by P. T. Hylton
The door to the room opened, and Councilman Fleming walked in, flanked by two guards carrying rifles. He wasn’t wearing the smug smile CB had expected. Instead, he looked tired. His face was lined with concern. He sank into the seat across from CB and got right to the point.
“I need your help, Captain.”
CB raised an eyebrow at that. He had no idea how to respond. He’d expected Fleming to be holding all the cards, that the Councilman would make him beg and swear loyalty for the opportunity to save his team. Instead, Fleming was handing him a poker chip and inviting him to play an honest hand. CB didn’t trust himself to speak, so he just waited.
“First,” Fleming said, “I need you to know I didn’t want any of this. I know you were close to Councilman Stearns and General Craig. Now Stearns is dead, and Craig is locked up awaiting trial, a fairer one than mine, I assure you.”
CB struggled to keep the emotion off his face.
“I take no pleasure in any of the deaths today any more than I would the death of an elderly relative whose time has simply come. It was a sad necessity, one I worked hard to avoid.”
CB couldn’t let that comment stand. He leaned forward. “They didn’t pass away peacefully in the night. They were murdered. You and your people murdered them.”
Fleming nodded sadly. “I certainly understand your perspective, and I’m not going to try to convince you to change your mind. I’m hoping we can still work together.”
CB just waited.
“The guards tell me you’ve been screaming about your team. That they’re on a mission and need to be rescued.”
“That’s right.”
“I’m told they headed down to the United States. It’ll be dark there now. My understanding is that you’re strongly against Resettlement. That you say vampires at night would tear through any human settlement in a matter of hours.”
Who had told him that, CB wondered. “That’s right.”
“Then how is it you believe your team might still be alive?”
“They were headed for NORAD. Jessica Bowen says there’s a chance the facility would have held up against the infestation. If they got inside, it’s possible they could survive the night.”
“I see.” Fleming regarded CB for a long moment before speaking again. “I’d like you to put together a team for a rescue mission. You’ll have the full support of the government. Any people, any equipment, whatever you want. I’ll personally guarantee you use of any of the considerable tools at my disposal.”
CB suppressed the hope that was rising within him. There was a catch. There had to be a catch.
“All I need from you,” Fleming said, “is your word that you’ll continue to lead the Ground Mission Team after the mission, whether you manage to rescue your team members or not. The GMT’s mission will be changing slightly. We’ll no longer be asking you to make trips to the surface to retrieve equipment. Instead, we’ll be sending you down to prepare the surface for Resettlement.”
There it was. The catch. To save his team, he was going to have to sell out his city.
“What do you say, Captain?”
CB considered for only a moment before responding. “I’m in.”
***
Jaden led them out of the reactor control room and up a winding set of stairs. Alex had a momentary flashback to the stairs in Texas. Jaden bounded up the steps, clearly unconcerned about any potential danger.
Alex exchanged a glance with Owl. She looked as worried as Alex was. The wave of happiness she’d felt at seeing the control panel had quickly subsided, leaving a gnawing sense of concern in its wake. Why were these people so forthcoming and so generous with their equipment? Was it possible they were simply so happy to see other humans that they blindly trusted them? And could people that naive have survived on the surface this long?
Six levels up, Jaden led them through the door and toward an area with a sign that read Observation Room.
“I want to show you something,” he said, and he darted through the door.
Alex followed, moving cautiously, her hand hovering inches from her pistol.
What she saw when she entered the room was so surprising she momentarily forgot her concerns.
The room was long and thin, and one long wall was covered in large video monitors.
“Behold the city of Agartha,” Jaden said.
The video monitors showed crowded hallways of people bustling to and fro. It showed a large, open area of green, tree and flowers growing under an artificial light, children playing in the grass. It showed a vast cafeteria lined with countless tables, most of them filled with people eating their dinner off trays.
The lone man watching the monitors started to stand, but Jaden held up a hand. “It’s okay, Anthony. They’re friends.”
The man sat back down, but he kept a wary eye on the strangers.
Alex realized the screens didn’t just show the interior of the city. Night vision cameras showed vampires climbing the door at the north entrance, futilely pounding on the concrete. Three other monitors showed similar concrete doors. These were clear of vampires. Must be protected by more of those automated guns, Alex assumed.
“What is this place?” she muttered.
“I told you,” Jaden said. “It’s Agartha. It was an old military installation, and it was one of the last human strongholds during the third wave of the infestation. Those who survived remained here. Over time, we grew the facility into something more.”
She looked at the monitor showing a child playing in the grass among the trees. “I can see that.”
“The city’s self-sustaining now. We’re about ten thousand humans strong.”
One-fourth the size of New Haven. And all living in this hidden city inside a mountain.
Owl scanned the monitors. “Do you ever leave? Go out into the world for supplies?”
“Not often,” Jaden said. “Like I said, we’re pretty self-sustaining here.”
Alex stared at the people eating, either unaware or unconcerned that they were being watched. How would New Haven react to the existence of this place? How would this place react to the existence of New Haven? Would they be allies or enemies?
“How’d you do it?” Alex asked. “How’d Agartha survive when everyone else died?”
“I could ask you the same question,” he said with a smile. “But I won’t. I can see you’re not ready to talk about it.”
She wasn’t going to argue with that. As long as he was willing to continue giving information while demanding none in return, she was willing to go with it.
“As for us,” he said, “this place provided most of the protection. It was built to withstand nuclear war, but it held up just as well against the creatures out there. And when additional protection is needed, they have us.”
“Us?” Alex asked. Something about the way he emphasized the word was strange. Like us was apart from the rest of the city.
“The defenders of Agartha. There are one hundred of us. We take care of the people on the rare occasion something gets past our defenses. And, to Owl’s point, we venture out into the world when we have to, gathering supplies by night.”
“By night?” Alex asked. There was a sinking feeling in her stomach.
Jaden smiled. “Haven’t you figured it out yet? We’re vampires. The defenders of Agartha are the last one hundred true vampires, and we’re going to save humanity.”
END OF BOOK 1
Authors Note (and a free book)
It was about a year ago we first cooked up the concept of an Earth overrun by feral vampires, where the last remains of humanity cower in an airship that always stays in sunlight—though to be fair, the idea was brewing in Jonathan’s head for a lot longer. We both agreed it was a world chocked full of interesting stories to tell.
We had some ideas for where we wanted the series to go, but then we met Alex, and she began to forge her own path through the tale.
This is our first book as collaborators, and we’d love to
hear your thoughts. Drop us a line at [email protected] (PT will make sure Jonathan sees it too). Let us know where you stand on the issue of Resettlement.
We are hard at work on book two, and we’re hoping for an early fall 2017 release.
As independent authors, we count on honest reviews from real, passionate readers. If you liked this book, please head over to Amazon and leave a review. It doesn’t have to be anything long or eloquent. Just a sentence or two about your thoughts on the book would be plenty. It helps us and our future readers.
About that free book… If you head over to www.pthylton.com/NewHaven you’ll get a free copy of PT’s supernatural suspense novel Regulation 19. If you like Stephen King and things that go bump in the night, we think you’ll enjoy it. We’ll also add you to our email list so we can let you know when book two of the Vampire World Saga drops.
Thanks for reading.
- PT and Jonathan
About the Authors
P.T. Hylton is the author of the Deadlock Trilogy, the Zane Halloway series, and the Vampire World Saga. He podcasts about movies and guitars, and he makes YouTube videos about books. Yeah, he’s a major nerd. He lives with his family in eastern Tennessee. Visit him at www.pthylton.com
Jonathan Benecke is the author of the Vampire World Saga. An avid movie watcher, he co-hosts the Movie Fixers podcast. He lives in Colorado with his wife and two amazing children. Hiking in the mountains and enjoying the beauty of the natural world is his favorite pastime.
