by P. T. Hylton
She was right, but there was another concern, one Simmons had no choice but to bring up. “Owl, if we go after them and die, this control panel equipment will sit here and rot while Haven losses power. They’ll be forced to land, and humanity will die.”
Owl looked shocked at the suggestion. “You’re saying we just leave them down there?”
“Of course not. I’m just saying we have to look at all possibilities. One of which is that we take this equipment back to Haven and return with reinforcements in the morning. CB said they’re safe for now.”
“Did you not hear CB’s story about his first team? They may be safe now, but come nightfall, it’s going to be a different situation.”
“I heard the story, but we’re talking about steel doors and concrete walls. This is a nuclear facility. It was built to withstand disaster.”
Owl stepped forward and jabbed a finger into his chest. “First of all, we don’t even have all the parts. For all we know, the most important components are still down there. Secondly, if you think I’m going to abandon my friends to die down there, you don’t know me very well. I don’t care what you do, but I’m going to fight like hell to save them.”
Simmons smiled. He was done playing devil’s advocate. “I was hoping you’d say that. As soon as our moment comes, we’re going in.”
***
Alex, CB, Firefly, and Drew pored over Jessica’s instructions one last time, trying to identify the remaining parts to determine what was essential to bring with them. They sifted out what they could fit into their packs. It would mean leaving some of their mission equipment behind, but one way or another, they wouldn’t need it. An hour from now, they’d either be dead or safely aboard the ship and headed back toward New Haven. Either way, they probably wouldn’t need a hand shovel or a multitool.
The group had unanimously agreed they weren’t going to wait in here until nightfall. They had no idea how many vampires were out there. Their odds of fighting their way out of the tight spot they were in were incredibly slim indeed, but what choice did they have but to try?
Each moment that they worked through the remaining equipment, the pressure of their quickly diminishing time became heavier. Sundown was in less than an hour. If they were going to act, it needed to be soon.
They’d been so cocky. Splitting up, clearing floors, and assuming the animals were too dumb to stand a chance against their strategic maneuvers. Over the hours of dismantling the control panel, they’d grown even more comfortable. Firefly’s insistence that the vampires were all sleeping on G10 seemed foolish now.
Alex promised herself that if she somehow managed to get out of this mess, she’d never be complacent on the surface again. Next time she came down here, she’d be a holy terror, a vampire hunter without mercy or hesitation.
Her eyes settled on the blueprint of the reactor CB had found. He’d set it on the ground next to Jessica’s instructions. She thought about what Simmons had said earlier…that they’d likely put the control room on the lowest floor possible.
She looked up suddenly. “Guys? Why’d they put the control room on G9 instead of G10?”
CB looked at her blankly for a moment, then he got it. He grabbed the blueprint off the floor, looked at it for a moment, then smiled.
Chapter 27
The team huddled close together so they could hear each other over the clamoring of the vampires.
Alex held up the diagram. “G10 is the utility level. It should be mostly clear. That means if we can get down there, we’ll have a straight shot to the stairwell. The vampires are piled up around the door, right?”
Firefly smiled. “I like where you’re headed with this.”
“What if there are still vampires in the stairwell?” Drew asked. “If we have to stop and fight them, the others will figure out what’s up and join the party.”
“That’s where Simmons and Owl come in,” CB said. “They have to rover back in the away ship. Once we give them the signal, they’ll activate the Daylights, which should fry the majority of vampires in the stairwell. Then we haul ass topside and get the hell out of here.”
Alex looked at the blueprint again. This was their best shot at getting out alive. More importantly, it was their only shot at getting the equipment in their packs back to the ship. She turned to Firefly. “What do you say? Can you put a hole in this floor and get us down to G10?”
“Oh, hell yes.” Firefly dove into his demolitions bag and began pulling out equipment.
After a little thought, Firefly decided they would need to drill into the floor, then he’d drop a charge that’d make a hole big enough for them to climb through. The drilling turned out to be no small task; the floor was two feet of solid concrete.
At times, while Firefly worked, Alex worried that maybe the vampires would hear the noise and go down to G10 to check if anything was happening down there. She shouldn’t have worried. They kept attacking the door and roaring with impressive vigor and consistency. It was becoming increasingly clear that Drew’s idea that they would eventually lose interest and wander off was nothing more than wishful thinking.
There wasn’t much for CB, Drew, and Alex to do except wait and watch. The temperature in the small room seemed to be rising by the moment, and the constant noise level of the drill combined with the frenzied vampires began to wear on Alex.
CB filled Simmons and Owl in on the plan over the radio, and he reminded them to stay on the ship and have it ready for takeoff. If things went badly down here, they were to take the parts to New Haven and return the following day to see if they could retrieve the remaining components. Owl said she was ready to activate the Daylights when CB gave the signal.
Drew and Alex went over the remaining components again, comparing them to Jessica’s instructions to make sure they were bringing the most vital ones that could fit in their packs.
It took Firefly nearly forty minutes of drilling before he was satisfied. His face was slick with sweat, but Alex thought she’d never seen him so happy. He was practically giggling as he set the charge in the floor.
“Sometimes I think he likes his job a little too much,” Drew said.
Firefly sauntered back to where CB, Alex, and Drew were huddled behind a piece of sheet metal from the control panel. “We’re all set, Captain.”
“Good. After the charge goes off, we have to move quickly. No telling how smart these bastards are, and we’re not taking anything for granted. Speed and surprise are our only advantages here. Move quickly, kill anything that isn’t wearing a black vest, and stay together. Questions?”
“Just one,” Alex said. “Why are all our missions so uneventful?”
Drew guffawed, but CB ignored the comment.
“On my mark, Firefly,” CB said.
They all crouched low, bracing themselves against the blast.
“Now!” CB yelled.
Firefly detonated the charge.
***
Alex rocked back on her heels, pushed by the force of the concrete debris slamming into the piece of sheet metal. The sound of the blast dwarfed the ongoing clamor from the vampires and even the earlier sound of Drew’s shotgun blast. She fleetingly wondered if her eardrums would ever be the same after today.
As the sound of the charge faded, she realized the vampires were in an absolute frenzy now. Bodies slammed against the control room door so quickly it sounded like fire from an automatic weapon. She hoped that meant they hadn’t understood what they’d done. Even considering that they might understand what the sound of the explosion had meant would have been ridiculous twenty-four hours ago; now, she wasn’t so sure.
Firefly somersaulted out from behind the sheet metal and scurried toward the hole. He pointed his headlamp down the hole for a moment, then turned back to where his teammates were huddled. “We’re good, sir!” He shouted the words, but still Alex could barely discern them over the sound of the vampires.
CB tapped Drew and Alex on the shoulders. “Go, go, go!”
Alex switched her headlamp on and dashed toward the hole. She leaped down without even looking.
She landed with a thud ten feet below and quickly rolled out of the way. She was glad she had a moment later when Drew slammed down next her. CB and Firefly quickly followed. They both landed gracefully compared to Alex and Drew.
Alex spun around and saw she’d been right about this place. It was wide open with only the occasional tray of electrical and telecommunications wiring between her and the walls in the distance.
The floor was dirt here, and it seemed to be spotted with what must have been one hundred tiny hills. No, she realized a moment later, not hills. Graves. Firefly had been right about one thing—the vampires slept down here.
It took her a moment to get her bearings. She had to look up through the hole to G9 to orient herself. The sound of the vampires abusing the door of the control room up there was muffled here, and she relished the comparative quiet as she figured out which way it was to the main stairwell.
She found it and pointed at it. “There.”
“Let’s go!” CB shouted.
The team took off, running close together, dodging spools of wiring and hopping over piles of dirt and empty graves. In a few moments, they were at the door to the stairwell.
Alex was the first to reach it. She grabbed the doorknob and turned to Drew, who’d been the next to arrive. “Cover me.”
“Roger that.” He leveled his shotgun at the door.
Alex stepped out of the way and pulled the door open.
As soon as the door was open, a tall, gangly vampire leaped through, its fangs bared and its claws outstretched, hissing as it came. Drew fired, dropping it before it even passed the threshold.
Another immediately took its place. This time, Alex dropped it with a flurry of shots to the chest. As it fell, she caught a glimpse behind it. The vampires were jammed tight all the way back to the wall with more on steps.
“Holy shit,” she muttered as she shot the next one in line.
“Owl, lights!” CB yelled into his mic.
The Daylights came on with an electric thum, and the vampires began to scream. They caught fire as quickly as old parchment under a lit match. They wriggled and staggered as they burned. One stumbled through the door toward the team, and CB put it out of its misery.
The burning only lasted a few moments, then the vampires seemed to dissolve from the outside in. They crumbled, turned to ash, and fell to the ground. A moment later, the stairwell was empty.
“Well, I guess those work,” Alex said.
Simmons’s voice came from somewhere high up the stairwell. “Guys, you need to hurry!”
“What the hell is he doing?” CB said.
Alex agreed with the sentiment. Simmons and Owl were supposed to wait on the ship and be ready to take off.
“You heard the man,” CB said. “Let’s go!”
This time, CB led the charge himself. Drew and Firefly stormed after him with Alex pulling up the rear.
The air in the stairwell was thick with dust.
“You guys know we’re breathing vampires, right?” Firefly shouted as they dashed up the stairs.
“Dude, shut up!” Drew said.
Alex put the thought out of her mind. She didn’t have time to think about the possible implications of breathing well-done vampires into her lungs.
As they passed the open door to G9, Alex looked inside and saw vampires lined at the edge of the Daylight’s beam. Some nipped at the air as she passed, clearly furious at their inability to pursue their prey.
When she was almost past the door, something whizzed by her head and hit the wall near her. As it clanked to the ground, she saw it was a piece of wood the size of her head, maybe ripped from one of the old desks. Part of her wanted to shoot the vampires in the doorway just for throwing stuff at her, but her survival instinct won out. She kept running. She was so close to Firefly she was almost stepping on his heels.
As she rounded the steps to the next level, something on G9 caught her eye. She spun just in time to see an old file cabinet soar through the air and smash into the Daylight. The landing went dark.
Through the dim illumination of her headlamp, she saw vampires cascading through the door, crawling over each other to get to the stairs. Many of them were holding objects, old office equipment they must have scavenged from G9.
A vampire carrying an office chair climbed past the others and stopped at the edge of the light from the next Daylight. He squinted up at the light, raised the chair, and took aim.
Chapter 28
Simmons stood at the landing on G2, his rifle aimed down the stairs. Vampires pushed through the open door to the level, jostling one another to get as close to the light, and the human standing in it, as possible. Simmons trained his rifle in the gap in the center of the stairwell. His team was on G6 now, but the vampires were getting closer. Apparently they’d figured out to smash the Daylights.
The gap in the center of the stairs wasn’t large, but he caught a vampire in his sites and dropped it as it ran past far below. He considered racing down to try to take out more of them, but he’d likely get in the way of the team’s retreat and do more harm than good.
It had taken a Herculean effort to convince Owl to stay back in the ship while he came to help. After CB had told them the plan, they’d spent a frustrating few hours aboard the ship, unable to do much more than twiddle their thumbs and hope for the best. When CB had said they were ready to retreat, there was no way Simmons was waiting on the ship. Yet they’d had to think practically, too. The sunlight was fading fast, and it was likely they’d have to cut a fast retreat. Owl needed to stay behind and be ready to get the ship off the ground the moment the last member of the team stepped aboard.
Now Simmons was wondering about the wisdom of his plan. He wasn’t doing much good here. The quarters were just too tight for his rifle to be useful. The last thing he wanted to do was get in his teammates’ way. He had to admit his best bet would be to head back to ground level and wait in the lobby. That way he’d be able to cover his teammates where there was a little more space if the vampires did manage to smash the remaining Daylights.
He ran back up to ground level, looked out the door, and froze. More vampires were in the lobby than he’d seen in any of the other floors he’d passed. They crowded in the doorway, pushing one another into the light in an effort to get closer to Simmons. He had to dodge out of the way as one caught fire and nearly stumbled into him.
He turned just in time to see a vampire barreling down the stairs from level 2. Cursing, he slung his rifle over his back and grabbed his pistol. He wasn’t as accurate with the smaller weapon, but it was much more manageable in this tight space. He dropped the vampire and gazed up the stairs into the darkness.
What the hell were they going to do? The team could probably clear the lobby given enough time, but time wasn’t on their side. Besides, if the vampires below smashed the rest of the Daylights while they were fighting the vampires in the lobby, they’d be trapped between two hordes. But what other choice did they have? He gazed up into the dark stairwell. Then he remembered something.
He spoke into his microphone. “Captain, the lobby’s a no-go. The vampires somehow beat us to it. There’s a shit ton of them in there.”
An impressive string of curse words was the only response.
“Sir, you remember the hole in the ceiling on level 3?” Simmons said.
There was a pause, then CB said, “Owl, get the ship in the air. Hover it above the building and open the cargo door.”
“Roger that, sir,” Owl replied.
Simmons took one last look through the door to the lobby. Far past the vampires, he could see the exit, and it sent a chill through him. The light looked far dimmer than it had only ten minutes ago. He heard a crash from below that he knew was another one of the Daylights breaking. No time to waste. He switched on his headlamp and ran up the stairs.
After what he’d seen today, Sim
mons was hesitant to even begin to guess how the vampires’ minds worked. He had no idea how much they were able to reason and how much they operated by pure instinct. However they’d come to their conclusion, they appeared to be focusing on blocking the team’s retreat through the lobby. Even if they were smart enough to think through other possible escape routes, they didn’t know about the team’s secret weapon.
All told, Simmons encountered five vampires on his way up to level 3. He’d only ever killed four of the creatures before this mission, but somehow five didn’t seem like a terribly difficult task after considering the horde he’d just seen in the lobby.
When he finally got to level 3, he dashed through the door, then quickly skidded to a stop.
Apparently, he’d sold the vampires short yet again. They had considered alternative exits. At least, some of them had.
A dozen vampires stood fifty yards down the hallway between him and the hub.
Simmons hesitated for only a moment before moving into action. He had no choice. This was their only feasible way out.
He put away his pistol and grabbed his rifle just as the first vampire spotted him and began to charge.
***
Alex dashed up the stairs, rounding the corner up to G7 just as the office chair smashed into the Daylight on G8, knocking it out. There were vampires crowded in the doorway to G7, and they too were throwing objects. How the hell had they gotten up here so quickly? They must have been using one of the stairwells on the other end of the building.
She was close at Firefly’s heels, racing upward as fast as she could. As long as she stayed in the light, she’d be fine. Well, as long as she didn’t get hit by the office equipment that was now flying through the air. Thankfully, the vampires seemed to be focusing their efforts on taking out the Daylights. They were doing a far better job of it than Alex would have thought possible, but the lights were still slowing them down enough that the team would be able to reach the lobby safely.
Simmons’s voice spoke in her ear. “Captain, the lobby’s a no-go. The vampires somehow beat us to it. There’s a shit ton of them in there.”
