by Brandon Hale
More people laughed.
“But seriously,” Cooper said, “we can mourn our fallen brothers and sisters tomorrow. And after that, we can avenge them. But today, I say we throw one hell of a party to honor them!”
The crowd went crazy.
As Lily’s team walked through the White House door, Scott said, “The kid has charm, I’ll give him that.”
“If Ellie were here,” Lily said, “I know she’d agree with him. She’d have us dancing by now.”
“Ellie is here,” Grung said.
“When did you get religious?” Scott asked.
Grung looked at Scott. “Dude, I’m a werewolf. I’m also part of an army dedicated to fighting vampires. You’re really going to judge me for believing in the supernatural?”
Scott laughed. “Point taken.”
As they jogged down the hallway to catch up to Abbie, music started playing outside.
Apparently someone had found the sound system.
They followed Abbie to a conference room filled with men and women.
And Talbot.
When they entered the room, Talbot looked at Lily and nodded. “I’m not going to apologize for anything,” he said. “What’s done is done. I do not live in regret.”
“Fair enough,” Lily said. “Just don’t ask me to the prom and we’ll be fine.” She walked by Talbot and sat at the large table in the center of the room. Lily didn’t know how Wallace had died, but she was pretty damn sure Talbot was involved. She would work with him, but she would never be his friend.
Scott sat on one side of her and Carl sat on the other. All the others in the room found seats, except for Grung and Talbot, who stood against the wall.
“Must be a werewolf thing,” Carl said.
“I’m a werewolf,” Scott said.
“Yeah, but you’re really werewolf-lite,” Lily said.
“Har har,” Scott grumbled.
Abbie sat at the end of the table. “We’re here,” she said, “to discuss our next move.” She nodded toward Lily. “Earlier today, Baxter informed me that she believes Natasha was the leader in name only.”
An older woman, probably in her mid-fifties, said, “You’re saying someone else was behind Lily’s capture?” From the way the woman was dressed, Lily guessed she was a Senator.
“Yes, Nancy,” Abbie said, “but more than that. After talking to Talbot, we now think a single vampire was behind everything.”
“What do you mean?”
Lily looked in the direction of the voice and saw Reagan sitting at the other end of the table.
“I mean everything,” Abbie said. “Even the original capture of Jed. Talbot?”
Talbot stepped forward. “Jed is alive and well. He’s staying in Vegas with the human who captured him ten years ago.”
“Jackson Bates?” Nancy said. “I find that hard to believe.”
“It’s true,” Reagan said. “I saw him myself.”
“For years,” Talbot said, “Jed and Jackson have told stories of a mysterious vampire who came to them the day before Jackson’s Folly. He encouraged them to go through with their plan. I think it’s the same vampire Baxter met.”
“Does he have a name?” Reagan asked.
“Cassius,” Lily said. “Scott and I first met him in New York last year. He saw me kill Arcas, then he actually told me where to find Dennis. Last night, he was at my attempted execution. When I recognized him, he became… smug.”
“There were millions of vampires there,” a younger man in a Day Soldiers uniform said. “I’m not surprised you saw one you recognized. You’ve been killing vamps for a while now.”
“No,” Lily said. “When we met Cassius in New York, his kind was unknown to us. We only knew of the uglies. I actually think he’s the vampire who turned Leo.”
“Okay,” Reagan said. “One vampire is pulling the strings. How do we find him?”
Nancy leaned forward. “We could bomb the cities.”
“You have bombs?” Scott asked.
Nancy nodded. “Drones. Hundreds of them. All carrying nuclear weaponry.”
“No,” Reagan said. “All the major cities have millions of humans.”
“How the hell do you have nuclear weapons here?” Scott asked.
“It’s part of the design here,” Nancy said. “Our facility was built so we could survive anything. The original designers built it to react to a worst-case scenario. If the Legion won the war, we were under orders to bomb every major city, then stay in the facility until it was safe to return to the surface.”
“Why didn’t you bomb everything last year?” Grung asked.
“We learned there was no point,” Nancy explained. “A few years back, we tested some nuclear weapons in the desert somewhere. It was discovered that vampires are immune.”
“Then why do you want to bomb them now?” Reagan asked.
“To make the cities uninhabitable,” Nancy said. “Drive them into the sun. If we do it during the day, most of them will end up dead anyway.”
Carl cleared his throat nervously, then said, “There’s still the problem of the human prisoners. We can’t just kill those people.”
“I agree,” Nancy said. She looked at Abbie. “Suggestions?”
“Nuclear weapons work,” Abbie said.
“I’m sorry,” Reagan said. “What?”
“They work,” Abbie said. “I found out recently that the test results were faked. Nuclear weapons can kill a vampire.”
Everyone fell silent.
Finally, Nancy said, “We could organize rescue missions. Send in teams to rescue the prisoners in a city, then bomb the hell out of it.”
“No,” Scott said. “Are you people insane? You think the way to win this war is by turning America into a nuclear wasteland? How fast do you think we’d run out of room to house the prisoners? I mean, it’s not like they can stay in the cities we just bombed.”
“He’s right,” Abbie said. “We can’t use the nuclear weapons. If we were to do that, it would validate everything the Legion has claimed about humanity.”
“Thank you,” Talbot said. “I was beginning to regret my decision to join you.”
“We should disarm those drones,” Scott said.
“Why?” Nancy said. “The time could come that we—”
“No,” Scott said. “That time can never come. We have to disarm them.”
“I think that’s a little extreme,” Nancy said.
“Keeping them is more extreme!” Scott said. “If we ever launch a nuclear attack, we will become everything the Legion accused us of being. There’s more life at stake here than humans or vampires.”
“I’m pulling rank on this one,” Reagan said. She looked at Abbie. “I’m sorry, Abbie. Wallace and I were equal in rank. I’m the highest ranking Day Soldier here.”
“I have no desire for that position,” Abbie said. “Although, I do hope you’re about to take Scott’s suggestion. Those weapons need to be destroyed.”
“I agree,” Reagan said. She turned to Nancy. “Where are they located?”
“You won’t reconsider this?”
“No,” Reagan said. “As long as those weapons are live, we’re all in danger. Nancy, please just tell me where they are so we can move on from this. You know we’ll find out anyway.”
“I know,” Nancy said. “I wasn’t trying to prevent you from finding them. I was only expressing my opinion. The drones are in a launch facility at the far end of the west tunnel. It’s underground, of course, about fifteen miles west of DC, in the Travis Wing.”
Lily’s entire body was suddenly filled with dread. “What did you say?”
“It’s in the westernmost room of the entire underground facility. About fifteen miles—”
“No,” Lily said. “What did you call it?”
“The Travis Wing,” Nancy said. “It was named after Evan Travis, the lead designer of the entire facility. He died shortly after construction was completed. We just thought naming a s
ection after him was the respectful thing to do.”
Lily looked at Scott. “Did you happen to catch Travis’s first name?”
“I thought Travis was his first name,” Scott said.
“I think,” Lily said, “we might be in trouble.”
Chapter 28
The Power of Patience
Senator Brown sat on the floor, leaning against the wall of the room. His hands were wrapped around his own throat as blood squirted through his fingers.
For years, Brown had come to this room when he wanted to be alone. He just liked it here. He didn’t know why, but it was most likely because this was the most powerful room in the world.
Today, however, he found something he did not expect.
He found Evan Travis.
Travis sat at the console in the center of the room. “I’m sorry about tearing out your throat, Senator. You startled me when you came in, and when you recognized me, I panicked. It doesn’t happen often, but hey, it’s been a crazy day.”
Brown just watched Travis with horrified eyes as his life poured from his throat.
“I bet you come here because you think this room represents power,” Travis said. “It doesn’t. This room isn’t power. It’s potential. The power lies in us. Power – real power – requires patience. A lot of patience.”
He rolled his chair over to another console and began typing.
“I realized that a long time ago. You see, the other vampires don’t understand power at all. The oldest vampires are the most powerful. They think power just comes naturally with age. That’s not true, though. These new vampires will never be powerful. Ever. Why do you think that is?”
Brown didn’t answer.
“I’ll tell you why,” Travis said. “It’s because they don’t kill. You see, that’s where power comes from. Not from time. Not from blood. It comes from the act of killing. Every time you kill a human being, you get stronger.
“But that’s where patience comes in. It takes thousands of kills to get any noticeable rise in power. That’s why the old vampires are as strong as they are. They kill for centuries. A human serial killer never achieves that kind of power because he dies of old age before he can collect enough deaths to really matter.”
He rolled his chair back to the original console and continued typing. “I was a killer for ten years before the war ever started. I felt my power growing with each kill, but I knew it wasn’t growing fast enough. Because I wasn’t killing fast enough. But really, what can you do? Mass murderers always get caught. I couldn’t keep killing if I was on death row. So I had to be slow. Methodical.
“But that was too slow, Senator. I knew I would be dead before I achieved any real power. I could feel myself changing. It was subtle, but I could feel it. And I knew something had to be done to speed it up.”
He leaned back in the chair and smiled. “That was when the vampires stepped from the shadows and declared war. It was the greatest day of my life. As soon as I saw them, I knew. I knew I was like them… only better.”
The word “Engage” was on the monitor in front of him. Travis hovered the pointer over the word for a few seconds, but he didn’t press the mouse button. Instead, he got up and walked over to the senator, who was now dead.
He sat beside the senator’s body.
“I was a damn good computer programmer back then, so I signed up for the Day Soldiers. I wanted to learn everything I could about these vampires, and I knew the Day Soldiers was the best place for that. When I got transferred to this project, I started working on my plan.
“This place offered me the opportunity to gain more power than any creature on this earth.”
He climbed to his feet and walked back to the console in the center of the room.
“It was really too easy,” Travis said as he sat in the chair. “I mean, any programmer worth his salt is going to add back doors to every computer system he creates. We do it because the end users… people like you, Senator… always screw things up. We have to have a way to get back into the system and fix those things.
“It’s just a pleasant side-effect that it also allows us to get into the system and do things like launch nuclear attacks. Or things like switching dental records with those of another soldier, so when I killed that soldier in an ‘accidental’ fire, the medical people thought I was the one who died. The more complex the system, the easier it is to do things like faking your own death. Well, if you’re the lead programmer, that is. It’s probably harder for everybody else.”
He looked at the screen, but still didn’t click “Engage.”
“In case you’re wondering,” he said, “I’m savoring the moment. I worked really hard for this, so I want it to last as long as possible. After I left the Day Soldiers, I spent years trying to figure out how to speed up my transformation. I probably could have convinced a vampire to transform me, but I didn’t want to be bald and ugly. I know that’s shallow, but come on… those guys were hideous. So I waited.
“Patience, Senator. Like I said, that’s the key to power. Every good killer learns patience. From the crocodile to the cheetah, every great killer knows that waiting for the perfect moment is vital.
“My moment came when the Legion launched their big attack last year. I got myself captured, and I waited a little longer. When the moment was right, I did what they’d done a decade earlier. I stepped from the shadows and announced myself to the world.”
He leaned back and looked at the ceiling. “They’re celebrating up there. They have no idea that the only reason they’re up there is because I needed easy access to this room. When I led those Day Soldiers to the scout, I knew they’d end up here. I knew they’d use it to launch an attack.
“I really didn’t think they’d win, but when I saw the werewolves join up, I gotta admit… I started pulling for em. By winning last night, I think they earned the right to live. That’s why I’m about to do the nicest damn thing I’ve ever done.”
He pressed a button and leaned toward a mic beside the console. “Attention, Washington, DC. Sorry for the interruption, but I think my message is important enough to justify tapping in to your communications.
“It has always been my goal to be the most kick-ass mass murderer in the history of the world. I’ve spent the last few months putting the final pieces in place to make that happen. By this time tomorrow, I’ll be a legend. I’ll be taught in history books from now until the end of time.
“Of course, we all know history is written by the victors, which was a bit of a problem. I didn’t know if vampires or humans would be writing the new history books. If I kill a bunch of humans, then the vampires win the war, I’ll be seen as some kind of war hero.”
He leaned closer to the mic. “Let me be clear, here. I’m a killer. I’m not a hero for either side of this pathetic little war. Ultimately, I decided the best way to accomplish my goal would be to kill vampires and humans… in very large quantities.”
He looked at the screen for a moment, then clicked the “Engage” button.
“I just launched a nuclear attack on North America. Most of you have nowhere to hide. Most of you are going to die today. But for those of you who happen to be near a bunker or shelter, I recommend you get below-ground as fast as you can. According to my computer here, you have about an hour to get to safety. Good luck.”
He ended the transmission and walked from the room while whistling the tune to “Oh, Suzanna.”
Epilogue
One Year Later…
Jesse Merrickson walked through the wasteland that used to be Washington, DC. He really didn’t expect to find anything. From the looks of things, DC had been hit harder than New York… and New York was not pretty.
Jesse sat on a pile of rubble that used to be a motel and looked around. He was strong again, at least physically. In the past year, he’d learned to accept that he had to feed. He didn’t kill humans, but that didn’t alleviate the guilt he felt when he drank their blood. More times than not, he had to tak
e it by force, which was not a pleasant experience.
In Europe, he had refused to drink from the “kennel humans” at first, but eventually he gave in. It was that or starvation. He would be no good to humanity as a walking skeleton.
Jesse took off his backpack and pulled out a small bag. He placed the bag on a stone beside him and opened it, revealing a small pile of ashes inside.
“I shouldn’t have come to America,” he said. “I should have listened to the people in London. There’s nothing for me here.”
You came out of the cave too late.
“Shut up, Bao,” Jesse said. “I had no way of knowing this was going to happen. Besides, what could I have possibly done to prevent it?”
Who knows. Maybe nothing. Maybe something. The one thing we know for certain is that you didn’t help them by hiding in a Vietnamese cave for half a century.
“I should have left you in that cave.”
I’m you, remember? You couldn’t leave me in the cave if you wanted to. You act like you’re speaking to Bao’s ashes, but we both know that’s not true. Bao has been dead for fifty years. You’re talking to yourself right now.
“Whatever,” Jesse said. “I just know coming to America was a mistake. There’s nothing but pain here.”
That’s true of anywhere for you.
“Good point,” Jesse said. He closed the bag and placed it in his backpack, then slipped the pack over his right shoulder. He stood up and started to climb down from the rubble. As he stepped from the debris to the road, he stopped.
He heard something.
Voices.
What’s the big deal? You hear my voice all the time.
“Shut up,” Jesse whispered. “This is different.”
The voices were muffled, but not imaginary.
They filtered up from beneath the debris.
With inhuman strength, Jesse began to clear the rubble. After four hours of work, he finally found it.
A hatch.
Obviously, when this building was a motel, the hatch had been hidden in the basement. Now, it was hidden in a hole under three tons of rubble.
