“She’s not our friend anymore,” said James. “She’s one of you now.”
Linda stepped over and crouched in front of him. “That’s not true. Nothing has changed.”
“It hasn’t?” Ed asked. “What if we refuse to become like you? Are you going to drink our blood?”
“Yes.” Linda’s tone bore no guilt or remorse.
“Then you’re not our friend,” said James.
“I am, and I want what’s best for you. If you continue following Robson, you’ll wind up being eaten by the living dead.”
“How do you…?” Yukiko glanced over at Robson. He glared at her, his eyes warning her to stop. Yukiko went silent and bowed her head.
Linda moved over to the young woman and knelt in front of her. “How do I what?”
“Nothing.”
Placing her hand under Yukiko’s chin, Linda gently lifted her head until their eyes met. She spoke in a soft, comforting tone. “What is it you wanted to ask?”
Yukiko hesitated. “How do you feel?”
“I feel stronger, more confident, and more alive than ever.”
Robson laughed at that one, intentionally trying to goad Linda.
She ignored him. “No one is ever going to push me around again. Or take advantage of me. Or force me to do things against my will. I’ll never fear someone like Price again. The Prices of the world will fear me.”
“Everyone will fear you,” said Robson.
“Mike, I don’t have a grudge against you,” said Linda. “I wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for you. I had hoped you’d see how much better off we would be as part of the coven, and would encourage the others to join us. If you don’t want to, that’s fine. Don’t stop the rest of them. You have no idea what we endured under Price, the threats, the humiliation, the physical abuse. I do. I spent months living among monsters.”
“And now you’ve chosen to live among monsters again,” said Robson.
Tibor leaned closer to Dravko. “I told you he never liked us.”
“You know that’s not true.” Robson appealed to Dravko. “We worked well together.”
“And where did it get us?” asked Tibor. “Most of the coven was wiped out. We won’t let that happen again.”
Robson sought support from Dravko. The former master averted his gaze. “That’s the difference between humans and vampires. Paul offered you hope. You offer only death.”
“That’s not true,” Vladimir said, maintaining his pleasant demeanor. “We offer you a choice.”
“Some choice. Become one of you or become your food. It’s no better than what the rotters offer.”
Linda placed her hand on Yukiko’s shoulder. “Do you want to join us?”
The young woman shook her head and sobbed. Linda stood up and glared at her, doing nothing to hide her disgust.
“Wait!” Caslow stood up. “I want to become one of you.”
Vladimir nodded to Linda. She stepped over to Caslow, unshackled the chain around his ankle, and escorted him toward the Master.
“Who are you?”
“That’s Caslow,” Tibor snarled.
Vladimir’s expression grew stern. “You’re the one who abandoned his wife and daughter, and then hid during the raid on the compound?”
“Y-yes.”
Vladimir moved closer to Caslow, who lowered his head.
“Look at me.”
Caslow swallowed hard but obeyed.
“Now tell me,” said Vladimir. “Why do you want to become one of us?”
“B-because I don’t want to die.”
“Interesting.” Vladimir walked away a few feet. “You’re saying you don’t really want to join the coven, it’s simply preferable to dying.”
“No…. I mean…. it’s….”
Vladimir spun around and held up a hand to silence Caslow. “Let me tell you something, human. You are the only person in this group I would not allow to become a vampire. You’re a coward. If you can’t find the balls to stand up for your own family, how do you expect to stand up for the coven?”
“No!” Caslow said, starting to panic. “I could if I was as strong as one of you.”
“The only reason you want to join us is to save your worthless life.”
Caslow lowered his head again, his bottom lip quivering.
“I would walk out into the sunlight before I allowed someone as pathetic as you into the coven.” Vladimir stepped back over to him. “However, you can be of use to us.”
“How?” Caslow asked hopefully.
“As food.”
Clutching Caslow by the shirt, Vladimir spun around and flung him across the barn. Caslow slammed into the dirt in front of the others, the wind knocked out of him. The vampires looked to Vladimir for guidance.
“Eat! And don’t leave a drop behind!”
The coven morphed into their vampiric forms, dropped to their knees around Caslow, and plunged their fangs into his body. Except Dravko, who stepped back and tried to hide in the shadows. Linda’s eyes pleaded with Vladimir. When he approved, she rushed forward to the others. The sound of fangs piercing skin and of sucking was drowned out by the howls of fear and pain from Caslow. Yukiko refused to watch, closing her eyes and shaking her head back and forth in a futile attempt to block out the noise. Ed and James stared on impassively, while Corey’s face contorted in horror. Magda kept her head lowered. Roberta stared at Robson, her eyes pleading for solace he could not provide.
After a minute, the screaming and thrashing tapered off. One by one, the vampires stood and wiped the blood from their mouths. Linda kept on sucking even after Caslow’s body gave its final twitch. Tibor stopped her and helped her to her feet. She gazed at him, a euphoric expression on her face. Vladimir came forward, cupped Linda’s face between his hands, and licked her skin clean. He turned to the humans.
“Caslow made his decision. We’ll be back tomorrow for the next human.”
Vladimir ushered his coven outside. Tibor stepped up and gestured toward Caslow’s body. “What should we do with him?”
“Leave it. It’ll serve as a reminder of what happens to those who refuse to become one of us. Leave one of the lamps in front of the body so they can see it all night.”
Tibor obeyed and then joined the others, closing the barn door and chaining it shut behind him.
A deathly silence fell over the barn. Everyone avoided each other’s gaze and dealt with the event in their own manner. Robson had to contend with the horror of the spectacle that had happened as well as the burden of knowing he had failed. He had hoped to keep his people united, to present a strong front to Vladimir and hopefully work out a compromise. Any such hopes died along with Caslow. He knew he could count on Ed, James, and Roberta. The others were in doubt. If even one of them broke ranks, it would be impossible for him to maintain discipline. Even worse, he now knew he could no longer rely on Dravko to intercede on their behalf. Based on Dravko’s behavior, Robson assumed the coven’s former master had given up hope. Robson had to face the realization that he had no one way of stopping them from turning the rest of his people or draining them of their blood.
Robson did take comfort from the fact that he still had an ace in the deck. It would not stop the vampires from doing what they wanted to his people, although it would prevent them from harming anyone else.
* * *
Before the vampires reached the farmhouse, Vladimir stopped and motioned for Dravko and Tibor to stay back. He waited for the rest of the coven to go inside then spun around to confront Dravko.
“What the fuck was that back in the barn?”
Caught off guard, Dravko took a step back. “What do you mean?”
“You know damn well what I mean.” Vladimir moved forward, shoving his face into Dravko’s. “When the rest of the coven drained Caslow, you stood back and did nothing.”
“I wasn’t hungry,” he lied.
“Fuck you, you weren’t.” Vladimir shoved Dravko with his chest, forcing him to retreat. �
�Why didn’t you join in?”
Dravko could not admit that he found it impossible to terrorize Robson, or that he felt he owed a greater loyalty to the humans than to the coven. He bowed his head.
“Answer me!”
Tibor inserted himself between the two vampires. “Dravko was holding back because Robson has been good to us.”
“Have you forgotten that he banished me from your camp?”
“I haven’t. But Robson changed after that. He learned to trust and respect us.”
Vladimir glared at Tibor. “Don’t tell me you’ve gone soft on the humans, too.”
“I agreed to work with them because Elena ordered it, and the arrangement worked. Elena’s dead, and you’re the Master. My allegiance is to you.” He stepped aside and motioned to his friend. “Dravko has an emotional attachment to the humans, much like humans have to their dogs. He needs to realize that, like dogs, humans have to be put down when they are no longer of any use.”
Vladimir grinned. “You’re full of shit, though I respect your loyalty to Dravko.”
“My loyalty is to him. My allegiance is to you.”
“I appreciate that.” Vladimir said to Dravko, “Keep this up, and you’re banished from the compound.”
Vladimir stormed back into the farmhouse, leaving the two outside. When he was gone, Dravko confronted Tibor. “So you recognize Vladimir as the new Master of the coven, not me?”
“You’re welcome for me coming to your defense.”
“I didn’t need your help.”
“You fucking well did. You’re just too stupid to realize it.”
Dravko felt the anger well up inside him. “How dare you talk to me that way?”
“I can talk to you any way I want. You’re no longer the Master. Vladimir is. And it’s because he’s rebuilding the coven, like the humans are trying to rebuild their society. What have you done? We’ve spent the past two weeks putting our lives on the line saving humans who we don’t even know, and who turned their backs on Robson after we saved them. Robson has done nothing for us. He keeps us around because we’re strong, and we bolster his numbers for whatever asinine adventure he decides to go on. All that’s over.” Tibor took a deep breath. When he spoke again, the anger had left his voice. “I don’t like terrorizing Robson, but I won’t let sentimentality get in the way. My loyalty is to our own kind. We need to rebuild our coven if we’re ever going to survive. Sadly, you’re not up to the task. Vladimir is. You’re my friend and always will be, and I want you to be a part of this. If you refuse….”
Dravko didn’t need his friend to finish the sentence.
Tibor placed a hand on Dravko’s shoulder. “What I said about the dogs is true. They’re the inferior species, and your sentimentality for them can’t stand in the way of the greater good. The sooner you accept that, the better off we’ll all be.”
Tibor entered the house, leaving Dravko alone. A sense of emasculation filled him, both by the dressing down from Vladimir and Tibor’s betrayal, and by his own inability to fight back. The reason he didn’t was because everything they had said was correct. As the Master following Elena’s death, he should have put the needs of the coven above his misguided loyalty. Tibor had been telling him that for weeks, and he had refused to listen. Not only had he lost the leadership to a vampire who Elena had banned from the coven, as well as the respect of Tibor, he had also lost his dignity. Despite all that, Dravko still felt that Robson deserved better than whatever Vladimir had planned for him. He couldn’t save the others. He might be able do something for Robson. Dravko felt he owed him that much. All he needed to do was find a way to help Robson without getting himself killed or banished in the process.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Denning felt a little more relaxed as he and Windows walked back to the house. Fewer zombies had appeared around the farm in the past twenty-four hours. Three had shambled out of the woods during the course of the previous day, and this morning only two roamed near the perimeter fence. That was the good news. The bad news was that when he and Windows checked the main road a few hours ago, it still flowed with a stream of the living dead. As long as the horde stayed to the main road, his farm and everyone in it should be safe.
Denning and Windows entered the kitchen through the back door, and he inhaled deeply, savoring the aroma of eggs and coffee. Miriam stood by the stove scrambling up breakfast while the three children sat around the table eating. “Good morning,” she said.
“Morning,” said Windows, stepping over to the table to hug Cindy.
“You’re up early,” Denning remarked.
“The kids were up early wanting breakfast, so I thought I’d feed them. I’m cooking your plates now.”
“Great. I’m starving.” Denning stepped over to the coffeemaker and poured a mug.
“Making breakfast is the least I can do, especially since you’re the ones out there….” Miriam let her sentence trail off so as not to upset the children.
“Mom,” asked Cindy. “Can Rebecca and Philip help me feed the chickens and Walther?”
“I don’t know,” Windows said, glancing at Denning for guidance.
“I think it’ll be okay, as long as you stay quiet and keep close to Windows.”
A chorus of cheers rose from the table. Cindy jumped up. “Let’s go now. You guys will love Walther. He’s so cool.”
“Hang on,” laughed Denning. “Your mother hasn’t even had breakfast yet.”
“It’s okay,” said Windows. “I’m not hungry yet. Save me a plate and put it in the oven. And don’t drink all the coffee.”
“No promises there.”
Windows ushered the children outside. Once the chaos had settled, Denning took his mug of coffee and sat down at the table. A minute later, Miriam finished cooking the eggs, dished out the contents onto two plates, and brought one over to Denning, taking the chair opposite him.
“Thanks.” He scooped the first forkful into his mouth.
“I’m the one who should be thanking you. You saved my life. More importantly, you saved the lives of my children.” Tears welled up in her eyes and streamed down her cheeks.
Denning didn’t know what else to do, so he kept on eating.
“I want to pull my own weight around here. And the same goes for Rebecca.”
“Cindy has that taken care of.” He pointed out the window to where the two girls raced across the backyard holding a container of food for the chickens, with Philip struggling to keep up.
“I’m glad they have someone to play with. You have no idea how lonely it was in that apartment.” Miriam became embarrassed. “Sorry. I forgot you were by yourself since the outbreak began. I didn’t mean to be rude.”
“You weren’t being rude. I wanted it that way.”
“Can I sit some of the midnight watches and do the perimeter sweeps with you and Windows?”
“Are you up to it?”
“I’ll learn. It’s not right for me to let you two do all the dangerous stuff. I need to take on some of those chores as well.”
Denning thought about it as he finished his eggs. He wasn’t quite sure Miriam could handle cleaning out zombies along the fence, although he admired her willingness to learn rather than take the easy way out. It was a skill he could teach her easily enough. It would be useful to have someone else who could handle themselves in a crisis in case they did have a run in with a large number of the living dead.
“It’s a deal.” Denning placed his fork onto the empty plate and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “You can sit the midnight to six shift tonight, and tomorrow morning we’ll do the perimeter check together.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. Wait until you have to put a machete through a zombie’s head.” Denning stood up and brought his empty plate over to the sink. “If you want, once we’ve cleaned up, I’ll give you a tour of the farm.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
If Natalie had her choice, she’d rather be standing i
n the cupola of an Abrams than the open hatch of the Stryker because the former made her feel more secure. Since the tradeoff was dealing with only a few hundred rotters rather than a few hundred thousand, she could live with it.
The military had spent the last thirty-six hours conducting air sweeps of San Jose, using Apaches or napalm to eliminate major concentrations of rotters. A final air recon of the city at sunrise detected no large bodies of living dead, so they didn’t expect to encounter any surprises like Tango Alpha had two days ago. To be on the safe side, the three-pronged attack would proceed at the same pace. The main body would advance in a line abreast stretching from the southernmost tip of San Francisco Bay to the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains to the south, a front of almost ten miles. The mobile recce units would remain behind and support them in their drive across the city rather than dash ahead like they had attempted the other day. With luck, they would reach their goal by sundown—the foothills of the Diablo Mountains ten miles to the east. On the opposite side of the range sat the less-populated suburban areas of the Joaquin Valley and the Sierra Nevada Mountains and, beyond that range, the open desert of Nevada.
Reserve troops moved up to the Jersey barriers and began shooting the mass of rotters that had collected on the opposite side. Natalie glanced at her watch. 7:53. The unit would be moving out in less than ten minutes.
Ari and Doreen banged on the side of the recon vehicle.
“Are you ready?” asked Doreen.
“I guess.” Natalie remembered the unpleasantness of her last mobile experience.
“You guess?” Ari chuckled. “You should be enjoying this.”
“‘Enjoying’?” Doreen stared at her friend, incredulous. “Were you in the same recon vehicle as me two days ago?”
“Think of it this way. Right now we’re being chauffeured around the city like VIPs. Once we get to the Diablo Mountains, we’ll have to walk like everyone else. And that’s all uphill.”
Doreen held up her hand in mock exasperation. “Okay, okay. You win.”
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