Day Soldiers (Book 2): Purging Fires

by Brandon Hale

Travis pulled away and said, “Go ahead, but don’t be a glutton like you were with the last one.”

  Enrico bit into the man’s other arm.

  As Enrico drank, Travis said, “We’d never find her from the ground. We don’t even know where she’s headed. Not to mention the fact that we’d have to deal with werewolves. We’re not supposed to be in their woods.”

  “Another good point,” Enrico said between gulps.

  “But eventually,” Travis continued, “that girl will stumble across a vampire town with human prisoners. She’ll rescue the prisoners and she’ll burn the town to the ground. She’s hung up on revenge and it has made her powerful, but it has also made her predictable. She’ll eventually do something big. And when she does, we’ll see it.”

  “I like it,” Enrico said.

  The human fell to the floor.

  “Is he dead?” Travis felt the man’s pulse. “He’s dead. Dammit, Enrico, I told you to be conservative!”

  “Sorry, Amigo,” Enrico said. “I was not the only one drinking.”

  Travis glared at him with hateful eyes.

  “Of course,” Enrico added hastily, “I was the guest on this meal. I drank too much and I apologize.”

  Travis looked toward the front of the plane. “Pilot!”

  “Yes, sir,” the vampire piloting the plane said.

  “Take us to the nearest city,” Travis said. “We’re running low on supplies back here.”

  “Yes, sir,” the pilot said.

  “And make it a big city,” Travis added. He looked at Enrico. “Maybe I can find a Halloween store while we’re on the ground.”

  “What if she blows up a town while we’re shopping?” Enrico asked.

  “I doubt she will,” Travis said. “After burning down Iveyton, I’m sure she’ll stay quiet for a while.”

  Chapter 13

  The Road to Arizona

  “Kill em all!” Lily yelled as she stabbed her stake into the vampire’s heart.

  Beside her, Grung sank his stake-arm into another vampire.

  Ellie stood beside Grung, firing her crossbow at another vampire.

  The team formed a tight circle in the center of the town. They stood back to back, facing the onslaught of vampires coming at them.

  “Do you people ever do anything quietly?” Carl asked as he fired his own crossbow.

  “I can answer that,” Greg said as he pulled his stake from a now-dead vampire’s chest. “I flew them into vamp territory a little over a year ago. They ended up leading a vampire and werewolf parade.”

  Scott laughed. “Our parade saved your life, buddy!”

  “I wasn’t complaining,” Greg said as he dropped another vampire.

  “Besides,” Scott said, “this one wasn’t our fault. They spotted us.”

  “They spotted Carl, not us,” Grung said as he thrust his stake-arm into another undead chest.

  “You don’t know that!”

  “Call it an educated guess.”

  Carl quickly reloaded his crossbow and fired again. “Well, we shouldn’t have come into this town anyway. What are we going to do with the humans if we rescue them?”

  “Shut up!” Lily yelled, “Focus on killing these bastards.”

  After several minutes, the attacking vampires were dead. The team stood in the center of the street, surrounded only by corpses.

  “I know that’s not all of them,” Ellie said.

  “They’re around,” Scott said. “I can smell them. They’re just changing tactics now that they know a direct assault won’t work.”

  “How long until daylight?” Lily asked.

  Ellie answered her. “Very soon. Maybe half an hour.”

  “That’s why they’re hiding,” Grung said. “They don’t want to be caught outside.”

  “Let em hide.” Lily began to walk down the street. “Let’s release those prisoners.”

  By the time they made it to the human enclosure on the other end of town, the sun was up. The enclosure wall was about a mile long, Lily guessed. It was small when compared to the town itself. Lily assumed that meant there weren’t very many vampires living in the town.

  “We can’t keep doing this,” Carl was saying as they reached the main gate of the enclosure. “We’re drawing them a map that leads straight to us.”

  Lily looked at the gate. It was secured by several locks. “Scott,” she said, “can you take care of this?”

  Scott sighed. “Look away,” he said as he removed his shirt.

  The team turned and faced the town.

  “I’m peeking, Howler,” Ellie said.

  Scott just groaned. A moment later he was a werewolf.

  “For the record, Carl,” Lily said, “we’ve been on the road for over two weeks and this is the first town we’ve rescued.”

  “I understand that,” Carl said, “but when they find out about this, all they have to do is use Iveyton as a starting point and they’ll know exactly where we’re headed.”

  Behind them, Scott ripped the gate from its hinges and tossed it aside. A few seconds later, he said, “You can turn around now.”

  “You’re the only werewolf I’ve ever met,” Lily said, “who’s shy about being naked.”

  “I was raised with humans,” Scott said. “Cut me some slack.”

  As they stepped inside the enclosure, Lily continued her debate with Carl. “We’re going to find another vehicle in this town, then we’re going to find a plane to get us to Arizona. They won’t be able to track us, Carl.”

  “I still think it’s a risky move,” Carl said.

  “You’re probably right,” Lily said. She looked around the enclosure. There were several small houses, but Lily could see no movement inside the houses. “They must still be asleep.”

  “Pretty sound sleepers,” Ellie said, “considering the ruckus we caused.”

  “Well,” Greg said, “let’s wake them up. Maybe they’ll fix us a hero’s breakfast.”

  The door to one of the houses opened and an older man stepped onto the porch. He had long graying hair and a thick beard. A woman stepped onto the porch behind him. Their faces wore terrified expressions.

  Several other residents stepped from the other houses. Women, children, and men stepped from their porches and cautiously walked toward the team.

  “Look at them,” Carl said. “They’re absolutely terrified. What have these people gone through?”

  “Whatever they’ve been through,” Lily said, “it’s over now.” She looked at the old man in front and smiled. “Hello, sir!”

  The man nodded solemnly. “Hello, ma’am. You broke our door.”

  “That’s because you’re free,” Lily said. “We didn’t kill them all, though. The rest hid because the sun came up, but we can help you take care of that. Shouldn’t be hard in the daylight.”

  “How many did you kill?” the old man asked with a concerned look on his face.

  “I don’t know,” Lily said. “Maybe a dozen or so.”

  Some of the prisoners went and picked up the enclosure’s door. Lily heard one of them say, “Maybe we can fix it.”

  “What are you doing to the door?” Grung said.

  “We’re gonna try to put it back on,” the old man said.

  “I’m sorry,” Scott said. “I must have heard you wrong. Did you say you’re going to repair the door?”

  The old man nodded. “We appreciate what you kids did here, but if it’s all the same to you, we’d rather you just leave.”

  “Wait,” Greg said. “Are you saying you want to be their prisoners?”

  “They treat us pretty good,” the old man said. “They only take blood from volunteers. They fly in food and water and they let us do what we want. They’ve shown us nothing but respect since they came here.”

  “They keep you in a cage,” Lily said, horrified.

  “Only because they have to,” the old man said. “And they’ve promised it’s temporary. They’re doing that to prove that they mean us no rea
l harm. Eventually, we’re going to be allowed back into our homes.”

  “They keep you in a cage,” Lily said again.

  “We have a good life here,” the old man said. “These new vampires aren’t like the ugly ones during the war. They killed those monsters. These guys want to do things right.”

  “They keep you in a cage!” Lily screamed.

  “Just go, ma’am,” the old man said. “We’re okay here.”

  Lily could feel her heart pounding against her chest. “We fought a war for you people. We’re still fighting a war for you people.”

  “Don’t kid yourself,” the old man said. “This war’s over. We fought the good fight and we lost. Luckily, it’s not as bad as we thought it would be. During the war, we lived in terror. Now, it’s not so bad. We even get to join them in town for various parties and celebrations from time to time.”

  Grung stepped forward and said, “So you’re okay with being in a prison because you get occasional rec time?”

  “Wait a second,” Greg said. “Did you say—”

  “Come on,” Lily said to the team. She turned and started to walk toward the town.

  “What are you doing?” Scott asked.

  “I’m going to kill the rest of those vampires.”

  “Please don’t do that!” the old man said.

  “If we kill them all,” Lily said, still walking toward the town, “you’ll have to rebuild your lives.”

  Scott jogged up to Lily and said, “Hold on a second, chief.”

  “No.”

  “Lily,” Scott said, “you can’t go to war to defend these people’s freedom, then come in and take it away yourself.”

  “Watch me.”

  “Would you guys shut up for one damn second!” Greg yelled. Once everyone was quiet, he turned to the old man. “Did you say they fly in supplies? Like, in a plane?”

  “Yeah,” the old man said. “There’s an airstrip about half a mile west of here.”

  Lily walked up to the old man. “Is there a plane there now?”

  “Don’t know,” the man said. “Maybe.”

  Greg looked at Lily and grinned. “Aren’t you glad you asked me to join your team?”

  The plane was small but sufficient to carry the team. It sat at the edge of the airstrip, next to the fueling station.

  “Do you think it’ll get us to Arizona?” Lily asked.

  “I’m not even sure where we are,” Greg said.

  “Unless we’ve crossed a state line without knowing it,” Scott said, “I think we’re in southwest Missouri. Probably near the borders to Kansas and Oklahoma.”

  “Then yeah,” Greg said. “If we fill it up, we should make it to Arizona without a problem.”

  “Okay,” Lily said. “We’ve got ourselves a plane. Now, let’s go kill the rest of those vampires then get the hell out of here.”

  “Are we back to that?” Ellie said.

  “We are,” Lily said. “We’re Day Soldiers. We can’t leave this half-done.”

  “We have bigger concerns,” Scott said. “Carl was right. We can’t save every town.”

  “Actually,” Carl said, “I’m with Lily on this one. If we leave them alive, they’ll warn others that we’ve stolen a plane.”

  “Hate to say it,” Grung said, “but the little guy has a point.”

  “It’s settled then,” Lily said. “Greg, you stay here and make sure this plane is tip-top. We’ll be back in a few hours.”

  Once they were back in town, Lily turned to the team and said, “We’re going to have to split up to get them all in time. We’ll go with the standard teams. Scott and I will check this side of town, Grung, you and Ellie take the other side. Since I’ve got a werewolf on my side, you two can have Carl. We have to stay focused and do this quick, so no picking on Carl today.”

  “No promises,” Grung said, “but I’ll try.”

  “Be careful,” Lily said. “We know these guys aren’t above using guns.”

  “We could burn them out, like in Iveyton,” Carl offered.

  “Can’t,” Scott said. “We have townspeople to consider this time.”

  “I’ve seen no concern for the townspeople from you.”

  They all turned to see a group of humans walking toward them. A young woman led the group. She had light brown hair that hung to the small of her back.

  “I’m glad you decided to join us,” Lily said. “We can do this much faster with your help.”

  “We’re not here to join you,” the woman said. “We’re here to stop you.”

  “What is wrong with you people?” Ellie said. “Lady, we’re trained soldiers. If you’re not here to help, you need to leave, for your own good.”

  Still looking at the woman, Lily said, “What’s your name?”

  “Alana,” the woman said.

  “Well, Alana,” Lily said, “I appreciate that you folks have been through a lot, but there’s more at stake here than your town. These vampires can’t be allowed to live. They can’t warn the others about us.”

  “If you kill these vampires,” Alana said, “you’ll be killing every human in this town. More vampires will come and they’ll accuse us of helping you.”

  “I don’t have time for this,” Lily said. She turned to Ellie and Grung. “Start checking the houses.”

  “She’s right, Lily,” Scott said.

  Lily glared at him.

  “If we could take them with us, it would be different,” Scott explained. “But we’re not taking them with us. Are you seriously willing to risk their lives over this?”

  “Ma’am,” Alana said, “please just go. You have a plane. If the vampires in those houses see us standing against you, we’ll have a chance. Please. Go.”

  “You know,” Carl said, “there’s a chance they’ve already contacted other vampires.”

  “And there’s a chance they haven’t,” Lily said. Her eyes were fixed firmly on Alana.

  “Lily,” Scott said softly, “let’s just get the hell out of here.”

  Lily looked at him. “This is what it’s come to, Scott? The people we’re here to protect are standing against us, defending the monsters we’re trying to protect them from?”

  “It’s shitty,” Scott said, “but what choice do they have?”

  “They could fight,” Lily said. “We would fight.”

  “We’re soldiers,” Scott countered.

  “Let us choose our own fate,” Alana said. “Please.”

  Lily saw a vampire watching her from the window of one of the houses. The vampire smiled smugly and waved. She knew it could hear the entire conversation.

  Lily quickly aimed her crossbow and fired. The bolt blasted through the window and pierced the vampire’s heart. He immediately fell out of sight.

  “Lily!” Scott yelled. “No!”

  “Let’s get out of here,” Lily said. “This town disgusts me.”

  Travis and Enrico walked through the old department store warehouse. “Surely they have a Halloween section here.”

  “Perhaps,” Enrico said. “Travis, I have a question.”

  “You always have a question,” Travis said.

  Enrico laughed softly. “I really do. But I am curious. In Iveyton, you became the fog. Can you also become a bat? Or a wolf?”

  “I’m not sure,” Travis said. “Never tried.”

  “Maybe you should try,” Enrico said. “If you are truly a shape-shifter, perhaps you can alter your own forehead.”

  Travis considered this. “Interesting point.”

  A vampire walked into the warehouse, removed his protective clothing, and said, “Sir, I’m sorry to disturb you, but I have news.”

  “Tell me the news later,” Travis said. “I have to find a forehead, then I need to get some rest before dark.”

  “Okay,” the vampire said. He turned around and began to walk away.

  “Wait,” Enrico said. He turned to Travis. “It could be about our Lily.”

  “It is,” the vampire s
aid, then added quickly, “Well, it might be.”

  “Go on,” Travis said.

  “A town was assaulted several hours ago in Missouri,” the vampire explained. “We have no way of knowing for sure, but we think it might be them. The locals said they stole a plane and headed west.”

  “Let’s go,” Travis said to Enrico.

  “My friend,” Enrico said, “it is still daylight.”

  “Then cover yourself,” Travis said. “We’re leaving. You can rest on the plane.” He pointed at the other vampire. “You. Find me a forehead.”

  “Uh,” the vampire stammered, “okay.”

  Chapter 14

  The Searcher’s Lament

  Abbie and Charlotte sat in the communications center. Abbie removed her earpiece and placed it beside her keyboard. “Well,” she said. “That’s it. Every team has checked in and none of the facilities are occupied by humans. I’m starting to wonder if we really are alone.”

  “What are they going to do now?” Charlotte asked.

  “They’re going west,” Abbie said. “There’s no reason to stay here. We have to find somebody.”

  “Have you heard from Wallace or Scott’s team?”

  “Baxter’s team,” Abbie said, “has managed to get a plane. Haven’t heard from Wallace.”

  “I hope they’re okay,” Charlotte said.

  Abbie wheeled her chair around and looked at the young researcher. “The door is repaired and all the teams are on their missions. We’ve taken care of all the work that needs to be done around here. I think it’s time for us to finish our conversation about this facility. I’ve allowed you to avoid it long enough.”

  “Abbie,” Charlotte said, “please understand, I’m not avoiding it because I have secrets to keep. My mind hasn’t been my own for years. I’m just trying to process everything. I’m just—”

  “I wasn’t accusing you of anything, dear,” Abbie said. “I understand how hard this is on all of you, but I’m sure there’s information here that will help the war effort, and I want that information ready for Wallace when he returns.”

  “Help the war effort?” Charlotte said. “Abbie, if these monsters hadn’t taken over this facility, we would have won this war years ago.”