Death Devours
Page 15
“Are you speaking from experience, Mortis?” the Japanese leader from team eight asked.
“Yes.” Even to myself I sounded sheepish. “He led me right into an ambush of a dozen fledglings. Luckily for me, I can’t die from being staked, speared, sliced or shot through the heart.”
“That is an interesting fact,” a strange voice said in an ancient African dialect. “I wish I had known of this sooner. I wouldn’t have wasted the Fifth by sending him to kill you.”
“Who is that?” Geordie asked in bewilderment, unable to understand the language being spoken.
“That’s the Second,” I responded calmly, despite the thrill of alarm that raced through me. How did he get his hands on a radio? Even as I asked myself the question, I knew the answer. “Team Nine, is anyone there?”
“Regretfully, your people are indisposed at the moment, Mortis.” A monstrous chuckle sounded from the radio and I was tempted to smash it. The Second’s voice on the radio meant that we’d lost ten vampires as well as a couple of hundred soldiers.
“What did he say?” Gregor asked.
“Team Nine has been destroyed.” I couldn’t disguise the bleakness in my tone.
“Do not fear for them,” the Second crooned. “The soldiers will soon rise to join my army.”
“Yeah, that’s a great comfort.” I didn’t bother to hide my sarcasm. “What about our kin?”
“Regretfully, they refused to serve me. As my enemies, I naturally had to dispose of them.”
Nicholas’ hand settled on my shoulder again when I tensed, warning me against saying anything rash. “None of us are ever going to serve you,” I told the ancient monster coldly. “Our purpose is to kill you.”
After a lengthy silence, the Second’s tone was arctic when he responded. “If you and your people persist in defying me, I will kill every last one of you. Know this, Mortis, it is not I who will die.”
“You know,” I said thoughtfully, “you’re a really lousy poet.”
With a snarl and a crunch, the Second crushed the radio to death. If he truly had taken down team nine then he would have access to more radios.
Nicholas remained by my side as I sprinted to Sanderson. The five European members of our team arrived just as I issued my warning. “The Second has managed to get his hands on some radios.”
Sanderson looked at me in surprise. “How did he manage that?”
“Have you had any contact with Team Nine lately?”
Reaching for his own radio, the colonel futilely attempted to contact his people. Giving up after receiving no response, his expression was worried. The lines in his forehead seemed to deepen with each night that passed. “Do you think the Second is aware of our plans?”
I shrugged. “I’m not sure but I hope not. Where was Team Nine located?”
Out came the trusty map again and we huddled together to study it. That particular team had been to the east. Luck was on our side because they had the fewest number of villages and towns in the area. We would have to spread our teams out further in the hopes of containing the disciples and their growing army. I wished my team could head off the Second personally but we were to the north. Aventius and his people were the next closest group to team nine. With the Second monitoring our frequency, we couldn’t formulate any plans over the air.
“We will have to stick to our original plan and hope for the best,” Sanderson decided, echoing my thought.
“What has happened?” one of the European vamps asked. One of the Japanese members filled them in on the way to our transportation.
“I think we should stay close in future,” the European muttered to the others. “It will be safer if we stick together.” I couldn’t fault his decision and nodded my approval, not that they actually sought it. I’d feel better knowing where they were at all times.
Sanderson rounded up enough soldiers for us to feed from but I declined the offer. Munching on someone whose eyes were rolling wildly in terror did nothing for my appetite. The rest of my team weren’t as squeamish. Even Nicholas relented and fed from one of the men. He cut a glare at me before closing his eyes and taking a bite. Remembering my warning, he caused the man as little pain as possible. The Japanese people bowed to their meals and the bemused soldiers bowed back. Once they’d been fed from, their fear abated. Our method of feeding was far gentler than the fledgling’s.
It was a long ride to our next destination. The sun came up and the undead settled down to sleep. I closed my eyes but my slumber was shallow and unsatisfactory. I woke every time we hit a bump or a branch screeched down the side of the truck.
Sanderson stuck to the plan and we drove right through the day and into the early night before we reached the town that was at the outer edge of the kill zone. We made enough noise with our arrival to wake the entire town.
Instead of mud huts, I was surprised to see wooden buildings when I jumped down from the back of the truck. Frightened townsfolk, wearing colourful dresses or plain shirts and pants, gathered to protest our arrival. Holding up his hands to indicate we came in peace, Sanderson attempted to calm them. One of the African soldiers acted as a translator.
The town held several hundred people, including over a hundred children. The citizens didn’t have enough vehicles to transport them all to safety and we couldn’t spare our trucks. “Do you really expect us to believe that monsters are roaming around in the jungle?” the village elder asked after the translator had finished laying out the problem.
Sanderson caught sight of me through the crowd and motioned me over. Nicholas was on my heels like an unwanted shadow. “Can you please demonstrate who and what you are for these people?”
Glancing around, I found all nine of my team members behind me. At my nod, they all turned to face the townspeople. Almost as one, we opened our mouths and allowed our fangs to descend. Screams of fright rang out and someone brandished a cross. Nicholas flinched back but I stepped forward and took the proffered piece of jewellery. “We mean you no harm,” I said, wishing I could speak foreign languages as well as understand them. “But the creatures on their way intend to kill your children and turn every last adult in this town into monsters.”
I handed the cross back to the elderly woman who had attempted to drive me off with it. Taking it with a shaky hand, she spoke rapidly to the village elder. “We must leave this place immediately if we wish to save our people.”
Nodding his agreement, the elder instructed his townsfolk to gather only a few belongings each. Within minutes, he’d organized the sick, elderly and very young and herded them to their few vehicles. Everyone else would have to hike to safety.
As the exodus went underway, Sanderson contacted his team leaders for updates. Aware that they were probably being monitored by the enemy, they spoke cryptically of latitudes and longitudes. Only by looking at the map could I determine that our process of evacuating the area seemed to be working.
By widening our net and working our way inwards, we would hopefully be able to contain the threat of vampire invasion. The next town was fairly close and we headed there next, hoping to save as many humans as possible.
By dawn, we had cleared several more towns. Sanderson kept in regular touch with his men to make sure our teams remained on track. My people and I retired for the day while the colonel’s men continued to evacuate the towns and villages. Sleep was a long time coming and when it arrived, it took me on another trip into the Second’s mind.
Chapter Twenty
My plan was working even better than I’d hoped. While the enemies hunting us were technologically advanced, they were no more intelligent than the humans I’d encountered before being banished to my underground tomb so very long ago.
Still, the female vampire who named herself after death itself worried me. While she was also not particularly intelligent, she was tenacious. Despite my threats to end her and her people, I was certain that she would continue to plague me. It infuriated me that a creature so inferior to me thought she had
the capability or the right to end my life.
If the female would only agree to serve me then she could become one of my concubines. Despite being so pale, she was attractive. I’d have to see her unclothed before making my final decision whether to kill or to keep her.
I’d been amused when overhearing her preposterous claim that nothing could kill her. Even the red eyed, grey being that had first created us had been susceptible to death. Making such a ridiculous statement was probably designed to bolster her people’s morale.
I would have an interesting next few nights ahead as I battled wits with this Mortis. She was mistaken if she thought she and her tame soldiers would be able to stop my servants from spreading. Nothing on this earth would be able to keep me from my destiny.
Waking to the sounds of a mental chuckle, I stared up at the ceiling of the truck. The Second is planning on turning me into his sex slave. The thought was more amusing than scary. One thing I knew for sure was that I would never be anyone’s slave. He’d been alive for so long that he couldn’t really conceive of the thought that he might one day die. If he knew that I had been the one to best his maker then he might have rethought his evil scheme.
Nicholas had shifted closer to me during the drive and was now pressed up against my side. All vampires, except me of course, were incapable of waking up until nightfall once the sun had set so he hadn’t moved closer deliberately.
Checking my watch, I saw that the sun wasn’t due to set for another couple of hours. All nine of my team mates were still dead to the world and no one was awake to observe me. Using my feet, I shoved the over muscled vamp several feet away. His head lolled to the side, facing me. It almost looked like he was staring at me coyly through his lashes except his eyelids were shut. Feeling just the tiniest bit creeped out, I stretched out, wiggled my boot beneath Nicholas’ cheek and flipped his head until it was facing the other way. It landed with a dull thud that I hoped the human passengers up front didn’t hear.
We were on the move again and I wondered how well our own plan was working so far. Knowing that the Second was currently awake and was probably listening in on the radio, I didn’t bother to call any of my teams to check in with them. If the truck’s walls hadn’t been so thick I would have yelled out to Sanderson to request an update. I could hear him speaking to the driver clearly enough but my voice would be muffled and unintelligible to him.
Quickly growing bored with having nothing to do but bounce around in the back of the truck and fend off Nicholas’ shifting corpse with my feet, I took a chance and sent out my senses. As far as I knew, the Second was somewhere off to the west so I swept my search to the south first then to the east.
Passing over the tiny pockets of vampires that were most likely my teammates, I strained to my limits and found a large number of my kin near the centre of the trap we were laying. It was difficult to estimate how many fledglings we would be facing. I only hoped that we would have enough resources to wipe them out. We’d begun the hunt with two thousand soldiers and still had about nineteen hundred left. Each time our teams faced the fledglings, we lost men to their feeding frenzy. I didn’t like our odds if we were to face hundreds of our newly made kin in one group but it looked like that was going to be the most likely outcome.
Trapped in the back of the truck, bored and feeling lonely being the only one awake, I waited impatiently for the sun to fade from the sky. We stopped a short while later at yet another village and the soldiers instantly began the evacuation process. I listened to the action, unable to leave the safety of the truck until the sun went down.
Confused, frightened and unable to understand why they were being tossed out of their homes, the villagers refused to leave. Sanderson’s translator was having no luck explaining the situation to them. The colonel’s voice rose as he began shouting at the villagers. “You need to get your people out of here now!” I assumed he was yelling at the village elder.
“We’re not going anywhere!” the elder screamed back after Sanderson’s words had been translated.
“Don’t you understand that you are all going to die if you don’t leave this place?” The colonel didn’t bother to hide his frustration at the villager’s continued stubbornness.
I didn’t need to check my watch to know the sun was finally about to abate. My body felt the killing rays of light recede. Sanderson and his men might not be having any luck but I was pretty sure I’d be able to persuade the villagers to leave.
With one shove, I pushed open the heavy metal door as darkness descended. All of the villagers had gathered in a group to argue against being ousted. They were all talking at once, vying to be heard. Perfect, I won’t have to round any of them up. Now to convince them to leave. Mentally rubbing my hands together, I allowed my fangs to grow and let out a snarl. I’d heard plenty of howls, grunts, gibbers and growls from the imps so it wasn’t difficult to improvise.
All sound ceased as heads turned. Wrinkling my lips back so my teeth were displayed, I jumped to the ground and stalked towards the suddenly terrified group of villagers. Turning my hands into claws, I increased my pace and the volume of my snarl.
“Uh, Colonel?” one of the American soldiers said nervously. “Is this for real or is she just acting?”
Shifting his hand to his gun, Sanderson was almost ready to pull his weapon when I met his gaze and subtly rolled my eyes. “It’s an act,” he replied then turned to yell at the translator. “Get these people out of here!”
Frantically flapping his hands and screaming instructions with completely unfeigned terror, the translator finally managed to get the villagers moving. Sanderson pulled his gun and fired a shot that deliberately went wide of me. I let out a fake scream of pain and stumbled to one knee. The villagers stampeded, shooting frightened looks back over their shoulders.
Most of the soldiers had their weapons trained on me when I stood and sauntered over to the colonel. He motioned for them to put their guns and flamethrowers down but hesitated for a moment before putting his own weapon away. “You had us fooled for a minute there.” His smile was forced and didn’t ease his men much.
“If I really did turn evil, do you think I’d give you any warning?” I pointed out.
“Probably not,” he conceded after a moment of thought.
Still the object of mistrust by everyone in the area, I decided it was high time to pass on some good news. “Our plan seems to be working. I can sense a large number of fledglings near the centre of our kill zone.”
Frowning at my description, the colonel followed it up with a grim smile. “Then we shouldn’t waste any time clearing out any more villages but head directly for the threat instead.”
While I wasn’t happy about having innocent humans in the line of fire, I had to admit that wiping out the fledglings and their masters was more important than saving a few hundred souls. If we were lucky, we could put an end to this whole shebang tonight.
“I’ll let my people know,” I told him and reached for the radio. My entourage had woken and left the truck to form a guard around me while I spoke. Nicholas stuck to my side, pretending to be my right hand man. Maybe he was, in his own mind. “This is Natalie,” I said into the radio. “Is everyone there?” Someone from each team responded quickly. I was relieved to hear from all of the remaining teams. “There’s been a change of plans and you are all to head directly for the target zone asap.”
Our target was a tiny village roughly at the centre of the large circle our teams had formed. By tightening our advance, we’d forced the disciples to band together instead of branching out. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was worried that this seemed a bit too easy. The Second had seemed so smug when I’d taken a peek inside his mind. He clearly thought he was far cleverer than any of us. If this was the case then surely he wouldn’t allow himself to be caught in our trap so easily.
“What is the plan, exactly?” Geordie asked on behalf of all of the team leaders, or those in charge of the radios as was his case.
“It shall be as you say, Mortis,” Aventius said formally.
For an ex-Councillor, I was surprised at how well he was assimilating with our cause. I’d expected him to at least protest some of the orders I was handing out. Unlike Nicholas and Joshua, he did as I asked without complaint. “I’ll see you all in a few hours.” I hoped I sounded more cheerful than I felt. A nagging sense of doubt tugged at my mind.
I wasn’t the only one who was worried. Nicholas wore a heavy frown that almost made him look ordinary instead of gorgeous. “I do not like this plan, my…Natalie.” His tone was concerned rather than flirtatious yet the term still irritated me.
“Stay behind then,” I said carelessly, knowing he wouldn’t take me up on the offer. He’d chosen to be on my side and at my side he would stay.
“I am not a coward, my Liege,” he said stiffly.
“Then quit whining and get in the truck.” Going by his narrowed eyes and flared nostrils, I’d offended him. The rest of my entourage sent him cautious glances then followed my directions. Sanderson was motioning his people into action. He raised his eyebrows at me when I shut the door of the truck without climbing in. I seriously needed a break from Nicholas and decided to ride up front for a change.
There wasn’t enough room for three people in the front so the colonel waved his driver away and slid behind the wheel. I was already buckled in by the time he was seated. Taking a look at my brooding expression, he wisely chose to remain silent. It would take us several hours to reach the target area and a bit of peace and quiet suited me just fine. It was a pity the silence only lasted for five minutes before arguing broke out in the back of the truck.