by P. T. Hylton
“Lieutenant Goddard, you have field command of the Ground Mission Team. How you proceed is your call. Just keep your radio on. Brian and I are coming.”
“Thank you, sir. We’d better get moving. Ground Mission Team out.”
CB turned to Brian. “Let’s get the backup ship prepped.”
Brian nodded. “On it, Captain.” He headed toward the door, then paused. “I can’t fly that thing. Can you?”
“Just barely.”
“Good enough.” Brian started through the door, but then stopped. He backed up slowly.
A group of ten men entered the comm room. CB had never seen any of them before.
“Captain Brickman, could you please come with us? Councilman Fleming would like to speak with you.”
“It takes ten of you to ask me that?” CB growled.
“Captain, let’s not make this difficult.”
CB sighed. “Honestly guys, I don’t have time for this bullshit. I don’t know what you guys are doing, but I’m working on saving New Haven.”
The man who’d been speaking took a big step forward. He was standing right next to Brian now. “My apologies if I wasn’t clear. This meeting with Councilman Fleming is not optional.”
CB flickered his gaze to Brian. He wasn’t sure a lab geek like him would catch the meaning, but he didn’t have time to discuss it. “Once again, I’ll have to decline.”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” the man said.
He was looking at CB, so he didn’t see Brian’s telegraphed punch coming. The punch connected with the man’s jaw, and he spun like a top.
CB had time for one thought—God bless that nerd—before the real fight began.
Chapter 41
Alex, Jessica, Drew, and Firefly trudged through snow that came up past their knees. Every step was an immense effort. They’d been going for hours, yet through the heavy snowfall, it was difficult to tell if they were making any progress at all.
She began to wonder if she’d made the right call. Maybe they should have stayed on the ship as CB had ordered. At least they’d be conserving energy. The way they were going, even if they did manage to make it to NORAD, they’d be so worn out by the time they got there that a single vampire would probably be able to pick off the whole team.
Jessica moved next to Alex. To the Director of Engineering’s credit, she was keeping up with her hardened soldier companions.
“I’m worried,” Jessica said. The wind was howling loudly, but Alex somehow heard the words clearly over the din.
“Why’s that?” Alex said. “Other than the obvious.”
“We’re going too slow. At this pace, I’m not sure we’ll make it to the entrance and be able to get the parts out before sundown.”
The same thought had crossed Alex’s mind. More than that, it had been gnawing at her for the last twenty minutes. “It’s hardly worth worrying about now. Let’s keep moving. I think we’re making better time than it feels like we are.”
The words sounded hollow, even to her own ears.
Drew’s voice was strained when he spoke. “CB said he was on his way, right? Maybe by the time we get in there and gather the parts, they’ll be waiting outside the door for us.”
“Let’s hope so,” Alex said. She just hoped those guns didn’t shoot down the backup ship too. She should have told CB not to come until they figured out what was going on down here. Like he would have listened anyway.
Up ahead, the mountain rose dramatically, with a twenty-foot path cutting between two walls of snow.
Owl called to them from the seat of the rover. “That canyon takes us straight to the north entrance. It must have been a road.”
Alex didn’t much like the idea of putting her team in such a vulnerable position. If someone were waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack, that canyon would be it. But what choice did she have? The snow was coming down even harder now, and the parts they needed were down that path.
She drew her pistol. The gloves she wore were thin, and she was still able to operate the weapon easily, but it felt different somehow. There was a barrier, and she didn’t feel the usual comfortable sensation of skin against metal. “I want weapons at the ready. If something does attack, get against one wall and stay low.”
There was a flurry of metallic clinks as everyone prepared their weapons. Then they made their way into the canyon.
Up close, Alex realized the walls were quite a bit higher than she’d thought. The occasional glimpse of the top she saw through the snow let her estimate them about around two hundred feet. Her only comfort was that the visibility of anyone at the top would be just as poor. She doubted they’d be able to target the team from so high above. Although they could lob down a mess of grenades. No need for accuracy when sheer force would do.
The team stayed silent as they moved through the canyon. The wind moved strangely in the pass, and it played tricks on Alex’s ears. Sometimes, she could swear she heard voices in the distance. A little while later, she thought she heard the howl of vampires. But that was impossible. There couldn’t be any vampires out. Not with the sun.
Alex suddenly gasped, realizing her mistake.
She turned to Drew. “The snow. It’s blocking out the sun.”
Drew’s eyes widened under his winter hat.
The howls came again, closer this time.
But why would vampires risk coming out in the daytime when the snowstorm could break at any moment? It was almost suicide. As feral as vampires were, they seemed to instinctively avoid situations where the sun might appear. Unless…
She spun toward the rover where Wesley lay on the back, the bandage on his leg stained red.
The vampires…they smelled the blood.
The howls were almost on top of them now. The way was clear both ahead and behind. Which left one direction from which the vampires could attack.
“They’re above us,” Alex shouted. “Keep moving, eyes on the sky.”
They moved on, making it another fifteen feet. Then Firefly pointed upward. “There!”
Alex squinted through the snow. After a moment, she saw it. A quickly growing black shape descending on them, its arms outstretched. It was gliding down at them.
Behind her, Jessica gasped.
“It’s okay, stay close to Drew,” Alex said. Drew’s shotgun would be the best protection if a vampire got past the rest of them.
She raised her pistol, but Firefly already had his rifle in position. He let loose a spray of automatic fire, and the creature tumbled from the sky.
Alex trudged toward the spot where it fell, struggling through the snow, pistol in one hand, sword in the other. The vampire began to stand, its body crisscrossed with bullet holes.
Jessica stifled a stream.
Alex reminded herself this was the first vampire the woman had ever seen. Alex hadn’t been much better the first time she’d encountered one up close. She swung her sword and removed the creature’s head in one stroke.
“We got three more!” Drew yelled.
Alex put her pistol away and shifted her sword to a two-hand grip. She wasn’t likely to take out many by shooting at them with her pistol, but when they landed, she could take care of them very quickly.
The three shapes in the sky glided on the web-like wings that stretched between their arms and bodies. They circled in a lazy spiral for a moment, then, as one, angled downward and shot toward the ground.
Drew fired vainly into the sky, but they were moving too quickly.
“Shit,” Alex said. “They’re heading for the rover!” She took off, running through the snow to defend Wesley.
The three vampires hit the ground smoothly, landing on their feet, and started running without pausing. They moved on top of the snow, hopping lightly from foot to foot, leaving only a small indentation behind.
In contrast, Alex trudged behind them, each step a struggle. The sword wasn’t going to work. She grabbed her pistol, drew, and fired in one smooth motion, hitting the v
ampire in front of her in the back of the head. Owl and Wesley took out the other two.
Another howl, this one from behind them. Alex spun, eyes searching the path, but saw nothing but white. She took a deep breath. What was it CB had said to her after Buenos Aires? The GMT didn’t need heroes, it needed leaders. She was in charge of this mission. It was time to start acting like it.
“Owl, keep the rover moving forward no matter what. Firefly, lock your eyes on the sky. You see one of those bastards, you put as many holes in it as you can before it hits the ground, you hear?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Jessica, you stay as close to the rover as possible. One gets close, shoot it, but make sure you have a clear shot. Don’t shoot if you might hit any good guys. Drew, you watch behind us. Your job is to protect Jessica and Wesley.”
“Alex,” Firefly said, “we got five incoming.”
“Then light ‘em up!” Alex said. She felt a strange sense of clarity. They could get through this. She could lead them through this.
Firefly opened fire.
Behind them, two dark shapes appeared in the sea of white.
“Drew,” she said.
“I got ‘em.”
Alex fought her way forward to where Firefly was walking near the rover. She waited until the vampires landed. All five had at least a couple of holes in them, but they were all still moving. As they touched the ground, she began firing. Her shots were true, and she took out three of them in the time it took Firefly to finish the other two.
Two shotgun blasts from behind her told Alex that Drew had done his job.
Up ahead, she saw a shape, mostly buried in the snow, clawing its way out.
“My God, they’re under us too?” Jessica asked in a shaky voice.
The vampire pulled itself from the snow and charged. Alex put a bullet in its head from twenty feet away.
She turned to check on the team behind her. Three vampires were descending toward the rear of the rover; the lowest was almost on top of Jessica. Alex started to shout to warn them, but Drew was already on it. He leaped to Jessica’s side, pointed his gun skyward, and took off the lowest vampire’s head.
The other two landed on either side of Drew and Jessica, only a few feet away. Alex could tell from her vantage point that it would be impossible to take out both before the vampires reached them. Drew would have to kill the one closest to him and hope Jessica could handle the one in front of her.
But Drew didn’t do that. He dove sideways, putting his body between Jessica and the other vampire. The creature leaped at him, but he shot it out of the air with a shotgun blast to the chest.
The other vampire charged at Drew’s back. Alex raised her pistol, knowing a vampire-killing shot from this distance was nearly impossible with this weapon. But what choice did she have but to try?
Before she could fire, a quick burst of shots cut the air, catching the vampire in the chest and dropping it to the ground. She spun toward the source of the attack.
Wesley was sitting up in the back of the rover, his assault rifle still pointed toward the fallen vampire.
“Whoa,” Drew said. “It’ll take more than a fifty-caliber to stop our boy Wes!”
Alex looked ahead of them. Behind them. Above. It was clear for now. Up ahead, she could just make out the end of the canyon.
She made her way back to Jessica and touched the woman’s arm. “You okay?”
“Yes.”
But Alex could see she wasn’t. How could she be after what she’d just witnessed? She spent most of her days looking at engineering diagrams, and now she was forced to survive a vampire attack in a blizzard.
Jessica nodded toward Drew. “Thanks. I wouldn’t have made it if you didn’t have my back.”
Drew grinned. “It’s kinda what I do. Now, if you want to see something really impressive, ask—”
Snow blasted into the air behind him as a vampire leaped from below the powder where it had been hidden.
Jessica screamed, and Alex went for her gun.
The creature grabbed Drew by the top of the head, sinking its claws into his skull. It landed on the wall ten feet up and started climbing, Drew still dangling from its right hand.
Drew let out a moan. He was still clutching his shotgun, and he raised it slowly, angling it toward the vampire.
The creature growled. It twisted its wrist hard, and there was an audible snap as Drew’s neck broke. His arms went slack, and the shotgun fell, landing in the snow below. The vampire climbed, quickly disappearing into the driving snow, taking Drew’s limp body with it.
“No!” Jessica yelled hoarsely.
Alex’s mouth hung open in disbelief.
Firefly ran to the wall and vainly tried climbing its snowy surface. He made it five feet before slipping back to the ground, but he immediately tried again.
“If we backtrack, we may be able to get up there,” Owl said. She spoke quickly, frantically.
“He’s dead.” Alex hated the words even as she said them, but she knew they were true. “He’s dead, and we have to keep going.”
Everyone knew she was right.
They made it through the rest of the canyon in silence. The snow was slowing now, and as they exited the canyon they saw the entrance to NORAD in the distance.
***
CB threw himself against the locked door of the cell again and cried out in pain as his shoulder struck the steel door.
“Captain, you have to stop,” Brian said.
CB spun toward him, his face a mask of rage. “They’re killing my team!” He turned back to the door. “You hear that? You’re killing them!”
Back in the hangar, it had taken six men to bring CB down. He was certain he could have taken the lot of them if it hadn’t been for the broken arm. Still, he’d gotten his licks in and taken his licks in return. His left eye was already so swollen he could only see a thin slit of the world beyond it.
“I understand,” Brian said. “I’m just as angry as you are.”
CB laughed. “Kid, you got a funny way of showing it.”
Brian looked up sharply, and his eyes were filled with tears. “I’d bash my body against that door until I was bloody if I thought it would make any difference. If I thought it could save them, I’d kill Fleming and every one of his followers.”
CB was surprised to find he believed him.
“But the truth is, I’m locked in a cell,” Brian continued. “I can either wear myself out pointlessly raging, or I can use this time to think. To plan.”
CB hated to admit it, but the kid was right. He sat down on the empty bench on his side of the room with a sigh. “All right, so what have you been thinking?”
Brian leaned forward and spoke in a low voice. “Fleming’s smart. And he’s patient. Whatever he wants from us, he’ll reveal it in his own time. We have to come to grips with that fact that it might be a day or two before he’s ready to have that conversation.”
CB grimaced. “And what happens to the team while we’re rotting in this cell?”
“Unfortunately, we don’t have any control over that. But you trained them better than anyone else could. You gave them a chance.”
“Against vampires after dark? All the training in the world won’t matter.”
“Maybe they won’t have to face the vampires. They’re at NORAD, right? If they can get inside, secure a few rooms, they might just have a chance.”
It was possible. For all CB knew, NORAD could be crawling with vampires just like the NSA. And yet, there was a chance it wasn’t. Thank God Alex hadn’t listened to him. If they’d stayed on the ship, they would have been easy targets after sundown.
He didn’t know if they could survive the night, but they had a chance. And if anyone could do it, it was Alex.
Chapter 42
They made their way toward the north entrance of the NORAD facility. Jessica had shown them pictures during their briefing, but seeing it in person was different. Alex could see it in the distance,
marked by a fence stretching in either direction. In the center there was a tunnel that stuck out of the mountainside, blocked by a massive concrete door.
The snowfall stopped over the next ten minutes, and the sun beat down on them, making the snow sparkle. In other circumstances, it would have been beautiful. Alex briefly considered how she was one of the few humans alive who’d seen snow on the surface of Earth, but she bitterly pushed the thought away. She’d gladly trade the sight of snow for not having to see two friends slaughtered by vampires. The evil she’d seen greatly outweighed the good.
The sun was dropping quickly now, but they were going to make it. The landscape ahead rose in a thirty-foot ridge, but once they got over that, it was a straight shot down to the entrance.
Alex glanced over at Jessica. Her jaw was set and her eyes were locked on the entrance ahead. Alex realized the woman was trying very hard not to cry.
“Hey,” Alex said. “It’s okay to be upset.”
Jessica didn’t take her eyes off the concrete door. “Not right now, it isn’t. There’s too much riding on us.”
Alex thought about arguing, but she couldn’t think of how to combat that logic. She walked to the rover instead.
Wesley was staring up at the sky, but his eyes looked clearer now. His bandage was still seeping blood, but he was still alive, which meant the flow had to have subsided somewhat.
“We’re going to get you inside soon,” Alex said. “Then we’ll let you stay still for a while.”
“That would be great,” Wesley said in a strained voice. “I’m pretty sure Owl is purposely driving over as many bumps as possible.”
“Ha!” Owl said. “I’d like to see anyone else give this smooth of a ride through two feet of snow.” She nodded toward the door. “We have a clear shot from here. No bad guys. Mind if we speed ahead and wait for you at the door?”
“Fine with me,” Alex said.
