by Brandon Hale
Snipers.
Day Soldier Snipers.
“Where’s Dennis?” Ellie screamed.
Grung looked at the bodies on the ground. He didn’t see Daciana or Dennis. “Dammit!”
Ellie darted toward the alley.
“Where are you going?”
“To get my damn weapons!” Ellie yelled. “Then I’m going to find Dennis!”
Grung watched as several vampires ran after her.
He snapped the stake into place on his arm and took off after them. “I was wrong!” he yelled. “I think I just might look back on this as one of the best days of my life!”
“The vampires are gone,” one of the snipers said. “They’ll be coming our way.”
“You just focus on the werewolves,” Abbie ordered. “We’ll handle the vampires when they get here.”
“Yes, sir,” the sniper said as he again aimed his rifle at the street below.
Abbie turned to Wallace. “I don’t like the whole sir thing. I was perfectly happy being called ma’am.”
“Just showing equality,” Wallace commented with a smile.
“By making me take a masculine name?” Abbie shot back. “Typical.”
Wallace chuckled, then said, “I think we have more pressing matters right now, Abbie.” He pressed a button on his belt and spoke into the mic attached to his ear. “Attention, Day Soldiers. The vampires have cleared the street below. Keep your back-to-back formations. Snipers, keep firing at anything furry and trust your partners to watch your backs.”
Twenty-three snipers stood along the edge of the roof, firing constantly. A guard stood behind each sniper, crossbow in hand, watching the roof for incoming vampires. They had managed to slip into the city unnoticed, thanks to Lily’s team.
“Any sign of those kids?” Wallace asked one of the snipers.
“Negative,” the sniper said. “Looks like they got the hell outta Dodge.”
“Good,” Wallace said.
“If we’d been ten seconds later,” Abbie began.
“Well, we weren’t ten seconds later,” Wallace said. He again spoke into his mic. “Soldiers, this is not a battle we can win. We’re not just standing against the creatures of this fallen city. If they manage to call for help, we’ll be standing against every vampire and werewolf in a two-hundred mile radius.
“None of that matters, though, because we didn’t come here to win a battle. We have reason to believe that the ruling council is somewhere in this city. Our only job is to keep them focused on this roof while our sneakers do what they do.”
“Speaking of,” Abbie added, “I need my sneakers to report to me now.”
“Based on the amount of werewolves that were converged here,” Wallace continued, “we can reasonably assume the council is holed up somewhere nearby. Our objective is to find them, kill them, and get the hell out. And to kill as many of these bastards as we can while doing it.”
Eleven sneakers gathered in front of Abbie. “We’re splitting into three teams,” she ordered. “Travis, since your team only has three people, I’ll be joining you.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Travis said.
Abbie looked at Wallace and smiled. “He said ma’am.” She turned back to the teams. “This is the big game, folks. We don’t have the luxury to play it conservatively. If you find the council, radio their location, then kill them. Do not wait for reinforcements. Do not watch them to see where they go. If you see an opportunity to attack, by all means… attack. Any questions?”
“No ma’am!” the teams said in unison.
Wallace laughed.
“Be careful, Geoff,” Abbie said.
“You, too, Abigail.”
A moment later, Abbie and her sneakers were gone.
Wallace again spoke into his mic. “I need a group of soldiers on the ground. I’d say those two sneakers down there could use a hand.”
In the alley, Grung and Ellie were an unstoppable team. The simple fact that they were still alive inspired them to fight off the swarm of vampires with renewed energy.
Standing back-to-back, they killed every vampire that came near them. Eventually, they stabbed, punched, and kicked their way back into the center square. Once they were in the open, the vampires stopped their attacks, apparently considering a different strategy.
“What now?” Ellie said. “I don’t think they’re going to stop coming. Eventually, we’ll tire out, but they won’t.”
“Yeah,” Grung agreed. “I say we get to a roof and hope the other soldiers are still there.”
“You really want to show up with a herd of vampires on our tails?”
“Good point,” Grung said. “But what choice do we have? If we stay down here, we’re dead. I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of facing certain death in this damn square.”
“Why aren’t they attacking?” Ellie asked. “They’re just standing there, looking nervous.”
“That’s probably because of us,” a voice said from behind them.
Ellie and Grung turned around to see twenty Day Soldiers, all carrying crossbows and stakes. One of the soldiers – a young man with hair cropped to his skull - gave a solemn nod and said, “Commander Wallace figured you could use a hand.”
“Commander Wallace was right,” Ellie replied.
The soldier smiled. “How ‘bout we put these guys back to sleep.”
One of the vampires laughed. “You humans are hilarious. Your entire world is lost and here you are, mounting an attack you cannot possibly win. There are more vampires behind me than bolts in your crossbows.”
“Normally,” the soldier retorted, “I don’t speak to your kind. It’s beneath me. But today, I’ll make an exception.” He placed his crossbow on the ground at his feet. Beside it, he placed his stake and a large silver cross.
As the soldier, now unarmed, walked toward the vampire, Grung looked at Ellie and asked, “What’s he doing?”
Ellie replied with a confused shrug. “How the hell am I supposed to know?”
“Just watch,” another soldier – a young Asian woman – said.
The unarmed soldier walked up to the vampire that had spoken. “My name’s Cooper. Most people call me Coop, but you know what? My name’s not important. What’s important is the fact that I’m a Day Soldier. I protect the day from trash like you.”
“Hilarious,” the vampire said.
“I have no weapons,” Coop said. “If you find my arrogance so adorable, teach me some humility. I’m within arm’s reach. Kill me. Turn me. Use me as an example to my squad. Show them the consequence of my human arrogance. Go ahead, you ugly--”
The vampire reached out and wrapped its clawed fingers around his neck.
Grung started to move, but the Day Soldier behind him placed her hand on his arm and said, “Stand down, soldier. Coop’s got this.”
Coop reached up and wrapped his hand around the vampire’s wrist. As soon as their skin touched, smoke began to trickle up from between Coop’s fingers.
The vampire’s face shifted from anger to pain and finally to fear.
Coop smiled. “That’s right, baldy,” he said as he grabbed the vampire’s throat with his other hand, “channelers don’t need weapons. We are weapons.”
The soldier behind Grung yelled, “Now!” The other soldiers immediately sprinted toward the vampires.
Grung hesitated, surprised by their method of attack. “They all have crossbows,” he said. “Why are they running toward them?”
Ellie watched in awe as the soldiers began to fight – and kill – the vampires with relative ease. “They’re channelers,” she said. “Every one of them. It’s a whole damn squad of channelers.”
“Well that’s just neat,” Grung said. “Although I do wish they’d shown up before Dennis slipped off like a coward.”
“Which reminds me,” Ellie said. “If Dennis was down here with us, where did Lily and Scott go?”
Lily struggled to stay conscious. The pain from Arcas sinking his teeth into
her neck was excruciating. She felt herself grow weaker as he took in his first large gulp of her blood.
Luckily, his first gulp was his last.
He pulled his teeth from her neck and staggered back several steps. “Cassius,” he stammered as smoke filled his mouth.
Lily quickly pulled a stake from its holster on the side of her boot and thrust it into his chest.
Arcas looked at his new wound with wild eyes, then looked back at Lily. He tried to speak, but only an unintelligible whisper came out. He again looked toward Cassius. This time his eyes seemed to be begging for help he knew wouldn’t come.
Lily put a foot on his chest and grabbed the end of her stake. She pulled the stake free as she kicked him into the wall beside his fireplace.
Arcas became dust as soon as he hit the wall behind him.
Lily turned around, stake in hand, to face Cassius.
“You killed your friend just to trick Arcas into drinking your blood,” Cassius said with a grin. “That’s hardcore.”
Lily pointed her stake toward Cassius. “Let’s get this over with.”
“I have no quarrel with you,” Cassius said. “I’m also not the person you came here to kill. If you want Dennis, his office is on the top floor of this building. Judging from the commotion I’m hearing outside, I’d say he’s on his way there now. He is a coward, after all.”
Before Lily could react, Cassius winked, kicked the door open behind him, and vanished into the hallway.
Lily didn’t bother to chase him. Instead, she looked at Scott and said, “Get up. I know you’re a werewolf.”
Scott pulled the bolt from his forehead and sat up. “How the hell did you know that?”
Lily ran toward the door. “Do you want to sit there and discuss my remarkable deductive skills or do you want to kill Dennis?”
“I want to kill Dennis,” Scott said as he got to his feet, “but seriously… how did you know I’m a werewolf?”
“Later!” Lily yelled as she ran into the hallway. “Now, come on!”
Times Square was littered with the bodies of vampires and werewolves. Wallace walked across the square, admiring the fact that there were no Day Soldier bodies on the ground.
Not one.
This was, without a doubt, the most one-sided battle he’d witnessed since the beginning of the war.
Grung and Ellie jogged up to him and gave a quick salute. “Thank you for coming, sir,” Grung said. “We really thought we were going to die.”
Ellie looked at the hundreds of bodies scattered across the street. “If every battle had gone this way, maybe the war would’ve turned out differently.”
Wallace sighed. “Yeah,” he said. “I think we fought this war all wrong. We fought a defensive war. We kept our channelers hidden and protected. We trained our people to defend humanity instead of how to attack the darkness.”
“Protect the day,” Grung said, echoing the Day Soldiers’ slogan.
“Indeed,” Wallace agreed. “Have you heard from Lily and Scott?”
“No, sir,” Grung said. “I’ve tried to reach them multiple times, but they aren’t answering.”
Wallace sighed again. “That’s worrisome.”
He looks old, Grung thought. “Maybe not, sir. We agreed to maintain radio silence. We didn’t think radio communication was secure, considering we are in their city.”
“Makes sense.”
“So what’s next?” Ellie asked.
“Survival,” Wallace answered. “Since the underground facilities are compromised, there’s a general evacuation order. We’re going to head as far away from civilization as possible and just try to stay alive for a while.”
“It’ll be a massacre,” Grung said. “They won’t stop hunting us.”
“It won’t be pretty,” Wallace admitted, “but what choice do we have? Most of us will be hunted down, but some of us will make it. And after some time has gone by, we’ll regroup. Our greatest advantage is the fact that the vampires need us alive. As disturbing as it sounds, the fact that they feed on us is the one thing that gives us hope.”
“Have you ever considered switching teams?” Ellie asked. “I mean, you’re technically one of them.”
“No,” Wallace said quietly. “I will never be one of them. From the start, this war should have been humans and werewolves standing together against the vampires. And one day, they will understand just how high the price is when you make a deal with the devil. I just hope I’m there when--”
Wallace stopped mid-sentence and looked toward an alley between two of the buildings.
“Sir?” Grung said. “Are you okay?”
A werewolf covered in black fur burst from the alley and sprinted on all fours toward Wallace.
Grung flipped his sword into place and Ellie drew her gun. The other soldiers in the square all drew weapons and aimed them at the wolf.
“Don’t fire!” Wallace screamed.
“I know her, sir!” Grung yelled as the black wolf leapt toward Wallace.
“Do not attack!”
The wolf tackled Wallace, pinning him to the ground. Its lip curled into a furious snarl as it pulled its head back, preparing to attack.
Grung’s instinct took over. With one clean swipe, he severed the wolf’s head.
“NO!” Wallace screamed.
By the time the head hit the pavement, it was the human head of Daciana.
“I’m sorry, sir,” Grung gasped. “She was going to kill you.”
Wallace crawled out from under her body and ran to the head. He dropped to his knees and ran his fingers through the severed head’s hair.
“What the hell?” Ellie whispered.
“You did the right thing,” Wallace said with a quiet, defeated voice. “She was a member of the ruling council. Killing her was one of the reasons we came here.”
“Why did you order us to hold back?” Grung asked. “Did you want to question her?”
“It was a moment of weakness,” Wallace said, his voice breaking with emotion. “I had hoped to avoid witnessing the death of my own daughter.”
Grung felt sick. “I’m sorry, sir.”
“Don’t be,” Wallace said as he got to his feet and took a deep breath. “She made her choice. You saved my life, son. Thank you.”
“You know,” Ellie said, “I don’t think our team has ever successfully followed an order. We really are terrible soldiers.”
Wallace chuckled as he wiped the tears from beneath his eyes. “You won’t hear me disagree with you there.”
“Hey,” Grung protested.
“You also,” Wallace added, “won’t hear me complain about it.” He turned his head to the side and spoke into his mic. “Abbie, we just took down a council member. You having any luck?”
“Actually,” Abbie’s voice replied, “I think we found the majority of them. All dead.”
“Dead?”
“Yeah. And judging from the decay, it looks like they’ve been dead a while. I think there might have been some kind of overthrow.”
“That would explain their sudden change in tactics,” Wallace said. “Any sign of your missing sneakers?”
“Possibly,” Abbie answered. “We found the ashes of what appears to have been a vampire, and there’s a lot of blood on the floor. Fresh blood.”
“Keep looking,” Wallace said, “but don’t waste any time. We really need to get the hell out of this town before others arrive.”
“I’m pulling all four teams to this location. We’ll sweep the building.”
“Keep me informed. Wallace out.” He looked at Grung and Ellie. “We can’t search the entire city. We’ll have to pull out soon.”
“We understand, sir,” Grung said.
Ellie placed her hand on Grung’s shoulder. “I’m sure they’re fine.”
“I’m sure they’re alive,” Grung said as he looked at the hundreds of bodies scattered around them. “But I’m not sure any of us will ever be fine again.”
Chapte
r 22
Dennis
Still in the form of a wolf, Dennis scaled the side of the building. Hopping from ledge to ledge, he moved toward his office window.
This is still a good day, he reminded himself.
The war was over.
Humanity was defeated.
It would have been nice to kill those children, but in the greater scheme of things, that was a minor loss. He didn’t see what happened to Daciana when the attack came, and he really didn’t care. If she was dead, the only real loss was the fact that the balance of power on the council would shift to the vampires.
Even that, he decided, didn’t really matter. Soon, he would be deep in the forest and would never have to look at another vampire again.
As Dennis reached his office window, he decided his only regret was that he never got to properly avenge Tina. He crawled inside the office window and shifted back to a human. Once inside, he knew with one sniff that he wasn’t alone.
Scott and Lily stood by the office door, guns drawn and pointed at Dennis.
Dennis looked at them and smiled.
“I have to admit,” he said. “I’m impressed. I do hope you’ve thought of something really cool to say.” He took a subtle step toward the window. “I mean, that was my only request. I hope it’s not something completely lame like, ‘I’m back.’ Or even worse, I hope you don’t make some dramatic comment about this being for your friend—”
Lily shot him in the head.
Chapter 23
Topia
From a nearby roof, Cassius laughed. This was without a doubt the best day of his life.
The idiot Arcas was dead. Dennis and his little werewolf council were dead.
The world no longer belonged to humanity.
The world no longer belonged to the Legion.
The world belonged to him.
A female vampire stood beside him. Her name was Natasha and she was the biggest secret Cassius had kept from Arcas. He had turned her about twenty years ago and kept her hidden, just in case he needed an ally when the day came for him to kill his old maker. Thanks to the human girl, keeping Natasha hidden was no longer necessary.
