The Darkest Night (The Second Dark Ages Book 2)

by Michael Anderle

  Except one; he was spitting like he had gaped his mouth open a little too long.

  When Michael stopped, everyone slowly turned to look at the bald man who was covered in gore, a maniacal grin on his face.

  “Why didn’t anyone tell me to keep these on 11?” he asked.

  ---

  Kirk, James and Timothy retired back to the planning warehouse after showing the new group where they could clean up. Yuko had informed everyone that they would have new clothes, or at least clean clothes, in an hour when she and Eve got back. For right now everyone had a robe, a towel, and some soap to go and take showers here in Kirk’s group’s area.

  What Akio didn’t tell the rest was that Yuko would come back clean after using the advanced showers in their own base. Michael didn’t want to leave, so no one else considered it.

  He wondered what Jacqueline might say if and when she saw the facilities back in Japan? Right now the young woman was agitated from the gore, the stench and the stickiness from Michael’s “I’m bored” episode. Mark had offered to help scrub her back in the shower and the next thing Akio knew, the two had disappeared to get clean.

  Michael came out of the showers in a robe, his holsters and pistols over his shoulder. He didn’t require his sword, so that would go back into the Container for now, but he wouldn’t allow the pistols out of his sight.

  ---

  “So.” Kirk started the conversation. He, James and Timothy had chosen to talk before they cleaned up. Alan took the rest of the guys over to another building they had claimed, to shower after the fight. “We have monsters on our side, too.”

  Timothy shrugged. “Yes,” he agreed. “But they have really nice asses.”

  “Sabine isn’t a monster,” James said as he turned to nod in Timothy’s direction. “And they do have nice asses.”

  “We are talking about the women, right?” Kirk asked, an eyebrow raised.

  “Fuck it.” Timothy smiled. “I don’t usually judge my male counterparts, but the guys are all tight too.”

  Kirk and James chuckled.

  James exhaled as he looked at the two other guys. “Let’s face it, all of our people would be dead if not for them.”

  Kirk nodded. “You know that Sabine has been changed in some way? There’s no way a normal human can shoot like that.”

  “She swears that the Akio guy,” James replied, “taught her last night.”

  “C’mon,” Kirk shook his head. “One lesson?”

  “From a guy centuries old,” Timothy interjected and Kirk eyed him. Timothy put up his hands. “Don’t kill the messenger here, but time is a teacher for those who learn to teach in little time.”

  “Not to mention,” James put in, “who knows what voodoo he can do?”

  “He’s a vampire,” Kirk stated. “So is the other one, Michael.”

  “Well, Mark too,” James added.

  “Yes, but they are our vampires,” Timothy exclaimed as the two shot him looks. “No, not like we own them, for fuck’s sake. I mean they are on our team.”

  “Not sure we could call it our team so much as they stand between us and the others,” James opined.

  “That’s probably it right there.” Kirk pointed to James. “They are another group, and they are here to fight the same shit we are. We aren’t a team, so much as two teams fighting the same bad guys.”

  “Bad guys who were sending a shit-ton of Weres in our direction to kill us today,” James agreed.

  “Hey,” Timothy broke in. “If it is all the same to you, I say we become the sub-team for the Magnificent Seven and help them help us. For the first fucking time in three years it feels like my future isn’t just death by whatever nasty shit my brain can dream up.”

  “God help me,” James turned to look at Kirk, “but I have to say I agree with him.”

  “What do you guys think the others in the group will say?” Kirk asked the two of them.

  “That you are a fucking genius,” Timothy spit out.

  “What he said,” James agreed, then grimaced. “Again.”

  Kirk raised his eyebrows and looked at James. “That’s got to be some kind of record.”

  “That’s because you both finally see the genius in my words,” Timothy argued.

  “That’s the first time you have had any genius in your words,” James shot back.

  “Well,” Timothy scratched his head, “ok, I grant you that.” He smiled at his two friends. “But I get to stand behind Yuko and Sabine again.”

  “Oh, hell no…” James started.

  “Yeah,” Kirk agreed, “no more battle boners for you.”

  ---

  Most of the humans who weren’t manning the walls, such as they were, watched as a large box slid silently down from the morning sky. It came to rest in the street just a half mile inside the city. Michael was waiting for Yuko and Eve as he stood in his robe just watching their Container, painted solid black, slowly land on the ground.

  The door opened slightly. “We have your clothes,” Yuko called as Michael walked up to the Container, half a door open wide enough for him to step inside. He nodded to both Yuko and Eve, who was standing quietly in a corner. Regardless of how curious those watching their craft were, no one cared to approach too closely.

  The rumors, if anyone believed them, said the man was a day-walking vampire who could blow you up with his mind and cut your head off before you could blink.

  And other unbelievable shit.

  While the rumors might be wrong, they probably had a bit of truth to them, didn’t they? Either way, no one chose to go knock on the door.

  Yuko had Michael’s clothes laid out inside. He dropped his robe to start changing, and Yuko averted her eyes.

  He had a strong set of shoulders, that was for sure.

  “Thank you, Yuko,” Michael said, and she turned around again as he was sliding his coat back on. “It’s amazing how you can get attached to something, and right now, this coat seems to help anchor me.” He rubbed the left sleeve with his right hand. “Very clean.” He looked up and smiled. “I imagine your shower was just as good?”

  Yuko blushed. “There was a lot of blood in my hair.”

  “Sorry about that.” Michael smiled mischievously. “Battle can be messy.”

  “Well, it can when you are at the forefront of it, yes,” Yuko agreed. “I watched Akio while we fought. He seemed a little more…”

  “Free?” Michael asked as she paused.

  “Unrestrained.” Yuko admitted. “I suppose you might say free. I think having you come back has affected us both.”

  “Akio said something about you acting differently as well. Not as concerned with killing as you were since Bethany Anne left?”

  “My role was to be the diplomat after she left,” Yuko told him, and Michael nodded for her to continue. “Our role was to sit tight, help where we could, and decide which trouble spots we should risk ourselves for when they weren’t our primary mission.” She looked up at Michael. “You are here, so now our primary mission is to protect you and neither of us are about to suggest you do anything but tell us how to help.” She shrugged. “It has been liberating. I recognize that I work best when I am very assured of my path. When I was young, death and killing were foreign to me. I have learned over the decades to kill as needed. Now our path is to support you for when Bethany Anne comes back.”

  Michael narrowed his eyes. “There is no way back to her?”

  “No, the gate was destroyed and we do not have a ship ...” Yuko began but was interrupted by Eve.

  “Not exactly,” the little AI told the two.

  Michael turned to look at Eve, and even Yuko looked at her friend with curiosity. “Go ahead,” he said.

  “We have been fighting the Wechselbalg in China for so many decades, so of course we know of many of the rumors,” Eve admitted.

  “Of course.” Yuko nodded her head as her eyes went distant.

  “What rumors?” Michael asked, searching his brain for an
y information. “I don’t remember China having any type of spacecraft. What happened after I was blasted into the Etheric?”

  “Is that what happened?” Yuko asked, then her eyes widened and she clapped her hands twice in happiness. “Oh! Is that how Bethany Anne knew you were alive?”

  Michael smiled at the excited woman. “Probably, although I don’t think I was even remotely conscious for a long, long time. I wouldn’t put it past her to have felt a connection when she traveled through the Etheric, though. She is much more sensitive to it than I am.” He turned to Eve. “However, I’d like to understand what you mean by the Chinese Wechselbalg?”

  Eve answered. “Well, Bethany Anne fought a group that came after us. We tracked down the last person, and she was part of a Wechselbalg group that was working with a group of Kurtherians.”

  Michael interrupted, “A different group?”

  “Yes,” Eve responded.

  “How the hell did so many different Kurtherian groups find our damned planet?” Michael mused aloud.

  Yuko just shrugged.

  “Sorry, go on.” Michael waved to Eve.

  “We have solid information that the Wechselbalg in China have the components for a Kurtherian space ship, but they can’t put it together.”

  “Why would we be able to?” Michael wondered aloud.

  “Because we know where there is another Kurtherian to ask, and also we have Eve, of course,” Yuko answered, nodding to the AI.

  Michael thought about that for a moment, then another couple of moments, “ArchAngelsk?”

  Yuko nodded in agreement as Michael asked, “What about Boris?”

  Akio stepped into the Container. “Still alive, with a wife and family.” He walked over to the set of clothes that were next to Michael’s and dropped his robe.

  Yuko’s eyes flashed to the ceiling in exasperation. “What is it with you guys not caring that there are two females present?”

  “Why?” Michael asked, looking confused. “I was gone at least a hundred and fifty plus years. That would make you—

  Yuko’s normally serene voice was a bit agitated. “Still able to feel embarrassed when guys drop their clothes around me, thank you, Michael.”

  Jacqueline came in as Akio finished buttoning his shirt. “Really, Yuko?” She asked the vampire as she padded over to her own set of clothes. “How about women?” she asked as she started to drop her robe.

  “Oh for …” Yuko turned and walked out of the Container as Michael and Jacqueline chuckled behind her.

  Akio looked at Michael, who winked back at him. “Trust me.” This time, Michael smiled when Akio did a passable imitation of rolling his eyes.

  Akio was trying, Michael had to give him that. Maybe Michael could help encourage this a little.

  “Michael?” Yuko’s voice came back to those in the Container. “You might want to come out here. We have new arrivals!”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Michael checked his pistols and his Ulfberht sword and walked out of the Container to find the three main leaders of the humans.

  They were still bloody.

  “We were never properly introduced. I’m Kirk.” The dark-haired man with a beard waved. “Sorry, too much blood to be shaking hands.” He turned to point out his two compatriots. “The short blond one at the end is Timothy, and the gargantuan one next to me here is James.”

  “I’d just like to say,” Timothy spoke next, “that I wasn’t going to shoot you.”

  Michael raised an eyebrow before he started chuckling. “Sorry, I just wanted to make sure you understood the consequences of aiming the rifle at me.”

  “The hell…” James breathed out.

  Kirk looked over at him. “That’s my line.”

  “Well,” James replied, “you should use it more often.” He turned to Michael. “You really did tell Timothy that you would shove the rifle up his ass?”

  Yes, Michael answered. Wouldn’t you do something like that if someone was pointing a gun in your direction?

  “Well, of course.” James answered.

  “Dude,” Kirk hissed.

  “One second, Kirk,” James replied before looking back to Michael. “But how?”

  Like, how did I contact him? Michael asked while his lips curved in a smile.

  “Yeah,” James asked.

  Like this, Michael answered.

  “Dude!” Kirk punched James.

  James turned on his friend. “Son of a bitch, Kirk! The fuck?” He asked as he rubbed his arm.

  Kirk turned to point at Michael. “He’s not talking!”

  “The hell he isn’t talking!” James replied. “We just had a ...”

  “Out loud,” Kirk clarified.

  “What?” James looked back at Michael.

  Like I said. Michael told him. Just like that.

  “Oh.” James replied before turning to Timothy. “My apologies.”

  “I was right three times now?” Timothy confirmed.

  James looked at his friend a moment. “I really fucking hate you.”

  “More attackers?” Michael tried to steer the conversation back to the relevant topic.

  “Yeah, sorry.” Kirk took back control. “We have scouts and ways to track the other two large Were populations, and they are on their way. Maybe two or three thousand more coming at us. They will arrive no later than a couple of hours from now.”

  “You have radio?”

  “Limited, yes.” Kirk agreed.

  “Hmmm,” Michael responded, as Akio walked up next to him.

  “That might be fun, but it is too many to fight without spillage around us.”

  “Agreed,” Michael answered. “Two pucks left?” Akio nodded to answer.

  “How much time before they get here?” Michael asked Kirk for confirmation of the time line.

  “Two hours or so,” Kirk answered.

  “Ok,” Michael replied, and turned back to Akio. “Other weapons of mass destruction?”

  Akio shrugged. “If we can make it back to base in time, we have some large bombs that would take out a small mountain.”

  “Impressive, but too much,” Michael answered.

  Mark joined the group as Jacqueline came out of the Container. All three of the humans glanced at her before turning back to Michael.

  Mark hugged her. “Your clothes are inside,” she told him. “Make sure Yuko knows when you are ready to change; she is working on her blushing.”

  “I am not!” Yuko argued as Sabine walked up.

  “Mark is about to change,” Yuko told the woman.

  Sabine shrugged. “I don’t care if he does,” she replied and smiled over to the group. “I’ve seen his girlfriend and his eyes won’t be wandering any time soon.”

  “Like ever,” Jacqueline replied to Sabine as she stared directly at Mark.

  “Hey, I’m clean here. I just need clothes.” He turned to Sabine. “You go first, I’ll wait.”

  Sabine patted him on the shoulder as she walked past. “That’s how you get the room to yourself, Yuko.”

  Yuko stared at the young woman, her head rotating to follow her as she continued into the Container. She could hear Eve point out the clothes.

  “Do we have a weatherman up there?” Michael asked out loud, as he looked up at the clouds.

  Akio pursed his lips and turned towards the Container, but Eve’s voice came out before he could ask. “Maybe a forty percent chance of rain when the Weres get here.”

  “Rain?” James and Timothy both asked.

  “Not rain,” Michael replied as his eyes searched the clouds. “Ammunition.”

  “Hey!” Sabine’s voice came out of the Container. “Who gets the kiss for the extra rounds?”

  “That would be Yuko,” Eve replied. Everyone turned to Yuko, whose cheeks were starting to turn red again.

  “Um.” Timothy interrupted. “Not to appear unappreciative for what you did this morning, but why does it seem you guys are not too worried about two thousand Weres?”
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  “Or more,” James added.

  “Or more,” Timothy agreed, “coming our way right now?”

  “You plan on fighting again?” Michael asked, and all of the men nodded. “Well, we will be in a situation I happen to enjoy.”

  “What kind of situation is that?” Kirk finally asked when Michael said no more.

  Michael smiled. “A target-rich environment.” He looked at the buildings surrounding them. “Let’s look at your defenses and figure out how to fortify them against the Wechselbalg.”

  “Sure.” Kirk shrugged and turned to start walking back towards the front lines. “Have you fought these guys a lot then?”

  “Well,” Michael answered as Sabine came out and Mark replaced her, “I’ve killed a few in my time.”

  “Dude,” Kirk’s voice was fading as they walked away. “You killed hundreds this morning.”

  “Yes,” Michael agreed. “But I was just warming up.”

  James and Timothy looked at each other, their eyes widening when Jacqueline snorted. They turned to her. “Is he kidding?” asked Timothy.

  Jacqueline looked at Michael and Kirk as they walked away. “You know, I doubt it. If anything, he is probably underselling himself. He tends to be humble about his ability to turn live bodies into corpses.”

  Akio took a step towards Jacqueline. “What do you think he wants with the weather report?”

  Jacqueline’s face turned from thoughtful to slightly fearful. “He wants to fight the elements again, and turn them on those who would dare challenge him,” she said softly as Mark walked up to the group.

  “Who is challenging whom?”

  “Michael,” Jacqueline told him as she leaned back against him. Mark’s arms encircled her. “He is hoping the weather comes again.”

  “Oh, seriously?” Mark asked, and looked at the two distant figures. “That would be badass.” Mark looked at the men watching him. “God bless, but if he starts raising his arms to the sky, drop everything and run like hell. It isn’t a good place to be.”

  “Where isn’t a good place to be?” James asked.