by Alex Dire
The sound of a lock unlatching echoed through the passageway.
Before pushing the door open, Chip looked to Norman and the others. “I know it’s crude. We’re working to get something more high-tech soon. Until then, we switch passwords every few days.”
Chip had expanded this little survivor's group way beyond what existed before, with Ian. This was a real organization. Passwords? Technology? Chip worked fast.
They all sat in chairs around a circular table with a screen build in. It currently displayed a map of the world. Red and green dots pulsed in various spots.
“The green represents places we’ve been able to establish contact with sympathetic survivors.” Chip tapped a green dot near Portland, Maine. A green data window popped up displaying statistics. Chip pointed to one of the numbers. “This cell has fourteen members.” He then moved his finger to another number: ninety-four. “They have a high degree of allegiance to our cause.
“How do you know that?” asked Norman.
“It’s an algorithm based on data that we’ve gathered and…” he trailed off but not before flicking his eyes at Elijah. “It’s complicated techie stuff. We can go over it later if you want,”
“What’s this red dot right next to it?” asked Norman.
“That’s a Corps. V cell.” Chip tapped that dot. A red data window popped up, however, it had very few statistics in it. The Portland group has tangled with them a bit, but hasn’t been able to pin down their stats, yet.
“What about this number?” asked Norman pointing to the number fourteen in the green data window
“That’s their survival factor.” Chips voice turned grim. “It’s based on how many the group started with, how many are left and the time between their first loss and now. We use it to predict if a cell will survive.”
Norman nodded. “Fourteen out of what?”
Silence gripped the room as Chip and his allies exchanged glances.
Bronte finally responded. “It’s fourteen out of one hundred. We expect Portland to go dark in about a day or two.”
Go dark. These were people. Norman stood up from his chair. “Can we send help?”
“Send who?” replied Chip.
Norman slowly sat back down.
Chip tapped some buttons on the screen and a new set of unblinking blue dots overlaid the others. “And these are what we’re calling the super-cells. The incubation centers for the new Corps. V army. There are about forty and, as you can see, they’re spread all over the world. Once they open for business, there’s pretty much nothing we’ll be able to do to stop them.”
Chip tapped a blue dot near London. A blue data window zoomed out. It had only two pieces of information:
POPULATION:300
DAYS TO RELEASE: 36
So many. Norman had known there were more out there, but seeing the numbers, and all the blue dots. It was just too much. “Thirty-six days. That gives us some time to plan and move things into place. Right?”
“It’s just an estimate,” said Elijah.
“Here’s us.” Chip tapped a green dot on the screen. Their data window opened. It showed one hundred thirty-five vampires. It also showed an allegiance rating of one hundred.
“There are a lot of us, why do we only have a survival factor of forty-six?” asked Norman.
Rufus chimed in. “That’s the highest of any cell.”
Chip then tapped the nearby red dot. Most of the red data window was empty. “We thought we knew a lot about our local opposition. But it keeps changing. Rapidly.” He then tapped the blue dot. The data window zoomed out.
Norman could read the info just fine without Chip’s prompting.
Population: 300
Days to release: 4
“How did we get so lucky?” asked Norman.
Chip looked over the table at Elijah.
“We believe this first wave will be… the cleanup,” answered Elijah. “They’re going to take out any vampire resistance before the others awaken.
Nebulous always seemed to know more than they were willing to reveal. Norman thought it was time to stop with the secrets. “How are creatures like this even possible?”
“These vampires are rewired at the DNA level. They’re deleting some genes and inserting others in every cell of their bodies. They’re basically sleeping in an enzyme soup undergoing complete gene therapy.”
Norman waited for more.
“It’s way beyond anything we anticipated. We believe the ramp-up in political strife before the war was intended as a diversion. They wanted you, well, the PDRV to think that war was the plan.”
“Wasn’t it?” asked Norman. Who plans a war like that where everyone gets wiped out?
“Sort of. But not the war that happened. That was unintended. The war they wanted is the war they’re just beginning now. It will result in the annihilation of all remaining vampire resistance and subjugation of the human species.”
Norman let his brain marinate with this new information.
Elijah shifted back in his seat. “That’s what we think, anyhow.”
“How do you know all this?” asked Norman.
“We know a great many things,” replied Elijah in his usual elusive tone.
“Cut the crap, Elijah.” Norman punctuated the statement with a brief silence. “We’re at war. And from what I’ve seen from just one of those things, I’m not sure it’s a war that we can win. Spill it. Now’s not the time for secrets. Not among friends.”
“Mr. Bernard, you have to realize, we’re taking a great risk working with you.” Elijah stood back up. “The reason we’ve existed all these years is because we’ve remained secret and neutral. Sure, we’ve nudged the course of things here and there to avoid catastrophe, but we’ve always done so invisibly. Most irregulars don’t even know we exist. And we like to keep it that way as a matter of our own survival. If our presence becomes common knowledge and we’re perceived as taking sides? Well, Mr. Bernard, we’re only human.”
Irregulars. Norman remembered Naseem using that word in the sewers. It seemed to Norman that Nebulous might be the most irregular thing about this situation. “But you are taking sides,” replied Norman.
“Exactly,” replied Elijah. “It’s a risk. However, it seems less risky than the alternative. We’ve been preparing to fight off irregulars for centuries. However, this is different. We’re not sure how effective our countermeasures will be against this new…breed.”
“Well,” said Norman. “Welcome to the war.”
Both men stood across the table from each other, exhausting what they had to say.
“We’ve extracted some information by hacking into various systems the Corps. V have come to rely on. ‘Enhanced’ interrogation has also born some fruits.”
“Torture,” replied Norman. He shuddered at the idea of hours and hours of sunlight and silver in small doses.
“Desperate times…” replied Elijah.
Elijah looked down at the floor, debating his next words. “We’ve also done some espionage.”
“Espionage?” Norman asked. When he didn’t get an answer he added, “Please. Elaborate.”
“We’ve got a couple of agents inside their organization,” said Elijah.
This last statement worried Norman. He wondered if Elijah and his secret clique played both sides of this war. Perhaps they wanted Chip and Norman to win, but hedged their bets if they lost. Then an idea shot electricity down Norman’s spine. What if Chip was the hedge? What if Elijah and company had already determined the new breed of vampire was unbeatable and was working with them. They kept up relations with Chip to send intel back and to have an ‘in’ if, somehow, he managed to win.
Norman looked over at Matt Barnes. Matt was one of them now. However, he was a new initiate. Perhaps that was the real reason he was brought into the group and assigned as liaison to Norman and Chip. Norman thought he might have a conversation with Matt to see what he knew. He needed to be careful, though. He believed Matt’s loyalt
y to him was sincere. But how could he be sure? Moreover, Elijah had given him a chance at a life he’d only ever fantasized about. He had access to rare knowledge. He was learning about things he’d only read about in his comics and seen in movies. And he was given power over them. Hard to compete with that.
Norman cleared his thoughts. “How long have you known all this?”
“Most of it is brand new and weakly sourced,” said Elijah. “Most of it could be wrong. We don’t usually act on flimsy intel. But…desperate times.” This seemed to be emerging as a refrain from Elijah.
Norman walked next to Chip, deeper into the catacombs. He looked back at the small war council that followed. He whispered to Chip. “Do you trust Nebulous?
Chip looked puzzled. “Of course.”
“Why?” whispered Norman. He knew Elijah’s human ears would not detect his words. He also knew the other vampires could hear him, but he didn’t care.
“We don’t have much of a choice,” said Chip. “Besides. Ian trusted them.”
“And look where it got him,” answered Norman.
Both men walked in silence for a time. Then Chip stopped at another door. It was made of thick, old oak planks. The hinges and door handle were made of silver. Chip pointed at them. “Don’t touch.” Then he spoke to the door in a loud, authoritative voice, “Et in terra, sanguinem.”
The door opened inward and a skinny vampire with long, oily blond hair and large bug-like eyes greeted them. “Welcome chairman.”
“Acting chairman,” grumbled Rufus.
Norman looked around this new chamber. They’d taken him much deeper into the catacombs than he’d ever been. The room had a variety of devices stored on shelving and hanging in cases on walls. Among the devices were a few Norman had seen: rifles, light-grenades, blades of various length. There were many he’d never seen before. They didn’t resemble any weapon Norman had ever seen, but something told him that everything in this room could kill.
“This is the armory,” said Chip. “We’ve been building it up since our…ordeal.”
“You work fast,” said Norman.
Chip shrugged his shoulders. “No choice.” He did a remarkable job of maintaining his facade of leadership and confidence. Norman could see why he went into politics, and why his fellow vampires found it so easy to follow him.
Rufus immediately went to the shelving along the far wall. He reached into a case and retrieved a short knife. He held it up into the artificial light. It’s silver blade reflected the greenish glow. He tossed it to Norman who caught it by its leather wrapped hilt.
“Think you can handle it?” asked Chip.
“I’ll give it a shot,” replied Norman.
Rufus tossed him a leather sheath. As Norman slid the knife into it, his skin brushed the silvery flat of the blade. He shrieked and dropped the assembly to the floor, gripping his hand. His palm smoldered, streaked with red and charred flesh.
Rufus frowned. “Maybe not.” He reached back into the case and retrieved two very small, thin knives much like his own assassin blades. “They move quick. Easy to use. Not sure what good they’ll do against our new friends, but very effective at dispatching the old school Corps. V.”
Norman took the two knives and slipped them into his pants pocket.
Rufus then strode to the opposite side of the room and stood over a trunk that sat on the floor against the wall. He flicked the latches and pushed open the lid. He reached into the trunk and lifted its contents out with a grunt and a heave. He placed the device in the floor in the center of the room.
“What the hell is that?” asked Norman.
“That, Dear Teacher, is our plan,” replied Chip.
The device was grey and black metal. It had an irregular box shape. Along one side were sixteen back compartments. On the opposite side were two clearly gerry-rigged shoulder straps that rendered the device a de facto back pack. Along the left edge were four rows of four LED’s. All glowed a solid red. On the right edge was a red button and two chrome toggle switches.
“What is it?” asked Norman.
“Elijah,” said Chip. “Would you care to do the honors?”
Elijah approached the device. He placed his palm over one of the black compartments and detached its outward face. Inside was a large, black, oblong orb. It had several metal notches in it and some wires running into the back of the compartment. “This is a bomb. It will emit sunlight when triggered.”
“But sunlight doesn’t faze these guys,” said Norman.
“That’s correct. That’s why we’re not counting on that here,” responded Elijah. “Most of this pack is a battery. Not an electrical battery. A light battery. Like in your students’ weapons. But much stronger.”
Norman walked closer and knelt down to get a better look.
“One of these babies would fry everyone in this room but me in less than five seconds,” They pack a punch. “We’ve wired them to reserve batteries to increase their power by about one hundred times.” Elijah stroked his hand along the other sealed black compartments. “And we’ve got sixteen of them all timed to go off together.”
This didn't seem like a weapon made to 'nudge' a situation along in an emergency. What was Nebulous really all about? It seemed as if they'd prepared for vampire genocide. “I’m afraid I still don’t get it,” replied Norman. “If they’re immune to sunlight, how does adding more sunlight help us?”
“It’s not the light, Mr. Bernard.” Elijah looked into his eyes. “It’s the heat. There’s enough punch in this baby to equal the heat of a small nuclear explosion. It’s like popping an ant with sunlight using a magnifying glass. The light will ignite everything.”
“Won’t they heal from their burns?” asked Norman.
“They would, if they had time,” said Elijah. “What we’re counting on is their tissue burning up faster than they can heal. Once they’ve oxidized away, there will be nothing left to heal.”
Chip jumped in, “Just the sustained exposure to that much heat should do the trick. However, we’re hoping that, perhaps on the DNA level, the light itself might slow their healing process or introduce flaws or mutations into the DNA.”
Everyone in the room looked at Chip like he had just spoken to them in a different language.
“But we’re not counting on that,” he concluded.
“Our plan is to sneak that device inside the self-storage warehouse and set it off.”
“So, we’re basically going to nuke them,” said Matt Barnes.
“Basically,” answered Chip.
“What if Cornelius is there, keeping guard?” asked Norman.
“We’ve thought of that. We’ve got an idea that we can reach out for help with Cornelius.”
“Reach out to who?” asked Norman.
Elijah looked up at Chip.
Chip acknowledged the glance, turned back to Norman and put on his smoothest face. “Actually, Norman, we were hoping you could help us with that.”
10
The Hair on My Chin
Elijah carried a back pack very similar to the one Naseem had always seemed to have. As the trees got denser and the canopy intensified the night’s darkness, he stopped and placed his pack on the ground. He knelt down and withdrew a pair of goggles. He stood up wearing them and flicked a toggle on the side. A green LED glowed. “Much better. Now I can see almost as well as you.”
One last time, Norman made his case, “I really don’t think it’s necessary to have the Nymphs along.”
“That’s not really up to you, Mr. Bernard,” replied Elijah. “It’s not up to me, either.”
“He’s right,” said Felicia. “We can make our own decisions.”
How naive she sounded. For now, Norman would let it slide, but he sensed there would be a time when he’d need to override their decisions. Although, he was uncertain as to how exactly he would do that.
The group of five Nymphs, one vampire and one Nebulous human hiked into the forest via the foot path. After about a
half an hour of hiking, they veered off the path into untrodden ground. Almost instantly Elijah let out a shriek. He lifted his arm and pulled out a pricker. A dot of blood appeared in its place.
“Careful,” said Norman. “Some of these plants have fangs.”
Darius laughed at the little joke.
Another hour into the forest and the group entered a small clearing. A ring of rocks stood in the middle. A few stray stones lay outside the ring. Old pine needles had collected within.
Elijah stopped them, scanning around. “I think we’re here.” He slipped his goggles up to his forehead and slung his pack around to the ground, withdrawing a small flashlight. Its LED glowed red. Elijah flicked a switch and the LED turned green, however, no light came out of the bulb. He shined the flashlight around as if it were working. Straining his eyes, he peered at the trees. Then as he moved the imaginary beam of light passed one of the trees, something glowed on its trunk about four feet from the ground. Elijah moved in followed closely by the rest of the group. As they neared the tree, Norman could make out the glowing spot. It was an eye surrounded by a five-pointed star. Elijah flicked the light off and the symbol disappeared.
“What does that mean anyway?” asked Norman.
Elijah replace the flashlight in his backpack and took out a device that resembled a small walkie talkie. He switched it on. A green light came on, and the little box emitted a hum. Elijah twisted a knob on the face of the contraption rotating it two clicks. The pitch of the hum got higher. He then twisted it several more clicks until the pitch became a squeak and then disappeared beyond hearing.
Elijah looked up from the device. He slid the goggles back onto his eyes and scanned around.
Norman listened closely for sounds in the woods.
“What is that thing?” belted Declan.
The whole group simultaneously put a finger to their lips and hissed a “shhhhhhh….” Norman wrinkled his brow and shot Declan his teacher look.
As his annoyance faded, Norman detected a hint of a sound. It was a soft sound. Many sounds, actually. “They’re coming.”
