“Let me gather my wounded and leave,” bellowed Walker.
“This isn’t over.”
“Yes it is. For now.” Walker shuffled over to Toni, who still rolled around on the floor, clutching her head and moaning. “None of us are in any condition to continue.”
As much as Drake hated to admit it, the master was right. He, Alison, and Rodriguez could barely stand let alone fight. Jim lay on the other side of the hall, unconscious, or worse, lying in a growing pool of blood. While Alison might advise that discretion is the better part of valor, the burning in his gut told him that he who fought and ran away would live to fight another day. He hated running. He enjoyed living more.
Drake lowered the Glock and held it by his side.
Walker bent over and attempted to pick up Toni. In his weakened condition and with her thrashing around, he could not lift her. Despite his own wounds, Treja limped over and assisted. Each master took one of Toni’s arms, placed it over their shoulders, and dragged her across the exhibit hall to the exit. The snuffy followed, one hand on its amputated arm, warily watching the hunters. At the exit, Walker paused and turned back to the hunters. He offered Drake a single, distinct nod. Part thanks, part respect. The masters disappeared into the outer hall, with the armless snuffy bringing up the rear.
Drake waited until they were gone then said to Rodriguez, “Help Alison. I’ll check on Jim.”
As he approached Jim, Drake grew increasingly nervous. The kid lay face down, immobile, his back and the surrounding floor soaked with blood. When he knelt beside Jim, he saw that the kid had three gashes, each more than twelve inches long, running horizontally across his back. The gashes on the left were so deep that portions of his shoulder blade were visible. Fearing the worse, Drake clasped his wrist and felt for a pulse. He found it, weak but steady. Drake felt tears well up in his eyes. Jim would live, but would hurt like hell in the morning.
Alison knelt beside Drake, wrapping a cloth around her wounded left hand. She tucked the loose end under the material by her thumb, then leaned forward and placed two fingers on Jim’s neck.
“Is he…?” Alison couldn’t finish the question, fearing the answer.
“He’s alive.”
“Thank God.”
“We’ll have to get him some medical attention fast.”
“And you.” Alison brushed a lock of sweaty hair off his forehead, then began to pat down the loose strands.
“I’m fine. Just a couple of hundred bruises.” Drake looked over his shoulder at Rodriguez. “How’d you do? Any injuries?”
“Nothing a few bottles of wine and a week’s sleep won’t cure.” He crouched down to join the others. “I hate to break up this love fest, but we still have two problems.”
Alison pulled back her hand self-consciously. “What?”
“How are we going to get an EMT crew in here if the vampires are still running around the building?”
“Damn.” Drake chastised himself for not thinking about that.
“And does anyone know what happened to Jessica and Reese?”
Akers made his way to the main floor via a service stairwell. He found Chiang Shih at the top of the marble stairs leading down to the rear entrance. She stared out into the street, oblivious to his presence. A look of defeat etched across her face. When Akers joined her, he understood why. The lower lobby was a kaleidoscope of blue and red lights coming from half a dozen D.C. Police cars blocking Independence Avenue. He discerned at least a dozen cops with weapons of various calibers partially hidden behind their vehicles, and reasoned a further score of weapons were aimed at them that he could not see.
Even worse from the vampire’s perspective, an azure sky with streaks of red tinted the eastern horizon.
“We failed,” Chiang Shih said solemnly. “The hunters escaped with the Bible.”
“No they didn’t.”
Chiang Shih whipped her head toward Akers, the brunette strands whirling around her neck. “What do you mean?”
“I trapped the professor and the reporter in the stairwell leading to the roof. They have the Bible with them.”
Akers watched Chiang Shih’s defeatism turn into anticipation. She started down the stairwell, covering only a few steps before jumping over the railing into the private access corridor. Within seconds, she disappeared through the door leading to the guard room.
Glancing back out the doors, Akers decided to disappear deep into the museum and sneak out later when things quieted down.
Having parked outside the police cordon, Roach made his way through the mass of vehicles until he reached Preston. His aide stood by a squad car behind and to the left of a white van parked in front of the museum. As he approached, he saw a score of cops all with weapons at the ready and aimed at the building, using the vehicles as cover. Two cops, each with a 12-guage shotgun, hunched down beside the pedestals at the bottom of the stairs that supported the brass lampposts, their weapons trained on the entrance. Only when he stepped up beside Preston did he see the shattered glass of the front door, the crumbled corpse of the security guard in the lobby, and two bodies on the sidewalk.
“Jesus,” Roach said under his breath.
“Tell me about it.” Preston motioned to the two bodies out front. “We found them like that when we arrived.”
“What happened?”
“Something mangled them.”
“What do you mean ‘mangled’?”
“Just what I said.” Preston pointed to the closest body. “Tran had his throat torn out. And Johnson was disemboweled. There’s also a body inside the museum that’s banged up pretty bad. It looks like it might be the night guard.”
“Hasn’t anyone checked it out?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Look at the top of the stairs.” Preston had an insolent edge to his voice that pissed off Roach.
As Roach leaned forward and peered through the glass doors of the Freer, for the first time he noticed the figure lurking inside the museum. From this distance and in the dim light, it looked female.
“Any idea who she is?”
Preston shook his head. “I doubt she’s friendly.”
“Let’s find out.” Roach looked around at the squad cars. “How many units do we have in position?”
“Six out back here and five in front. Just over thirty men in total, including tactical.”
“Tell them to get ready. All units will move in five minutes on my com—”
“Sir.” A young female officer interrupted Roach. She held out a cellular telephone. “The mayor’s on the line and wants to speak with you.”
Roach took the phone and listened, letting the mayor do all the talking. Roach did not feel like arguing, and he knew the mayor would not listen anyways. After a minute, the mayor ended the conversation. Roach closed the phone and threw it against the side of a nearby squad car.
“What’s the bad news?” asked Preston.
“The mayor has ordered us not to enter the museum.”
“Why not?”
“Because there’s already someone inside checking the place out.”
Preston shook his head. “Matthews.”
“That’s my bet.”
“So what do we do now?”
“We wait.”
The runaway vampire animatedly paced back and forth in front of the stairwell door. Every few seconds, it stared at the metal surface as if it could see through to the other side. Finally, it grabbed the knob and pulled the door open.
The hooker vampire grabbed its arm. “What are you doing?”
“The humans are going to get away.”
“We were told to wait here for the Mistress.”
“You wait.” The teenager yanked its arm out of the hooker’s grasp. “I’m going to get that Bible.”
Uncertain what to do, the hooker abandoned her post and went off in the opposite direction to find the Mistress.
On the first floor landing, Reese crept up to the door a
nd looked through the window. A child stood at the end of the corridor, staring around the corner and out of the window. She seemed harmless enough, but Reese did not trust the situation enough to open the door.
Jessica sidled up beside him and whispered into his ear. “What do you see?”
“A possible vampire.”
Jessica stood on her toes and stared through the glass. “That little girl?”
“Yeah.”
“You gotta be kidding?”
“Do you want to open the door and take the chance?”
Jessica backed down.
They heard the basement door to the stairwell open. Reese pushed Jessica toward the stairs leading to the roof. As they started up, he caught a glimpse of the runaway vampire three landings below, climbing the stairs two at a time.
“Take this.” Reese shoved the Bible into Jessica’s hands.
“What are you going to do?”
Reese did not answer. Instead, as they ran up the stairs, he reached into the bag and removed one of the canisters filled with holy water-laced tear gas. Looking down the stairwell, he saw the runaway already had passed the first floor and rapidly closed the distance. When Reese reached the landing at the next level, he crouched, placed the canister on the floor, and pulled the pin. White smoke belched from the nozzle. Reese ran up to the next landing and spun around. Tear gas covered the stairwell and drifted upwards.
As he watched the canister dispense its contents, the runaway stopped on the landing and glared at Reese, oblivious to the tear gas that billowed around it. It took a deep breath and hissed at the human. Almost immediately, its defiance became anguish. The vampire whimpered as the tear gas enveloped it, burning the skin and searing the lungs where it had been inhaled. It dropped to its knees and broke into a fit of violent coughing, with each hack spitting out chunks of lung. Clawing at its chest, the snuffy tore through it clothes and gouged at flesh and muscle. The vampire stiffened and vomited blood. Once. Twice. Three times. On the third heave, a stream of ash accompanied the bloody puke as the snuffy disintegrated from the inside out.
Removing the last canister from the bag, Reese armed it and tossed it down the stairwell. It landed by the door on the first floor, spewing tear gas. By the time Reese caught up with Jessica, she had reached the door leading out onto the roof.
“Did it work?” she asked.
“Like a charm.” Reese took back the Bible and opened the door to the roof. “Let’s go.”
The roof was split into two levels—an inner, lower level that overlooked the central courtyard, and a second, raised level that ran along the building’s outer wall. Knocked down scaffolding poles and a pile of wooden planks stacked six feet high sat on the upper roof near the southeast corner, the remnants of recent renovation work. A ladder lay propped up against the southern wall between the two levels. Reese held the latter with his free hand while Jessica climbed to the upper roof. He followed, having to climb one rung at a time because he still clutched the Bible.
The two surveyed the area. Nearly a dozen police cars and ambulances clogged Independence Avenue, with two pairs of squad cars each blocking the avenue at 12 Street and 9 Street. The best sight, however, was the eastern horizon where red and orange spotted the horizon, signaling an imminent sunrise.
“We’ll be safe in a few minutes,” Reese said confidently.
“Don’t be so sure.” Jessica reached into her pocket for her cell phone and sorted through her address book.
“Who are you calling?”
“Drake.” Jessica pressed the button that dialed his number.
The ringing of his cell phone caught Drake off guard. He pulled it out of his pocket to check the incoming number. When he saw it came from Jessica, he answered the call.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“For now. We’re on the roof. Two vampires are trying to get us. Reese took one down with the tear gas, but there’s at least one still out there. Can you help us?”
Drake looked at the rest of the hunters, torn between his friends in possible danger and a badly wounded comrade.
Alison saw the conflict in his face. “What’s wrong?”
“Jessica and Reese are stuck up on the roof with at least one vampire trying to get to them.” As he spoke, his gaze remained focused on Jim.
“Go,” suggested Alison. “There’s nothing you can do for Jim. We’ll take care of him.”
Drake still hesitated.
“Hurry,” Alison told him.
“I’ll be right there,” Drake told Jessica, then rushed out of the exhibit hall.
Chiang Shih stormed into the employee lobby, rushing past Melinda. The sudden appearance of the Mistress startled her.
“What’s going on?” asked the young master as she fell in behind the Mistress.
“The professor and the reporter are on the roof. They have the Bible.”
“Good. We’ve got them now.”
“I’ll take care of them.” Chiang Shih did not break her stride. “It’s almost sunrise. Find the others and get out of here while you can.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be fine. We’ll meet later tonight at your hotel. Now go.”
Melinda turned and headed back for the lobby.
Chiang Shih continued down to the stairwell, kicked open the door, and ascended toward the roof. The holy water-laced tear gas enveloped her. Ten seconds later, she emerged from the cloud onto the landing that led out to the roof, unaffected by the tear gas.
Melinda reached the upper lobby to find Walker and the others hovering half way down the marble stairs, watching the police outside. She started to speak but stopped, stunned by the extent of the wounds on her fellow masters. Never had she seen so much carnage wreaked upon her own kind. Outside, the humans had noticed them huddled on the stairs and were surging closer to the building or taking up firing position behind their cars. Escape would not be easy. Even worse, considering the brightness of the eastern horizon, the time left for them to make their move could be counted in minutes.
“What are we waiting for?” she asked.
“Are you blind?” Walker snapped at Melinda, venting on her his frustration with the rapidly deteriorating situation. “We can’t fight our way through them. Not in our condition.”
“And we can’t stay here.”
“What do you suggest?”
“That we make a break for it. The humans can’t stop us.” Melinda pointed to the brightening sky. “Unless you just want to stay here and die.”
“You’re right.” Walker straightened, reinvigorated with confidence. “Listen everyone. We have to make it to the van and get out of here as quickly as possible. Ignore the humans and concentrate on escaping. Understood?”
The others nodded or grunted their understanding.
“Then let’s move.”
Hoisting Toni over his left shoulder, Walker ran down the steps, pulled open the door, and exited the museum. Treja and Melinda followed close behind, while the hooker and one-armed vampires brought up the rear. One of the humans ordered them to stop, but they ignored him. The voice yelled out a second warning, which again went unheeded. When Walker reached the bottom of the stairs, the voice yelled, “Fire!”
A hail of bullets slammed into them, most striking Walker. They tore into his chest and arms. By itself, any one shot would not be very damaging. Together, the pain was agonizing, especially in his weakened condition. His legs wobbled, and for a moment he thought he would stumble. Still, he pushed on, closing the distance between himself and the van.
When more than a hundred bullets failed to slow the vampires’ advance, two cops moved in for a better shot. They would live to regret their move. One raced out from behind the line of squad cars into Walker’s path, aiming his revolver and ordering the master to stop. Walker backhanded the cop across the face with his right hand, breaking his jaw and sending him somersaulting into the bushes. The second cop emerged from behind one of the pedestals at the bottom o
f the stairs and blocked Treja, firing his shotgun. Twelve-gauge rounds tore into the master’s chest, but had little effect. Treja grabbed the weapon in his left hand and slammed his right palm into the cop’s chest, cracking the body armor nearly in half and fracturing half a dozen ribs. The cop collapsed to the sidewalk, rolling around in pain. Treja continued toward the van, only now he used the shotgun to fire back at the police.
The return fire from Treja produced the desired results. Most of the police ducked behind their squad cars for cover, giving the vampires a precious few seconds to reach the van unmolested. As Treja stepped up to passenger door, he pumped the last three rounds into the squad cars blocking 12 Street, dropped the shotgun, and climbed into the van. Walker slid open the side door and tossed Toni inside. The others climbed in and closed the door behind them. Walker circled around to the driver’s door. Although the surrounding buildings momentarily shielded the street from its rays, he saw the sun reflected off of the windows on the eastern facade of the Department of Agriculture building. Their time had run out. He had to reach the portion of 12 Street that ran beneath the Mall. At most, they had seconds left.
As Walker climbed into the van, a young gung-ho cop ran up behind him and attempted to bring him down. Walker did not have time to fuck around with this human. Grabbing the human by his face, Walker slammed his head into the side of the van with such force that the cop’s skull dented the metal. He flung the human aside and crawled into the van. The remaining cops resumed their gunfire. Scores of bullets pummeled the van, punching through metal, shattering glass, puncturing tires. Walker ignored the pain as the rounds thudded into his body. He started the engine, shifted into drive, and slammed his foot on the accelerator. The van lurched forward, heading for the two squad cars blocking 12 Street. The cops behind the vehicles fired off a few desultory rounds before diving out of the way. Although not going very fast, the van crashed into the left front fender of the nearest squad car with enough force to push it out of the way, allowing them to break through.
The Vampire Hunters (Book 2): Vampyrnomicon Page 30
