He pushed harder on the accelerator but it was already to the floor. The desert whipped by outside. They’d left the last vestiges of the city behind ten minutes ago. He could only hope that they’d left the majority of vampires behind as well. But if one caught sight of them the information might spread. He wasn’t exactly sure how they did it but it was definitely some kind of psychic ability.
The sun disappeared behind the outline of mountains in the distance. Only minutes now. Besides him, Marjorane checked her rifle again for the fifth time.
“Getting anything?” he said just to hear something.
“Not yet. I bet it will be soon though.”
He grunted. “No bet.”
As the sky darkened, he flicked on the truck lights. The asphalt looked even paler. Cracks darkened the surface, widening into large potholes that the truck bounced over. For ten years this road had lasted without repairs but every year it got more worn, more damaged. Would it last another ten years? What would they do when it became impassable and had to be repaired? Even if they drove equipment out and left it overnight, the vampires would destroy it. Rick had seen it before. Somewhere in their brains they knew it was important and had to ruin it.
Something had to give. The stalemate had gone on too long. Locking themselves into domes and hoping the vampires would die out hadn’t worked. They needed to reclaim the outside.
But the way the Councils were going, they’d never consider it. He hoped that fabric dot would do something about it. He hoped he’d survive to see it.
“There’s something.” Marjorane’s voice sounded stilted. Her fingers loosened on the rifle. It slipped onto her lap.
Rick scanned outside through the windshield and then checked the rear view mirrors. Nothing so far. He risked a fast glance at her. He recognized the distracted look; Peter had gotten that way whenever he was sensing vampires. Obviously Marjorane could do that much.
“Check the windows and the locks,” Rick said. As Marjorane shook herself out of her stupor and checked beside her, Rick made sure everything was secure on his side.
“All locked,” Marjorane said. She picked up the rifle from her lap. “Why is the truck so loud?”
They hit another pothole that jarred the truck.
“We probably knocked the muffler loose on one of these holes,” Rick said. But even as he said it something seemed wrong. The engine sound started to vibrate on two different tones. Engines didn’t do that.
Correction: single engines didn’t do that.
Rick looked in the rear view mirror.
Behind them a rusted red truck came up fast. The windows were blacked out. Rick gripped the steering wheel tight. Fuck, vampires!
“Open the window,” he said. “You have to take out the tires.”
“Tires?” She looked behind them. In the dying light, her face paled. “Shit.” She rolled down the window.
As she leaned out, Rick held the truck on a steady course. Straining he tried to see as far ahead as possible and steer smoothly, gliding the truck in gentle moves around the worst of the potholes. Marjorane aimed the rifle and fired.
Rick watched in the rear view mirror as the passenger’s side mirror on the truck behind them shattered.
“Good shot,” he said. “Just lower.”
As she aimed, Rick noticed a gun hanging out of the driver’s side window. Over the noise of the engines he heard a brief pop. Ahead a puff of dust rose up from the road. Dammit, the vampires were trying to shoot out their tires!
“Hurry Marjorane!”
He concentrated on the road, his gaze flicking up to the rear view mirror and back to the road. He almost felt Marjorane lean farther out. Another louder pop sounded.
The front passenger’s wheel on the red truck exploded. Steel screeched on the road as the truck swerved. The engine wailed and Rick thought he heard voices shrieking in anger. Despite the driver’s best efforts, the truck skidded off the road. Wheels spun in the sand, sending up clouds of dust. The truck shuddered to a stop. Rick watched it shrink in the rear view mirror.
Marjorane sat back in her seat and rolled the window back up.
“Good shooting,” he said.
“Thanks,” she said. “How the hell did vampires get a truck?”
Rick shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“They shouldn’t be able to drive,” she said. “Their higher brain functions…” She trailed off.
“Right, their higher brain functions have been disrupted by the virus. They shouldn’t be able to drive nor should they be able to coordinate attacks that draw out victims. I’d say the game is changing.”
“But the truck…”
“There’s lots of equipment out here,” Rick said. “If they start to learn to use it, the domes could be in even bigger trouble.”
“I think you mean when, captain.”
“Right. You and I have something very interesting to report. Let’s make sure we get there in one piece to do it.”
Marjorane reloaded her rifle and snapped it shut. “Yes sir.”
Over the next few hours Marjorane had to reload several times as single and multiple vampires came racing out of the darkness in front of them. Rick managed to dodge several and hit a few others dead on. One grabbed hold of the handle on Rick’s door, starting to drag himself up to the window. Rick rolled the window down, pointed his pistol at the hand and pulled the trigger. The bang made his ears ring. The vampire shrieked as it fell away, leaving the remains of his hand clamped around the handle.
Rick rolled the window back up and clutched the steering wheel.
Beside him, Marjorane’s fingers blanched white around the rifle. Howls floated in from the surrounding darkness. It didn’t matter that the vampires couldn’t catch them, the sound of them tightened the muscles along Rick’s shoulders. His foot cramped from pressing down on the accelerator but he didn’t care. Every ounce of him screamed to get inside, it was after dark, the vampires were out there. His squad instinct was too well developed to fight.
For Sami, he kept telling himself. She was out here somewhere and he had to help her. The Night Killers took care of their own. The thought settled his mind a little. He could do this, he could make it to the city.
About twenty minutes later he spotted the outskirts of the decaying city surrounding the dome.
“Keep watch,” he said. “We’re almost there. Any vampires here are going to make a big push to get us.”
“Right,” Marjorane said.
They both scanned the decrepit buildings that whipped by. Rick could barely register them in the lights from the truck before they were gone. In the heavy curtain of darkness ahead he knew the dome rose up, as inky black as the night around it. The internal shield, millimeters thick, would be blackened to keep any light from exposing the position of the dome. It did seem to stop the vampires from congregating around the domes but they always knew where the domes were. They never forgot, like some of the experts expected.
With any other city, Rick would have to keep an eye out to make sure he didn’t smash right into it. But this was his city. He knew all angles of approach. Even the glimpses of the ruined buildings outside his window looked familiar. A second or two more and he’d know his exact position in relation to the dome.
“How long?” Marjorane said.
“Twenty minutes. Thirty, tops.”
She grunted. Her hands didn’t relax on the rifle. Through her window, he glanced the flat roof of a strip mall, set close to the road. Something fluttered in the air.
A thump sounded on the roof.
“What the…” Marjorane said. The window beside her shattered as a vampire drove its fist through the glass. Claws clutched at her shoulder. Marjorane threw herself into Rick. He clutched the wheel as the truck swerved. The lights flashed onto the buildings and Rick saw other vampires perched like demented vultures on top of ruined roofs. As the truck passed, another leapt, sailing through the air, shirt billowing like a flying squirrel. It landed on
the front of the truck. Hands scrapped at the paint but couldn’t find purchase. The vampire slid down in front of the grill. The truck bucked as Rick drove over the vampire.
Marjorane aimed and fired at the hand still trying to grab her through the window. The shot went wide. The hand whipped up. Noise sounded above them as the vampire scrambled around.
“Get him,” Rick said. “You’ve got to…”
The vampire punched at the windshield. The glass cracked but didn’t break. The vampire reared up to strike again.
Rick hit the brakes. Marjorane flew forward, managing to shield her head with her hands. Rick seat belt bit into his waist. The vampire sailed forward onto the road. Rick hit the accelerator. The truck bucked again as he drove over the creature.
Vampires swarmed out of the buildings, racing at the truck. Rick hunched over the wheel as if he could will the truck to top speed again. Even that brief braking had cost them speed. Had he screwed up? Could there have been another way?
Marjorane shot out her window, catching one vampire and knocking it into another. Blood from a cut on her forehead smeared across her face.
“You okay?” Rick said.
“Peachy,” she said. “Get us to the dome.”
“Working on it.”
As she reloaded, he tried to swerve around the vampires. They clawed at the truck. Rick knocked others down. The engine whined as the truck drove over the bodies, every one of them dragging at the truck, slowing it down by fractions of a second, allowing more vampires to swarm.
Marjorane fired out the window, reloaded and fired again. The stench of gunpowder burned Rick’s nostrils. Still the vampires chased them, flooding the road before them, slowing them down. Slowing them down.
Rick felt a tickle in his ear than a voice. “Rick, you there?”
The Sister on his ear bud.
“We’re having a bit of trouble, Sister,” he subvocalized.
“On my way. Hang in there.”
A vampire leapt and landed by his window. Clinging to the doorframe, it grinned through the glass at him. Rick thought he saw bits of flesh in its teeth. It reared its head back and aimed.
“Lean back,” Marjorane shouted.
Rick leaned back in his seat. Marjorane fired. The window shattered. The vampire’s head fractured. It fell off the doorframe, spraying blood. As they passed, Rick saw a group of vampires fall on the corpse, ripping into it.
Still the vampires came on but in the distance Rick could see the thicker blackness of the dome. So close and yet impossible. Even as the houses fell away to the desert between them and the dome, there were too many vampires.
“I’m running low,” Marjorane said. She snapped the rifle shut and fired again, hitting a vampire hanging on to the front fender and sending it spinning off into the night.
Rick opened his mouth to reply but the sound of an engine stopped him. Something powerful was coming at speed from the direction of the dome.
Sister, I love you, he thought at the sight of a dark grey squad van roaring out of the darkness. He recognized the colors; the Scourge of Heaven. On top of the truck, encased in an iron cage, Ted Whethers aimed a hose attached to the large canisters on the sides. The cage swiveled to the right and fire blazed out of the hose, flashing out to sweep across a group of vampires.
Shrieks joined the blare of the engines. As the cage turned again, spreading the fire in a circular motion, the vampires scattered, snarling and howling their outrage. The van banked in a large turn and drew up beside the truck. Rick saw the Sister at the wheel. She nodded and saluted to him.
“We’ll stop up ahead and you can join us,” her voice said in his ear bud.
He tapped his throat mike. “Why not just head into the dome?”
“We’ll discuss that. Brake in five, four, three…”
She counted down and Rick hit the brakes. Marjorane clenched the rifle in one hand, her other hand grabbing her door handle. As the truck and van stopped together, the van door swung open. Mitchell stood inside. Rick threw open the door and jumped out. Marjorane clamored out her door and raced around the front of the truck. Above them, the cage swivelled and fire swept the area. Rick grabbed Marjorane’s arm as she got close and both he and Mitchell helped her into the van. Rick lifted his foot to step up.
A hand lunged from under the truck. Claws sunk into his calf. Pain shot through his leg. He fell forward, grabbing the edge of the van door. Mitchell jumped out, brandishing a stake as the vampire emerged from under the truck. It had been a female, but grease from the truck coated it where friction and heat hadn’t burned off clothing and skin. It hissed at Mitchell as it crouched, still clutching Rick’s leg.
The pain burned agony in his skin. Rick couldn’t twist to force her to release him or even to kick her. Mitchell stood frozen clutching the stake.
“Stab her!” Ted yelled from the roof. He didn’t turn the fire hose nozzle toward them. He had to keep the other vampires at bay even if he did have a clear shot, Rick knew. And there was no clear shot.
Marjorane appeared in the doorway. She lifted her rifle. Mitchell moved.
Rick shouted, “No!”
The vampire dove to the side, ripping her claws from Rick’s leg. Blood sprayed in an arch. For Rick, everything slowed. The vampire seemed to float in the air as Mitchell lunged toward her. The blast from Marjorane’s rifle echoed. The slug hit the driver’s side door, bowing metal inward. The van engine roared as the Sister revved it. He heard the mingle of voices: Ted, Marjorane, the Sister, Mitchell, even the vampire shrieking but he couldn’t discern any words.
The only thing he noticed was pain.
After a time he realized he could feel a steady vibration and almost rocking motion. Why couldn’t he see anything? Right, his eyes were closed. He opened them and everything was blurry.
“He’s opened his eyes.” A woman’s voice. Sami? No, it couldn’t be her.
A familiar shape flowed into his field of vision and coalesced into the Sister. She touched his forehead and his wrist, checking his pulse.
“Do I still have one?” he said.
“For now,” she said. “That was a heck of a slice on your leg, Rick. You passed out from blood loss. I’ve applied an insta-bandage and accelerated your blood production. You’ll need to rest for an hour or so while you speed heal.”
“The vampire?”
“Mitchell got it. Not bad for a first, or for a desk jockey.” She smiled over her shoulder.
Rick focused to see Mitchell standing in the background wiping blood from his hands and forearms.
“Damn, she could scratch,” he said. “I didn’t realize how close they got.”
“Up close and personal,” the Sister said. “We don’t study close quarters combat for fun.”
“I realize that,” Mitchell said. “It’s just...”
“Different to see it in the field.” The Sister nodded. “We know.”
She reached around Rick and helped him up onto a bench along the side of the van. The door near the front slid back and Ted Whethers stepped inside. He nodded to Mitchell and came right to Rick. They clasped hands.
“Thanks,” Rick said. “You’re a sight for sore eyes.”
Ted grinned. “I told you the fire cannon is the way to go. But no, you don’t want your radius limited.”
“Too damn heavy,” Rick said. “They get up on the roof and you’ve got another hatch they can infiltrate.”
They both laughed. It was an old argument and for a moment Rick remembered all the times they’d sat in the Vampire’s Tooth, raging on about the best modifications, the best methods for hunting. A wave of longing crashed over him and his laughter stopped.
Ted’s stopped as well and he looked subdued.
“So, tell me why I’m not in the dome, sitting in a hospital bed with a lovely nurse tending me,” Rick said. “And who’s driving this bus?”
Both the Sister and Ted looked at Mitchell.
“Marjorane Wilson is driving,” Mitchel
l said. “She claimed to need something to do. As to why we aren’t heading back into the dome...” He paused and frowned. Lines creased his face in places that Rick hadn’t seen before. “The Council declared Martial Law. They officially disbanded the USC and placed the squads under direct Council control. It appears our little charade didn’t fool them.”
“What about the other cities? Have they made the same jump?” Rick said.
“Not as far as I can tell.” Mitchell dabbed as a still bleeding cut on his arm. “I suspect they’re adopting a wait and see policy, see if there’s any trouble, any uprisings.”
“They were arresting squad members,” Ted said. “Those of us they forced to resign. I had to leave Jeremy behind.”
“We need a place to regroup and formulate an idea of how to respond,” Mitchell said. “Some place we’ll be safe from the vampires while we decide.”
Rick looked at the Sister. She gave him the barest of nods.
“General, I think I know just the place.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Even in the dark, Peter found he could follow Lucy’s trail with ease. His psychic power seemed to be growing and each new level gave him headaches and agony until he settled into some kind of equilibrium. Then it felt as though the power rested, gathering strength before taking him to another level of awareness, of pain.
For instance, he could almost smell Sami’s sorrow. It was a sickly scent that dripped from her as she sat at the wheel, pretending to be all business. And what could he say to convey that he understood her feelings when he didn’t understand how he knew? Better to say nothing at all.
“Are you sure this is the way?” she said.
“Yes. Keep straight.”
The wind outside had picked up, racing across the surface of the desert and obliterating any traces. Lucy’s tire tracks were gone but Peter could almost see them glowing in the drifting sand. A vibration quivered through his body when they were going in the right direction, as if something pulled him toward Lucy. If Sami deviated a little, he felt it in the change of vibration and guided her back on track.
The Night Killers Page 26
