by J. Thorn
“Good?” Alex asked.
“There’s something in the water. You sure they didn’t do something to it first?”
Alex whispered into his ear. “They didn’t do anything. Enjoy the ride.”
She pulled away and smiled at him. Then she stood and walked back over to Zoe and Saw.
Enjoy the ride. What does she mean?
Dax tried to get up, but he felt a sudden head rush, a different feeling than what would happen when a vision started. This was more like a high. Like he’d been—
Drugged.
Zoe was the first to topple over. She landed on her side and didn’t move. Saw closed her eyes with her arms folded across her chest as if positioned by the undertaker. Alex dropped to one knee. She groaned and clutched her chest, and this caught the attention of the vampire guards, who rushed over.
Dax felt lightheaded and dizzy, still fully aware of what was going on… but his heartbeat slowed. He collapsed on the floor of the barn and clutched his chest. He rolled onto his stomach, and his eyes met Alex’s. She winked at him and stared at a small object lying near his head.
A small tea bag sat near the cup of water Alex had spilled when she fell.
Drugged. By Alex.
He remembered Saw’s prank in the kitchen of the old house. He’d thought she was dead, but she’d been testing that concoction Papa Midnight had taught her how to make—the one that would mask their vitals and make them appear dead, to other humans and vampires.
Dax could see and hear everything that was happening around him, and yet, he could not move. His fingers and toes tingled but Dax didn’t dare move.
The Screamers poked and prodded him, while several ran to tell Ambrose. The Casket Girls stood to the side with their arms around each other, pretending to be distraught at the sight of Dax’s dead body.
And then he felt a jolt in his leg and his thigh spasmed. Alex saw the drug wearing off and knew it would only be a few more seconds before Dax would be able to get up and fight. The potion took hold of the body quickly, but in small doses, it wore off just as fast.
Alex was the first to attack, tripping the Screamer closest to her. It fell on its face, and she pounced on its back and twisted its head, snapping the creature’s neck.
Zoe jumped up at the same time, landing a spin kick to the face of another Screamer, throwing it off balance. Like Alex, she grabbed the vampire by the chin and snapped its neck.
“Now what?” Zoe asked.
“How are you feeling?” Dax asked Saw.
“Spiffy.”
“No, really.”
She sighed. “I’m not 100%, but I’ll be able to hold my own.”
“How are you feeling?”
Other than a slight fog in the back of his head, the concoction had completely worn off. “Ready to roll.”
“What are we going to do?” Alex asked. “We can’t beat four Masters and their armies.”
“But we have to try,” Saw said.
“Did you see how many of those things are out there?” Zoe asked.
Dax nodded. “Alex and Zoe are right. But maybe we don’t have to defeat them all.”
“You talked to Papa, didn’t you?” Alex asked, a grin lighting up her face.
“Yes,” Dax said. “And if I can get to the Angel, I think I can end this.”
“But that’s been the problem all along. Where is the Angel?” Alex asked.
Dax shook his head. “Papa Midnight has been pretty vague about it.”
“Fuckin-A,” Saw said. “Let’s kill some bitches.”
“Should we focus on the armies or go after the Masters?” Alex asked.
“Let me worry about the Masters,” Dax said. “I’ll think I might be starting to understand what Papa has been trying to show me. And one more thing—don’t touch the kids.”
The girls fell silent.
“I mean it.”
“Dax,” Alex said. “You have to understand that they aren’t—”
“Do not. Touch. Them.”
Alex sighed and shrugged. “All right. We won’t. But they’ve been turned. You know that.”
The girls prepared to exit the barn. They agreed to get to the truck first and gather weapons before heading to battle on the dusty fields.
While they talked, Dax walked over to where Isaac’s body had been pinned to the wall by Bronwyn’s pitchfork. Much of the blood had dried. His tongue hung from his mouth, but his eyes had thankfully closed. Seeing the boy’s human corpse brought a wave of guilt to Dax. Isaac had just been a kid. He’d made some stupid choices, but he’d been hardly old enough to buy a pack of cigarettes. Dax hated him because he had killed Chloe, but he accepted the truth while staring at the body. Isaac hadn’t killed Chloe; Serafino had. Therefore, Ambrose was responsible, too.
“I’m sorry,” Dax said. “I hope you’ve found peace now.”
The girls helped Dax pull Isaac’s body off the wall. They had to remove the pitchfork before unwrapping the chains.
They laid him in the stall and covered his body with hay.
“You want to use this?” Alex asked Dax, holding the bloody pitchfork in her hands.
After deciding it was too risky to run for the truck, the girls had stripped the barn walls of tools that had would become weapons. Alex and Zoe both held machetes, while Saw wielded an axe. The other items still hanging on the wall included handsaws, screwdrivers, and tools that would be useless against the undead army.
Dax took the pitchfork. He stood at the back door with the girls at his back.
“Ready?”
“Let’s fuck ’em up,” Saw said.
“Good enough for me.”
Dax opened the door.
49
The dark sky had begun to give way to the sun’s first rays. Clouds gathered in the west and crawled eastward, swallowing the moon in the process. The wind had picked up, as well, throwing cyclones of dust into the air over the once lush fields.
“Feels like a storm is coming,” Dax said.
“That’s exactly what we need,” Alex said.
“What’s the plan?” Zoe asked.
Dax peeked around the corner of the barn. He saw the tree. Across the street from it, their truck sat where they had left it, and the Masters’ armies fanned out as far as he could see. Forty yards away from the barn stood the old farmhouse. On the other side of the street, he saw another house. An idea came to him.
“Are all the weapons still in the back of our truck?”
“If they didn’t take them,” Saw said. “I dropped my crossbow next to it when that fucker attacked me, but otherwise, yeah, and the other bag should still be in the back.”
“We need to get to it.”
Alex pushed Saw aside to look for herself. “Yeah? And what about all those things waiting to kill us?”
“We’ll have to draw them away from the truck,” said Dax.
“Are you insane?” Zoe asked.
“Anyone have a better idea?”
The three girls looked at each other.
Saw’s eyes danced as she smiled. “He’s right. We need those stakes. I need my crossbow.”
“What are you thinking?” Alex asked Dax.
He pointed at the house closest to the barn. “We have to get Saw on the second floor of that house. She can set up as a sniper. There’s probably plenty of windows that’ll give her a shot from all four directions.
“But to do that, we need to draw the Screamers toward that other house. If we can get their attention, that should allow Saw to reach the truck, grab the weapons, and make it back to the house and get upstairs.” He turned to Saw. “Once you’re in position, break a window so that we know you’re there. Then we’ll draw them in.”
“And if we don’t?” Zoe asked.
Dax shrugged. “We’ll die.”
“That’s reassuring.”
“There are hundreds, probably thousands of Screamers out there. We can’t possibly kill them all, and we can’t count on sunlight to
help us. I just need you to buy enough time for me to get to the Angel. He’s close—I can feel it. And for some reason, he’s not on the move. I have a feeling that the Masters have him locked up close by.”
“How are you going to find him if you don’t know exactly where he is?” Alex asked.
“I don’t know. I’m going on feel.”
“Feel? This is insane,” Zoe said.
“This is our only choice,” Dax said to the girls, in particularly to Zoe. “There’s too many of them. They aren’t going to kill me, and so I won’t let them kill you. The Masters need me.”
“Speaking of which, won’t the Masters see us?” Alex asked. “Couldn’t they take us out whenever they want?”
“I don’t think they will. They’re too tied up in their own power struggle. I think they’ll assume we’re crazy—which we are—and that their armies can handle us.”
Alex said to Zoe, “This is the best option for us.”
Zoe sighed and nodded.
“You’re feeling up to this?” Dax asked Saw, looking at the cuts on her body and remembering that she had been out cold for hours. “Can you make it over there?”
“I’ll be fine. I’ve just got a couple of scratches.”
“All right,” he said, knowing Saw was too tough to admit she was in pain. “Let’s move.”
Crouching, they crept from the back of the barn to the house. The wind had picked up, and the storm clouds filled the western sky. The armies had not been watching the barn, and were possibly not yet alerted to the dead vampire soldiers inside.
“I guess this is where we part,” Saw said after they made it to the farmhouse without being seen.
Dax and the Casket Girls hid behind an old tractor as they wished each other luck. Alex and Zoe hugged Saw. Saw wiped a tear from Zoe’s face and kissed the girl on the lips.
“I’ll be fine. We’re gonna kick some ass. The three of us have made it this far together. The fun ain’t over yet. Fuck the Masters.”
“That’s right,” Alex said.
Zoe sniffled and nodded.
“I love you girls,” Saw said. She extended a hand to Dax. “You take care of yourself, too. And take care of them, all right?”
Dax grinned. “I think these girls can handle themselves. Wait until we have enough of those bastards cleared out, all right? Don’t get cocky and jump the gun.”
“Me? Cocky.” Saw snorted. “Go kick some ass. I’ll be upstairs and dropping those fuckers before you know it.”
Dax shook her hand and pulled her in for a hug.
“Now, go,” Saw said to them. “I’m getting fucking antsy.”
Staying low again, Dax, Alex, and Zoe left their hiding spot behind the tractor and headed for the other house. Dax tried to resist looking at the army of vampires who heavily outnumbered them, which became more and more apparent as he got a better view of the horde.
At the same time, he felt more confident than he had ever before. He felt a warm pulse in his chest, and once he separated from the Casket Girls, he knew exactly what he would have to do. It wasn’t as if he knew where to find the Angel, but rather, he felt as though he knew how—like some type of supernatural GPS.
They made it to the other house without being spotted.
Dax drew in several deep breaths.
“We’re going to do this,” Alex said to him. She stuck her hand out, making a fist.
Dax bumped it. “No reason to wait around, I suppose.”
He stepped around the corner and out into view of the undead horde.
50
Waving the pitchfork in the air, Dax screamed at the top of his lungs at the horde. “Hey, you sons of bitches! Come and get some!”
A mass of glowing eyes turned to face him. They let out a collective roar. Dax fell to a knee, dropping the pitchfork to cover his ears.
The Screamers started toward them.
Dax’s ears rang, but he stood.
“Here they come!”
Alex picked up her machete and Zoe did the same.
“Stay close,” Dax said. “If we stay in a tight formation, we can protect each other.”
The girls nodded. The machetes shook in their hands, their eyes darting back and forth. Dax felt his mouth go dry and he had butterflies in his stomach. The pulse in his chest intensified and a warm energy spread through his body. He didn’t know why he felt this way, but Dax knew he wasn’t going to die. Not here. Not like this. And not by the hands of these monsters. And these strong women were not going to die either.
The Angel. He’s already fighting for us.
The first wave of the horde ran at them. Dax’s heart raced. He looked at Alex and Zoe—both women had their weapons up, ready to fight.
“We’re going to get through this,” he said to them. “Stay focused. They’re demons, and we’re going to slay them.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Dax saw movement from the other house. Saw fled from the rear of the structure. Keeping her eyes on the Screamers, she stayed low while running at full speed.
Get there, Saw.
He returned his focus to the advancing horde. They were so close now that Dax could smell the rotten, bitter stench oozing off of them. Dax raised the pitchfork and gritted his teeth.
“Get ready! And remember, stay together!”
The first line of Screamers charged.
“Now!”
A vampire leaped through the air. Dax held the pitchfork up and timed his strike perfectly. He shoved it into the creature’s throat, slamming it to the ground. Another one of the monsters came at him, and he kicked it in the chest as he pulled the pitchfork out. He spun around in time to shove the tines through the neck of another Screamer and pull his weapon out immediately.
Dax felt faster. Stronger than he’d ever felt in his entire life. The pulsing power inside of him surged, and he smiled.
The onslaught continued. He tore through the horde, driving the pitchfork through one Screamer after another, landing kicks and snapping necks. Alex and Zoe held their own, too. They mowed through the creatures, decapitating heads with their machetes and fighting like 10th degree Black Belts.
The army seemed massive, but Dax and the girls continued to plow through the creatures, piling up bodies. The Masters had not interfered, but Dax could feel their presence. They were watching, most likely enjoying the fight and waiting until Dax was trapped before calling off the horde and claiming their prize. Like a prize fighter exhausting a more powerful opponent, Dax had waited until it felt right to make the next move.
“Now!” Dax yelled.
The girls took down one or two more Screamers before retreating to the house.
“Come on!” Alex shouted to Dax.
“Go on! I’ll hold them off!”
She grimaced, but Zoe grabbed her hand and they ran toward the house.
Dax took out three more Screamers before he ran.
The horde followed, turning en masse to chase him.
Without looking back, Dax ran for the house. As he approached it, he sensed one of the Screamers gaining on him. When he turned, the vampire was in mid-air, leaping at him. He heard a low whistle as something soared through the air and over his head. The bolt punctured the Screamer’s left eye, and the vampire cried out as it fell to the ground. Dax stepped on its throat and drove the pitchfork into its chest.
He turned to the house and looked up.
Saw gave him the middle finger and smiled. She reloaded her crossbow and fired again into the horde. She’d left the bag of stakes on the ground, and Dax put as many as he could in his harness before the rest of the horde caught up to him.
Some members of the undead army had held back. The Masters must have been commanding them from a distance, moving them around like chess pieces.
Dax continued to fight, and within a few minutes, he noticed that the horde had paused. The mass of Screamers held their positions. He turned to see Alex and Zoe covered in blood, but otherwise alive and fighting their way thro
ugh Screamers.
“Why did they stop?” Alex asked.
Dax walked through the front yard, stepping over bodies and through puddles of blood. He looked toward the barn, feeling the presence of the Masters but not seeing them.
“Is that all you’ve got?” he yelled, his arms spread wide. He spat and walked back to the rear of the house.
“Let’s go inside and regroup. I think the Masters are trying to decide what to do next.”
51
They moved into the house and up the stairs to where Saw waited. She embraced them one at a time as they gazed out of the window on the western side of the house.
And that’s when the sky opened. Rain poured forth, bringing with it a wind so intense that Dax could barely hear anything but the sound of water slamming against the roof of the house.
Alex and Zoe sat on a bed to catch their breath while Saw kept an eye on the horde below.
“Why did they stop?” she asked Dax, nearly screaming over the thunderstorm.
“The Masters are commanding them. They’re toying with us. They want us defeated, but not dead. Well, at least they want me alive. Not sure about y’all.” Dax winked at Saw.
She smiled, but it quickly faded as she looked back out the window.
“Fuck.”
“What?” Dax asked, walking to the window.
The two other girls joined them, looking down at the horde.
“Oh, my God,” Zoe said.
Son of a bitch.
Glowing eyes marched over the hill, and down the middle of the highway. Hundreds more Screamers—an entire other army.
“Reinforcements,” Alex said. “The first attack was only a distraction. They’re totally playing with us.”
“How are we supposed to beat all of them?” Zoe asked. “What are we going to do?”
Dax felt the pulse inside of him grow stronger. Despite what he saw with his own eyes, he had hope. He knew they would prevail and that the girls would not die at the hands of this undead army. Everything he saw and felt was to the contrary, but Dax knew they’d survive. He felt victory.
