by Brandon Hale
“I guess not,” Grung said. “He’s pretty good with a rifle. I’m going to grab a bite to eat. Talk to you guys later.” Without another word, Grung left the room.
Ellie watched him leave. “What’s his problem with Carl?”
“What do you think?” Scott asked.
“I think he’s taking the big brother thing too far,” Ellie said. “Carl’s okay. He doesn’t have many friends, you know. Matter of fact, I think I might be the only real friend he’s got.”
“That’s because he’s an asshole,” Lily said. When Ellie gave her an angry glance, she added, “Hey, you know it’s true.”
“He doesn’t have a lot of social skills,” Ellie admitted, “but he’s a good guy. And he worships you guys.”
“He has a funny way of showing it,” Lily said.
“He’s just doing what we do,” Ellie said. “We insult each other constantly.”
“Well,” Lily said, “he’ll have plenty of time to learn how to insult us without sounding like a jerk. We’re gonna be on the road a long time. And you, Carl, and Grung will figure out a way to get along. That’s an order.”
“You’re telling the wrong person,” Ellie said.
“Are you and Carl more than friends?” Scott asked abruptly.
“No,” Ellie said. “He’s my friend, Scott. We’re in the middle of a war. Romance isn’t something I’m overly concerned with.”
“Okay,” Scott said. “You might want to make that clear to Grung.”
“And Carl,” Lily said.
“He knows,” Ellie said. “Look, guys, I really think it’s silly to have this conversation. We have bigger things to worry about.”
“You’re right,” Lily said. “Can I say one more thing about it? The last thing?”
Ellie sighed. “Go ahead.”
“Be his friend,” Lily said, “but never let him become your responsibility. That’s a lesson I didn’t learn until it was too late.”
“Got it,” Ellie said quietly.
After several seconds of awkward silence, Scott said, “Way to kill a conversation, chief.”
“Yeah,” Lily said. “Sorry about that.”
“That’s okay,” Scott said, “I’m going to get a little serious here for a minute myself. We don’t know how long it’ll take us to get to Arizona. It really depends on what kind of transportation we find. Either way, we’ll be saying goodbye soon.”
“We’ll worry about goodbyes when the time comes,” Lily said. “It’s way too early for that.”
“This isn’t a goodbye speech,” Scott said. “I’m getting to a point here. We’ll be saying goodbye soon. And it could be a forever goodbye. Who knows if I’m going to make it back from England. We have no idea what the world is like over there.”
“Get to the point, Scott,” Ellie said. “You’re depressing me.”
“Sorry,” Scott said. “I just wanted to be clear how important this mission is to us, on a personal level. This could be the last mission where I’m part of the B-Team. Considering that fact, I have an important favor to ask.”
“We’re listening,” Lily said.
“For this mission,” Scott said, “can you guys please stop calling me Howler? I really hate it.”
“No way,” Ellie said. “Your request is denied.”
“Come on,” Scott said. “This is our last mission.”
“Suck it up, Howler,” Lily said. “There’s no coddling on the B-team.”
“You guys really suck,” Scott said.
“We do,” Ellie said. “We really do.”
Lily laughed. “Okay, I’m going to find Carl. Rest up, soldiers. Tomorrow, we start the mother of all road trips.”
Chapter 8
The Ruins of Iveyton
Rain poured down on the ruins formerly known as Iveyton, VA. The town was gone, replaced by ash and half-burned buildings. Steve stood in the center of what used to be Main Street. His vampire army roamed the remains of the town, searching for any clues that might lead them to the Day Soldiers.
One of the vampires walked up to Steve and said, “I doubt we’ll find anything we can track because of this damn rain.”
“Keep looking,” Steve said. “There are clues here. You just have to stick with it, my friend.”
“You’re an idiot,” someone said.
Steve looked up to see a man strolling down the street toward him. Steve didn’t recognize him. “Are you on my team?”
“Nope,” the man said. He was wearing jeans, a white T-shirt, and a large backpack. “I convinced Natasha to let me come here to make a demonstration. The name’s Travis.”
“Why would Natasha send someone here to slow down my progress?” Steve asked.
Travis laughed as he removed the backpack and placed it on the road. “Progress?” he said as he pulled a folded tripod from the bag. “Walking around a deserted town in the rain isn’t what I’d call progress.” He unfolded the tripod and placed it in the road. The next item from the bag was a camera. He attached it to the tripod and pressed a button on the camera’s side. A small red light above the camera’s lens turned on.
“What the hell are you doing?” Steve asked.
Ignoring him, Travis looked into the camera and said, “You getting this?”
“Yes,” Natasha’s voice said from a small speaker in the camera.
“I love technology,” Travis said with a grin.
Steve stared at the camera. “Natasha, what’s going on?”
Still looking at the camera, Travis said, “Your boys here are never going to catch the Day Soldiers because they aren’t hunting. They’re investigating. They still think like humans.”
“Natasha,” Steve said, “I don’t know why you sent this guy here, but I demand you order him to leave. I can’t command a team if my authority is challenged.”
Travis continued to ignore the vampire, speaking only to the camera. “Even if they got very lucky and found the soldiers, they’d be dead in an hour, because they’re not vampires. They’re humans who have been given vampire abilities. Weak humans.”
“The Day Soldiers are humans,” Natasha’s voice said.
“Some are,” Travis conceded, “but unlike these morons, the Day Soldiers are strong humans. One small team killed every vampire in this town. Do you seriously think Sergeant Steve here is going to have better results? And let’s not forget that some of the soldiers are werewolves.”
“The vampires in this town weren’t prepared,” Steve said. “We are.”
“If you were prepared,” Travis said, turning to face Steve for the first time since setting up the camera, “you wouldn’t need two hundred vampires. What’s your plan when you find them? Are you just going to try to overwhelm them with numbers, letting most of your army die in the attack?”
Several of the vampires in the area stopped what they were doing and began to watch the exchange in the street.
“My plan isn’t your business,” Steve said with a snarl. “I don’t know what you’re trying to prove, but if you don’t get the hell out of here right now—”
“Turn into a mist,” Travis said.
“What?”
“Turn into a mist,” Travis repeated. “Right now. Do it.”
Steve laughed nervously. “You’ve read too many horror novels, my friend.”
“You see,” Travis said, “that answer is proof that you have no idea what you are. You’re still obeying the naïve dogma established by humanity. You think things like the laws of physics apply to you.”
“Are you trying to inspire me?” Steve said. “Are you telling me that I could be so much more if I just applied myself?”
“No,” Travis said. “I’m just explaining why I’m going to kill you. You don’t deserve the gifts you’ve been given.”
“Friend, if you think you can kill me, I welcome you… to… try…” Steve fell silent as he watched a white mist begin to swirl around Travis.
As the mist grew thicker, Travis became less… s
olid. The rain no longer bounced off his body. Instead, it seemed to be raining through him. A moment later, Travis was gone, completely replaced by the white mist in the road. The mist floated to the side of the road and worked its way to one of the ruined buildings. It drifted in the opposite direction of the wind, eventually disappearing behind the burned building.
By now, most of the other vampires were gathered in the road. Steve stared in awed silence at the spot where Travis had stood moments ago.
“What just happened?” one of the vampires asked.
“I think,” Steve said, “I’m about to die.”
Something streaked across the street, directly in front of Steve. It moved so fast, the vampires saw only a blur.
“What the hell was that?” another vampire asked.
Steve fell to the ground.
The vampires looked down to see a small wooden stake in his chest.
“Admit it,” Travis said as he stepped back onto the road. “That was pretty cool.”
“Can we do that?” a vampire asked.
“I don’t know,” Travis said. “Can you?”
He walked back to the open backpack, reached inside, and pulled out a handful of stakes. He placed all the stakes on the road in front of him and said, “I’ll be using these stakes to kill each of you. Of course, I don’t have two hundred stakes here, so I’ll have to kill several of you with each one.” He quickly counted, then added, “Looks like I’ve got fifty here. That means I’m going to get a new stake after every four kills.”
The vampires stared at him as he picked up two stakes and said, “Okay, how we gonna do this? Who’s fighting and who’s running?”
“Can we join you?” a vampire asked.
A second later, he was dead. “No,” Travis said as he pulled the stake from the vampire’s chest.
The other vampires ran.
Travis looked at the camera. “You really need to rethink this new world you’re creating. Just look at what you’re creating.” A moment later, he was gone.
From the Oval Office, Natasha stared at the monitor showing Travis slaughter the vampires in Iveyton. Cassius stood behind her.
“That town,” Cassius said, “is seriously bad for vampires.”
“Can you turn into fog like that?” Natasha asked.
“No,” Cassius said.
“Have you ever met a vampire who could?” Natasha asked.
“No,” Cassius answered. “It’s fairly common for a vampire to control fog, but I’ve never seen one become fog. This is a bit troubling.”
“I think we’re going to have to kill him,” Natasha said.
“Of course we’ll have to kill him,” Cassius said. “He’s a damn psychopath. But not until he’s brought us that kid.”
Natasha leaned back in her chair. “Do you think he can turn into a bat?”
“A week ago,” Cassius answered, “I would have laughed at you for asking that question. But after what we just saw, I honestly don’t know.”
“Maybe it was some kind of mind trick,” Natasha offered.
“No. We watched it on video. You could see through him. That wasn’t a trick.”
“Have you ever heard of such a thing?” Natasha asked.
“Just in books and movies,” Cassius said.
Natasha looked genuinely concerned. “You’ve been around a long time, Cassius.”
Cassius nodded. “Yeah.”
“Do you know of any older vampires you can ask about this?”
“Older vampires?” Cassius said. “No. I don’t know of any vampires older than me. But I do know of one who might have some answers.”
“Who?”
“Keep an eye on things here,” Cassius said as he walked toward the office door.
“Where are you going?” Natasha asked.
“About twenty miles southeast of the Borgo Pass,” Cassius said as he left the room.
“What’s a Borgo Pass?” Natasha asked the empty room.
Back in Iveyton, Travis walked toward his backpack. More specifically, he walked toward the vampire sitting beside the backpack. He was a small vampire with black hair, cropped short.
“You’re not going to run?” Travis asked.
“I’m not running, no,” the vampire said. He spoke with very subtle Spanish accent. “Seems rather pointless. My friends ran and you killed them all.”
“So you’re going to try to reason with me,” Travis said.
“Not really,” the vampire said. “I’m not going to try to convince you to spare me. I’m just going to explain how keeping me alive will help you.”
“You’re not alive.”
The vampire laughed. “Okay. I’m going to explain how keeping me undead will help you. If you disagree, I’ll accept my fate.”
“I don’t care if you accept it or not,” Travis said.
“You’re a difficult person to have a conversation with,” the vampire said.
“I know,” Travis said as he twirled a stake in right hand.
“I was a Day Soldier,” the vampire said.
“I don’t care,” Travis said. “I’m sure there are plenty of vampires who were Day Soldiers.” He lifted his stake, preparing to strike.
“I know Lily Baxter.”
Travis stopped mid-swing. “Baxter knows you?”
The vampire shook his head. “I did not say that. I said I know her.”
“Oh,” Travis said. “Well, prepare to accept your fate, because that doesn’t make you valuable at all.”
“Do you know why she killed Dennis?” the vampire asked.
“I don’t even know who Dennis is,” Travis said. “And really, I’m done with this conversation.”
The vampire sighed. “Okay. I will keep my word. I accept your decision.”
“Wait.” It was Natasha’s voice, coming from the camera.
Travis grinned and pointed at the vampire. “You’re smart. You weren’t really talking to me, were you.”
The vampire shrugged.
“What do you know about her reasons for killing Dennis?” Natasha asked.
“I know it was revenge,” the vampire said. “She was avenging the death of Leo Rosenberg.”
“How do you know that?” Natasha asked.
“Because,” the vampire answered, “I was his best friend during training. He told me everything about her. He was very much in love with this woman.”
“What’s your name?” Natasha asked.
“Enrico,” the vampire said.
“Travis?” Natasha said.
Travis lowered his stake. “You don’t want me to kill him.”
“You don’t agree?”
“I don’t,” Travis said, “He’s a fake vampire, just like the others.”
“I have not met this girl,” Enrico said, “but I know her. More importantly, I knew Leo. I was his roommate for the last two months of his life. I was with him on his final mission. This can be used in many ways.”
“Sorry, Travis,” Natasha said. “I’m pulling rank here. This is too good to pass up.”
Travis looked at Enrico. “If you were there for his last mission,” Travis said, “then why aren’t you one of the ugly bastards? Back then, there were no pretty-boy vamps.”
“They took us prisoner,” Enrico said with a shrug. “Don’t know why. In our cell, they showed us the video of Leo as a vampire. I suppose it was just to break our spirit. Once the big assault was over, they turned us.”
“I don’t buy it,” Travis said to the camera. “He’s lying.”
“Oh, come on,” Natasha said. “He’s obviously telling the truth. After we purged the grandchildren, we turned all the Day Soldiers. We knew we couldn’t leave them human because they’d just continue to fight.”
“Dammit,” Travis grumbled.
“Sorry,” Enrico said with a wry smile.
“What is your problem, Travis?” Natasha said. “I just let you kill two hundred vampires. Surely you can let this one go.”
“It�
��s like chicken tenders,” Travis said. “You get an order of ten chicken tenders, so that’s how many you plan to eat. Then you get to the tenth one and accidentally drop it on the floor. You’re gonna be pissed, right? I mean, you don’t need that tenth chicken tender, but your stomach was expecting it. It would’ve completed the meal. And you’re cheating me out of my tenth chicken tender.”
“Just send him to me,” Natasha said, “and stop being a baby.”
“If it’s all the same to you,” Enrico said, “I’d like to go with Travis. I’m going to be honest here… I love this guy.”
“Travis?” Natasha said. “It’s your call, but I’d like to point out that all the great vampires in literature had devoted disciples.”
“That’s true,” Travis said thoughtfully. He looked at Enrico. “Are you offering to be my minion?”
“I am yours to command, my master,” Enrico said.
“I know you’re making fun of me,” Travis said, “but I kinda don’t care. You do realize that if you come with me, there’s a very good chance I’ll eventually kill you.”
“I realize this,” Enrico said. “If you call for my life, I will give it freely. That is my vow to you.”
“I have two rules,” Travis said. “One, you do what I say without hesitation.”
“Absolutely,” Enrico said.
“And two,” Travis continued, “you always refer to me as your master when anybody else is around. If it’s just us, you can call me Travis, but if we’re around anybody else, I’m your master.”
Enrico bowed. “Yes, my master.”
“If we’re done here,” Natasha said, “I have important presidential stuff to do.”
“We’re done,” Travis said. “I’ll have that girl to you soon.” He turned to Enrico. “Turn off the camera and come with me. My plane’s a few miles from here. We’ll have some dinner then get started.”
“Excellent,” Enrico said.
Travis pointed at him. “Just remember, you’re my guest. Don’t binge on my humans.”
“Yes, my master,” Enrico said.
Travis couldn’t suppress his smile. Despite his earlier objections, he was glad he didn’t kill Enrico.
