by P. T. Hylton
Sarah could see the desperation in Fleming’s eyes and hear it in his voice. This speech was just an attempt to convince himself that it was true. She had seen the team members who survived the trip to the surface and heard their report. Fleming didn’t have the ability to cope with failure. Sarah didn’t know how to respond, but thankfully she didn’t have to.
There was a pounding on the door and a voice came from the other side. “Sir, we have a situation.”
Fleming glanced at Sarah. He hopped from his chair and hurried across the room. He opened the door, a concerned look on his face. “What situation?”
“There’s an intruder. Someone tripped the motion sensors on the fifth floor.”
Fleming’s eyes narrowed. “When and where?”
“An empty office on the west side. Happened less than five minutes ago.”
Fleming hurried back to his desk and tapped at the monitor embedded there. A moment later, security footage appeared.
“We don’t know how he entered the building without being detected,” the guard said, stepping into the office. We’re on high alert here. Every entrance is covered.”
Fleming ignored the man and squinted at the monitor, flipping from room to room on the fifth floor. When he found the footage of the intruder, he drew a sharp breath.
Sarah peered over his shoulder, and she too was startled by what she saw.
It was CB.
Colonel Brickman was standing in an empty office. He quickly moved into the hallway, and Fleming flipped the footage to the hallway camera. Then CB ducked around a corner and disappeared from view.
Fleming frantically flipped through footage, trying to find the missing colonel. With his other hand, he grabbed the radio off his desk. “Kurtz, this is Fleming. I need you to get everyone here, and do it quick! CB is in the building. I want you to make damn sure he doesn’t leave alive.”
Kurtz responded immediately. “I’m on my way. Stay in your office with the guards inside. I’ll have more posted outside the office soon. If CB is there, he is probably coming after you. He thinks taking you out is his only path to victory. Do not leave that room.”
Sarah watched as Fleming slammed down the radio. A vein stood out on his forehead, and his face was growing redder by the moment. Fleming always controlled the situation. He made people do what he wanted and forced the outcomes to conform with his will. Now one man was refusing to play by his rules and seemed to be a step ahead.
If Fleming didn’t get himself under control quickly, things could get much worse for everyone.
CB, Jessica, and Brian waited silently, gathered around the radio CB had taken from the leader of Fleming’s faceless GMT.
CB was beginning to wonder if they’d miscalculated or if maybe Fleming had seen through their ruse when a voice came through the radio.
“This is Colonel Kurtz. I need every badge that can hear my voice to converge on the Hub. Colonel Brickman is currently in the council building and ensuring he does not leave is our top priority. Get your asses over there, post haste. Kurtz out.”
CB looked at Brian and said, “My God, I can’t believe you actually pulled that off. Well done! How exactly did you do that?”
Brian tilted his head a bit. “It was pretty easy. I set up the footage of you overlaid with some of the security footage from the cameras in the Hub. I just had to make sure that it was in an empty room so that no one could verify if you were there or not. Once I had a nice new set of footage, I fed it back into the security system so that the camera itself interpreted the video I had made as live footage. I also made sure to trip the motion sensors for the area to get security to check the footage for that time. As far as they are concerned, you are sneaking around on the fifth floor of the council building.”
“Looks like Fleming bought it,” Jessica said. “He is probably shitting himself, thinking you’re going to burst into his office at any moment.”
“Great work, guys. We should have a pretty easy time getting around, at least for a little while.”
Jessica nodded. “We have our opportunity. Let’s make the most of it.”
CB smiled. “Then let’s get to work on taking control of the flight deck.”
11
Jaden lay on the ground, momentarily stunned from the unexpected attack.
Just prior to the first shot, Jaden had sensed something. It was battle rage. Not the type that the Ferals experienced, the blind explosions of emotion. No, this was the strange combination of fear, excitement, and trepidation that only a more advanced mind could conjure. He’d experienced it many times, in fact, always just before attacking his opponent.
He silently cursed himself for not picking up on it sooner. Things were muddled with all these Ferals nearby. Still, he should have caught it. He hadn’t and his team had paid the price.
Granted, if not for his warning, half the team would have fallen, but still. One loss was too many.
He looked to his left and saw Lesley on the pavement, clutching her stump of an arm. And suddenly—
It was 1919. Jaden had come to Chicago for a meeting of the vampires. He’d heard Gustov had created a new prodigy, bringing their numbers back to one hundred. A young woman. He met the new vampire in a bar off Water Street. She was dancing, but she sensed him as soon as he entered. She sauntered over, her skirt swaying with each step, every male eye in the place on her and a few of the female eyes too. When she reached Jaden, she didn’t greet him. Instead, she reached up and touched his cheek with her hand—
—the recollection came in a flash, unbidden, a sensory memory of those soft fingers grazing his cheek. Fingers on a hand that was no longer attached to Lesley. She’d survive the injury, but unfortunately, any hit from a fifty-caliber weapon was a serious one. The force had spun her around and thrown her against the truck. Her torn-off lower arm lay ten feet away from the rest of her.
But she hadn’t gotten the worst of it. She’d survive the injury. Tim and Adam had been in the cab of the flatbed truck, and they hadn't been so lucky. His memories of them—
It was 1708, a battlefield in northern France. Jaden had answered the call, coming to the aid of a vampire who was alone and being hunted. Jaden had been in the area on business involving a cannon and a general’s daughter, but the panicked feeling from a fellow vampire had sent him racing into enemy territory in the dead of night. He found young Timothy huddled in a latrine—
—were many. He didn’t have time to think about the tragedy now. The loss of potentially immortal beings he’d known since—
It was 1612. Jaden had been laying low in the new world for decades, but duty brought him back. In the shipyards, just after sunset, a cocky vampire had tried to sneak up on him. Jaden had easily caught him, grabbing him by the neck and saying, “If you want to last long, you’ll need to be much faster than that. Or else pick much slower targets."
—centuries ago. A loss that profound couldn’t be grasped. Not now. Not if he wanted to avoid losing anyone else.
Only moments had passed since the attack, but Jaden realized affording himself even a moment of reflection was too much. Thankfully, the gunfire from the rooftops had stopped. It wasn’t difficult to figure out why.
The Ferals gathered in the downtown area were already on edge, and the gunfire had been the fuse that blew the powder keg. Ferals were scurrying up buildings, clearly going after the sources of the gunshots. They were closing in on Jaden and his team too, apparently deciding that all those not like them were a threat.
The team didn’t need Jaden to tell them what to do. They went to work, clearing the area around their fallen teammates. Jaden quickly joined them.
He’d fought long odds many times in his lengthy life, but he might have been pushing his luck with this one. The Ferals around him pressed forward, closing in around the team.
The report of gunfire came from one the of buildings, and the Ferals froze a moment, then turned toward it. This wasn’t the sound of sniper rifles like before. This was autom
atic fire. It must be the unknown enemy trying to fight off the Ferals.
Unfortunately for them, their gunfire was attracting even more Feral attention.
There were still plenty who kept their focus on Jaden and his team. The vampires worked quickly and surgically with their swords, tearing through their attackers. They moved fluidly as they fought, aware there may still be snipers in those buildings and not wanting to give any of them a clear shot.
“Keep moving!” Jaden called to his team. “We need to get some cover. Head inside there!” He gestured to the nearest building.
The Ferals seemed to be coming faster and faster now. Jaden would need to focus on taking out as many of these bastards as possible and trust his team to make it to the building.
He glanced down at the ancient swords in his hands. He wasn’t generally the type to develop attachments to material possessions. He’d abandoned everything he owned—everything but these swords—more times than he could remember. But he’d forged these two blades himself after a century of practice. And after more than six hundred years of using them as his primary weapon, he’d developed a certain bond with the blades. They were extensions of his arms, of his very soul. A single thought could translate to the death of an enemy with a flick of one of these blades. And it often had.
Turning to the Ferals, he resumed his dance of death.
After he’d dispatched the three closest Ferals, he glanced over his shoulder to check in with Lesley. What he saw brought a slight smile to his face in spite of the circumstances.
She was no longer huddling on the pavement. The bleeding from her elbow had almost stopped, and her eyes blazed red. In her remaining hand, she held a sword, and as he watched, she swung at the nearest Feral. The blade bit clean through, and the head fell to the ground.
Jaden almost pitied the sniper who had removed her arm. She was a vampire in search of true vengeance, and he knew she would not stop until she got her satisfaction.
It didn’t take long for the team to make their way to the nearest building. According to the dilapidated sign, it had been a water-treatment facility.
“Lock’s already been blown!” Robert shouted as he reached the door.
“Then let’s get inside,” Jaden answered. The team made their way into the three-story building. When everyone was inside, he said, “Stay away from the windows. We don’t want to take any chances.”
He sent two of his team members to do a quick sweep for Ferals who may have wandered inside.
Robert marched up to Jaden, his eyes wide. “What the hell just happened? Who was shooting at us?”
Lesley joined them, clutching her injured elbow. “I felt them. They were vampires. How is that possible?”
“It had to be Mark and Aaron,” Jaden answered. As much as he hated to give that answer, he believed it had to be the truth. “Although they weren’t alone.”
“God damnit, Jaden!” Lesley shouted. “I knew we should have killed those bastards. And yeah, there were more than two of them. I counted at least eighteen shots.”
Jaden turned to the others and nodded. “Lesley’s right. Almost. There were twenty counters. I’ll forgive her missing two, as she was recovering from a sudden amputation at the time.”
Lesley held up her stump at Jaden.
He chuckled. “Are you giving me the bird?”
“You’re damn right.”
“If we could get back to the task at hand,” Robert said. “Err, no pun intended. I sensed a lot more than twenty.”
Jaden nodded his agreement. “If they had twenty snipers, who knows how many they had total.”
“How’s this even possible?” Lesley asked.
Robert grimaced. “Those idiots from New Haven keep coming down to the surface. Maybe some of them got turned.”
“We’ll get the answers eventually,” Jaden said. “For now, we should help them realize that they have just attacked the most skilled and fearsome team of warriors to ever set foot on this Earth. It is time to let them know that we are the hunters and they are the prey.”
“I like the sound of that,” Lesley admitted.
“We'll leave two vampires here in the building. The rest of us will spread out through the storm drains. We can come out on the other side of their perimeter and attack them from behind. Who wants to stay here and draw their forces into this building?”
Lesley once again raised her stump. “I want to take them on in close quarters. I’m going to rip their arms off and then stab them through the heart with the bone.”
“That seems highly inefficient,” Jaden says, “but it’s your call. Just don’t let your emotions make you sloppy in battle.”
“I’ll stay with her,” Akono said after a moment.
“Good,” Jaden replied. He looked over what remained of his team. “Let’s show them what experienced vampires can do.”
Firefly stared at the Ferals gathered below in the street surrounding the water-treatment building.
“I guess we know why Jaden has his people use swords,” Sharon said dryly.
Firefly turned, surprised to see her. Even with his vampiric senses, he hadn't known she was standing there. “Yes, it would appear the Ferals don’t like noise much.”
“Understatement of the year.”
Firefly grunted his agreement. How many of his soldiers had he already lost? He didn’t know, and he didn’t know how to feel about those losses. On the one hand, he would never see those people again. On the other, they’d been freed from this hellish existence. “The good news is the Ferals seem to lose interest quickly.”
“Yeah. It didn’t take long for them to chill out after we stopped fighting them.”
It did present a conundrum, though. If they wanted to take out Jaden’s team, they were going to need to use a lot more bullets. Which would bring the Ferals back down on their heads.
The good news was that Jaden’s team had taken up position in one building, effectively cornering themselves. Firefly’s soldiers were moving into position now, surrounding the building. Any vampires who tried to exit would be gunned down before they made it ten steps.
Firefly's radio chirped to life, and Aaron's voice came through. "How we looking, Firefly?"
“Almost in position.”
"Good." There was a long pause, and Firefly thought maybe his master was finished, but then Aaron continued. "One more thing. Don't attack the Ferals! We're not food, so if they don't see us as a threat, they'll leave us alone. Oh, and remember, Jaden must be taken alive. Do whatever it takes to make that happen. Take out the rest of his team, no matter the cost. Sacrifice yourself and every other soldier in the group if need be."
Firefly gritted his teeth at this poor display of leadership, but all he could say in response was, “Yes, Aaron.”
“That was two things,” Sharon remarked after he’d signed off.
Firefly chuckled, but there was no humor in his laugh. The fact that Mark and Aaron would sacrifice their entire army to take out a dozen vampires told him everything he needed to know about their leadership. He would give anything for the chance to take those two out. He just prayed he would someday get the chance.
“I’ve got the two teams of twenty-five ready to go,” Sharon said, getting back to business.
“Good. Who’s leading?”
“Dominic and Rodney.”
The two teams would enter from the doors on either side of the building and work their way to the middle. He'd given instructions for them to stay in tight formation and drive anything that moved toward the front doors. Then the teams waiting outside on the surrounding buildings would finish off anyone who fled the building.
It was a simple plan, but it was a solid one. All there was to do was to wait and see how it played out.
Lesley and Akono waited inside the ductwork, silent and unmoving. The enemy was coming, they knew. It had been a long time since either of them had faced an intelligent vampire in true to-the-death combat, and they were both looking forward to
the opportunity.
The sound of glass breaking came from the west. That would be the enemy breaking through the door on that side of the building, Lesley knew. She fought the urge to rush out to them, reminding herself of the oldest vampire rule: patience was the key to staying alive.
A sharp bolt of pain shot through her elbow and her hand went to it. Akono glanced at her, concern on his face, but he said nothing. She was an old vampire, and she could handle pain. She'd been through worse. Already, a new layer of skin had grown over the bone, and she could feel the bone pressing on it as it began to grow. The next few days wouldn't be pleasant, but at the end of them, she'd be as good as new with two working hands.
That didn’t make her any less angry about the situation, and she was looking forward to expressing that anger to whoever had just broken into this building.
She watched through a vent, waiting for the enemy to pass by. She didn’t have to wait long.
A group of twenty-five vampires filed past her location, every one of them carrying an automatic weapon. They moved slowly, carefully, checking every door as they went, but they appeared oblivious to her presence.
She shook her head in disgust. If they’d been more attuned to their vampire senses, there was no way she could have remained hidden while they passed so close. Sadly, the lesson she was about to teach them would be their last.
When the last two soldiers passed her vent walking side by side, she burst through, leaping into the air, sword drawn. She brought the sword around hard and sliced off two heads before her feet touched the ground. The moment her boots met concrete, she sprang forward, ducking into the office across the hallway.
Peeking through the crack in the door, she saw the other soldiers turn as the bodies of their two comrades hit the ground.
