The Vengeance of Shadows

by Phil Maxey

  Copeland whirled around, his razor-sharp claws flailing at Joel. But the former FBI operative was too quick, moving in a series of blurs, each one a strike at the large vamp in front of him.

  Copeland staggered back growling, his eyes glowing intensely. He went to surge forward once again, when a lintel, at least eight-feet long slammed into his side, sending him careening through the air, eventually crashing back to the ground some tens of yards away.

  “Take that, bitch!” shouted Lucian, then collapsed back into the ground out of breath.

  Joel looked back to where Copeland had landed and started after him when the winged creature got to his feet, staggered forward, and took to the air. With each bound, Joel grew closer, but Copeland was already too high and soon became just an unwanted shadow amongst the clouds.

  Sounds of the army of vamps kept on coming though as their leader deserted them. They tore through garden fences, over cars, and through buildings, all descending upon the two hybrids.

  Joel ran over to Lucian, both of them now in their more familiar human forms. He leaned down and placed Lucians arm over his shoulder. “Come on, there’s one boat left.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Carla Antos had seen the townspeople make their getaway on small rickety boats across the lake through night-vision goggles, and, despite her cynicism of their future chances of survival, couldn’t help but feel joy at the sight. She also saw the hordes that Copeland had brought swarm over Haven, until only a carcass of its former self was left.

  She and the mercs under her command could have easily stopped the humans and others escaping, but she had been given direct orders from Copeland to keep out of it. It was for him and him alone to retrieve his son.

  Like that thing cares about anything.

  A small tinge of fear moved through her, making the hairs on her arms become erect.

  My thoughts are my own, he can’t read minds.

  She wasn’t actually sure of that though.

  Now the sun was above the horizon, she felt somewhat less burdened, and looked out over the glistening lake to what was left of Haven. She wondered how many other human refuges she would be forced to witness the destruction of.

  She had watched the battle play out in real time, and had been impressed by whoever was in charge of the defense against an overwhelming force. She wouldn’t have been able to do a better job herself.

  The boss beast himself was nowhere to be seen. There had been rumors that he had taken a beating and took to the skies, heading back west, but either way she was glad for the time off-mission.

  A noise came from the mud path to her right. Whoever it was, wasn’t going to stop her from enjoying her moment enjoying the breeze and the sun, which was covering her in warmth.

  “Any new orders? The guys are getting restless,” said Carlson.

  “You’ll be the first to know when I do.”

  Carlson remained.

  She opened her eyes and looked at him. “Speak, soldier.”

  “Why weren’t we allowed to engage the enemy last night?”

  By ‘enemy’ she was fairly certain he was talking about the people of Haven. “Because our orders were to remain on this hill. And despite not serving the government, we still follow orders.”

  “But some of them got away!”

  Carlson’s lack of empathy started to irk her. “Yeah, they did, why that got you so riled up?”

  His words seemed to suddenly get stuck in his throat, resulting in him looking down, shaking his head.

  “Well?”

  He looked at her straight in the eyes. “You know I’m not a man who easily fears, but Copeland, or whatever the hell he’s become, is friggin crazy. He wanted that town dead. And we just all sat up here and did nothing as some got away.” He briefly looked to the broken homes of Haven. “I didn’t have anything against those people down there. But I ain’t dying because Copeland thought we would take some initiative and finish the job!”

  Carla’s face grew angry and she sprang up, standing just a few inches from him. “You questioning my authority, soldier?” Without directly looking, she was acutely aware of where her second-in-command’s hands were in relation to his sidearm and knife. As she was her own.

  His face relaxed. “I’m just saying, I don’t want to become like Jacob… and…”

  “And?”

  Carlson looked at the skies above their heads and leaned in closer. “Maybe, we take the birds and go…”

  Carla examined the eyes of the man in front of her, as he did hers. “And where would we go?”

  Carlson stretched his hands out. “We find a town, somewhere in the mountains, better protected than Haven… we can make it work.”

  Images of living off the land, a frontier experience started to seduce her, until the scene from the night before, of the hordes devouring their human prey forced any alternative life from her. “Copeland gives me commands, and I obey. That’s how it works, now—” She realized the man in front of her was trembling. “What’s wrong with you?”

  He started to back away, looking up with each step. “I’m sorry, he made me… I… had… to see…”

  Then she felt it, a gush of wind, and a spray of her old friend’s blood across her face.

  Carlson grabbed his throat, then collapsed in a heap on the moist grass.

  Instinctively, she pulled her Glock from her side and waved it at thin air, still in shock of what just happened.

  “No need for that, Carla…” Copeland’s words had their usual dreaded weight, and his huge wings beat furiously as he landed behind her. Around his head and shoulders was a black shawl. He seemed somehow smaller because of it.

  “Why did you kill him!” her words came out with a vigor that she immediately regretted despite her grief. She quickly realized her error. “We… we needed him! He was a good—”

  Copeland stepped forward uneasily.

  He’s injured. Good.

  “After seeing so many of your own kind slaughtered, I needed to know if you were still loyal to me. What better way to find that out than one of your oldest friends asking you to leave?”

  Emotion threatened to cause her to do something stupid, no doubt ending her own life. It took all her will to force her rage back to a place where it could be managed.

  “Like I said to him, you’re the boss. Killing a bunch of cultists doesn’t change that.”

  Copeland nodded. “Good… I respect loyalty above all else.” He turned and looked at the lake. “Some of them got away. Unfortunately, taking my son with them… my children are sleeping now, so my enemies move further out of reach.”

  Initially, she hated how he spoke after the change, being a parody of some b-movie villain, but then she realized that the beast was a truer version of him than his former human self.

  He turned towards her. “There are other things that you should be aware of…”

  *****

  The sun beat down on Joel as he walked at the head of a trail of tired legs and slow-moving vehicles. Hours earlier, once they made it across the lake, they quickly found a single pickup, which some of the injured were put inside of. The other twenty-two humans, though, still had to walk, including a few elderly. As they traipsed through the dark, keeping to the main road which wound through hills, they gradually discovered other vehicles, until they reached a point just a few miles from civilization where most were seated in the comfort of a car, truck, or pickup. The hybrids though kept outside, keeping watch over the few there was still no room for. And because of that the convoy moved at a snail’s pace.

  “There’s a town up ahead,” said Marina to Joel, walking alongside him.

  “Yup.”

  “Towns mean vamps,” said Evan.

  “Yup.”

  “You sensing any?” said Marina to Joel.

  “Nothing so far.”

  “Maybe Copeland collected them all from these areas before he attacked Haven?” said Evan.

  “Hopefully.”

&
nbsp; An engine revved and a pickup sped past. Joel and the others caught sight of Lucian in the passenger seat.

  “Hey!” shouted Joel as the rear of the vehicle disappeared down the country road, which sloped down to the valley below.

  “I can probably keep up with him if I go now?” said Evan.

  Joel shook his head. “Let him go. We need to concentrate on getting these people to somewhere safe.”

  Marina looked at the dark red stains across the back of Joel’s jacket. “You healed yet?”

  “Getting there.”

  It wasn’t long before large detached homes appeared at the side of the road.

  A young woman and man broke from the pack and ran across the smart drive towards the front door of one of them.

  Joel whipped around. “Get away from there!”

  His request was ignored, and they started kicking at the shiny painted door which was shaking against its frame.

  Joel went to move when Marina beat him to it. “I got this.” She quickly moved to them, pulling both of them back. Joel heard her harsh words for the young people, and their equally hard replies, but they both turned and walked slowly back to the column of people walking past.

  Marina jogged back to Joel. “So, what’s the plan? We can’t walk forever.”

  He looked along the road which stretched into a more built-up area of suburban homes and business beyond, a few of which had vehicles parked outside.

  He looked at the people behind him, then turned back to face the road. “We just need another maybe, two vehicles. Sedans, or whatever you can find, then we can get out of here.”

  Marina and Evan nodded, then sprinted off into the distance. By the time everyone had caught up with them, one beige RV was parked off the curb with its engine running.

  They were both out of breath.

  “Took a while to find the keys, but here you go,” said Marina.

  Joel wanted to smile, but the idea of anything being pleasing about the situation they were all in made it pointless.

  He nodded. “Good.” He turned to those that were still walking, and pointed them to the RV. A group of five, all young, hurriedly walked forward and went inside. The last of them was Shannon, who sighed before boarding.

  Joel walked back to the first car. Inside, Lee, Anna, and three others in the back looked at him. “We’ll drive some way out of the suburbs, maybe a hundred miles, then find a small town to rest up.” They all nodded. He then looked specifically at the two in the front. “Any injured that will need more urgent attention?”

  They both looked at each other, then shook their heads.

  “Mrs Baxter has a broken ankle, but for the others it’s mostly cuts and bruises,” said Lee.

  “A few are out of various medications, so if we see a pharmacy, we should stop,” said Anna.

  “Infected?” said Joel.

  The two doctors briefly looked away.

  Lee sighed. “Likely, but the chances are low they will be changing soon.”

  Joel noticed Anna was looking pale. “How you holding up?”

  She smiled. “I’m fine.”

  Joel nodded, then moved to the other vehicles letting them know the plan.

  Soon, they were passing pleasant-looking single-story homes as Marina drove the RV. Despite the tight fit, she had transferred Jess, Jasper, and Flint to her vehicle, along with Evan who sat between the two front seats and Joel in the passenger’s.

  The six-vehicle convoy moved back on the highway, and immediately had to slow to weave between abandoned cars.

  Those inside the RV silently observed the crumpled sedans, pickups on their sides, and other cars and trucks with their doors open. Whenever there were red stains and streaks on the concrete, most of the humans looked away while the hybrids studied the scene further. The road continued north.

  Marina spotted a network of shops and gas stations to their right. “Might be worth having a look there for a pharmacy.”

  Joel sheepishly nodded.

  They took the next exit and were soon on a wide, four-lane road, which ran through a small town. Marina slowed to a stop. She turned to those behind her. “We’re stopping here for a while. Everyone stays in the RV, got that?”

  Most of the young people behind her frowned, but also nodded.

  Marina looked at Joel. “Get some rest, me and Anna will find what’s needed.”

  He sat up blinking, then stretched. Across the street were two gas stations opposite each other. “I’m going to look at those stations to find some gasoline.”

  She nodded, then looked back to Jess. “Stay here, I’ll be back soon.”

  Jess nodded.

  Marina and Joel got out with Evan. Anna was already sitting on the sidewalk.

  She slowly got to her feet.

  “Lead the way,” said Marina to her, and they ran off, being out of sight within a few seconds. Joel slowly lumbered across the junction.

  Shannon sat in the back of the RV, trying not to make eye contact with the three young men and one young woman around her. She didn’t know any of their names, and she didn’t want to know. Chances were they would be dead by the end of the week anyway. They all had that ‘look.’ The one where they still thought the world was just going through a bad phase, and soon the government or the United Nations would swoop in and fix everything, and they could go back to their Monday night football, parties, and social networking. She knew better. She knew those things were gone for good.

  She got up and walked to the door, then looked back. “Jess, Jasper. Want to take Flint for a walk?”

  Flint let loose a soft bark.

  “Mom said I should stay here.”

  “We won’t go far, just outside.”

  The four others looked at each other and started to stand.

  Shannon shook her head. “Nah uh. You all stay here.”

  The girl’s face grew angry. “You aren’t our boss.”

  “Joel trusts me. He don’t know shit about all of you. If you go out there and get eaten, ain’t no one coming to help you.” And with that, she pushed the door open and stepped out into the sun.

  Jess, Jasper, and Flint hurried after her, and she slammed the door closed. She immediately heard words being exchanged from inside the RV, but ignored them, instead she looked at the scene around her.

  Some people were outside their vehicles, drinking some water and chatting, while others were trying to get some sleep inside. Even from tens of yards away she could hear the words ‘Lucian’ and ’betrayal’ often being uttered together.

  She looked at the closest gas station, then the other. Joel was nowhere to be seen.

  Flint started to pull at his leash.

  “Calm down,” said Jess, holding the strap firm.

  He sat, but his head flicked about at the sights and sounds around them.

  Mary walked up to them. “How’s everyone? Do you have enough water?”

  Shannon’s throat felt a bit parched.

  Mary turned around. “We have some more in the car, I’ll go get some…”

  Shannon walked across the junction. “Nah, I’ll find some myself, thanks.”

  Jess and Jasper looked at each other, then followed behind. Flint happily trotted along.

  Mary watched as the youngsters walked away from her, looked back to the others gathered around, then followed them across the road.

  The sky was relatively clear of cloud and Shannon was enjoying the brief walk across the gas station forecourt. A voice inside wanted her to run and not look back, but she knew that voice would get her killed, so instead, she headed for the station’s store which looked like it had not been looted.

  She walked to the glass door and looked into the shadows beyond. Packets of candy, chips, and drinks vied for space with car accessories, all sitting innocently on three rows of shelves against the walls.

  “Is it open?” said Jess.

  Flint barked in excitement of not being cramped in a small space anymore, then bounded around i
n a small circle.

  “Quit it,” said Jess to him.

  Shannon pushed the door, and, to her surprise, it swung back.

  She warily walked inside, holding the door open in case she needed to make a quick exit.

  Jess, Jasper, and Flint bundled past her.

  “Hey, wait!”

  Jess pulled one of the bright blue plastic packets apart. “These are maybe my favorites, here try…” she said to Jasper, who slowly pushed his hand inside and pulled out a rubbery yellow piece of candy.

  Mary stood near the door, nervously looking back to the cavalcade of people and vehicles a hundred yards away, while Shannon walked along the back wall, looking at the choice in beers. There was still a good selection of American and imported left. Images flashed past her eyes of getting drunk in the town square with her boyfriend. A smile was quickly dissolved by the pain of knowing she was alone in the world.

  A noise came from the small room behind the counter, and everyone in the store froze and looked in that direction.

  Shannon looked back at the others, raising her hand, then walked slowly forward. As she passed a rack of tire irons, she slid one from its clasp and held it up, then looked over the counter. There was only empty space. She pulled the counter top up slowly and walked towards the door behind. Above it sat a sign telling customers it was for ‘employees only.’

  Another rustling noise made her jump, and she backed into a display of car fresheners, making a few fall to the floor.

  “Come back, Shannon! There might be—”

  Before Mary could finish, Shannon pulled the handle down and kicked the door open.

  A high-pitch shriek had her falling backwards as a cat sprung out of the room and bounded over the counter for the door to the forecourt.

  Flint leapt from Jess’s grip, surging forward after the cat, trying to cut it off before it reached the outside world, but missed and smashed into a shelf of wine, causing the bottles to drop and smash.

  The cat streaked past Mary before she had a chance to move, and Jess and Jasper burst out laughing.

  Shannon started to chuckle as well, but stopped when the stench from the room behind her wafted past her nose.