The Night Killers

by Senese, Rebecca M.

  “I’m sorry,” Sami said.

  Again he tilted his head. Her skin tightened with the feeling of multiple eyes staring at her. She wanted to spin around to look but she knew it was just from the boy, from his strangeness. But she had to remember part of him was still a boy and try to connect to that humanness. It was the only way to keep him from turning.

  “Do you know what happened to the other people, the other squad members? The ones who just got here today?” she said.

  “Gone,” Marc said.

  “Killed?”

  The boy nodded.

  Sami heard Josh’s low swearing under his breath. She pulled her attention back to the boy.

  “Do you know where the vampires got in?”

  He shook his head. “They are still coming.”

  “More of them?” she said.

  “Yes. They will come here. They’ll smell you.”

  “Secure the door,” she said to Josh. He hurried to lock it. A minor inconvenience for the vampires, Sami knew, but she’d take any delay she could muster.

  Josh returned to her side. Grabbing her arm, he turned her away from the boy.

  “What are we going to do?” He pitched his voice low but she had no illusions that the children couldn’t hear him.

  “It’s after dark,” Josh said. “We can’t run for it.”

  “And we can’t stay here,” she said. “We can’t mount an adequate defense with just two of us. There are too many ways for the vampires to get at us.”

  “Maybe they’re wrong, maybe some of the others made it.”

  Sami heard the desperation in his voice, recognized that he was thinking of Marjorane. “I don’t think he’s wrong, Josh.”

  His hand tightened in a spasm, squeezing her arm. She winced. He dropped his hand and looked away.

  “I’m sorry, Josh.”

  He grunted.

  “We still have to decide what to do,” she said. “We have to decide together.”

  “They’re at the city,” Marc said.

  Sami turned back to him. “Who?”

  “Trina and the others. They are talking.”

  “To who?”

  Marc closed his eyes. His forehead crinkled in concentration. Behind him, the other children hunched their shoulders. Sami saw they all had their eyes closed. Little hands bunched into fists. Sweat trickled down several faces, matting their hair.

  “Bennett.” Marc’s voice pitched higher with strain. “He’s arrested them.”

  Despair washed over Sami. How could they stop Elliott now? If only she’d gone with them... She knew she’d be arrested like the others but something inside thought she could have done something. She was impotent here.

  Do your job, she thought. Whining wasn’t going to help these kids.

  “We make a run for the garage,” she said.

  “We’re making a run for it?” Josh said.

  She nodded. “Better than waiting for them to pick us off.”

  Josh straightened his shoulders. “I agree. Let’s not just wait for the bastards.”

  “They’re breaking loose,” Marc said. His face flushed with excitement. “Peter and the general got through.” The smile faded from his face. “The general...”

  “What about him?” Sami clenched the stake so hard her fingers ached. She tightened her grip more. The pain helped her focus.

  “He’s infected,” Marc said. “He’s going to turn soon.”

  Fear clutched at Sami. The stake fell from her fingers and clattered on the floor. Rick... Please not him too...

  A noise in the hallway caught her attention. Something scratched at the door. Sami turned bleak eyes to Josh.

  ‘We go now,’ he mouthed to her.

  Why bother, she wanted to ask. What was the point? They were coming and they would never stop coming. They were stronger, faster, deadlier. Why bother fighting anymore? She wanted to sleep, to just close her eyes, forget this horrible life and sleep forever. But even that would be denied to her because they’d turn her, a squad member trapped and helpless, useful for strategic value, especially after having to waste so many other useful targets. They’d even deny her the peace of death.

  One of the children whimpered, a soft, quiet sound quickly shushed by another. They huddled against the far wall, clustered together in a group, heads bowed. Just children. Stolen from their lives and injected into a nightmare they would never escape from because now it lived inside them. Could she really just give up on them?

  She gave Josh a quick nod and gestured him toward the children.

  As Josh gathered them together, pulling Marc back, Sami took a fast inventory of the room. Cots lined the walls, some still in place, others knocked over on their sides, spilling bedding onto the floor. Every other cot shared a terminal, spots to connect into the main system. Although most of the power was cut to this floor, the emergency lights for this room still functioned and a quick look told her, the terminals tapped into the same circuit. Maybe, just maybe...

  She grabbed Josh and whispered in his ear. “Can we wire the door?”

  Interest lit in his eyes. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Why not?” He left her with the kids and hurried to the terminal nearest the door.

  “We’re going to the garage,” Sami whispered to the kids. “When we make a run for it, stay together and move fast.”

  All the eyes looking at her felt like just one pair. After a moment, they blinked and every one nodded at the same time. Sami suppressed a shudder. They were kids, just kids.

  Infected kids. Sure, but they didn’t ask to be and she had to help them. She couldn’t just leave them.

  Focus, she thought, she had to keep focused on the task at hand. While Josh worked on the door, she planned their route. Right outside the door, down the hall, another right. Count five doors on the left and take the last one. If she recalled correctly, the garage was five levels below this one. That last left led them down a hall with the elevator on one side and the stairs on the other. Which one would be better? She hated the length of time it would take to hurry down the stairs but odds were the power to the elevators was off as well and being trapped inside wasn’t any better. It would have to be the stairs.

  “Marc, can you tell how many vampires there are?” she said.

  The boy sat slumped across from her. He shook his head. Katey crouched beside him and put her hand on his shoulder.

  “He’s tired,” she said. “I’ll talk to you now.” Around her, the other children nodded.

  “Okay,” Sami said. “Can you tell?”

  Katey frowned. “We don’t see them in numbers. We feel their presence.”

  “Are there different presences?”

  Katey tilted her head. “Different places.”

  Now they were getting somewhere. “How many different places?”

  Murmurs broke around the circle. “Four,” Katey said.

  Better than nothing, Sami thought. If they didn’t know how many, maybe they could figure out the where and avoid them.

  “Can you tell where they are?”

  Katey nodded. “Some outside the door.” She pointed where Josh was just finishing work. “More in the lab room. Some in the cafeteria. Some two floors down.”

  “Ready.” Josh hurried over and crouched beside her. “The door’s set. I can trigger it here.” He held out the backup remote for the light. “The best way is to let them in and as they cross the threshold, bang.”

  “They won’t all conveniently come through the door at the same time,” she said.

  “I know. We might have to let one or two in to get the maximum damage.”

  Sami took a breath and lifted her stake. “Okay. Let’s do it.”

  At her instruction, the children hurried to the back of the room and huddled behind some overturned cots. Sami and Josh positioned themselves halfway in the room at either side of the door. Sami nodded to him. Ready. He nodded back and tripped the door release.

  The scratching at the door
stopped as the door began to slide open. Sami crouched, ready for the first vampire to come through the door.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  “Come on, Sister.” Rick hovered over the nun as she worked on the lock.

  “Back off,” she said. “I’m almost finished.”

  Two minutes since the door had slammed shut after Bennett, Peter and Mitchell had fled. Two minutes since Trina’s announcement that Mitchell was infected and could turn any minute. It was Rick’s personal nightmare come true, a vampire loose inside a city. Would they reach him in time to stop him from infecting anyone else?

  “Done yet?” he said.

  “Give me a fucking break,” the Sister said. The door hummed and slid open.

  “Ha!” she said and stood up from the access panel on the floor.

  Rick wanted to tell her to stay behind and look after Trina but one look at the Sister’s hard, determined features nixed that idea.

  “Keep an eye on Trina and Lucy,” was all he could say.

  Armed with only the Uzis, Rick led the way through the door. Without stakes, he felt naked even with the high powered gun in his hand. And if Mitchell turned, they have to figure out a way to decapitate him in lieu of staking.

  The side door led down a narrow, featureless passage. No other doors broke the grey contours of the walls. The low ceiling gave the hall a feeling of claustrophobia. Around a short bend to the left, Rick spotted a door at the end. As he moved toward it, he heard the quiet thunder of voices.

  “The council chamber,” the Sister said. “This is a back entrance.”

  The voices grew louder, raised in excitement. Through the door, Rick couldn’t make out the words. He signaled to the Sister; alpha positions. He would head out first and she would follow, but her main responsibility was to protect Trina and Lucy.

  The Sister nodded as she tightened her grip on her gun. Rick turned back to the door. Unlocked. They hadn’t been expected to get this far or no one realized it was still open.

  He triggered the door. It slid open.

  * * * *

  As the door opened, two vampires jostled to get through, leaping straight at Sami. She back pedaled, leading them farther into the room. More crowded the door, trying to force their way in. A bang sounded then a flash of light. Screams sounded then cut off. Ozone drifted into the air. One of the vampires facing Sami glanced back over its shoulder. Sami jumped at him. stake slashing forward. The other vampire barreled toward her, snarling.

  Sami hit the first vampire and it sprawled to the ground. Then the other one was on her. Fangs sprayed foul saliva at her as the thing snarled in her face. Her hand around its throat held the fangs back. The muscles under her fingers bulged as the vampire strained to reach her. One inch. Another. Getting too close. Her other arm was trapped between them. She couldn’t pull the stake up.

  “Sami, head down!” Josh yelled.

  She pulled her head back. Josh fired, hitting the vampire in the face. Flesh disintegrated but the mouth still snarled, now without lips. It lifted its arm and slashed past Sami. She heard Josh grunt. As the vampire shifted its body, Sami could move the stake. She wedged it into position and leaned forward.

  “Die, you bastard!” she said. The vampire lunged at her. Sami held the stake fast, felt it pierce the creature’s chest. The vampire howled and tried to pull away. Sami moved with it, shoving the stake deeper into its heart. The howl turned into a shriek and the vampire collapsed. The other vampire struggled to rise. Sami spun and caught sight of Josh swinging an axe. It bit into the vampire’s neck. The head spun away. The body fell, spilling blood onto the floor.

  Josh dropped the axe. His shoulders sagged. He held his left forearm. Sami stepped forward and grabbed his elbow. The slash ran vertical along Josh’s forearm, deep enough to bleed steadily.

  “Josh, we have to wrap that,” she said.

  “Later,” he said. “We’ve got to go now. No telling how long those vampires will be out or how long that barrier will hold.”

  Sami grabbed a pillowcase from the bed and wound it around his arm. Within a minute, blood started to seep through.

  “Let’s go, kids,” she called.

  As one, the group of children stood and moved toward her. The sight of them moving in the same rhythm made her shiver. Too strange but she had vowed to take care of them and Sami believed in her duty.

  “Hurry,” she said, following Josh past the bodies of the vampires. In the hallway, they all began to run.

  * * * *

  Chaos filled the council chamber. Bennett stood in the center like a barker at a carnival, shouting at Peter. Rows of chairs circled the chamber, rising up, theatre style. Councilors stood shouting at each other. Their side door led directly onto the council floor. With his back to Rick, Bennett didn’t see him but Peter did. Peter gave a slight nod. Lucy stepped forward but Rick grabbed her arm to stop her.

  “If you think I’m lying, ask Cerkasins’s daughter.” Peter’s voice rose above the noise.

  Bennett spun around. Rick pressed the Uzi into his stomach.

  “That is not Cerkasin’s daughter,” Bennett hissed. “She’s dead.”

  “Who told you that? Elliott? I wouldn’t consider a vampire all that reliable,” Rick said. “I think you’re going to have a listen to what she has to say.”

  Peter beckoned Lucy forward. She moved to take his hand and gripped it hard.

  “Tell them about the cure,” Peter said.

  As she turned to face the rows of councilors, the shouting died down to murmurs and arguing.

  “I have a cure,” Lucy’s quiet voice echoed in the air. “It’s not perfect and can only work upon immediate infection but it does neutralize the vampire virus.”

  “Elliott doesn’t want you to know that,” Peter said. “Nor does he want you to know about the experiments he’s been conducting.” He nodded to Trina. The girl stepped forward. Her fingers picked at the sides of her pants as hurried to Peter’s side. She clutched at his other hand.

  “It’s wonderful how you put words in my mouth.” Elliott entered from another side door, stepping out into the center opposite Peter. Behind him, three other men followed and fanned out behind him.

  All vampires, Rick realized. Dammit. He looked around but didn’t see Mitchell. Where the hell was he? He couldn’t have turned yet. This room would have been total panic.

  “My little sister may have found a way to arrest the infection at initial exposure but she’ll never be able to find a way to convert the completely infected back,” Elliott said. “I’ve been working on a way to tame the virus, make it less hostile in the infected so they don’t feel the need to attack and convert the uninfected.” He gestured at Trina. “Has she yet attacked anyone since she’s been with you?”

  “That’s not your only aim,” Peter said. “You want to...”

  “Who are you to tell me what I’m doing?” Elliott said. “You’re not a scientist, you’re a squad member.”

  Lucy stepped forward. “I am a scientist, Elliott, and you’re lying.”

  Elliott shook his head, turning away from her to the councilors still standing in their seats. “My poor sister has spent ten years all on her own, working desperately on some ‘cure’ before taking some flunky squad member as a lover. After ten years of isolation, who could blame her for bad judgment?”

  Around the room, Rick saw frowns but in other areas, nods and murmurs among the councilors. They couldn’t possibly be listening to a vampire, he thought, but they were. After ten years isolated inside the domes, they’d built up their own delusions. Lucy wasn’t the one with bad judgment here.

  The woman clenched her fists and started to move toward her brother. Peter grabbed her arm, stopping her. She whirled around to protest then her shoulders sagged. He released her arm and she stepped back behind him.

  Peter had told her to stop, Rick realized. He wasn’t just a psychic receiver anymore. There was something else going on now. Even as he watched, Trina moved up beside P
eter, her gaze locked on his face.

  “It’s not her fault,” Elliott said. “She’s done her best and achieved an amazing result. It’s just too bad it won’t help.”

  “Why are your people attacking the lab?” Peter said.

  * * * *

  Sami ran behind the children, making sure none fell behind. Through the bobbing light on her forehead she watched Josh weave in and out of her field of vision. That slash on his arm worried her. If he lost too much blood he wouldn’t be able to fight.

  Keep going, she thought, keep going. Her feet smacked on the floor. The children raced ahead of her. Despite the differences in size, they moved the same way. Even little Marc who ran just to her side. Sweat rolled down his face and neck but he didn’t seem to notice.

  Up ahead, Josh slowed. It rippled back to her as the children followed suit. Soon they were walking until they piled up in a bunch.

  “What’s up?” Sami whispered.

  “The emergency elevator is up there,” Josh said. “Past the cafeteria. Wasn’t that where the next group was?”

  “Damn,” Sami said. She turned to Katey. “Are they still there?”

  The girl bowed her head. The other children did the same. Josh shifted and turned his head back the way were headed. He’s just as bothered by them, Sami thought.

  “They’ve moved,” Katey said. “To the lab.”

  “Can we make it to the garage?” Sami said to Josh.

  “Five levels down,” he said. “The lab is just below this one.”

  With the lab just below them, the stairs didn’t look so attractive. Fighting in that narrow space would be impossible. Of course the elevator had the same issue but maybe they could rig it as an express to the garage level.

  Sami let her gaze swept over the children, counting them. Seven left, nine people, including her and Josh. Would they all be able to squeeze into the same emergency elevator?

  “Let’s go,” Josh said. Fatigue gave his words the sound of a heavy sigh. As they moved down the hall, Sami decided. He would take the first batch and she wouldn’t let him argue.

  Sami’s hand clenched the stake harder as they moved past the cafeteria. She turned her head, sweeping the light in through the doorway. She caught a quick glimpse of an arm on the floor before she turned away. She could smell the sharp tang of blood, feel the heavy stickiness of death. She didn’t need to see who they were, who they had been.