by P. T. Hylton
“Two more shots,” she told the bartender. “Same chaser.”
The bartender gave her a long look, but he poured what she’d ordered, and that was all that mattered.
The next morning, Alex woke to the sensation of coarse sheets against her bare skin. She opened her eyes and saw a strange ceiling above her. The man beside her snored softly.
Naked, lying next to a man whose name I don’t know, and sporting the hangover of a lifetime, she thought. Cool stress-management techniques, Goddard.
She wanted to get up, but she knew the nausea would hit her full force once she stood, and she’d most likely vomit. So she lay where she was, hoping the world would simply disappear.
Maybe CB was right; maybe she wasn’t okay.
As the sun set outside Agartha, Jaden opened his eyes. It was night, which meant it was time to go to work.
Although he was the commander of the vampires of Agartha and the head of the Agartha defense team, his quarters were no different than those of the other vampires. He had a single twelve-foot-by-twelve-foot room with a closet. Space was at a premium in Agartha. He knew firsthand how difficult it had been to carve the city out of the mountain.
To Jaden, the most important part of his quarters was the reinforced steel door and the locking system that rivaled a pre-infestation bank vault. Killing a vampire at night—especially one as old as Jaden—was incredibly difficult, but during the day it was significantly easier. If someone could get into his room while he was sleeping, they could theoretically drive a steel spike through his heart before he even woke up.
He’d been thinking more about this lately, especially since the encounter with Alex Goddard. He was sure that any one of his vampires could take any human one on one even in the day, but the gusto and lack of fear she’d shown in attacking Robert had made his confidence waver.
It helped to know that the security of the room kept everyone out during the daylight hours.
As he always did, he sat up and meditated for a few minutes after he woke. These moments of listening to the world around him were part of his daily routine. Then he got dressed and headed out to his city.
He made his way to his team’s command center, and he was surprised to find someone waiting for him.
“George, how are you, man?”
The engineer stood up as Jaden approached, a friendly smile on his face. “I’m doing well. Good sleep?”
“Always. How’s our guest?”
“Good.” George’s eyes drifted to the ceiling. “Very good, actually. Being around someone from the outside has sort of, I don’t know, made me appreciate what we have, you know? And she’s been a great help. She’s brilliant, and I think she genuinely has the good of her city at heart.”
Jaden raised an eyebrow. “And you want to nail her.”
George blushed. “No, of course not.”
Jaden knew otherwise, but he just shrugged. If George didn’t want to discuss it, that was his business.
“Anyway,” George continued, “there’s something I wanted to discuss with you.”
Jaden glanced past George. Through the doorway, he saw Robert and a few other vampires gearing up. “Okay, but we’ll have to make it quick. We’ve got a supply run tonight.”
“Yeah, I figured. It won’t take long. Jessica’s going back to New Haven soon. I was thinking it might be a good idea for me to go with her. Might be nice to get a feel for their city. Only seems fair, since we let Jessica visit us.”
“And you want to nail her,” Jaden said.
George scowled but didn’t deny it this time.
“Tell you what,” Jaden said. “I’ll reach out to the head of New Haven. This Fleming guy. Maybe if I talk to him, he’ll listen to reason.”
“Do you want me to talk to Jessica about this?”
“In time.”
George chuckled and shook his head. “In time. You say that so much, I’m starting to hate that phrase.”
Jaden clapped him on the shoulder. “That’s the benefit of immortality, my friend. When you’ve been around as long as I have, rushing from one task to another doesn’t seem so important.”
After he’d said goodbye to George, Jaden went into the mission center where Robert was prepping the gear.
The vampires didn’t take much along with them on these runs. They preferred blades to guns, so each was armed with a sword and a good knife. They dressed lightly even in winter, since the weather didn’t affect them. They only other items they carried were large-frame backpacks and Kevlar ropes. The packs were empty now, but if all went well, they’d be loaded with supplies on the return trip.
“How we doing, Robert?” he asked.
Robert grinned as his friend approached. “Not as good as we’re going to be in about twenty minutes. Nothing like a supply run on a cold winter night to make you feel alive. Relatively speaking.”
Jaden chuckled. “What’s on the menu?”
The other vampire glanced at the tablet in front of him. “We’re hoping to gather two thousand pounds of deer and elk meat for the humans and at least a thousand feet of copper wire. Some communications problem, I guess. I’m taking a team of ten.” He glanced up at Jaden. “You don’t have to go, you know. We’ve got it covered.”
Jaden had little involvement in the logistics of these missions. Robert was perfectly capable of handling the details, and Jaden had bigger-picture things to concern him. That didn’t mean he was going to sit inside while his buddies ran through the mountains gathering supplies.
“Are you kidding? I need this. I go a little stir-crazy if I don’t get out of the city now and then.”
Robert shrugged. “You’re the boss.”
“And don’t you forget it,” Jaden said with a smile.
Tonight, like most nights, they would be traveling by foot. Their destination was Colorado Springs, a once great city that still held plenty of supplies. It was only a short run for vampires who could sprint the entire distance without tiring. Traveling under their own power was more satisfying than driving; it seemed to soothe the savagery that lived deep inside all of them. Besides, vehicles increased the chance of attracting Ferals.
Once the team was geared up, they headed for the exit. They stopped at the first set of blast doors and checked the cameras to make sure the area outside was clear of Ferals before opening them.
At the second set of doors, they checked the monitors one more time.
“Looks like we’re clear,” Jaden said. “Shut down the auto turrets.”
“Roger that.” Robert did as ordered, and the twelve vampires exited Agartha.
With his first step outside, Jaden felt more alive. More wild. Though the cold wind didn’t affect him, he could feel it brushing his skin, waking up his senses. The smells flooding his nose, the stars overhead, the rustling of the wind, it all felt right.
The team started slowly, jogging up the hill of dead Ferals that had been mowed down by the automated turrets over the past months. As they reached the perimeter, the vampires stopped. They saw something truly unexpected.
“What the hell?” Robert asked.
Fifty feet ahead of them, two naked men stood in the snow.
Jaden sniffed the air.
No, not men. These were vampires. But not Ferals. True vampires.
The two vampires took a few steps toward the team. One of them mumbled through frozen lips, “Help us.”
Every vampire on the team turned slowly to look at Jaden.
“You heard him,” Jaden said. “Help them.”
As his team rushed to assist the two pitiful creatures, Jaden couldn’t help but smile. For the first time in a long time, he was truly surprised. Maybe the world was still an interesting place.
11
Jaden and Robert sat on one side of a table, and the two vampires sat on the other. They were in a locked room with vaulted doors, and the two strangers were wrapped in blankets to cover themselves.
So far Jaden hadn’t been able to get much in
formation out of the two. They hadn’t even given their names; they’d just begged for blood. They’d gone berserk when they’d entered Agartha and smelled the humans. It had been all the team could do to drag them into the vault.
These two looked like true vampires, but they were behaving almost like Ferals. Jaden knew that could only mean one thing: they were starving.
“Please,” the one with sandy-colored hair said, his eyes pleading. “Let me have one person. You have plenty to spare. I smelled them.”
Jaden and Robert exchanged a glance.
“Who’s your master?” Jaden asked.
“Please,” the other vampire said. “We need blood.”
Someone pounded on the door, and Robert went to answer. He came back a moment later with two packs of blood and a bundle of clothes. He set them on the table, and the two vampires snatched up the bags of blood.
They tore into them with their fangs and devoured every drop.
Jaden and Robert waited in silence while the vampires drank.
When they’d finished, they seemed more in control. The wild look was gone from their eyes.
“Thank you,” the sandy-haired one said.
Jaden nodded. They waited in silence while the vampires dressed.
When they’d finished, Jaden asked for their names once again.
“I’m Mark,” the sandy-haired one said.
“Aaron,” said the other.
“Where’d you come from?”
Aaron shook his head slowly. “I’m not sure. We’ve been out there a while. We were turned during the third wave of the infestation. Then the humans got scarce. I sort of lost track of time.”
“Me too,” Mark agreed.
Jaden paused a moment, considering how to continue. “The third wave was one hundred and fifty years ago.”
Mark’s eyes widened. “Jesus. You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Jaden assured them he was not.
“This is insane,” Aaron said.
“I’m sure it’s disorienting,” Jaden said.
“Disorienting? It’s a hell of a lot worse than that.” Aaron sat up straight and looked Jaden in the eye. “You have no idea what it was like. The starvation. More than a hundred years of perpetual pain and torment. My mind went away. It was like being an animal.”
“Or being trapped at the bottom of a well,” Mark added. The haunted look on his face confirmed how deeply he felt the words. “Sometimes I could see a pinpoint of light. Like a glimpse of the man I’d once been. Most of the time the pain blocked out everything else. The memories. Free will. I was operating purely on instinct.”
“Same here,” Aaron confirmed. “The memories of that time are more like snapshots or feelings. Almost like half-remembered dreams. Then I fed, and my mind came back.”
“Fed?” Robert asked. “On who?”
Mark shrugged. “Just some guy. It was in a canyon about two weeks ago. I remember the feeling of surprise at sensing prey for the first time in so long. Then I did what came naturally. As I fed, my mind came back.”
“Damn,” Robert said. “That’s intense.”
Jaden nodded his agreement. Two weeks ago… there was only one person they could have fed on.
“Thank God you found us,” Mark said. “There’s no way we could go back to the way things were. We’d been searching for food every night. Even after only two weeks, our minds were beginning to slip a little.”
Aaron said, “Our plan was to walk into the sunlight if we didn’t find food soon. Like Mark said, there was no way we were going back.”
“Well, I’m glad we were able to help,” Jaden offered.
“You guys mind if I ask you something?” Mark nodded at the empty blood bag on the table in front of him. “You clearly have access to blood. You’ve got a whole herd of them locked up in this mountain, right?”
“It’s not like that,” Robert said, the hint of a growl in his voice.
“Well, you’ve got blood. Why aren’t you helping the other vampires? Changing them back?”
Jaden thought a moment, considering how much to tell them. The answer came to him quickly. These two were vampires. They needed to know the truth. “Vampires have been around a very long time, but our numbers have always been controlled. There were always one hundred of us, no more, no less. Then the infestation happened. It was the first time the supply of humans couldn’t keep up with the demand for blood. It was the first time there were ever Ferals, at least as far as I know.”
“Ferals?” Aaron asked. “That’s what you call them?”
Jaden nodded. “Until tonight, I didn’t know they could be changed back. I thought their minds were lost forever. I was hoping they’d die out on their own eventually. It was the only way to let them out of their misery.”
“Huh,” Mark said. “And now that you know? You’re going to help them?”
Jaden frowned. “What could I do? Look, there’s a lot you don’t know about this world. There aren’t many humans left, not nearly enough to bring all the Ferals back. If we brought too many back, they’d wipe out the humans and we’d all starve. So, no, I’m not going to help them.”
“Damn,” Aaron said. “That’s cold. Especially when you haven’t felt the hell of starvation firsthand. You’re leaving them to a fate you can’t understand.”
“Maybe not,” Jaden said, “but I have to do what’s right for me and my people. I hope in time you’ll come to understand my point of view.”
Mark and Aaron stared back at him, dour expressions on their faces.
“I know we’ve hit you with a lot of information,” Jaden said. “We’re going to give you time to process. You can spend today in here.” He gestured to the bunks in the corner. “We’ll bring you more blood tomorrow after sunset. Until then, try to get some rest.”
Jaden started to rise, then he realized there was one more thing he hadn’t said to them.
“Welcome to Agartha, gentlemen.”
Garrett “Firefly” Eldred finished his food and set his utensils on his plate with a satisfied sigh.
The meal had been delicious. How could he have expected anything less? It had been prepared by the best chef on New Haven, a woman who normally worked in the Hub’s finest restaurant. The way she conjured such a rich array of flavors, textures, and aromas from the airship’s limited food supply was a wonder. Tonight, she’d prepared a bean soup and pasta with a rich sauce. The taste of the sauce’s slightly tart flavor with a hint of sweetness lingered on Garrett’s tongue.
Tonight, the celebrated chef was cooking in Fleming’s apartment rather than her restaurant.
And why not? It was a celebration. Sarah had finally been released from the hospital. She wasn’t completely recovered from the gunshot wound General Craig had inflicted on her—the doctor said she’d probably always have a bit of a limp—but she was free of the hospital and ready to return to work.
To celebrate, Fleming had invited her and Garrett to his home for dinner. His inner circle, Fleming called them.
Garrett was fairly certain you couldn’t make a circle out of two points, but the phrase still filled him with pride. On the GMT, he’d been a member of the team. But he hadn’t been Alex. He hadn’t been Simmons. When CB wanted to bounce ideas off someone, he would never pick crazy old Firefly. And a promotion? Forget about it. Garrett would have been waiting decades before making captain if not for Fleming.
He was grateful and excited to be part of Fleming’s movement, the movement that would bring humanity back to Earth. Even if he didn’t always approve of Fleming’s methods.
Fleming raised his glass, a fifty-year-old red wine from his personal collection. “I’d like to raise a toast to the two of you. You believed in me before you had any real reason to think I could accomplish my lofty goals, and you both went to extraordinary lengths to help make our dream a reality. To you.”
Garrett’s smile wavered. He didn’t like to think about those “extraordinary lengths” he’d gone to for Fleming. St
ill, he forced the smile back onto his face and clinked glasses with the other two.
Fleming took a small sip, then set down his glass. “I didn’t just call you here tonight to celebrate.”
“Shocker,” Sarah said with a chuckle.
Fleming smiled. “So maybe I’m predictable. As we get closer to Resettlement, there’s a threat we need to discuss.”
“The GMT,” Sarah said flatly.
Fleming nodded.
Garrett swallowed hard. They were right. He knew it in his heart. After what had happened with the council and General Craig, CB would never accept Fleming as the true leader of New Haven.
At the same time, the GMT was Garrett’s family. Whatever good was in him today was at least in part due to his time in the GMT. The years spent under CB. The battles fought next to Alex and Owl. He’d do what he needed to do when the time came, but it would rip his heart out to go against his friends.
“The GMT is our greatest threat,” Fleming said, “but I believe they can also be our greatest ally.”
Fleming sat up a bit straighter. Ally? That was a surprise.
“That’s where you two come in.” He turned to Garrett. “You’re our way into the GMT. CB asks about you in every meeting. He still cares about you. That means you have leverage over him.”
Garrett swallowed hard.
“The GMT has a lot of missions coming up. They’re going to be busy little beavers in the coming weeks. I want you to take a small team, four or five of your most promising recruits, and accompany them on some of the missions.”
“Wait, you want me on the surface?”
Fleming nodded. “Just a few times. The purpose is threefold. One, I’d like you to watch Alex and the team on important missions. Their role is crucial to Resettlement, and I need to make sure they aren’t purposely throwing a wrench in things. Secondly, I need you to get close to Alex. Rekindle your friendship. See if there’s any way you can convince her to swallow her dislike for me in the interest of Resettlement. Finally—and this is the reason we’ll give to CB and Alex for your presence—it’ll give your people some much-needed field experience.”
