by J. C. Diem
It was almost a relief when I sensed two units of droids ahead. The action would prevent me from being able to dwell on my ruined love life, at least for a few minutes.
At my warning of approaching danger, Sanderson sent some of his men into buildings to act as snipers. He cautioned them to climb up to the fourth floor, since the death rays had a short range. Saluting their leader smartly, fifty soldiers crept up the subway stairs. We gave them ten minutes to move into position before heading for the robots.
Back when I’d still been alive, I’d dreamed of visiting Manhattan one day. In my fantasies, it was winter and a light snow was falling. Christmas decorations adorned the stores and the streets were packed with tourists. Instead, it was spring, the stores were locked up tightly and the streets were mostly empty, at least where we were. Further north, terrified humans huddled together as they waited to meet their doom. Instead of Christmas decorations, the only trimmings in sight were splashes of blood from the dead that had later been dragged away for food. I carefully avoided looking at the chewed up limbs that had been left behind.
At Sanderson’s signal, the men who were armed with death rays moved to the front ranks and closed in on the unsuspecting killbots. The droids would be armed with nanobot guns as well as death rays. Both weapons were equally dangerous to the humans.
Holding his hand up for his men to see, the general silently counted down from three. When he reached one, he made a fist and his men opened fire. They’d appropriated far more than the six death rays that I’d counted. Forty of their men pulled an alien weapon from their pockets. In a barrage of soundless violet light, most of the droids vanished before they even knew they were under attack.
A few more shots ended the battle that had been as quiet as it had been deadly. Not all of the enemy’s weapons had been disintegrated. Any that had been dropped were retrieved and handed around to those without.
Handling his own death ray, Sanderson examined it with new respect. I shared Gregor’s fear that the humans would be able to figure out exactly how the weapons worked. Eventually, they might even be able to reproduce them in large quantities. God help any friendly aliens who might drop by for a visit. They’d be reduced to an ash pile before they could say, ‘We come in peace’.
Our attack had been so swift and unexpected that no other droids came to investigate the battle scene. The tactic worked three more times as we stalked the slowly dwindling metal army. On our way towards yet another unit of robots, I sensed a small number of humans and Kveet imps to the east. Remembering the stripped skeletons that had been left behind after Sanderson’s men had been devoured, my conscience made a sudden reappearance. I had the sneaking suspicion that my guilt would haunt me if I just left the victims to be eaten.
Turning, I searched the crowd and spotted Gregor. I waved to get his attention and he hurried to catch up to me. “I sense some Kveet imps and human captives a couple of blocks away,” I told him when he reached my side.
“Where?” He followed my pointing finger to the north-east. They were only a short distance away but the tall buildings blocked our view. Gregor didn’t need to debate about the wisdom of trying to rescue the civilians. He hurried over to Sanderson to relay the news.
Gathering his men, Sanderson explained the situation and picked half a dozen troopers to reconnoitre the area. Higgins was one of the chosen and raised his eyebrows in a silent invitation for me to join his team. They’d find the captives much faster if I went along as a guide so I fell into step beside him. A second later, Geordie pushed his way in between us, shooting an annoyed scowl at the human. Ishida gave me a bland look from my other side. Rolling my eyes, I kept my mouth shut. Geordie was always jealous when I spent time with anyone other than him. I didn’t know what Ishida’s excuse for joining us was. He probably just didn’t want to miss out on the action. It was also possible that he wanted to give Kokoro and Gregor some time to be alone, or as alone as it was possible to be while surrounded by a small army.
The soldiers slowed down at my signal as we neared the enemy. Soon, we were close enough for even the humans to hear the piping cries of the imps. Higgins’ face was pale as we crept up and viewed the small park where the captives were being held. It went dead white when he spied the victims. The soldier came very close to vomiting at the sight of the grisly skeletons that were strewn across the grassy area. He’d already witnessed his fellow troopers’ deaths but he was far more affected this time. Maybe because these had been helpless civilians rather than battle hardened soldiers.
Higgins wasn’t the only one to feel nauseated by the carnage. Geordie made quiet gagging noises and I almost joined him. Thick, red blood coated the grass. It looked almost black in the lightless gloom. Most of the imps had eaten their fill and were merely guarding the humans. Their tiny bellies bulged almost to the point of bursting.
Penned in by a high fence, most of the surviving humans were sobbing quietly. Some had fallen into a state bordering on catatonia. One woman was screaming over and over again, only stopping long enough to take a fresh breath. Her voice had disappeared, possibly irreparably damaged and all she could manage was a painful croak.
Spying the skeleton of a child, my rage spiked. I had no way of knowing if it had been a boy or a girl but I could tell that they hadn’t been much larger than the Kveet imps that had eaten it. Scarlet light burst from my eyes and Geordie and Ishida grabbed my arms to stop me from sprinting into the park and laying waste to the enemy.
Struggling against their grip, I was dragged backwards into an alley as one of the soldiers frantically but quietly called for backup. Battle lust had me in its grip and nothing was going to stop me from tearing the tiny monsters apart. The teens stumbled when my sleeves suddenly became empty. Sprinting forward, I reformed my lower arms, secretly amazed that my hands hadn’t just remained whole but had also retained their grip on my swords. I’d disintegrated my flesh and had reformed it so fast that my hands hadn’t had a chance to fall to the ground.
Crossing the road, I leaped high into the air and landed in the middle of the gluttonous clones. My swords spitted two of the imps and I flicked their lifeless bodies away before the rest of the pack even realized I was there. My hands moved into a blur of motion as I sliced my adversaries apart. Heads and limbs fell and piping cries of rage sounded. Tiny claws and razor sharp fangs reached for me but few managed to make contact with my flesh.
I wasn’t sure how long it took me to turn the clones into minced meat but I eventually turned in a circle to find none left standing. My stolen jeans were tattered in a few places but any injuries I’d sustained had healed instantly. I saw no dark stains left by my black blood, just bright yellow smears from the deceased imps.
Stunned to see their captors chopped into sushi, the humans huddled together and gaped at me. “What are you?” an elderly male voice asked in a hoarse whisper.
I went with honesty since I doubted they could become more afraid than they already were. “I’m a vampire.”
“I remember you,” a young woman said and extricated herself from the clutching hands of her fellow survivors. “You’re Natalie. I thought you went mad and were sent to a maximum security prison.”
“My sanity is intact,” was my dry response but I didn’t dispute her assumption that I’d been sent to prison. I couldn’t think of a better description for Viltar than a jail.
“Are you here to save us?” a small boy tottered forward to ask. He was bigger than the child that had been eaten but I doubted he’d be much more than five or six.
Caught beneath his innocent, frightened stare, I nodded. “That’s the plan.”
With a sob, he lurched forward and wrapped his arms around my legs. My hands and swords were dripping with alien blood and I was reluctant to touch the boy with them, even to get him off me. Searching for help, I saw Higgins looking at me from the entrance to the park with something close to pride in his expression. Geordie wiped away an imaginary tear and held back a sob of his own. I
shida patted the other teen on the shoulder. They obviously weren’t going to be of any assistance. “Can you do something about this?” I said to the young woman and made a helpless gesture at the kid. Clinging to me like a monkey, he was crying hysterically.
She eventually managed to pry the kid loose and by then the rest of our gang had arrived. Sanderson had the unenviable task of trying to figure out what to do with the survivors. Evacuation wouldn’t be possible. No crafts of any kind would be able to enter or leave the city until the mysterious submersibles turned up. He opted to send the women, children and elderly to the dubious safety towards the south.
Once the survivors had been escorted away, fifty-eight men and a few of the tougher, more determined women remained to add to our ranks. They were green and most had never seen any kind of combat before, unless it was through computer games. They were soldiers now, whether they liked it or not. From their set, if terrified faces, most would rather fight than cower with the children and elderly while they waited to be discovered and turned into tasty treats. I had to admit, I wouldn’t have wanted to stay behind if I were them either.
·~·
Chapter Thirteen
Our new civilian troops were given handguns by the soldiers. Anyone who didn’t know how to use them was given a quick tutorial. We left the bloodstained park behind and headed towards the closest unit of droids. We were slowly making a dent in their numbers but it would take weeks for us to eradicate them all at this pace. By then, hundreds of thousands of civilians would have been converted into clones and the city would be lost. The Viltarans would surely move on and target another city rather than wait around to watch the outcome of this attack. We had to think of a way to bring this battle to an end quickly.
Taking quick glances at the nervous additions to our team of allies, Geordie raised a good point. “I am surprised the civilians haven’t fought back against the droids and imps yet. Don’t most Americans own guns?”
Higgins answered him. “I wouldn’t say most of us own guns but a great many do.”
Gregor turned to stare at the teen then grinned widely. “Geordie, you show rare flashes of true genius from time to time.”
“I do?” Bewildered, the teen looked at me but I just shrugged. No one had ever accused me of being a genius and I had no idea what Gregor was talking about.
Motioning for us to follow him, Gregor hastened through the soldiers and townsfolk towards Sanderson. “General, I’ve just had an idea.”
Halting, Sanderson waved his men to follow suit. “I’m all ears,” he invited.
“We need far greater numbers if we are going to destroy this threat,” Gregor said. “The Viltarans might be able to stop anyone from coming to our aid but I believe we have more than enough support in the city already.”
Confused, the general frowned, deepening the lines on his forehead. “What are you talking about?”
“We need to get word to the civilians that there are less than eight thousand droids left. Once the robots are gone, the conversions will cease and we will only need to eradicate the clones that have already been made, rather than keep battling new ones constantly.”
Latching onto the idea, Sanderson’s expression brightened as he realized that all hope wasn’t lost. “Your idea makes sense. We should wait until daylight before rallying the survivors. Then we’ll only have the droids to face rather than taking on two enemies at once.” Reaching for his radio, he outlined the plan to General Hart.
After a lengthy pause while he thought over the proposal, Hart gave a heavy sigh. “I agree, this is our best chance of taking down the enemy. I’ll advise President Rivers of your plan. Good luck, Sanderson.”
From the little I’d seen of them, the inhabitants of New York were a tough breed. The men and women who’d joined us were willing to lay down their lives for the safety of their people. I hoped the rest of the city felt that way. If they did, we might actually have a chance at saving them.
Edging our way northward, we encountered several lone droid units. The newly acquired death rays took them all down far more quietly than explosive rounds or normal bullets would have. We were able to work our way deeper into the city and leave the way to the south open. The few humans we found were given the choice of joining us or heading for safety. Most opted to assist us, swelling our ranks even further.
As dawn approached, we were within sight of Times Square. Amazingly, the power was still on and a dazzling array of lights assailed us. Geordie tilted his head back to view the gigantic screens that advertised a range of products to the deserted streets. To the naked eye, the area was empty but I sensed tens of thousands of humans cowering inside the buildings around us. We had cleared the immediate area of droids but many more had converged on Central Park a few blocks to the north. Even now, I could sense them firing their nanobot darts at defenceless civilians, creating more monsters that we would have to destroy.
As one, the robots suddenly ceased firing and the newly converted imps scurried for cover. They disappeared into buildings or beneath the ground before the first rays of the sun touched the sky. Momentarily safe from the dawn light due to the cover of the skyscrapers, our small group of vampires also headed for the subway.
Noise blared from behind us as we reached the stairs and we turned to see what the commotion was. High above the street, a gigantic TV screen had changed to a grainy, grey static channel. A few seconds later, a face appeared. The camera pulled back to reveal the vaguely familiar sight of the office of the President of the United States of America.
A woman in her early fifties sat behind the desk, staring at the camera solemnly. Her suit was dark blue, expensive and suitably sombre. Her greying, curly brown hair had been cut short in a no-nonsense bob. Thick glasses perched on her bold nose, magnifying piercing blue eyes. She was short enough that her impressively sized breasts rested on the surface of the desk. Her hands were neatly folded but clutched each other in a white knuckled grip. Apart from her trembling hands, she gave the overall impression of being calm and in control.
Roused by the noise, faces appeared in windows high above us. Some spotted the soldiers and pointed. Windows opened and questions were shouted down to the troopers. Silence descended again as the president began to speak. “Good morning. For those of you who do not know me, I am President Vanessa Rivers.” Her raspy voice thundered through the streets, drowning out the nearby ads and drawing curious humans from within their hiding places. “This might be difficult to believe but you are under attack from an alien nation.”
“Yeah, we kind of figured that!” a smartass called from the slowly increasing crowd. “The robots and hulking monsters were our first clue!”
“My fellow Americans and visitors who are currently trapped in Manhattan, you have not been abandoned in your time of need,” the president continued, blithely unaware of the interruption. “I assure you that I am doing everything I can to ensure you are rescued from harm. Unfortunately, the city has been cut off and evacuation is not going to be easy. The alien spaceship is circling the city and is preventing any help from reaching you. Some soldiers were able to reach the city before it was cut off. Sadly, they are few in number.”
Looking down at her people gravely, she braced herself visibly before continuing. “What I am about to ask you to do may sound harsh but these are difficult times. I wouldn’t ask this of you if it wasn’t absolutely necessary.”
“Get to the point already,” an anonymous woman muttered from within the press of bodies.
Rivers plunged ahead with the plan Gregor had thought of and Sanderson had agreed with. “I ask that you unite with the soldiers against the robots that are terrorizing you. Only you can stop these alien droids from converting your fellow citizens into monsters.”
Astonished whispers came from those who had been brave enough to leave their hiding spots.
“Is she saying she wants us to fight the robots?” someone asked then uttered a terrified laugh.
“I know yo
u are frightened and all hope seems lost,” the president continued, “but know this.” She paused just long enough to gain the attention of everyone within earshot. “There are less than eight thousand of these robots and there are many, many more of you.” She paused again to let the numbers sink in. “General Sanderson is in charge of this operation and he will oversee the resistance. He is in Times Square right now, ready to lead the charge. I urge you all to arm yourselves then seek out the General. My hopes and prayers are with you all.”
The picture faded and the screen went blank. Sanderson strode out into the open as civilians began to converge on the streets. Some were armed but most were without weapons. Homes would have to be ransacked and, if there were any in the city, gun shops looted. Already, more and more civilians were arriving, either drawn by the noise or at their president’s plea. Rivers’ short speech would have been widely televised. Only those who had gathered in Central Park would be unaware that their salvation would be in their own hands. Once they saw the droids under attack, they would get the idea quickly enough and would join the fight.
Thanks to our allergy to the sun, we vampires would have to sit out this part of the revolt. Sanderson needed every available man and woman to fight so my friends and I were left to our own devices.
“Are any of you tired yet?” Gregor enquired and received six head shakes. “Then I suggest that we go imp hunting.” He said this with a sly wink at me. I perked up at the prospect of slicing and dicing some more foes. Remaining idle would allow me time to think and thinking would lead to the depression I was trying so hard to avoid. Getting over being dumped by Luc was going to be difficult. Having him so close yet so distant was adding salt to the raw wound of no longer being the recipient of his love.
