The Savage Dawn

by P. T. Hylton

  “Holy shit!” one of the soldiers cried out. He looked like he couldn’t have been more than twenty, and based on his poor reflexes, he hadn’t been a vampire long. Lesley almost felt sorry for him. Two of his friends had been killed and the attacker was nowhere in sight.

  “Hey, look at this,” another soldier said, gesturing toward the open vents.

  “They’re in the walls!” someone shouted. “Light 'em up!”

  Lesley dropped to the ground as the soldiers began shooting wildly, peppering the walls and ceiling with automatic fire. She silently cursed as she lay there, hoping she didn't catch a stray bullet. Her hopes of facing an intelligent vampire in combat were quickly slipping away. This was amateur hour. These soldiers might technically be vampires, but they didn’t know enough to understand what that term fully meant. They were simply prey that was already bled dry.

  When the soldiers finally stopped firing, there was a moment of silence. Then a lone howl came from the north. Another joined it. And still more, coming from every direction now.

  Lesley grimaced as she gripped her sword. These idiots had just made things a lot more complicated.

  Firefly barely dared breathe as the howls of angry Ferals echoed off the surrounding buildings. From the sound of gunfire, it was clear the team that had entered through the west door had encountered the enemy. But the gunfire had stopped, so either that had been a surprisingly quick victory or…

  He didn’t want to think about the alternative. He brought his radio to his lips. “Dominic, I need a report when it’s safe to do so.”

  The reply came instantly through his earpiece. "We engaged with the enemy, sir. We've got two men down."

  “Damn it. Did you take any of them out?”

  There was a long pause. “I don’t think so. We didn’t actually see—”

  Another burst of gunfire cut off the rest of Dominic’s words.

  It was quickly followed by a burst of gunfire from the eastern part of the building.

  A noise came through his earpiece, something like a gurgle.

  “Rodney?” Firefly asked. “Is that you?”

  A female voice answered. “Rodney’s dead, sir. He was standing by the wall and a sword just stabbed him through the chest like it had come from nowhere.”

  Firefly cursed as he heard the news. He’d been a fool to send these barely trained rookie vampires against experienced warriors. But it hadn’t really been his choice, had it?

  “Sir,” the female voice continued, “I think they escaped, but I’m not sure.”

  “How many did you see?”

  “None. Just the sword.”

  Firefly’s mind raced. He realized he had no idea what to do here. Should he send in more troops or withdraw the ones already inside? He sorely missed the days when he’d been a member of the GMT and his job had been to blow up obstacles rather than outthink them.

  At the ground level, Ferals were surging toward the water-treatment building, drawn by the gunfire. There had to be a thousand of them down there. Some bashed their way through the doors while others scaled the walls and smashed the windows to get inside.

  “Everyone out of the water-treatment building!” he shouted into his radio. “You’ve got Ferals incoming. A lot of them. Don’t fire on them, just get the hell out of there!”

  The sound of gunfire once again filled the air, but this time it was coming from behind Firefly. He spun toward it, confused.

  The Ferals on the street all turned toward the sound. Then, after a moment, some headed toward the gunfire while others turned back to the water-treatment building.

  “We’re under attack!” someone shouted through his radio. He knew that voice. It was Hector, who was stationed on a building nearby.

  “The Ferals?” Firefly asked.

  “No, I don’t think so. Somehow, they got behind us. And they have swords.”

  A chill ran across Firefly’s cold, lifeless skin.

  Jaden’s vampires were attacking.

  12

  Jaden and his team made their way through the storm drains and under the buildings. Four of the vampires had branched off to the north, and the other three, including Robert, stayed with Jaden.

  As they walked, Robert sidled up next to Jaden. “So, what do you think? How’d Mark and Aaron get their army?”

  Jaden had his suspicions, but he wanted to hear what the other vampire thought first. “Give me your best guess.”

  Robert thought a moment. “Well, unless they snuck a bunch of blood out of Agartha, which wouldn’t have been possible, they couldn’t have restored Ferals. I guess that means they turned humans.”

  “Yeah,” Jaden agreed.

  “So, I guess that means New Haven.”

  “Yeah,” Jaden said again, glad his friend was working it through. “They’re armed. Mark and Aaron left Agartha with nothing. So, unless New Haven crashed and Mark and Aaron just happened upon the crash site, there’s only one plausible explanation. Fleming didn’t listen to my warning.”

  “You think they set up a Resettlement colony already?” Robert asked. “I thought Alex said they’d only been seriously talking about it for a few months. That would be insane.”

  “Sure. Insane if you know the stakes as well as we do. But remember, humans are short-sighted and impatient. That’s always been their downfall. I’ve been thinking of Resettlement in terms of centuries, but I’ve forgotten how abstract that concept would be to a human. It’s so difficult for them to see beyond their own lifetimes. Something to remember in our future dealings with them.”

  Robert chuckled. “Jaden, you’re the only creature I know who would take the time to discuss the limits of mortal imagination during a battle.”

  “What can I say? I enjoy multitasking.”

  Robert shook his head. “You know, it’s not just humans who are impatient. Mark and Aaron have had their army, what, a couple days tops? Otherwise Alex would have known about it. And they’re already attacking us.”

  “Perhaps. Could be they saw us being out as an opportunity too good to pass up.” He saw the tunnel branch off ahead. “You and the other three go to the left. I’ll go right.”

  Robert raised an eyebrow. “You sure you want to go alone?”

  Jaden grinned, raising his swords. “I’ve got my two best buddies. I’ll be fine.”

  He walked until he was three blocks from the water-treatment building, then exited through one of the drains onto the street. Looking around, he confirmed he was alone, then he scaled the nearest building.

  When he reached the top, he looked around and grimaced at what he saw. Mark and Aaron’s army was in position on most of the buildings surrounding the water-treatment plant. The army was much larger than he’d thought, at least a couple hundred strong. That wasn’t counting the Ferals, who would likely lose control and attack once the fighting started again.

  There had been nearly three million people living in the Denver metro area at the time of the third wave, and most them were now Ferals. If the fighting got too intense, it could bring every one of those Ferals crashing down on them. If that happened, his thousand years of existence could end today. Even he couldn’t take on three million battle-raged Ferals.

  If Jaden and his team were going to survive this night, he had to make certain that didn’t happen.

  He sensed vampires approaching, and a moment later he saw them walking through the alley below, totally unaware of his presence. He scanned the fire escapes and saw a few more soldiers, all with their guns trained in the direction of the water-treatment building.

  As he moved into position, he heard gunfire. Clearly Lesley and Akono were engaging with the enemy. That meant the time was right to hit them from behind.

  Just as he reached the alley and drew his swords, certain he’d caught these new vampires unaware, a Feral howled somewhere in the distance behind him. One of the soldiers turned and spotted Jaden. His eyes widened in surprise.

  Jaden wasted no time worrying about this bi
t of bad luck. To him, being spotted was as good as a starting pistol at the beginning of a race. He leaped forward, his swords raised.

  The soldier who’d spotted him moved impressively fast, raising his weapon and squeezing off a round before Jaden reached him. He miscalculated Jaden’s speed and the shot went wide.

  Jaden instantly rewarded his mistake by burying his sword in the soldier’s left shoulder and driving it down and through his heart. He didn’t wait for the soldier to fall, but turned to the vampire next to him, his sword already in motion.

  Impossibly, the man brought his rifle up in time to deflect Jaden's blade a moment before it would have sunk into his neck. The soldier tried to lower his rifle, but before he could fire, Jaden swung his other sword. The man's head flew across the alley, landing near the feet of his fellow soldiers, who were all turning toward Jaden now and beginning to fire.

  There were too many for Jaden to face head-on, especially with how well armed they were. He ducked behind a car as bullets tore through everything around him. He grabbed a headless body and threw it at the soldiers on the fire escape. The troops tracked the body and fired at it, perhaps thinking that it was Jaden.

  While they were still distracted, he broke through a door on the left side of the alley and charged into the building.

  Inside the water-treatment building, Lesley watched through a vent as the remaining soldiers met in the lobby. It was clear they were on the verge of panic. The sounds of Ferals crashing into the walls came from all around the building. Shattering glass, cracking wood, and howling. With every new sound, the soldiers pushed tighter together.

  Lesley rubbed at her stump. It was starting to itch now, which was probably a good sign but was annoying as all hell. She’d only killed two of the soldiers, and beyond that, all she’d accomplished was freaking them out. And now that forty-seven of them were gathered in one room like this, it would be suicide for her to attack. So she just watched.

  She saw a flash from across the room in another vent and knew it was Akono signaling her. Good, at least she knew he'd made it through. If it did come to a fight, it would be two on forty-seven. Still not great odds, even against these new bloods.

  Not that it would be a good idea to jump into the middle of a fight between the Ferals and these vampires. Best to let them kill each other and see what remained in the aftermath. Besides, Jaden and the rest of the team were taking care of the bulk of the soldiers outside.

  As the first of the Ferals burst into the room, Lesley wondered how she and forty-six of her more seasoned vampires would have handled this situation. It would have been difficult, but they would have tried being passive. It may have been enough to calm the Ferals, or at least get them to ignore them and continue searching for the source of the noise. If that had failed, they would have attempted to push the Ferals back far enough to clear an exit and escape.

  These green vampires were too panicked to attempt either technique. As the Ferals flooded the room, the soldiers unleashed a storm of automatic gunfire. They mowed through the Ferals, blanketing every entrance with a barrage of firepower.

  For a few brief moments, it seemed as if the full-on assault was going to work. They pushed the initial wave back. Lesley was reminded that vampires—even green ones—were physical matches for the Ferals. Their speed, reflexes, and even their aim was much better than any human’s. Most of their shots landed where they wanted them to, in the head or chest of a Feral.

  But the success didn’t last long. The Ferals screamed and howled as they fell, but still they kept moving forward, the horde behind them pushing ahead. The Ferals’ bodies started to stack up in the three entryways leading to the lobby. Many of the Ferals were injured but not killed, and they dragged themselves forward in an attempt to reach the soldiers by any means necessary.

  Lesley tried to see through the doorway to get a feel for how many Ferals were out there, fighting to get inside. Her view was partially obstructed, but she could see far enough to know there were hundreds and hundreds of the beasts trying to fight their way into this room.

  She clutched her sword and waited. As much as she wanted to join this fight, she knew her best chance at survival was to remain hidden.

  Some of the soldiers were reloading now while others continued to fire into the ever-approaching throng. Try as they might, they couldn’t seem to kill the Ferals fast enough.

  A Feral broke through a wall leading to the lobby, while another came crashing through the ceiling. Still the troops refused to give up. They fired in all directions now even as the swarm of Ferals came faster and faster.

  One of the Ferals charged through a pile of bodies, picking up one of its fallen comrades and hurling it into the ring of soldiers. The corpse slammed into one of the soldiers, knocking him back and creating a break in their formation.

  Sensing weakness, the Ferals charged that spot. This time the soldiers had no chance of killing the enemy before they reached them.

  Lesley cringed as Ferals tore apart the soldiers, who stubbornly clung to their weapons, refusing to use their new vampiric skills to battle the Ferals hand-to-hand even in the closest of situations. Soldiers were pulled down and ripped apart everywhere she looked.

  Then something near the center of the cluster of soldiers caught her eye. A man with a massive backpack. He slipped his arms out of the straps and set the pack on the ground. Opening the flap, he quickly began tinkering with whatever was inside.

  Lesley squinted at the pack, trying to see through the opening as the chaos raged around her. She didn’t know why she was so interested, but her instincts said it was important.

  The vampire took a long look around the room, watching as his fellow soldiers fell. Then his expression hardened and he turned to the pack on the floor.

  Ferals were pouring into the lobby from everywhere now. It wouldn’t be long before the soldiers were completely overrun. Still, the man’s focus was on his pack rather than the battle.

  Lesley’s eyes widened as she realized what the man had been carrying. She frantically tried to signal Akono to tell him they needed to get out immediately. But in her heart, she knew it was too late.

  The man reached into the pack and armed the charges. Then he reached for the switch.

  From outside of the building Firefly watched, knowing the battle was lost. As soon as the soldiers started to kill the Ferals entering the building, the ones being attacked panicked, which sent a mental signal to those around them that there was a hostile presence. Other Ferals were drawn by the signal, until they too panicked, strengthening the unspoken message.

  Even Firefly could feel it now, a strange, cascading wave of fear, excitement, and rage that seemed to grow stronger by the second. The feeling was so strong that it made him want to throw up.

  And still more Ferals were drawn into the fight. They seemed to come from everywhere, swarming into the building.

  Firefly thought about issuing an order to stop firing, but that would just mean the soldiers would be ripped apart even quicker by the frenzied creatures. He didn’t know what to do, so he just watched in horror.

  As things went from bad to so much worse, he stood with his finger on the button of his radio, wanting to give some heroic speech, or barring that, at least a few words of comfort for his troops in their dying moments. Still nothing came to mind, so he watched dumbly.

  The exterior of the water-treatment building was so covered with Ferals that the walls seemed to be moving. Piles of fallen Ferals clogged the entryways, and the creatures had to fight each other to get into the narrow openings. Some pulled at the bodies, trying to clear the path, but most were too frenzied and only wanted to get to their enemies as quickly as possible.

  The most hellish part of watching was that time seemed to move slowly for Firefly as his vampiric mind raced to process every detail of what was happening below. Even though the Ferals moved at incredible speed, he could perfectly follow their every movement. Every howl echoed through his head with perfec
t clarity. It almost felt like he could see things a moment before they happened.

  But he was not expecting what came next.

  For the briefest of moments, a brilliant light shot out of the doors and windows of the water-treatment building. The light was followed by an incredible wave of force.

  The blast tore the entire building apart in an instant. The Ferals around the doors were incinerated. Pieces of wood, concrete, and metal shot out in every direction. Shrapnel peppered the Ferals near the building.

  Firefly was about two hundred yards away from the building and the concussion wave hit him like a lead pipe to the chest. He was lifted off the ground and thrown back into the wall behind him.

  He lay on the ground a moment, not sure if he could move. If he were still human, he would never have regained his hearing, but his new body was already healing.

  He struggled up to his knees and looked at the crater where the building had been a minute ago. There were hundreds of Ferals trying to get up around the large hole. Many of them were missing limbs or had large chunks of meatal or rock embedded in their twisted bodies.

  Still, to Firefly’s shock, they continued to push toward the source of the blast.

  As Firefly’s mind cleared, he realized something was very wrong. There was a vibration coming from inside of his chest. He thought he might be coming apart from the inside out. Then his hearing came back, and he realized the vibration was not coming from inside him; it was coming from all around him. The Ferals of Denver were howling in unison. The deep vibration shook the entire city. A million beasts were unleashing their battle cries in unison.

  Firefly searched the concrete until he found his radio. He brought it to his mouth with a shaky hand and gave one order. “Take cover. They are coming.”

  13

  Alex found George standing on a balcony that overlooked a garden near the center of Agartha. She’d gotten a tip from one of the technicians that George often came there to be alone and think, especially when he was worried about something. Twenty minutes and four wrong turns later, she’d finally found the garden. Its only occupant was the director of engineering. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice her until she spoke.