Just as the Night Killers were getting ready to leave, the second squad arrived. Light’s Fury held a full complement of eight members and although not as fully equipped as the Black Shadows, they did bring along a crate of ready stakes. Rick made sure to commandeer enough for the trip.
Then came the more difficult decision; who to leave behind. Reviewing the badges Josh and Marjorane made as well as looking at the potential security set up, Rick realized he couldn’t take everyone with him. The bare minimum of only a couple would be best but unrealistic. He would have to compromise and decide based absolute need. After a few minutes, he knew who would go and who would stay. It just didn’t make it any easier.
He found Marjorane helping the Light’s Fury get settled and gave her quick instructions. As she wasn’t a squad member, she didn’t seem at all surprised to be left at the lab. Next he called together the remaining members of the Night Killers into the cafeteria.
As the door slid closed behind the Sister, Rick noticed that Peter hadn’t come. It was his final break from the squad. Rick understood. He sat down at the table with Josh, Sami and the Sister. Just four, like the Black Shadows. He wondered if they’d lost crew the way he had.
“I can’t take you all with me,” he said. “I’d like to, to keep us all together but it isn’t feasible with the security situation we’ll be facing when we hit the city and try to get into the council meeting.”
Impassive expressions greet him, waiting for orders. They were pros, all of them. He’d never been prouder to be one of them.
“Josh, Sami, I’m leaving you in joint control over the lab security. Do whatever you have to to keep it safe. Marjorane is acting as liaison with the other squads; I don’t think you’ll have any problem. I think you know how important it is to keep this place, Lucy’s cure and those kids safe.”
Josh’s big hands balled into fists on the table. “What about Peter?”
“Peter, Lucy and Trina will be coming with us,” Rick said. “And by us, I mean me, Sister Theresa and General Mitchell.”
Josh’s head shook from side to side. “I’m going. Peter’s my brother.”
Rick took a breath. “Are you telling me you’re disobeying a direct order?”
Josh pushed back in his chair. “What? No!”
“Your order is to stay here and coordinate the lab defense. How is the statement ‘I’m going’ not disobeying a direct order?”
“Rick, please. He’s my brother.”
“Yes but I need the Sister’s biological expertise more. Do you think it’s going to be easy getting into the city with three infected? I’m not taking anyone else.”
Josh’s shoulders slumped. His hands loosened but the tips pressed against the faded wood grain until the skin blanched white. “Please, Rick.”
Rick shook his head and finally Josh looked away. His entire body appeared to sag in the chair.
“We leave in half an hour,” Rick said. “Let’s get packed up.”
The Sister nodded and pulled herself up to head to the door. Josh stood a moment later and shuffled after her. Sami remained seated, her expression flat.
As the door closed behind Josh, Rick reached over to touch her hand.
“Only half an hour?” she said.
“We have to get as far as we can before nightfall,” he said.
She nodded.
“Aren’t you going to ask why you have to stay?” he said.
A faint smile touched her pale lips. “You said you can’t take everyone.”
“If I could take you...”
Her fingers gripped his hand and squeezed. “I know. Just make sure you come back okay. You’ve got a wedding to attend.”
He squeezed her hand right back.
They ended up taking the Light’s Fury van. The sun was just starting to dip down as they stood outside in the desert air to say goodbye. Dry wind ruffled Rick’s hair, made the ends of Lucy’s turban snap and tugged at the Sister’s grey bun. Peter’s long hair, pulled back in pony tail waved like a curtain. Only Mitchell, shielding his eyes with his hand, appeared untouched by the wind.
“Set up the perimeter to cover all exits,” Rick said to Josh and Sami. “Elliott knows this lab as well as Lucy. We have to assume he’s told the vampires all the ways to get in.”
“We’ll take care of it,” Sami said. She gestured to two of the Black Shadows members who were assembling a Kaminski shield nearby.
“You watch your back,” Josh said. The edge in his voice came out almost like a warning.
“I will,” Rick said, knowing how much he was promising.
With one final nod to Josh, he gripped Sami’s hand in farewell. He wished he had a few hours to say goodbye to her, not a rushed half hour surrounded by other people. It wasn’t even appropriate for him to kiss her goodbye. Professionalism and all. Oh fuck it.
He pulled her hand toward him, drawing her closer. Her lips opened in surprise at the kiss. The scent of her filled his nostrils. He felt the heat of her body against him as her hands gripped his jacket. He wanted to sink into that kiss but after a moment knew he had to pull away.
The muscles along her jaw quivered as she clenched her mouth shut. For a moment, her hands continue to hold onto his jacket and then she released him as they both took a step back. He could think of nothing to say that wouldn’t sound stupid or trite. His fingers brushed the back of her caramel hand. He turned and walked to the Light’s Fury van. The others followed.
The Sister settled into the driver’s seat to take the first round. Rick rode shotgun. As she started the engine, he looked out the window. Josh stood with his fists bunched in his pockets. Sami stood ramrod straight and even from the distance, he could see the glint of tears in her eyes. He pressed his hand against the window. She lifted her hand in return. The van sped off.
Behind him, he could hear Peter murmuring to Trina. The girl had dashed into the back of the van as soon as they’d come above ground. Rick had the impression she didn’t like the sunlight much and that concerned him. Were these children going to turn into full vampires? No one could answer that to his satisfaction, not even Lucy. But he wasn’t sure how much he trusted Lucy’s judgment. At best she was a little unstable and at worst? He didn’t want to think that she might somehow be in collusion with her brother and was fooling all of them.
“How far, Sister?” he asked.
“Five, six hours total, depending on if the highway patrol stops us,” the Sister said. “That still gives us several hours driving in darkness, I’m afraid.”
Rick sighed. “I’m afraid too, Sister.”
The hours passed faster than he would have liked, especially as he watched the sky turn from blue, to the fire of sunset and finally to the twilight of approaching night. He checked and rechecked his gun, made sure all the others in back had loaded weapons, except for Trina. The girl huddled in a corner, hugging her knees to her chest. She looked nervous as she hunched her shoulders, gazing across at Mitchell who had wedged himself into a corner seat. A 9 mm pistol hung loose from his fingers. His hand seemed to sag under the weight of it. How long had it been since Mitchell had seen any real combat, Rick wondered. He was sure getting a belly full. It was too bad some of the council members couldn’t get the same experience. They might have a better understanding of exactly what was going on out here.
“Dusk,” the Sister said.
Rick faced the front. He heard Peter stir and move to one of the side peep holes.
Long shadows darkened across the road as if blown across like the sand. The sun had already disappeared behind the mountains in the distance, but still sprayed light across the sky as if attempting to give them just a little more time. He wished that were the case. A few more hours of light… but it wasn’t to be. Even as he watched the road darkened by the minute until the Sister switched on the high beams.
“Give us a little more speed,” Rick said. He lifted the gun from his lap and steadied it.
The Sister gave a grunt. The van mov
ed faster.
He tried to watch everywhere at once. Every darkening shadow contained hordes of vampires waiting to pounce, or so he imagine. But nothing interrupted them. He turned to the back of the van.
“Peter, can you sense anything?”
The young man opened his eyes and shook his head. “There’s nothing. It’s quiet.”
Rick frowned.
“They aren’t bothering with us.” The Sister’s voice hissed in a low whisper.
Her words spun Rick back to facing the windshield. He tightened his grip on the gun until his fingers cramped. He didn’t want to think about where those vampires were headed.
* * * *
“I want another test of that generator,” Sami said. “See if you can cut down the cut out time to three seconds.”
The navigator from the Black Shadows, a tall, slim man nicknamed Nickels, shook his head at her.
“That’s below the specs for this unit. The programming won’t take.”
“It will,” Sami said. “You just have to know how to massage it.”
At his blank look, she sighed and triggered her throat mike. “Josh, I need you up here to reprogram the generator.”
“Be there in ten.” His voice sounded tinny in her ear.
“Make it five,” she said and cut contact without waiting for a reply. She stood up from the generator, brushing sand from her pants. “Let’s check on the positioning of those Kaminski shields.”
Nickels nodded and followed her with long, lazy strides. His head seemed to bob on his thin neck and she wondered if his neck would snap, letting his head roll to the ground like a marble. From the wrinkling in his forehead and his thinning hair, she thought he had to be at least thirty-five so the whole head snapping off thing probably wouldn’t happen after all.
God, she was punchy. As the last rays of the sun sprayed across the sky, she could feel the tension inside her racket up and up until it was all she could do not to smack someone. So far she’d managed to avoid it, maintaining professional decorum around the Black Shadows and Light’s Fury squads as they rushed to set up the perimeter around the lab. The frenzy of activity should fill her mind, crowding out every other thought but she still managed a few thoughts of worry in the back of her mind, like her Gran’s stew, simmering on the back burner. Just don’t let them be scalded like the few times Gran had forgotten about the stew, don’t let Rick and the others be taken down by the vampires. Let him come back to her.
Nickels led her through the check of each of the four Kaminski shields. By the third one, Josh had crawled out of the hatch and bent over the generator. His big fingers sped over the programming keypad until a loud squeal beep sounded, then cut off abruptly.
“Well?” Sami said.
“We’re good.” He stood up, his knees popping. He groaned and pressed his hands to the small of his back. “I set it for a two second cycle. Anything less will burn it out for good and could take the lab power with it. Man, I could use a chiropractor.”
“We get out of this and I’ll personally walk on your back,” Sami said.
“No offense, Sami, but I can think of someone better for the job.”
She grinned. “I bet you can.”
He grinned back. Then the smile vanished. “Down!”
Without thinking, Sami launched herself to the ground. Josh dove for the generator. Nickels screamed. Sami felt hands grab her arms. A crackle sounded as the Kaminski shields snapped into place. The stench of roasting flesh clogged her nostrils. She let herself be pulled up. As she gained her feet, her hand dropped to her waist, grabbing the stake at her belt. Left foot forward, she lunged backward, knocking the person holding her off balance. Hands tried to hold onto her arms but loosened as she twisted away. She brought the stake up as she spun. Even as it slammed home, she could see the vampire was burning in the fading rays of the sun. Smoke rose in wisps from its face and neck. It fell back with a thud.
Josh had already dispatched the one attacking Nickels but the man was in a bad way. He lay on the ground, blood gushing from his torn throat as he tried to hold it together with his hands.
“I called for help,” Josh said. “Lie still.” He pressed his big hands over Nickels’s slimmer fingers but still blood pumped out, staining the sand.
Suicidal, Sami thought. Attacking while it was still light out, the vampires had to be desperate. Probably as desperate as us, she imagined. And it wouldn’t be just to take a couple of them out. Something else was going down.
She spun and ran for the trapdoor.
“Sami!” Josh called after her but she ignored him. She was halfway down the ladder when it struck her, still no response to Josh’s call for help. Something was going on. Dammit!
She hit the ground in a crouch and pulled her pistol. Nothing in the hall when someone should have been rushing to help Nickels. They’d been too busy making sure the front was secure when someone was sneaking in through the back. Decision time.
She triggered her throat mike and subvocalized: “Josh, we’ve got a breach. Come down.”
He might refuse her but she’d seen the injury to Nickels’s neck. Without immediate treatment he was a dead man. He’d probably already bled out fifty percent or more by now.
Josh’s voice rumbled in her ear. “Fuck. I’m coming.”
A moment later, the trapdoor cracked open and he slipped down. One look at his grim face told her Nickels was already gone. She nodded down the direction of the main hall.
“No sign of anyone,” she said.
“Fuck,” he said again. “We secured all the entrances. How could they get in?”
“We secured all we could find on the grid,” she said. “Obviously there’s something unmarked, maybe some way Elliott created before he left.”
“Do you think Lucy knew?”
She shrugged. “We have to find out what’s happening.”
Josh hoisted his shotgun. “Let’s go.”
They scurried down the hall. Sami’s boots tapped on the floor. Farther ahead, lights flickered in the hall. She sucked in a breath. Had they reached the main power? She did not want to be stuck in the dark.
Josh must have had the same thought. He pulled out a head light and tossed it to her, then pulled out another for himself. She followed his lead and stuck it to her forehead, feeling the tickle of the adhesive against her skin.
They checked each room as they passed. Empty. A quick look was enough to prove it. Josh sealed and locked each door. No chance for anyone to get the drop on them from there.
At the main junction they stopped. One way led to the lab with the samples taken from Elliott’s lab and the serum, notes and formula for Lucy’s cure. The other way led to the infected children. Where to go? Sami felt Josh’s gaze on her, as if it was her decision alone to make. Dammit, why hadn’t they discussed this possibility before Rick left? No time, as usual in squad life, no time for policy discussions, risk analysis, performance projections, only time for to decide and do. Nothing else.
She had to decide.
“We go for the kids,” she said. Josh nodded, no hesitation even though she knew he didn’t much like them.
He turned right. “Let’s go.”
They moved. As expected, halfway there the power went down. Darkness flooded the corridor. Josh switched on his light. As Sami moved to switch on hers, he touched her arm.
“Conserve.”
She grunted an acknowledgment. His one light also made him a bigger target. She knew he’d thought of that.
They crept forward. The grey walls, dull and discolored in the light, looked dark and confining. Not a lot of space for fighting. She stuffed the pistol back in its holster and pulled out another stake.
The sound of breaking glass shattered the silence ahead of them. Josh froze. Sami drew up beside him. He switched off the light, plunging them into complete darkness. Sami closed her eyes. It felt more controllable with her eyes closed. Like she was the one choosing darkness. She tried to listen but all she could he
ar was the pounding of her heart.
She opened her mouth to speak. More breaking glass sounded. Then a snarl. Deep, primal. Adult. Still some distance away.
But close enough that any light would draw attention.
She felt Josh’s body beside her and grabbed his arm. Her hand traveled to his palm and she signaled in code they should move forward. Without the light. He took her hand and coded agreement into her palm. He kept hold of her hand as he stepped forward. She moved with him.
The snarl sounded again, higher in pitch, almost a whine. Sami reached out toward the wall but couldn’t touch it. Too far. Josh was probably using his hand along the wall on his side to guide them. She would have to trust him. The idea terrified her but turning on the light to draw the vampires annoyed her more. She wouldn’t give those bastards the satisfaction of attacking on their own terms. This time she was coming to them.
The snarl-whine sounded a third time, growing in volume. She and Josh weren’t moving that fast, she thought. Then the whine turned to a shriek and cut off with a gurgle.
Something had stopped that vampire. Sami clenched Josh’s hand. He stopped walking forcing her to stop as well.
In the silence after the shriek, she heard it. The sound of metal scrapping, a door being forced open.
Maybe they didn’t need to go to the children, she realized. Maybe the children were coming for them.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
They reached the edge of the city after three hours of driving in the dark and no attacks. Rick felt practically crazed with anxiety. No vampires had attacked, not a one but he couldn’t help the feeling they were just waiting. The moment his people stepped out of the van, they would be jumped.
A preposterous notion he knew as they pulled up to one of the side gates to the city. Although security would be tightened everywhere, Mitchell had been confident they’d have a better chance at one of the smaller entrances. Rick straightened the badge clipped to his shirt. He noticed Peter doing the same. The young man glanced up and gave him a slight nod. They were as ready as they’d ever be.
The Night Killers Page 35
