his eyes had adjusted to the gloom. Now he could see the worn steel walls, the banks of light marking the hallway to his left leading farther into the complex. Only every few lights burned brightly, most appeared to be burned out or glowed at less than full capacity. Even the air smelled old and worn.

  As Josh landed beside him, blinking as he too was trying to adjust to the lack of light, Lucy headed down the hall. “Follow me.”

  They followed, stepping in and out of pools of light. Doors leading off the hallway were shut. Finally she stopped beside one of the doors and pressed her palm to an old reader beside the door. With a whine, the door slid open, jamming part way, then wrenching the rest of the way open.

  The lab they stepped into was old but well maintained. Every surface sparkled. All the lights worked here. Obviously this was where she spent her energy. The equipment along the right wall was organized, petri dishes and vials in neat, perfect rows.

  Lucy shrugged out of the jacket and hung it on a hook by the door. She lifted a white lab coat off another hook and slipped into it. The turban came off next, revealing a head of wild brown curls that cascaded down her back. She pulled an elastic from her pocket and in a moment had the hair back in a neat bun.

  “My father was one of the original researchers,” she said. She stepped toward the equipment table and pulled on a pair of latex gloves. “He never thought much about consequences. When the mutation started, he couldn’t talk of anything else. He started work on a serum but only managed to last two years before he couldn’t take it anymore. Remove your shoes and sit up here, please.” She motioned Peter toward the nearest gurney.

  He kicked off his worn boots and padded over to the gurney. Odd, his arms ached as he pulled himself up. It had to be just stress, he thought, tightening his muscles. Sure.

  “Where were you bitten?” she asked. He pulled his shirt off and raised his arm. Gently, her fingers probed the flesh of his armpit. He winced as she touched the scabs. She lowered his arm. “They didn’t want you to find it so quickly.” She frowned. “I need to take some blood.”

  He nodded. She turned away to get a syringe.

  “You said your father lasted two years. What happened to him?”

  She swabbed his arm and tapped for a vein. “He killed himself.”

  Peter glanced over at Josh who sat in a corner on a stool. His older brother stared back. His arms were crossed and his expression tense. Peter knew that look; Josh didn’t trust Lucy.

  “Why didn’t you go to one of the cities?” Peter asked.

  She finished drawing blood and had him press on the puncture mark. She took the vial of blood and set it in the centrifuge. As she pressed the button, the machine began to whirl.

  “I want you to go and find the rest of your squad,” she said to Josh. “Bring them here.”

  “Why?” he asked.

  “By nightfall, the vampire who bit your brother is going to be looking for him. The vampires don’t know I’m here, but they will now. The telepathic link will be in place and they’ll track him like hounds. I don’t have any protection. We’ll need your squad.”

  “We could go to one of the cities,” Josh said.

  “There’s no time. There’s only four hours of daylight left and my supplies are here. You have to go now.”

  Josh stood up from the stool and took a step toward Peter. Uncertainty crossed his face making him look younger.

  “I’m all right,” Peter said. “Go get Rick and the others. We’ll need them.”

  Josh hesitated. Peter saw the war between his emotions in the lines around his eyes. No one else would see it in the bland expression on his brother’s face, but Peter knew him too well. Josh took a breath, then turned and left. His footsteps echoed down the metallic corridor as he headed for the ladder to the surface.

  Peter looked back at Lucy. “Why did you want him gone?”

  Her voice softened. “He’s your brother, he shouldn’t have to watch.” She held up a syringe filled with ten CCs of a reddish liquid. “You need this once an hour for twelve hours. If you miss even one shot, you turn permanently. What it does is forces the vampire virus to develop prematurely in your system. You pass through the turning stages ever faster until the virus literally burns itself out. In the end, it dissipates and you’re cured. But the antibodies are always in your system.”

  “How do you know that?” he asked.

  Her smile was worn. “I know because I was bitten. By my father. Just before he killed himself.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  “A blow out,” Raj said. He straightened from looking at the tire and brushed sand from his dark pants. “No accident.”

  Rick shielded his eyes and looked off into the desert. “Might be a trace of footprints off that way.” He pointed toward the hills in the distance.

  “Should we call Scourge of Heaven?” Sister Theresa said. “It’s three hours to dusk and we’re five hours from home.”

  “We could call for evac,” Sami said. “I hear San Alero has a working chopper. Be here in just over an hour.”

  “How’s the supplies?” Rick asked.

  “Five hundred for the Uzi and the AK, three full canisters and flame throwers with two spares. One dozen flares. One Kaminski barrier field. Two daylight spots with enough juice for four hours a piece and fifty stakes,” Raj recited. He tapped the inventory off on his long, brown fingers. With his darkish skin and black eyes, he could almost double for Sami’s brother.

  “We stay,” Rick said. “Set up the beacon and start recording.”

  “What about the Scourge?” Sister Theresa asked.

  “Put them on standby.”

  “But...”

  “Standby.”

  She hesitated then bowed her head. The Night Killers took care of their own.

  “Rick!”

  He turned at the distant sound. A figure waved its arms. He squinted. Josh. Godammit.

  “Bring the gear,” he shouted to the others and set off at a run.

  His boots kicked up clouds of dust as he ran. Josh was hurrying toward him. Alone. An ache started in Rick’s stomach. Had Josh dealt with Peter? They would have to make sure. The thought turned the ache in his stomach to acid.

  “Rick...”

  “Where’s Peter, Josh?”

  “He’s safe.” Josh gulped in air, pushed sweaty blond hair off his high forehead. “I found a woman who’s got the cure. She’s giving it to Peter but she needs protection. She doesn’t have any defenses and the vampires will be coming for Peter tonight.”

  Rick’s expression hardened. “There’s no cure, Josh. You know that.”

  “Who’s this woman?” Sami asked. She had an AK and an Uzi slung over her sho
ulders and carried a crate of ammunition in each hand. Her biceps bulged.

  “Her name’s Lucy Cerkasins,” Josh said. “Claims her father was one of the original researchers.”

  Sami’s eyes widened. “He was. Loren Cerkasins was one of the driving forces behind the immortality serum. He disappeared after the mutation broke out. Is he alive?”

  Josh shook his head. “She said he killed himself eight years ago and she’s been working on a cure since then, using his original notes and so on.”

  “This is bullshit,” Rick said.

  Sami shook her head, her braids jangled. “Maybe not. I read some of Dr. Cerkasins’ work when I was an undergraduate in biology. It was brilliant, his initial findings amazing. There was a lot of excitement and optimism about his work.”

  “So what happened? How did we end up with this mess?”

  “Screwing around with that is bad,” Sister Theresa said. “Pisses the big guy off, especially when we don’t know what we’re doing. I read those same papers, Sami. There was a lot of interesting results but there were also a lot of questions raised that the researchers didn’t bother to worry about.”

  Rick turned back to Josh. “So you left Peter with this woman?”

  Josh’s face looked hollow and pale. “She said she could do something in twelve hours. If it doesn’t work, he still won’t have turned. We could still...” He trailed off, his gaze dropping to stare at the dirt.

  “Where is she?” Raj asked.

  “Underground. I’ll show you.”

  * * * *

  When they climbed down the last rung, Lucy was waiting. The lab coat blazed like a beacon in the dull light. Her hands were shoved deep in the pockets, tightened into fists. Escaping from the bun, wisps of brown hair tumbled over her shoulders. She stared at the squad in silence.

  Rick stepped forward. “We’re the Night Killers squad. Where’s Peter?”

  “He’s undergoing treatment. You can see him in twelve hours. I’ll show you the main surveillance room. There are cameras set up in a perimeter around the outer door. Some of them still function, enough to get a general view outside. They’re equipped with night scopes. This way.”