by Maxey, Phil
“What the hell was that?” he shouted.
She sighed, then walked and sat on the nearest pew. “That’s a long story.” Fifteen feet away, a child looked out from a small gap in a door at the back of the church. She smiled and waved. He waved back. She looked at the old man. “My names Anna. What’s yours?”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Marina staggered out from the thick network of leaves and stalks to a landscape devoid of forest. The others were far behind, apart from Alfredo and Sophia who were closer.
As she walked forward jumping from one uneven broken slab of stone to another, moving towards what used to be the pinnacle of the mountain, a flattened landscape came into view.
“No… no…” she said as she climbed higher, scrambling over a mix of boulders and dirt until finally stopping, wavering on the edge of a massive piece of splintered stone, a newly formed ledge which looked down to a crater.
“It can’t be…” she said under her breath.
What used to be quarter of a mile of forest, covering the mountain summit, was now a depression. A noise came from behind but she remained looking at the quarry-like terrain of dust and rock.
Alfredo stood by her side. She briefly looked at him, “It was here… It wasn’t like this. There was an entrance to the temple…” She wasn’t sure if he was listening, for his eyes were wide. He jumped down from the ledge. “Wait! It could be dangerous!” She jumped down too, following him as he quickly made his way lower until they were both standing in the bottom of the bowl shaped terrain.
Soldiers appeared at the rim, looking down at them, then Maddison.
Alfredo picked up some rocks, then let them drop back to the ground. “It’s gone…”
“I don’t understand,” said Marina. “How could this have happened?”
He looked at her, his mouth half open when Galloway appeared at the ledge above. She waved them back up.
They both climbed back to the top.
“This… can’t be our fault,” said Marina. “The place was old yeah, but sound, solid, there’s no way...” A memory of the night before struck her, but one with a conclusion so absurd she couldn’t regard it. She looked at the general. “Last night I saw lights in the sky, over the base. Aircraft.”
Galloway looked bemused. “Nothing was cleared to fly last night. But even if they were, what would that have to do with… a cave in? I don’t understand your thinking here, Marina.”
The younger woman turned away, trying to make sense of the crater. “I don’t know… could this have been caused by an explosion?”
The general screwed her face up in disbelief. “Even if it could have happened like that, why? Why would someone from the base want to destroy the temple?”
Marina’s eyes widened. “You have a spy! Someone from the corporation is on the base! They destroyed the temple to stop the fourth king from waking up, or whatever it is they do! And now—” She looked back at the thousands of tons of fractured rock. “— They have. You have to find them!”
Galloway shook her head then looked at Maddison. “What do you think? Could this have been caused by explosives?”
The young woman traced her fingers over a large split boulder. “Possibly. But to be sure we would have to move thousands of tons of rock to get to some that has explosive residue on it.”
The general turned to Winston. “You suspect anyone on your staff? Hardly anyone knew about this place.”
The colonel rubbed his chin. “Not until now I haven’t.” He looked at Alfredo who was standing with Sophia a few feet away, seemingly looking beyond the rubble. “What about your team, Alfredo? Anyone you’re not sure about.”
“I trust my team,” he said without turning around.
“Well, maybe it was just a case of bad luck,” said Galloway. “The temple hasn’t been entered for who knows how long, maybe hundreds or thousands of years.” She looked at Marina. “You and the boy could have triggered something. Maybe it was meant to collapse if someone entered it?”
Marina sighed, shaking her head. “I don’t know…”
Galloway looked back at the crater. “Well, whoever is under all of that, is now truly dead, and can’t help us. No matter what that sarcophagi was made from, it couldn’t have withstood all of this rock on top of it.” She looked back to Marina. “But I will keep what you said in mind. We should be more careful with how we disseminate information in the future. Just in case.” She looked back at the path they had come up and the soldiers seated around her. “There’s nothing for us here. Lets get back.”
*****
The sound of children laughing filled the large area inside the church, which was filed with kids. Kizzy’s hand flopped back and forward like it was a snake, astounding and entertaining the youngsters in equal measure. Amos sat nearby smiling, while Corine sat with Barry, the young woman elevating a metal chair with another kid on it.
Joel stood near the entrance watching Anna talk to the old man at the opposite end of the room. She nodded then turned and walked to him.
“His name is Hector Santos,” she said. “He was the groundsman for the church when the scourge hit. He doesn’t know how he got infected, but he woke up one morning not liking the sun and really wanting blood.”
“Has he taken lives?”
“He says he hasn’t. Been hunting since he was a kid. He just went out into the wilderness and killed animals. Slowly the kids starting showing up at the church. The priest here was with him for a good while until a vamp got him. He’s been looking after the nine kids, ever since.… And he wants us to leave.”
Joel’s eyes flicked to Hector then back to Anna.
She stepped in closer. “We can’t leave these kids here, Joel. Sooner or later if vamps don’t get them, the corporation will.”
He knew she was right, he also didn’t see how they could travel with a troop of kids. He nodded then walked over to the old man, who had his shotgun across his folded arms. “What do you know of Puerto Rico?”
“I know I do not like people from Puerto Rico. That is what I know of Puerto Rico! When are you leaving my town?”
“Do you know what you are?”
Hector looked down briefly. “I… am a vamp. I do not know why my mind is still my own. Got lucky I guess. As did you and your friends.”
“You’re a hybrid. Half vamp, half human. I presume it’s why you were able to look after these kids.”
Hector straightened his back. “I might look like an old man, but I was in the army many years ago. I know how to fight. Demons or human.”
“Vamps are not demons… we’re not demons…”
Hector raised his eyebrows while nodding towards Kizzy who now had an extra arm.
Joel frowned. “She’s not a demon… it’s complicated.”
“Outside! I saw the winged beast! Tell me he is not el diablo!”
Joel went to talk again, when the church door opened and Dalton appeared then walked along the aisle to where the two men were talking.
“You find anything?” said Joel to him.
Dalton shook his head. “Nothing bigger than a rowboat.”
Hector narrowed his brow. “What are you looking for?”
“Something to take us to Puerto Rico. Then we can leave, like you want.”
“You need something larger, or you will all drown.”
“We know… why?”
“If I show you where you can get what you need. You will leave, yes?”
Joel nodded. “We will.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“There has to be a spy in the camp. Someone with access to aircraft,” said Marina. She was standing with Evan and Clara in her apartment. She looked across them for their reaction.
Evan was seated on the end of a sofa. He briefly looked down. “Maybe it was a cave in? We don’t know what us being in there could have done…”
“Do you really think that? You don’t think it’s convenient, that just when we discover the tomb of the last king, it gets
destroyed?”
“I don’t know… I’m just saying we shouldn’t discount it happened naturally.”
Marina looked at Clara. “What do you think?”
The only human in the room looked away, her mind working behind her eyes. “Corporation people could have been in Jankle. Maybe some came with us to the island. It’s what I would have done if I were them.” She looked back at the woman in front of her, nodding. “I’ll look into it.”
“Be careful. If I’m right then they will probably know we’re on to them.”
Evan shook his head. “I can’t believe it’s all gone… all that time it was sitting there. The king in his tomb, waiting to be brought back, and now he’s dead for real.”
Clara put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t sweat it. We don’t know if he would have been with us. Maybe he would have sided with the corporation.”
He shook his head. “Not from what Joel told us of what he saw in his visions. The fourth king was against the others…” He sighed.
An idea pinged inside Marina’s mind. She turned and grabbed her jacket. “Can either of you look after Jess and Jasper for an hour? I need to talk to someone.”
Evan nodded. “Sure.”
She picked up Flint and Shadow’s leashes, and without having to whistle for either animal, attached the leather straps to their collars after they came running.
The sun in the street outside the apartment was so intense she felt as if a weight was pushing her into the ground, and she made a vow to find a hat at some point over the coming days. Both dogs pulled her towards the nearest tree, where they peed and proceeded to shelter under. “You feel the heat too, eh?”
She walked quickly out of the cul-de-sac and onto the main road, which from memory took her in the direction she needed to go. Moving along a path through a forest, she passed triangular bomb shelters almost lost to nature. Heavy chains sat across their rusting doors. She kept on going, moving faster because of the two dogs pulling her along and came out at a road with warehouses either side. She quickly orientated herself then set off again, hopefully in the direction of the headquarters.
Walking along, past a metal fence, Flint barked at something on the other side, but from her view, all she could see was mostly wall. She continued until she arrived at an open gate, an entrance to a series of large warehouses, sat both sides of a concrete path. Flint barked again.
“Sshh!” she said, then looked around at an apparent lifeless scene. She went to move away when she heard the sound of voices and then the nearest door sprung open. A disheveled looking older man staggered forward.
“Lady, do you have food?”
She shook her head. “Sorry, no… What is this place?”
An elderly woman’s face appeared in the shadow within the doorway. “She got food?”
He briefly looked back. “Be quiet woman, you’ll scare her away.” He focused again on Marina, a smile growing across his face. “Do you know those in charge? Can you ask them to give us more food? We’ve been donating our blood like they asked, but the food packages have stopped being delivered. We got young’uns back inside—” He gestured towards the first warehouse. “— They’ve been crying cos they’re hungry see.”
Concern spread across Marina’s face. “Are you from Jankle?”
“Yeah, most here are, but there are some that been on the island from before… you know before the disease hit.”
“And you’re sleeping in these…” she looked around. “Warehouses?”
“Yup.”
She thought about the empty luxury apartments, her own home was surrounded by. “But this was meant to be temporary.”
“No one said that to us! They just keep coming, asking for the blood!”
“Can I look inside?”
He stepped aside. “Not sure why you’d want to, but sure.”
She looped the two leashes over the iron gate, and followed the old man through the doorway and into the dark, her eyes quickly adjusting. Despite being glad the radiation from above was no longer slowly cooking her skin, she stood aghast at the site and smell of the cavernous space filled with people. The lucky ones had tents, others had to make do with partitioned off areas made from parts of wooden crates or worse a combination of cardboard and plastic.
A baby screamed in one of the shadow infested back corners.
The two dogs started barking, and this time they didn’t stop. “Sorry, I have to see what’s happening. But I’ll be right back.”
The old man nodded then frowned, and she quickly ran back outside just as a humvee pulled up and two soldiers jumped out, one waving a rifle in her direction.
“Ma’am, this area is off limits to civilians!”
She grabbed the leashes just as one of the dogs threatened to pull theirs free of the gate. The rifle was now pointing at Flint, who was growling in return.
“Ma’am, control your animals!”
“Okay, Okay! I’m leaving!” As she walked away, she looked back at the old man being pushed back inside by one of the soldiers.
*****
A spindly green leaf sprung back and hit Corine smack across her cheek. “Ugh! Watch it Amos!”
He smirked but kept on going. In front of him was Joel, Anna and the rest, with Hector at the front, leading the way through the heavy lush undergrowth.
“How much longer!” shouted Corine to anyone who would listen ahead of her.
Hector turned with a smile. “Big bad demon getting tired are we?”
She frowned, and he turned back to the trees, laughing.
Suddenly he stopped, then ran forward leaving the others behind. Joel ran to keep up and burst out from the trees. A heavy arm flicked across his chest, which he ran into, then staggered back. They were both standing on a cliff edge, towering a hundred feet above rocks, and a pale blue sea which stretched to a hazy horizon.
“Oh you got to be kidding me,” said Corine. “Where’s the boat?” she said to Hector looking over the edge, as was everyone else.
“Ah, I see as a demon, you do not have faith!” She rolled her eyes, making him chuckle again, but then he caught Joel looking at him. “It is here. You just cannot see it from—”
A gust of wind was accompanied with the sun being eclipsed and Copeland, his wings extended, glided past above them, then dived to the base of the cliffs. Hector frowned.
“Where is it?” asked Joel.
Hector walked along the grassy ledge. “Follow, and you will see.”
Joel and Anna exchanged a brief look. The former groundsman had insisted they all go with him. He would not trust any of the strangers alone with the kids. So everyone, including Barry had been trekking through the forest for over an hour. It had crossed Joel’s mind that the old hybrid could have been leading them all into a trap and he had spent most of the journey pushing his senses to their limits, and scanning every shadow.
Hector stepped off the cliff to what looked like nothing, but instead he landed a few feet lower down on a rocky outcrop, then continued down a dusty stone ridden path, only a few feet wide with only certain death ninety feet below.
Anna looked back to Barry. “Stay in Barry and stay close.” The boy nervously agreed, and the group kept descending, quickly making it to just above sea level, where to everyone’s surprise was an entrance to a cave. Without pause Hector moved into the void in the rock face, pushing some reeds to one side. The sea continued to crash against the pieces of rock below, covering everyone in spray.
Anna tugged on Joel’s arm, pulling him back for a moment. “You’re not sensing anything, right?”
He shook his head. “No, but my senses don’t go through rock too well. There could be anything in there.”
“You coming or not!” came from the small dark entrance.
Joel pulled away and entered the cave. The space was narrow but good enough for an adult to walk without having to bend over too much, and he followed the path which echoed with the sounds of waves around two bends until he came out to
a much larger space.
“You see! Did I not tell you!”
A luxury superyacht sat in a huge cave. A natural marina for the boat. Copeland was stood on the top deck.
“Woah, cool,” said Barry.
“Yes!” shouted Kizzy. She high-fived Amos standing to her side. Dalton grunted then nodded.
Nelson pushed past Hector who frowned at him, and jumped aboard the front deck of the hundred-foot long boat.
“I think it belonged to smugglers or something,” said Hector. “Then the disease came, and no one came back for it. So congratulations. Now you have a boat. Goodbye!” He turned and disappeared back into the tunnel.
Anna’s eyes grew large as she nodded to Joel. He quickly followed, catching the old man at the exit near the sea.
“Hey wait!”
Hector continued up the path. “I have given you what you wanted, now you can leave!”
Joel sped forward moving past him in a blur, then spun around, stopping the old man in his tracks. “We will leave.”
“Then what do you want!”
“There are thousands of vamps in the major cities. And now you know, there are other things. You’ve been lucky so far in your town, but if—”
Hector pushed past him and kept ascending. “I do not need your help!”
Joel sighed, then an idea came to him. “We need fuel!”
Hector slowed.
“For the boat. There’s not enough to get us to Puerto Rico. But I presume you know where some is in the town?”
The old man stopped, but remained facing away. “Come to the jetty off the beach before you leave, there will be some waiting for you.”
“Thank you…”
Hector continued to climb.
CHAPTER TWENTY
