“Screw you,” Chris shot back.
Mr. Magnus walked over to Chris and stood next to her as she fought to free herself, hissing at him and displaying her sharp teeth.
“I’ve been here for a millennium, and I’ve yet to see someone as young as you wield so much power. As vampires age we do grow stronger, but what you possess is remarkable. May I ask what your secret is?”
“Like I said, go screw yourself.”
His fingers were as cold as ice as he placed his right hand on Chris’s cheek. A wave of pictures flowed through her mind, just as when she had first transitioned into a vampire. As each image flashed before her eyes, she saw and felt everything Mr. Magnus ever had experienced.
“I won’t alter your mind,” he said, “nor will I try to influence you in one way or another. I simply must show you what I know to be true because then you’ll understand why the M.M. must remain in place.”
When he removed his hand from Chris’s cheek, he knew she understood what he was trying to accomplish. No words needed to be spoken, as she knew his every thought.
When Chris opened her eyes and looked at Mr. Magnus, it wasn’t with spite or desperation; for the first time, she actually knew that what the Nine was doing was necessary. Although she didn’t agree with their tactics or what they’d done to so many towns and innocent people, she realized they’d had no other choices and must protected at all costs.
Mr. Magnus smiled at Chris as he reached into her pocket and removed the small leather book.
FORTY FOUR
After Chris told her story, everyone sat silently at first, each waiting for someone to speak, but for a short time, the only sound was that of rainwater running off the tent. Rick sat at the head of the table with Billy on his left and Chris and Robbie on his right.
Finally Chris broke the silence. “What I’m going to tell you next will make you all angry. You won’t agree with me at first, but I need you to promise you’ll hear me out.”
“Chris, what did you do?” Rick asked, alarmed.
“I haven’t done anything. It has nothing to do with me.”
“What is it, Chris? You know we’ll support you no matter—”
“Slow down, Rick. Please hear me out before you say you’ll support me. It’s about the M.M. and the Nine.”
She took a deep breath and tried to focus. “OK. Here it is in a nutshell. If you allow the Nine to survive and destroy the M.M., it won’t do any good, as the Nine will rebuild any losses. The one thing the Nine have is time.”
“So we kill them?” Billy said. “Let them burn in the sun or throw their bodies into the ocean?”
“I’m afraid not. We must not kill the Nine. None of them can die—not now or ever.”
“You’re out of your mind,” Rick said. “What do you think we’ve been planning this whole time? We have to kill them, as well as the M.M. Otherwise all of this will have been for nothing.” Trying to keep his cool, he looked sharply at Chris and calmly placed his hands on the table.
“Rick, let me explain. The Nine have used the M.M. to destroy towns, murder people, and take slaves. I don’t agree with it, and I don’t like it, but—”
“That’s why we have to destroy them. I’m sorry, but I agree with Rick,” Robbie interjected.
“If you destroy the Nine, there will be no one to keep the vampire population under control. They’ll breed, take humans for blood, and change the rest into vampires. Within a few decades, the vampire population will outnumber humans ten to one. Shortly after that, there won’t be enough humans left for the vampire population to sustain itself. The Nine have a code; they use the Ghosts to hunt down and kill all other vampires in order to maintain balance. The other vampires don’t follow that code. Our killing the Ghosts was a mistake.”
“Chris! Stop now!” Rick said, slamming his fist on the table. “I don’t know what they did to you, but I know this isn’t you talking. Think of how much they’ve done to us and to innocent people. You’re wrong, Chris. We will fight! We will kill the Nine and destroy the M.M.! There’s no discussing it. I never thought I’d say this to you, but you’ll either support us, support our enemy, or get the hell out of the way. I’ve always loved you Chris, but this? This is too much.”
“Rick, you told me to leave!” Chris nearly shouted. “You want to make this personal? Fine. I lied to you—yes, I get that—but you just threw me out, and now you tell me you’ve always loved me?”
“I didn’t tell you to leave, Chris. I told whatever it was that you actually were—or are—to leave.”
“Oh, yes, Rick. You’re right. I wasn’t the same girl you met in that El Camino. And for the record, I didn’t ask for this shit—it just happened—and that’s why I didn’t tell you. I knew you’d do exactly what you did! But I didn’t expect you to leave me alone with our child!”
“No, Chris! You carried our child without telling me what the hell you actually were. Really? A vampire? Come on. What was I supposed to do?”
“Hey, hey, hey…you both need to pull it together fast. You can’t change the past,” Billy said, trying to keep the peace.
“Soldiers! Get in here, and get this…thing out of my sight and off my base,” Rick yelled abruptly.
“Rick, you’re making a mistake. I won’t let you kill the Nine. We need them!” Chris yelled, as two men pulled her out of the tent and into the rain.
Chris glared at the soldiers escorting her from the area. “I could kill you both in a instant,” she said. She smiled, revealing her fangs, as her eyes turned black. The soldiers instantly released her, stumbling backward in the mud in an awkward attempt to get away from her as fast as they could.
Inside the tent Billy went over to the small wood stove and poured himself a cup of coffee and lit a cigarette. “I can’t say I understand what she’s trying to do, but I’ll tell you this,” Billy said. “We’ll proceed with your plan, Ricky. But no one will touch Chris under any circumstances. She’s off limits. Ricky, you know I love and respect you, and I try to stay out of your personal business, but if you ever talk to my daughter like that again, you and I will have a problem. You’re human, and I promise you I’ll give you something you won’t heal from.”
Billy placed his coffee cup on the table and his cigarette in an ashtray. After putting on his black cowboy hat, he picked up his cigarette and inhaled deeply, staring at Rick the entire time, before he abruptly left the tent.
What Chris was unable to explain to Rick, Billy, and Robbie was that she had struck a deal with the Nine. They had ensured her that if she could convince Rick not to undertake any further military actions, the M.M. would stop looting and destroying towns for the time being. In Chris’s mind that would at least buy them some time to figure out what to do next.
Chris had spoken with all eight remaining members of the Nine and agreed to take a council seat to ensure they’d hold up their end of the deal. She knew it wouldn’t make up for all the murders and crimes against humanity the Nine had allowed their army to commit, but it was the only way she could guarantee a way to save the human race.
Giving up her friendships with Billy, Rick, and Robbie was perhaps the hardest thing she’d ever done, and she felt truly empty after making that decision. Repeatedly she asked herself whether there was an alternative, but she honestly couldn’t find another answer.
The oil rig was the same as it had been when she had left it a week earlier: cold, dark, and ugly. There was nothing Chris found appealing about the place, and she just hoped she’d be able to do something to protect her friends as well as the Nine in the upcoming weeks.
Chris stepped out of the helicopter that had picked her up from the Georgia coast and taken her to the oil rig. During the trip she kept asking herself whether she had made the right decision.
“Chris, I see you’ve returned, hopefully with good news,” Mr. Magnus said.
“Mr. Magnus, I do have news.”
“Well, let’s go into the conference room, where we can all disc
uss it.”
The meeting took place in the same room where the Nine had been seated the last time Chris was on the oil rig. The other seven members were seated as Mr. Magnus and Chris entered the room and took their seats.
“The war won’t be called off,” Chris began. “That’s as bluntly as I can put it. I spoke with Rick, and he won’t back down.”
“In other words you failed?” Mr. C. said in a condescending tone. “Now why exactly does she have a seat at our table?”
“Mr. C., she has a seat at our table because I chose her. Is that a problem?” Mr. Magnus asked.
“No, sir, it’s not. I just fail to see what she brings to the table.”
“Mr. C., stop talking!” Mr. Black whispered to him in a harsh tone.
“You idiots spread our army too far west,” Mr. Magnus bellowed, “and now we’re vulnerable to attack. Lest you forget, it was I who restored power to our new capitol, returned our helicopters to working order, and found The Gem of the Seas. I myself set this operation up, formed our military, and began production of weapons, ammunition, and other resources. I trusted you all to take the reins, so to speak, when I was unavailable, and you all failed! And now you have the audacity to question my actions? Do you swim, Mr. Black?”
“No, sir. I do not. I apologize, Mr. Magnus.”
“Fine. Chris, what can you tell us about their army? How many soldiers do they have? Are they all in one place? Anything you can tell us will be much appreciated.”
Chris hesitated before she spoke. She had seen this moment coming, and she’d thought she would be better prepared for it than she was. She knew the words she was about to speak would betray her friends, and it was killing her inside. She also knew she couldn’t lie, as the other vampires would know her thoughts. With tears in her eyes, she told the council everything she knew.
Chris spoke of Rick’s army. She didn’t know numbers or how the soldiers would be strategically placed, but she did know he was planning a preemptive strike on the M.M.; she just didn’t know exactly when.
After Chris was done speaking, she didn’t ask permission, nor did she ask for any feedback. She just stood and headed to the door. Then she stopped and turned toward the group. “I’ll tell you all the same thing I told my family—and yes, they’re my family. I told them I wouldn’t let them bring harm to any of you. Now I’ll tell each of you that I won’t allow you to harm any of them. I don’t like being in the middle, but it was you who put me here.”
“I understand,” Mr. Magnus said, and “that’s why we must ensure your safety and also ensure that you won’t do anything to compromise our operation. You’ll be treated fairly, I assure you.”
“You’re going to lock me up?” Chris asked.
“Guard, take Chris and place her in one of the holding cells aboard The Gem of the Seas. Chris, your accommodations will be quite nice, and when this war is over—and it will be very quickly—if you haven’t misplaced your priorities, you’ll have your place at the table of the Nine, as I promised you.”
Chris was escorted out of the room. It was the last time she ever set foot on the oil rig of the Nine.
FORTY FIVE
Weeks passed before Chris finally received that word that Rick’s army had attacked the M.M. She was sitting in her room on The Gem of the Seas—a high-end stateroom on the twelfth floor that had a balcony with an amazing view of the ocean. On the far side of the room, toward the inside of the vessel, was an additional balcony that overlooked the most impressive courtyard she ever had seen, with trees, plants, and a garden right there on the ship.
Night after night Chris had been waiting for news about Rick. When she did receive it, she didn’t know what to do. She wanted to be with her family, and she owed it to them to support them, but she also knew that if the Nine died, humanity ultimately would perish.
“Thank you, Captain,” she told the man who brought the news.
“Ma’am, is there anything else I can do for you?”
“No.”
The M.M. captain turned and walked out of Chris’s room, locking the door behind him.
Across the Midwest and the East Coast, Rick’s army struck all M.M. units simultaneously. The M.M. had been warned and were as prepared as they could be, but as Mr. Magnus noted, they were indeed spread too thin.
The Army for the Free People of America cut off all M.M. supply lines. Unable to resupply with provisions and ammunition, all seven M.M. outposts were left to their own devices. Although Rick didn’t like the tactics his army was employing, they were effective.
Soldiers, young and old, volunteered to serve as suicide bombers. They drove vehicles stolen from the M.M. near the bases and, with large amounts of explosives, breached the outer walls, allowing Rick’s troops to gain access. Just as Rick had planned, the M.M. hadn’t expected this, and therefore they lost their tactical advantage.
A few months later, word once again reached Chris, this time informing her that every M.M. military outpost had been destroyed and that the Army for the Free People of America officially had won what was now being called the Slave War. It was bloody and dirty, and Rick had lost more than 20 percent of his soldiers. If the M.M. had been able to hold out a few weeks longer, Rick was sure his troops would have had to retreat.
The victory occurred more quickly than anyone had anticipated—neither Rick nor the Nine had expected it to turn out the way it had—but it was over. In the process Rick’s soldiers had found that on nearly every M.M. outpost there were cages numbering in the thousands, all filled with slaves the M.M. had captured. Rick himself gave the order to free the slaves, which in his mind would help justify the loss of so many good people.
It was a day of mixed emotions for Rick and all his soldiers. They had won the land war, and the only remaining soldiers were aboard the cruise ship The Gem of the Seas and on the oil rig. Even with the celebration, which Rick knew his troops deserved, he felt solemn. His lost soldiers—people with families and children—were people. It was because of these brave souls that Rick and his remaining troops were still standing.
When Chris learned that Rick’s army had won the land war, she knew the cages that had been on the M.M. outposts weren’t filled with human slaves, as Rick had thought them to be; they were filled with vampires, and now the vampires were on loose.
She knew Rick and his soldiers truly believed they were doing the right by opening the cages, but she also knew what had been set into motion ultimately would destroy the human race.
With the first phase of the war over, Billy and Robbie were celebrating as Rick sat alone in his tent. Wine and cigarettes were a fine treat around the giant bonfire that night with the soldiers who had made their victory possible. For the first time in more than a decade, those men were truly free.
All were in excellent spirits and were enjoying the evening—all except Rick, who, beyond the loss of his men, was thinking only about Chris. He didn’t talk about it, but he felt it. She should have been celebrating with him. Regardless of what she thought they should or shouldn’t do, Rick didn’t consider her a traitor, nor did Billy or Robbie feel that she had betrayed their trust. They knew she was doing what she felt was right at the time.
Phase two was about to take place, and it would either end the war once and for all or merely delay the Nine until they rebuilt their army.
If they were to win and the remaining M.M. were destroyed, along with the Nine, Rick already had set in motion the process of restoring a new US government.
Trusted personnel were being put in place as temporary government officials, based on the original constitution. Each of the few surviving towns was being appointed a mayor, a police chief, a judge, and security for these positions until official voting took place. It would be a long process and require a great deal of effort, but they needed a new government that was just and fair—a true place of hope, just as a town called America once had been for so many.
Darkness fell on the East Coast, and a group of twelve men le
d by Rick, Billy, and Robbie arrived on the beach. Behind them, not sixty feet from the shore, were the remains of a once-great hotel standing silently under the dark, cloud-covered sky. The building was now a fraction of its former self; all that remained was its outer shell. The windows had been shattered; the floors had collapsed; and thick vegetation covered nearly every inch of what was left.
Outside the massive building, the men sat on broken concrete that once had been a curb for VIP parking; Rick was the only one to remain standing. Looking out toward the water, they saw, off in the distance, the lights from The Gem of the Seas and the oil rig, which sat silently on the horizon.
These men weren’t Rick’s everyday soldiers. He had handpicked this group, as they were his most trusted men. It had been his idea to keep the group small in order to maintain the element of surprise.
His plan was simple: sneak aboard the cruise ship quickly and silently; take control of the vessel; and plant explosives. After that all they had to do was set the ship on a direct course for the oil rig and use a remote device to set off the charges.
Initially the idea didn’t seem possible because nearly all the explosives in their possession had been used in other battles, but Rick’s army overcame that problem after they took the second of the M.M. bases. They had gained control of enough ammunition and explosives to minimally sustain themselves for months.
On the beach they reviewed the last of the details, and Rick broke his men into four groups. He had kept this part of the plan secret from the group, including Billy and Robbie, as he couldn’t take any chance of the Nine gaining the upper hand in what would determine whether the human race would remain free or continue to provide slaves for the Nine.
Rick initially had wanted to attack the oil rig first and take out the Nine then attack The Gem of the Seas, but ultimately he decided to attack the cruise ship first and use it as a makeshift battering ram.
A Town Called America Page 23
