The Lycan Chronicles

by Schroeder, Brent

  Nate ran back into the station and quickly tore his clothes off, in preparation, while yelling for everyone to assume their positions. “The Vampires are coming and fast! Let’s get out there and take a stand! Brad, Tony, Wayne, let’s do this! Someone get this door secure after we leave and get into place! MOVE!”

  “About damn time!” Clyde said with a laugh. “Boys, take the windows, I got the front door!”

  “Ross, you take the other window and I’ll take this one,” said David, pointing his finger.

  “Got you covered, brother! Let’s waste these fuckers!”

  Nate, Brad, Tony and Wayne finished removing their clothes and they headed out the door, already in mid-transformation; they rushed out together on all fours… as the Pack.

  The two black vans came to a screeching halt, sliding sideways, with smoke blowing off the tires, as they came to a halt in front of the station. Both van’s side doors opened up and an arsenal of firepower from the mounted Gatling guns, was released upon them.

  JD and the rest of his brothers scattered in every direction, to avoid being hit. The Gatling guns unloaded three thousand rounds a minute into the station and everyone hit the floor, as the glass and concrete fragments sliced through the air. When both of the Vampire’s guns went dry for reloading, five more fully-armed Vampires jumped from the back of the vans and started to fire on the station, with a storm of automatic gunfire.

  The Moore brothers gave the Vampires a taste of their own medicine, as they laid their mini-cannons on the windowsills, returning fire and riddling the vans with thousands of reinforced wooden bullets, blowing up the tires and blowing out the windows, leaving both vans smoking in the streets.

  “Eat my wood, fuckers!” David yelled at the top of his lungs.

  To the Moore’s surprise, five more fully armed Vampires jumped from the back of one of the vans, firing upon the station with automatic arms. Clyde kicked open the front door with his minicannon in hand, barrel spinning and spitting bullets at the enemy. He held down the trigger of his gun, mowing down the masked gunmen, blowing up both of the vans in a fiery explosion and blinding everyone, as they all shielded their faces from the several explosions, as there were massive amounts of ammo in the vehicles, launching scraps of shrapnel, slicing through the air.

  “How do you like that?” Clyde yelled. “You rotten bastards!”

  “You got ‘em, pops,” Ross hollered, “good shootin’!”

  “Look out, dad!” David yelled, pointing in front of him.

  Before Clyde could move, a Vampire, who was hiding behind a tree, unloaded an entire magazine into Clyde’s chest, sending him flying backwards into the station. His blood splattered and gushed and Clyde was dead before he hit the floor.

  JD and the rest of the Pack let out a howl, as they flew through the air, jumping from the station roof, taking down the shooter and ripping apart the other Vampires who were still moving. The Moore boys dropped their weapons and rushed to their father’s side, as JD transformed back to human form, hurrying back into the station, to discover that Clyde had been shot.

  “Our father’s dead,” David said, kneeling over the body. “Did we at least get Mason? Tell me, my father didn’t die in vain… tell me, we got that fucking bastard.”

  “Sorry, David, Mason wasn’t with the group… it was only his goons,” JD had to say. “But, we will track him down and kill him, I can promise you that.”

  “We’re not leaving town, until he’s dead,” Ross promised, trying to choke back his anger-filled tears. “That’s what our father would have wanted.”

  “We’ll find him,” JD swore.

  David reached down and closed his father’s eyes, just as Nate yelled from outside. “You better have a look at this and NOW!”

  JD and the Moore brothers grabbed up their weapons and left the station to see what appeared to be a small army of townspeople walking towards them, all wearing hats and dark sunglasses.

  “All of you, go back to your homes!” JD yelled out to them. “Or, we’ll open fire!”

  There was no response and the group continued walking towards the police station, with no sign of emotion on any of their faces. The Pack recognized the smell of the undead, so they quickly transformed back into Lycans.

  “What’s going on?” asked David.

  The Vampires suddenly bared their fangs, screaming towards the station, some running and leaping over cars and flying through the air. JD let out a howl and charged at the first wave of Vampires, swinging his razor-sharp claws and chomping with his sharp, gleaming teeth, ripping and tearing through the crowd.

  Sarah and Wendy each grabbed a window and opened fire with their AR-15s, while the Moore brothers fired their mini-cannons. Everyone gave it everything they had, blowing them away, until there was nothing left standing in the middle of the street, except for the Pack and a whole mess of dripping piles of goop, left behind from the Sunlife formula.

  One Vampire had managed to get by and he flew through the front door, crashing into a wall. He got up and hissed, baring his fangs, as Wendy and Sarah turned their arms on him, pumping out bullets, until their magazines were empty. JD’s son, Sebastian, grabbed a fire axe from the wall and he swung, chopping off the Vampire’s head, as the blood gushed everywhere, before it melted into a mysteriously colored ooze.

  “Got him!” JD’s boy proudly stated.

  JD rushed into the station to help, but it was already under control.

  “I told you we could take care of ourselves,” Wendy said, gloating. “He’s not getting back up.”

  “I didn’t doubt you for a second,” replied JD, hugging her. “I’ll be back. We need to get things cleaned up and I have some phone calls to make. That’s one big fucking mess we have out there.”

  Back in his office, JD made another call to Jerry Davich at the newspaper. “Jerry, it’s JD. I need you down at the police station, right now. We got a real mess on our hands… again.”

  “Just what kind of mess are you talking about?” Jerry asked, already stressing out. “Nothing like last time, I hope. You guys are going to give me a freaking nervous breakdown, with this crap.”

  “Just get here, as soon as possible and I’ll explain,” JD said in response. “And, don’t screw around, hurry!”

  A half-hour later, Jerry arrived on the scene, with the look of utter disbelief on his face. “Please, tell me those people aren’t ripped apart and filled with bullets holes. And, what the fuck is all that nasty green shit all over the place? What the hell do you want me to write? That a tornado came through town, strapped to the teeth? Seriously, I’m a good writer and some of what I write is full of shit… but come on, already! I’m not a member of Congress, or any sort of politician, for that matter!”

  “No one likes a smartass,” JD said back. “I don’t know, college boy, I’m sure you can think of something. Just don’t take any pictures of the bodies.”

  “Ya think?”

  “Jerry, if I wanted sarcasm, I’d speak with my wife.”

  Jerry reached in his pocket, pulling out a prescription container, popping a Xanax and downing it with bottled water. He thought about it and popped another one. “I’ll think of something, but there are a lot of people that are going to be missing.”

  “Ya think?”

  “Being a smartass isn’t going to help the situation,” replied Jerry. “Now, is it?”

  “Yeah, I guess not,” JD said, smiling. “Carry on.”

  JD and everyone else spent the rest of the early morning picking up dead bodies, throwing them onto a flatbed semi-truck, driven by Nate and they used shovels to scoop up the oozing remains, left behind from the Sunlife. JD was trying to tape off the area, as quickly as possible, noticing a few people finally beginning to approach the scene of chaos.

  “Hurry up!” JD barked. “I want this cleaned up, before anyone else sees this fucking mess!”

  Everyone worked hard and Nate drove the bodies out to an open field on the outskirts of town. He
was wishing that the freshlyturned Vampires would’ve fed on some humans before Mason had dipped them in Sunlife, wondering if there would’ve been a lot less goop to clean up.

  Driving a bulldozer, Brad dug a hole for the mass grave, about thirteen feet deep. The bodies were dumped and doused with gasoline and JD threw in a match, setting them on fire. Everyone backed up, as the bodies burned and the Sunlife gave off a toxic, chemical smell, with a whirling green cloud of smoke bellowing into the sky. When the fire had finished burning down to almost nothing, Brad pushed the dirt back over the smoldering bodies, as Wayne helped out, throwing grass seed over the mass grave.

  “So, what’s the next plan of action?” asked Nate.

  “Track down Mason Rockwell, Jason Cross and Skinny Limpkins and kill them. No prisoners,” JD stated, winking. “Is that simple enough for you?”

  “My thoughts, exactly,” Nate agreed.

  Just then, JD’s phone rang. “What can I do for you?”

  “JD, it’s Leon, I’m still at the Vampire club. I got the information you were looking for.”

  “What do you get?”

  “I did some snooping around and sure enough, there’s a secret lab hidden below the club. I don’t know what’s down there, but Mason and Jason are hiding there, right now. Skinny split out of here a while ago.”

  “Thanks, Leon. We’ll be there shortly and I suggest you not be there when we arrive… it’s going to get bloody.”

  “There’s a brick that I marked with a small X, down at the end of the hall behind the bar,” Leon said, before letting him go. “I’ll leave the hatch unlocked… good luck, JD.”

  ___________________________________________________

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Later that afternoon, after the mess had been cleaned up from the streets, a press conference was held at Wolf Creek Town Hall. Jerry Davich and Dr. Covey stepped up to the microphones, to answer questions from reporters about what had happened. There were concerns about the bodies being burned without anyone knowing.

  “I have investigated the situation here, today, but I think it’s best to let the doctor explain. Here is Dr. Covey,” Jerry said, as he passed the microphone over to the doc.

  A man yelled from the crowd, “You’re full of it, Davich, you freaking Polack!”

  Jerry ignored the heckler, as the doctor began speaking into the microphone. “A group of terrorists, who traveling through Wolf Creek on their way to Washington DC, set off a dirty bomb. Their vehicle broke down at the other end of Wolf Creek near the police station,” Dr. Covey lied. “Sheriff Davidson and a few of his men noticed the vehicle parked illegally and they approached to investigate. In the process, the sheriff noticed high-tech, automatic firearms in the back of the disabled vehicle. The assailants immediately opened fire on the sheriff and his men and the fire was returned,” he went on. “One of the men retreated to the inside of their van and he threatened to detonate a bomb. Sheriff Davidson and his men attempted to evacuate the area, barely escaping the blast of the chemical and shrapnel-infused bomb. Unfortunately, many people came outside to see what was going on and were caught up in the blast. Their bodies had to be burned and buried, due to the high levels of toxicity in the chemicals, that were used to manufacture the bombs.”

  “Why were the bodies not given proper burial?” asked a reporter. “What about their families? Didn’t they deserve some type of closure?”

  “The bodies were considered a biohazard and they had to be contained for the safety of everyone. It was imperative that they be immediately destroyed,” the doctor explained.

  “Thank you, Dr. Covey, another question. Are the terrorists and the destruction of Mayor Rockwell’s mansion, related in any way? I understand that the mayor is still missing.”

  “No, the two incidents do not appear to be tied together and the fire marshal has declared that the source of the fire was electrical. And, unfortunately, yes, Mayor Rockwell is in fact missing… please, report any information to Sheriff Davidson.”

  “Are there any safety concerns, regarding the surrounding community?” asked another reporter.

  “Yes, a few of the streets surrounding the Wolf Creek Police Station will be closed for the following days, until a hazmat team can correct the situation and the proper crime scene investigation can be completed.”

  Jerry took back the microphone. “Thank you, that’s all for now and we’ll keep you updated. No more questions, please.”

  The town’s people and the unsuspecting reporter continued to holler questions, but the men ignored them and moved inside the town hall; Jerry and Dr. Covey could barely stomach the story, themselves.

  “Do you think they believed that crock of shit?” Jerry asked.

  “I don’t know,” replied Covey, shaking his head. “Only time will tell.”

  JD and Nate jumped into Wendy’s truck and the Hunters jumped into one of their black sedans, heading straight for the Vampire club, where Leon said Mason was hiding with Jason Cross. About a halfhour later, the men arrived to the spot where they would leave their vehicles and they began the twenty-minute walk that would bring them to the entrance of the underground club. JD and Nate remained as humans, as they walked side-by-side with the Moore brothers, who looked like wild bears, as they stomped through the woods, carrying their large mini-cannons and cases of ammo.

  They finally made the arrival, at the base of the large stump that would lead them down into the club. JD climbed up and opened the hatch that Leon left unlocked… and then everyone stopped, to assess the situation that they now found themselves in. The climb down will be a piece of cake for JD and Nate, but the Moores were already quite large and were holding a lot of heavy equipment.

  “Ross and I will never make that climb back up! Especially with all these weapons,” David whined.

  “David’s right! We’re the size of bulldozers,” Ross agreed. “And, we ain’t no tree climbers… how the hell are we supposed to get back out?”

  “Nate and I will pick you guys up and we’ll just carry you… we’re Lycans, remember?” JD told him, adding a smile.

  “Hey, that works for me,” said David, “if you think you can lift us.”

  Nate shot JD a look; the thought of having to touch either one of the Moores disgusted him more than the idea of burning another batch of dead bodies, whether he was going to be in Lycan form or not.

  JD took a look down the ladder, not hearing any sounds or sensing any movement. There was the usual stench drifting out, that JD always thought resembled that of a sewer of death. Smoke poured out of the open hatch, as the men discussed a plan of action.

  “Who wants to go first? I’ll send your cannons in after you.”

  “I’m not going first, make David go!”

  “Fuck you, Ross, you go first!”

  “Fuck you both, I’ll go first,” JD said, putting an end to the argument. “Just send me down your weapons and shut the fuck up,” he snarled, having had enough of the two numbskulls. “And, don’t go dropping any of that shit on my head, either. Just be patient.”

  “We could just send David down there and he could smoke ‘em out with one of his nasty, mustard gas farts!” Ross said, wearing a cheesy grin on his greasy face.

  “Hey fuck you, Ross,” replied David, who actually thought it was funny, laughing himself.

  Nate just slapped himself on the forehead and then got to work, assisting the brothers with lowering their mini-cannons, using a thick rope, before they all climbed the ladder down into the club. When they all finally made it down, the place was empty and felt much like a morgue… cold as ice. JD was more used to seeing the place filled with Vampires, drinking shots of blood and strippers working the poles, but nothing moved. To JD, it was eerily quiet without a band playing on stage; silent as a forgotten tomb.

  JD put his finger to his lips, hushing them, as he guided his crew through the club, casing the place, as everyone pointed their weapons, making sure the place was empty. When they reached t
he bar, JD stepped ahead and cleared the path, checking behind the curtain to make sure that no one was guarding the hallway. Seeing that there wasn’t anything blocking their way, the men followed JD to help look for the secret door. Remembering what Leon had said, they found the brick that was marked with a tiny X, which would open up the hidden entrance, leading to the staircase down to Mason’s lab.

  JD reached into the black leather bag he was carrying and he pulled out two incinerate grenades; they were his last two, that he’d brought back after serving in Desert Storm. These grenades would produce twelve thousand degrees of instant flash heat, instantly destructing any matter that it came in contact with.

  He pushed the brick and a wall began to move a few feet away. The Moore brothers kept their weapons trained on the door, as Nate and JD looked down the curling staircase, that was lit by small torches fixed into the brick walls. JD sniffed the air and, sure enough, he could smell Mason Rockwell and Jason Cross, but strangely though, he couldn’t pick up a heartbeat from Jason; he knew right away that Mason had finally turned him. Unfortunately, for the two of them, they were now trapped like rats and the only escape for Mason and Jason… was past JD and the Hunters.

  Jason had finally taken his painful turn being dipped into the Sunlife vat, as they made their final preparations to leave town. The two carried on, thinking they were safe, not knowing that they’d been discovered. Just a few more small stacks and they’d be finished counting up the money from the bank jobs. Mason would give Jason his cut of a mere five percent, but Jason didn’t care, since Mason had turned him like he’d promised.

  Jason was counting fast; he was ready to feed on his first human and make his transformation complete. He was eager to possess the full power of a Vampire and gain his wings… and he was just plain hungry.

  Mason thought he’d heard something, looking up to Jason who stopped putting the bundles of cash in his bag.

  “Shah!” Mason whispered.