The Savage Dawn

by P. T. Hylton

  Fleming immediately began tapping on his computer screen.

  Sarah felt like she couldn’t breathe. What the hell was happening? This vampire… it was as if he was controlling Fleming. She put her hand down, intending to use it to push herself to her feet, but her skin touched cold metal. She closed her fingers around it and pulled it toward her.

  “Are we recording?” Frank asked.

  “Yes,” Fleming answered.

  “Then begin.”

  Fleming cleared his throat. “After the council ruled against Resettlement, I decided that—”

  The sound of a gunshot cut off his words.

  Sarah held the rifle in a death grip, still pointed at Frank. He lay face down on Fleming’s desk, a small black hole in his back where the bullet had gone in. Considering the amount of black, inky blood on the desk, the exit wound had been much larger. Frank slowly slipped to the floor where he crumpled into a motionless heap.

  Sarah had done it. She’d killed the vampire. She slowly got to her feet and let the rifle slip from her fingers. “Fleming? Is that still you?”

  “Yes,” he said slowly, a smile growing across his face. “It’s me. But better.” He blinked hard. “And hungry.”

  Alex stood in the GMT control room, watching the security footage over Brian’s shoulder. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

  Her reunion with her friends had been short and sweet. The medical staff had gone to work on Chuck as CB quickly gave the rest of the team a high-level overview of how they’d unleashed Frank on Fleming. The GMT had then crowded into the control room to see the plan play out.

  Alex had watched on the monitors in real-time, her fingers digging into Brian’s shoulder as Frank drank from Fleming. And she’d watched in horror as everything went terribly wrong.

  The only person in the control room who didn’t hesitate when Sarah shot Frank was CB. He immediately grabbed the radio.

  “Jessica, you need to change course. Get us back into the light now! Fleming’s been turned.”

  On another monitor, Alex could see Jessica springing into motion. In mere moments, Alex felt the ship turning.

  Brian’s security feed made it clear Fleming felt it too. He looked up suddenly, then dashed out of his office.

  “Oh shit,” Alex said, the realization hitting her. “He’s going after Jessica.” She turned to CB. “I don’t suppose you have another vampire locked away somewhere.”

  CB’s face was stone. “I’ve got something better. I’ve got you.”

  Alex turned to her team. “You hear that? We have one more vampire to kill tonight.”

  “Good thing we’re still dressed for work,” Wesley said.

  CB opened his mouth, and for a moment Alex thought he was going to give them some of his famous motivation. Instead, he said only one word.

  “Go.”

  Jessica stood on the flight deck, her back pressed against the controls. “So what you’re telling me is Fleming is on his way to kill me and you don’t know how to stop him?”

  There was a long pause. Then Brian said, “Yes. I’m sorry, Jessica.” Another pause. “Crap. He’s right outside the flight deck.”

  Jessica tried to steel her nerves. She held a gun she’d taken from one of the unconscious guards, and she’d aimed it at the door. Since Fleming didn’t need to breathe, Brian’s technique of sucking the air out of a room hadn’t been effective, but she knew a well-placed bullet could be. She just had to keep her cool.

  Something heavy smashed into the flight deck’s door, and a large dent appeared. The door wouldn’t withstand another hit like that.

  She glanced over at the controls, double-checking the auto-pilot was still engaged. They were at least five minutes from daylight, but maybe if she stalled, Fleming would waste enough time killing her for the ship to get back in the sun.

  She ran across the room to the farthest point from the controls.

  Just as she’d predicted, Fleming’s next hit ripped the door right off its hinges.

  Fleming strode into the room. His usual politician’s smile was gone, replaced with an expression of stony anger.

  “Fleming,” Jessica said. “How have you been?”

  “I’m a bit dead at the moment. A condition that has me avoiding sunlight. I need you to turn the ship around. Now.”

  “I’d love to help you, Fleming. Seems like you’re having a bit of a day and could use a break. But I’m an engineer, not a pilot.” She nodded toward the unconscious pilot on the ground. “I guess we’ll just have to wait for him to wake up.”

  Fleming’s lip curled in a snarl. “Quit stalling.”

  “I’m not. I just—”

  And then Fleming was in motion. By the time Jessica realized he was moving, he was already across the room and had his hands on her shoulders. He leaned in close so his dead face was less than an inch from hers.

  “If you don’t turn this ship around, I will bite you. You will be my eternal slave, and I will make you kill every one of your friends.” He paused. “Although it would be my first time, so I might accidently kill you. Could go either way. I would suggest changing course right now unless you want to find out which horrific way things end for you.”

  Alex sprinted toward the control tower at the front of the ship, cursing the bulky GMT gear she was wearing. She was still fully decked out from her mission. If she’d only thought to ditch some of the heavier equipment.

  Still, she was pulling away from the rest of the team. All of them were in good shape, but none of the others could run like Alex. With every scream of her burning lungs, she reminded herself that her friend Jessica was alone and that Fleming was coming for her.

  Fleming. How many times had Alex wished she could get him alone in a fight? Now it looked like she was going to get the chance. Only Fleming would have such a physical advantage that she had almost no hope of winning. She’s seen the vampires fighting the Ferals at night when Jaden and his crew rescued the GMT. She’d watched the vampires sparring in Agartha. While a brand-new vampire wouldn’t be up to their level of finesse, he’d still have the same speed and strength.

  The thought of facing a vampire at night made her shudder.

  The thought of saving her friend and punching Fleming in his smug face kept her going.

  As she reached the building, she saw the front doors were smashed in. It looked like Fleming had already been through here. She followed the path of destruction, knowing she was close on his trail. She could hear pounding on metal and crashing coming from up ahead. Fleming was in the building, breaking through all the doors on his way to the flight deck.

  As she started up the final set of stairs, she glanced back. The rest of her team was too far behind. She couldn’t wait for them. Jessica needed her help now.

  She reached the top of the stairs and felt a wave of despair as she saw how Fleming had demolished the heavy metal doors. How could she possibly take down someone so strong?

  She stepped onto the flight deck and saw Fleming, his hands on Jessica’s shoulders. Jessica’s back was to Alex, her body blocking any clear shot Alex might have at Fleming. They were at the front of the room, directly in front of the large glass wall that looked over the expanse beyond the nose of New Haven.

  “I’m not going to turn the ship,” Jessica said coldly. “Do what you have to do.”

  Something sparked in Alex’s mind. She remembered the sparring session she’d watched in Agartha. One moment in particular. When one vampire had thrown the other.

  A thought had gone through her mind when she’d seen that: Vampires are subject to the laws of gravity and physics. In the air, a vampire was just as vulnerable as anyone else.

  “Bad call,” Fleming said. He bared his teeth, preparing to bite.

  No more time to think; Alex had to act.

  She raised her pistol. “Fleming!”

  He turned, and his eyes widened, clearly shocked to see her alive.

  She fired four shots so quickly that someone w
ho didn’t know might have thought her pistol was an automatic.

  Fleming looked down, checking to see if he was hit. When he saw that he wasn’t, he smiled. “Maybe the great Alex Goddard isn’t—”

  He stopped as a loud cracking sound came from behind him. He turned just in time to see the glass shatter outward from the four bullet holes.

  The room depressurized and the air rushed out, sucking Fleming and Jessica out with it.

  Alex didn’t hesitate. She sprinted across the room, half running, half carried by the suction, and dove through the window after them.

  The three of them tumbled past the edge of New Haven and into the dark void beyond.

  Alex maneuvered herself into a dive, trying to cut an aerodynamic line to catch up to the other two. Fleming snarled as he saw her coming. He let go of Jessica and tried to angle himself toward her.

  Jessica screamed as she fell. She was spinning wildly, the space between her and Fleming quickly increasing.

  Alex glanced at Jessica, silently hoping she could hold it together for just another moment. Then Alex raised the pistol still clutched in her hand. She took careful aim as the wind rushed by.

  Fleming flailed, trying to gain control of his fall. He stared at Alex, the look on his face revealing his complete bafflement at how she’d gotten the better of him and why she’d thrown herself down after him.

  Alex held the gun as steady as she could and squeezed the trigger. The round went straight through Fleming’s forehead.

  She was pretty sure that he was dead, but pretty sure was not good enough. Not where Fleming was concerned.

  She drew her sword and dove toward his suddenly limp body. As she reached him, she swung hard, knowing this would take more force than normal. Her sword bit into his neck, decapitating him.

  For a long moment, Alex stared at his severed head falling through the air.

  She couldn’t believe it. The fight was finally over. Fleming was dead.

  Alex allowed herself just another second to stare, then she dove toward Jessica.

  The engineer was still spinning wildly, but Alex reached out and caught her arm.

  Alex pulled her in and shouted, “Hold on!”

  Then she activated her jetpack.

  Thank God she hadn’t had time to take off her gear.

  The jetpack struggled and coughed under the weight of two people. It held them aloft, but Alex wasn’t sure it would be enough to get them back up to New Haven.

  Then Owl’s voice came through her headset. “Need a ride?”

  In the distance above, she saw another, smaller ship pulling away from New Haven.

  “Yes!” she shouted.

  Alex and Jessica floated in the dark sky, clutching each other for dear life as they waited for the away ship to arrive.

  Epilogue

  Firefly walked the corridors of Agartha aimlessly, much as he had every night for the past two weeks.

  Jaden, the vampires, and the people of Agartha had all welcomed Firefly and the former Resettlers to the city. The newcomers were provided blood and places to sleep, though some of them had to bunk three to a room due to space constraints.

  Despite the warm welcome, it was clear the presence of nearly two hundred new vampires was causing some upheaval in the city. Everything from the supply of blood to the question of what the new vampires were even supposed to do with themselves was up in the air. Jaden and his vampires had a strict routine, but more than doubling their number had thrown off their well-ordered lives.

  But to Firefly, the worst of it was being left alone each night with his tortured thoughts. He was having a difficult time grappling with everything that had happened. He’d dedicated his life to keeping humans safe from vampires, and instead he’d gotten an entire settlement killed. Not to mention Robert, who he’d personally murdered.

  And now he had an endless, meaningless life stretched out in front of him with nothing to fill it but regret.

  He sensed two vampires moving in behind him, and he greeted them without looking back. “Hello, Jaden. Hello… is that Natalie?”

  “Nicely done,” Natalie said. “Got it in one. You must be learning our scents.”

  “Can we talk to you a minute?” Jaden asked.

  “Of course,” Firefly answered, the surprise clear in his voice.

  Jaden led him to a corridor deep in the interior of the mountain. It was a part of the city Firefly had yet to visit. “I’m sorry I haven’t been around much these past two weeks.”

  “It’s all right,” Firefly said. “I’m sure you have better things to do than babysit me.”

  Jaden chuckled. “Indeed. I’ve been doing some thinking, and I’ve had a few insights. I spent time grieving, thinking about my friends who died in Denver. But then I suddenly remembered my Shakespeare. ‘We few. We happy few. We band of brothers.’”

  “Sorry, you lost me. Shake what?”

  “Ugh, don’t get him started,” Natalie groaned. “If you give him the least bit of encouragement, he’ll do the entire Saint Crispin’s Day speech.”

  “That was one time,” Jaden protested.

  “Yes, but we were trying to fight off the second wave. The Battle of Pittsburgh, wasn’t it? Not exactly the time for speeches.”

  Jaden turned back to Firefly. “The point is, I realized you’re part of the vampire brotherhood now. We take mentorship very seriously, and it’s time we start teaching you what being a vampire truly means. We have a lot of work to do if we want to set things right.”

  “Set things right?” Firefly asked. “Fleming’s dead. Mark and Aaron are dead. Agartha and New Haven are safe.”

  Jaden laughed. “You’re still thinking like a human. Yes, the immediate threat is defeated, but what about the larger one? You think this world is as it should be? You think it’s meant to be filled with Ferals, too dangerous for humans to even set foot here during the night?” He shook his head at the stupidity of the idea. “Look, Fleming was a fool for moving on such an aggressive timeline and for just sticking a bunch of humans behind a thirty-foot wall and thinking they’d be fine. But he wasn’t wrong about one thing. Agartha and New Haven won’t last forever.”

  Firefly nodded slowly. “I guess we should start coming up with a plan.”

  Jaden burst out laughing again. “Start? What do you think we’ve been doing these last one hundred and fifty years? We have a plan. We were just missing one element.”

  “What’s that?” Firefly asked.

  “You.” Jaden reached a door and scanned his keycard. The light next to the door beeped and Jaden turned the handle, looking back at Firefly with a sly smile.

  “Wait, what?”

  Jaden waved him inside. “Come. See.”

  Firefly stepped into the large room. The walls were covered with maps, mostly of places he’d never even heard of. Hand-drawn circles and writing covered much of their surface. “What is this place?”

  “It’s our war room,” Jaden said. “It’s where our plan is going to come together.”

  Firefly noticed another man standing on the other side of the room. He greeted Firefly with a nod.

  “Ah,” Jaden said, “You two haven’t met. Firefly, this is Frank. He’s a fellow New Haven resident. Former resident anyway. He moved down here to enjoy our less sunny atmosphere.”

  Firefly sniffed and noticed no human scent coming off this man. Frank was a vampire. “I don’t understand. How could a vampire—”

  “We’ll explain it all,” Jaden said. “For now, just know that he’s a friend. He helped take down Fleming. Even took a bullet to the chest.”

  “Missed my heart by an inch,” Frank said with a smile.

  “It’s about time you had some good luck,” Jaden pointed out. He turned back to Firefly. “Frank has a role to play in what’s to come, too. His knowledge is going to come in handy.”

  Natalie elbowed Jaden in the ribs. “Quit being so coy. Just tell him.”

  “Fine.” Jaden’s face grew more serious.
“Firefly, you and your people dedicated yourself to Resettlement. To bringing the humans back to the surface. That fight isn’t over. In fact, it’s just beginning. We’re going to make sure you see it through.”

  Firefly shook his head. “I still don’t understand. Why me? Why us?”

  “Because you’re the link between humans and vampires,” Natalie explained. “I haven’t been a human in centuries. And this guy,” she cocked her thumb at Jaden, “they literally hadn’t invented windmills the last time his heart beat. But your vampires are still connected to the humans.”

  “It won’t be easy, and it won’t be quick,” Jaden explained, “not even by vampire standards. But I think we have a plan to make it work.”

  For the first time in two weeks, Firefly felt a spark of hope. After everything he’d been through, every mistake he’d made, maybe there would be a way to truly help the world. Maybe his existence could have a purpose after all.

  “What’s the plan?”

  Jaden and Natalie exchanged a glance.

  “Tell him the other part,” Natalie said.

  Jaden looked at Firefly. “For this all to make sense, you need to understand something. You’ve heard about the three waves of vampires that destroyed humanity, but there’s more to that story. A lot more. There are things that happened during the infestation that humans can never know. But as a vampire, you must know them. That’s our burden. And it may hold the key to true Resettlement.”

  “What things?” Firefly asked.

  Jaden nodded toward the still-open door. “Shut that. Then I’ll tell you the real story of how civilization fell.”

  Firefly walked to the doorway, his knees shaking ever so slightly, not sure if he wanted to hear what Jaden was about to tell him.

  Then he closed the door.

  Though it was only six thirty in the morning, the GMT workout facility was already bustling with activity.

  Patrick and Ed took turns at the squat rack, trying to outdo each other both in terms of weight lifted and insults hurled.